Beakman’s World - Season 1 Episode 18

Responding to the question "Why do we breathe-," Beakman explains how the human body's lungs work to supply a steady stream of oxygen to keep it alive. Using a model of the chest, Beakman shows how the diaphragm allows it to expand and contract during breathing. With the Boguscope, he then shows how the lungs transfer oxygen to the blood through small air sacs called alveoli. For "Beak-Mania," Beakman reveals that Alaska has no state motto; that apes can be trained to work;and that a lemon shark loses 24,000 teeth each year. During "Cooking With Art," host Art Burn claims that an empty plastic soda bottle can be made into a rocket. Using vinegar, baking soda and a cork, Art shows how, by creating carbon dioxide gas under pressure, the bottle can be launched high into the air. Asked how sound travels through telephone wires, Beakman notes that it is not sound, but electrical impulses, that are sent through phone lines during a conversation. After describing the job of transducers — devices which convert one type of energy into another — Beakman conjures up Alexander Graham Bell to discuss his invention. Noting how transducers transform sound into electrical impulses, Bell shows how the process is reversed on the receiving end in order to permit high speed transmission of the human voice. Finally, Beakman notes that the longest long distance telephone call took place in 1969 between the Apollo 11 astronauts on the moon and the President of the United States.