Here's the behind-the-scenes video from Chernobyl week, where Paul (@cr3) and I answer how we got here, and what it's like -- while you see all the B-roll footage that I couldn't fit into the regular videos!
London City Airport's getting a new control tower: but it's just going to be a large mast with 14 high-definition cameras on it. The actual tower will be 80 miles away, in the headquarters of NATS near Swanwick. It feels questionable: but is it? Thanks to all the team at NATS: you can find out more about the new tower here: https://www.nats.aero/services/airports/digital-remote-towers/ Edited by Michelle Martin, @mrsmmartin London camera by Matt Gray, http://mattg.co.uk I'm at http://tomscott
In the Quadratestadt of Mannheim, Germany, the streets aren't named: instead, the blocks are. It's an exception to a rule that most people don't even think about — especially not mapping companies. (Thanks to João Correia for sending me this idea back in 2015!) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo
In Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, Florida, there's a mermaid show -- and there has been for 70 years. It's one of the United States' oldest roadside attractions, and it still does three shows a day. At least, provided the local wildlife doesn't get in the way. Weeki Wachee Springs State Park: https://weekiwachee.com/ Their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/weekiwacheesprings Articles on the mermaid auditions: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/weeki-wachee-springs-state-park-is-hold
US Car Number 1, the Ferdinand Magellan, sits in the Gold Coast Railway Museum in Miami. It's 120 tonnes of bulletproof, armoured railcar: a train carriage designed to move the President of the United States around the country in safety and style. At least, it was, until other transport came along to do a better job. Thanks to all the team at the Gold Coast Railroad Museum: they're at http://www.gcrm.org/, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/GoldCoastRailroad/ ! [looks like their main si
In Quebec, Canada, there's a town called Asbestos. It's an alarming name, one that conjures up images of lung disease and mesothelioma. So now that the town's asbestos mine, once the largest asbestos mine in the world, has closed... why haven't they changed the name? Dr Jessica van Horssen's book, "A Town Called Asbestos", was invaluable for my research. Its ISBN is 9780774828420, and it can be ordered from most libraries and bookstores. Her five-part YouTube series starts here: https://www.yo
Rue Canusa (or Canusa Avenue) is a street that's split in two by a border: the northern part is in Stanstead, Canada, and the southern part is in Derby Line, USA — and border crossings here aren't as easy as they used to be. Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo
Thanks to Betty from Articulations! Go see her video on the ISO Standard Exit Sign here: https://youtu.be/i5uSlAw8U9s - and pull down this description for links to all her sources. The St Lawrence Burns were a series of deliberate fires in the soon-to-be-demolished village of Aultsville, Ontario, which was due to be flooded to make way for the St Lawrence Seaway. The results changed the way buildings are constructed around the world, and saved lives. SOURCES: Setting Fires for Science (1958):
Giant Mine sits near Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Once it was a productive gold mine, but after the gold ran out, the mining company went bankrupt and left the government to clean up the mess: enough arsenic trioxide dust to kill everyone on Earth. The solution: freezing it, at least for now. Thanks to all the team at the Giant Mine Remediation Project! More about them: http://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100027364/1100100027365 The history of Giant Mine and the local
Until recently, Canada didn't have a road link to the Arctic Ocean. But last year, the all-weather Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway opened, which meant that finally the country was connected "from sea to sea to sea". I set out to drive it, but it didn't quite go how I planned. Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Snapchat and Instagram as tomscottgo
In the far north of Canada sit the DEW Line stations: "Distant Early Warning". Built in the 1950s, these were the sites that would have sounded the alarm if the Soviet Union ever attacked North America. Or at least, they were until they went obsolete just a few years later. This video relies on public domain archive footage from: DEW Line Story (1958): https://archive.org/details/dew_line_story_1 https://archive.org/details/dew_line_story_2 Atlas the ICBM (1957): https://archive.org/details/342
Over on the RAF Starrship channel, I'm talking about the history of radar: https://youtu.be/VDC_RCh0ws8 - but over here, we're testing a 90-year-old piece of technology that was meant to be part of Britain's air defence. The Sound Mirrors, on Romney Marsh, were built in the late 1920s as a way to amplify the sound from aircraft engines over the English Channel. We're flying a bit closer than that, with a drone. STARRSHIP: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starrshiphope/ Facebook: https://www
The White Horse, in Uffington, is one of the oldest surviving works of art in Britain: carved into a hillside in Oxfordshire 3,000 years ago. Every year, it's rechalked by volunteers co-ordinated through the National Trust, a line of maintenance going back to before England had written history. Thanks to all the National Trust team! If you're free over the August bank holiday and fancy helping out, here's the link! https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/events/9220f3c2-d50f-4a9e-9063-8d9346ed5da9/pag
Technically, the Inchindown oil tanks in Invergordon, Scotland, have the world's longest reverberation, but that makes a much worse title. We tested them with a loud noise and some very sensitive microphones. Matt's musical experiments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzMVJkTjKNc Behind the scenes on the Matt and Tom channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4qplnaPjbk Thanks to Allan, Alan and Preston for all their help on the day, and to landowners the Bannerman Group for allowing us access!
In a field near Elberton, Georgia, USA, sit a set of mysterious standing stones: mysterious not because they're ancient, but because they were funded by someone anonymous in 1980, perhaps as a message to any survivors of the end of the world. I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo The closing music is "Nearer My God To Thee", recorded by the US Marine Band c.1896, from the USCB Cylinder Aud
Some American cities use buses, or trams, or trains. Peachtree City, Georgia, has a different solution: it's not quite public transit, but a hundred miles of golf cart tracks helps to keep cars off the road. More about Peachtree City: https://www.peachtree-city.org/ and https://visitpeachtreecity.com Edited by Michelle Martin (@mrsmmartin) With thanks to Titan Miller for emailing me the idea, back in 2017! I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at htt
The tourist guides promote it as Georgia's Little Grand Canyon: but this is a scar on the Earth, caused by humans either not understanding or not caring about geology. Is it natural? Or man-made? Or both? I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook.com/tomscott and on Instagram as tomscottgo
St Peter's Seminary sits in woodland about an hour west of Glasgow, near a village called Cardross. If you like Brutalist architecture, then it's a beautiful ruin: if not, then perhaps your view isn't so kind. It's a historic, religious building: but it's also a money sink that can't be demolished. My thanks to Ronnie Convery at the Archdiocese of Glasgow! Edited by Michelle Martin, @mrsmmartin I'm at http://tomscott.com on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tomscott on Facebook at http://facebook
On Nantasket Beach in the seaside town of Hull, Massachusetts, sits the last play-for-cash Fascination Parlor in the world. It's a century-old arcade game, made of relays that click and buzz. There are a few other parlors left in the world: but this is the only one where you're playing for actual money.
Gibbs Farm, in New Zealand, is an enormous private sculpture collection. Its most famous piece is Horizons, by Neil Dawson - and it looks like a cartoon tissue somehow painted onto the landscape. To see it in person, though, will take a bit of effort.
The Ports of Auckland are automating their straddle carriers, which might not seem like much: until you phrase it as "hundred-tonne autonomous robots guided by nanosecond-precision tracking".
Mount Taranaki, on the North Island of New Zealand, is a large-scale circle that's visible from space: a stratovolcano with six miles of forest around it. But that didn't happen naturally. Oh, and there's a good chance that, in the next fifty years or so, it might explode.
Near Hindon, on the South Island of New Zealand, there's one of only two remaining one-lane road-rail bridges in the country. No barriers, no lights, no sirens: if you're driving across this, you need to make sure to listen out for the train horn.
The Byron Bay Railroad Company runs the world's first 100% solar-powered train. It wouldn't work everywhere - but in the bright sunshine of Australia, it might just be the right tool for the job.
If you believe the hype, then the Metropolitan Area Underground Discharge Channel stops Tokyo flooding. It doesn't. But it is one colossal part of a huge network of flood defences that protect a city that would otherwise be... well, very wet.
On a coastline that's steadily sinking under the waves, the Wax Lake Delta is rising: which is a wonderful thing for researchers.Historically, every time humans try and mess with the Mississippi, there have been unintended consequences: and even though we can now model it fairly well, there are still surprises.
The Berkeley Pit, in Butte, Montana, was once the richest hill on Earth: the Anaconda Copper Mine. Now: it's not all that rich, and it's not much of a hill. Instead, it's a toxic pit filled with sulfuric acid.
Onkalo, on the Finnish island of Olkiluoto, is planned to be the first geologic storage facility for high-level nuclear waste: eventually sealed for 100,000 years. I got to see inside.
Next to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is the Buitenschot Land Art Park, a giant set of ridges and furrows cut into the landscape. Yes, it's art: but it also stops some local residents from being exposed to jet noise.
In Stockholm, there's a diagonal wind tunnel, used for one very specific purpose: learning to fly a wingsuit. I tried. I almost managed it.
In Wichita Falls, Texas, the Newby-McMahon Building stands 480 inches tall. Not 480 feet: 480 inches. There's a story of a smooth-talking scammer that sounds almost too good to be true. But is it?
Schengen is a small town in Luxembourg, on the borders with France and Germany. But one of those borders is a little more complicated: the Mosel (or Moselle) river is a condominium, it belongs to both countries at the same time. And thus, so the bridges above it. I'm not 100% happy with the research in this video, because it was put together quickly and, through necessity of language, from English-speaking secondary sources. However, Frank Jacobs in the New York Times on condominiums, talks about the history of the treaties: https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com... and that's confirmed by a reference in Freshwater Boundaries Revisited: Recent Developments in International River Law by María Querol, which quotes Bernhardt's Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Vol 111, p465. Interestingly, the borders on Google Maps, Bing Maps and OpenStreetMap all take different (and sometimes nonsensical) twists and turns, so I've chosen to illustrate the simplest example.
About once a year, on the Oosterscheldekering barrier in the south of the Netherlands, there is NK Tegenwindfietsen: a bicycle race cycling into a headwind. This year it was 120km/h: this is why it's so difficult, and also why it's so brilliant.
From March 1st 2020, Luxembourg will have free public transit throughout the country: you'll be able to travel on buses, trains, trams, and that one funicular railway without a ticket. It sounds like a good idea: but is it?
Zwentendorf Nuclear Power Plant, in Austria, was ready to go: it just needed starting up. But that never happened, and forty years later, it still sits mothballed. Here's why.
In the Abbey Gardens of Bury St Edmunds, in a quiet corner of a park, sits the World's First Internet Bench. Well, sort of. It's been nearly twenty years, and it's arguable whether it ever did the job in the first place...
Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, is a now-desolate hillfort run by English Heritage. But it was once one of the most important sites in southern England: so important that it had two members of Parliament. Then, it became a "rotten borough": and a warning about power.
Kolbeinsey is the most northern part of Iceland, a tiny island that, according to Wikipedia, is due to disappear due to wave erosion "probably around the year 2020". Which raised an obvious question: is it still there?
Silfra, in Þingvellir National Park in Iceland, is where the Eurasian and North American continental plates are dividing. It's a crack in the earth where you can snorkel or dive between the continents. Well, sort of. As ever, it's a bit more complicated than that.
Wunderland Kalkar, near the German-Dutch border, is a family amusement park... inside a nuclear power plant that was never turned on.
The Ruhr Valley, in north-west Germany, is an industrial coal-mining area. And because of that kilometre-deep mining, parts of it have sunk, the drainage patterns have changed: and now, if the pumps of Emschergenossenschaft ever stop, quite a few towns and cities will end up flooded.
The Broomway is surrounded on both sides by quicksand and deep, sucking mud. It has no markers and no guideposts. And if you mistime your walk, you won't outrun the tide. Oh, and it's in the middle of a Ministry of Defence firing range. But most of the time, if you want to visit Foulness Island, it's the only way.
There are lots of disused and never-used roads and bridges in the world. But the Road to Nowhere in Yate, in south-west England, does still sometimes have traffic driving on it. And crashing on it.
Deep in Brooklyn there's a beach you definitely wouldn't swim at, unless you're an archaeologist.
On the south-east coast of England sits Covehithe: a little Suffolk village going back at least a thousand years. By the end of the century, it'll likely have fallen into the sea. Here's why no-one's planning to save it.
"Life support system" were the three key words that convinced me to do a video about an aquarium. Because yes: behind the scenes at The Deep, an aquarium in Hull, there's a life support system, and it deserves that name.
In Knaresborough, in Yorkshire, sits Mother Shipton's Cave. Folks there have been charging admission for nearly 400 years, and the star of the show is a "petrifying well". A few folk legends do actually turn out to be true.
Perranporth Beach, in Cornwall, is famed for being the "Lego beach". The truth is more complicated.
Gruinard Island, in the north-west of Scotland, was where Britain tested its biological weapons. That story's been told many times: but I found something in the archives that I don't think anyone's ever noticed before.
Barra Airport, in Na h-Eileanan Siar in the west of Scotland, is unique: it's the only commercial airport where the runway's made of sand, and tide covers it up twice a day. Here's how it works.
In Ocado’s grocery warehouse, thousands of mechanical boxes move on the floor. Are they individual robots? Are they one giant hive mind
In Claughton, Lancashire, the Forterra brickworks produces 50 million bricks per year from shale that’s quarried a mile and a half away, transport by Britain’s last aerial ropeway; once common, but gone by 2036
Iceland has a new volcano, Fagradalsfjall. I wanted to visit, to talk about the infrastructure around it, and how the country deals with a new and dangerous tourist attraction. It didn't go well...
On the German coast of the Baltic Sea, there's a tourist attraction that I think is very strange: the "Tauchgondel", a room that sinks under the waves and lets you go diving... without getting wet.
Ness of Brodgar, in Orkney, is one of the most important archaeological sites in western Europe. This week, it was covered by old, worn-out tires. Here's why. â– Thanks to the Ness team! More about them, volunteering, and donating: https://www.nessofbrodgar.co.uk/
The flight between Papa Westray and Westray takes 80-90 seconds and covers about 2km. Why does it exist? And what's it like? On a rainy day in the Orkney Islands, I went to find out.
Over the Manchester Ship Canal, you'll find the Hulmes Ferry, the Thelwall Ferry, and the Warburton Toll Bridge. They're all strange in their own way, all under the control of one company, and all dating back to old laws and legal documents from a hundred years ago. I was in the area, so I stopped by, and found that things might be changing soon.
The Nürburgring Nordschleife is the longest permanent racetrack in the world: 21km of unforgiving blind corners and hills, nicknamed "the Green Hell". Oh, and some days, it's also just a public toll road with no speed limit.
In Darmstadt, Germany, there's the Eisenbahnbetriebsfeld: a model railway connected to actual railway signalling equipment, so that controllers can learn without putting any real trains in danger. I got to learn the very basics. â– More about the railway (in German): https://www.eisenbahnbetriebsfeld.de/
An elevator that can go smoothly from horizontal to vertical isn't possible... right? Turns out that the conventional wisdom is wrong, and the Schmid Peoplemover has been doing that for many years.
On a little canal off the Elbe river in Germany, sits the McBoat: the world's only paddle-through McDonalds. It seemed like the sort of thing I should investigate.
The Brünnlisau shooting range in Switzerland has its targets on the other side of a major road. And it's safe. Here's how and why. Thanks to everyone at the Schiessanlage Brünnlisau!
In Lübeck, Germany, there's one of several eHighway test projects: overhead catenary wires, where electric trucks with pantographs can pull power directly from the grid. Thanks to everyone who gave so much time to make this video possible!
At a pumped storage plant in western Austria, a company called Energy Robotics is testing robot dogs for inspection. All the fancy Boston Dynamics publicity stunts aside: are the robots actually useful? â– As ever: this is not an advert, Energy Robotics and illwerke vkw had no editorial control. They just asked "do you want to fly your drone inside the Obervermuntwerk II hydroelectric power plant to film a robot dog", and of course I immediately said yes.
In Brienz/Brinzauls, a small village in the east of Switzerland, there's a village slipping into a valley and a road that's surprisingly dangerous. Thanks to everyone I interviewed: pull down the description for links and more details!
The Lorenbahn, the Lüttmoorsiel-Nordstrandischmoor island railway, is famous for the tiny, private trains that take residents to and from the mainland. But that's not why it was built: and it's got a more useful purpose as well.
In most of the world, inhaling radon for pain relief sounds like a bizarre idea. In some places, though, it's so accepted that it's prescribed by doctors and covered by health insurance. And I have no idea how to talk about it.
Bridgwater Carnival, in Somerset, has a long tradition of squibbing: a huge procession of people holding fireworks right above their heads. This year, I got the chance to be one of the squibbers.
The Thames Barrier is a wonder of engineering. If it fails, then London floods. Here's how the engineers there make sure it doesn't fail.
Mannequins are generally bought, used once for a project, and then thrown away to landfill. Except here, at Mannakin in Lincolnshire. Thanks to Roz and the team at Manakin. My first thought was "don't those mannequins rot, just sitting out there in the weather?" And then I realised: no, not really, they're fibreglass. That's part of the problem Manakin's trying to help with!
The International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, at the University of Reading, has an important job: stop pests and viruses from hitching a ride, as researchers try to breed better and hardier varieties of cocoa. Here's how thev do it.
Hutton's Unconformity, at Siccar Point, is about an hour east of Edinburgh, in Scotland, and I've wanted to set my own two feet on it for years. And from it, I've got a bigger question: is there anything we've missed?
The Hill House, in Helensburgh, Scotland was decades ahead of its time... but that means it's also experimental. And damp.
Rochester, in the south-east of England, was a city for nearly 800 years. And then, in 1998, an administrative error took that city status away, likely forever. Here's the story.
In Fife, in the south-east of Scotland, there's the Elie Chain Walk: a footpath that's got a reputation for being dangerous. It isn't — as long as you're prepared, and as long as you watch out for the tide.
"Anderson's Piano" is a set of wires and signals at the Pass of Brander, near Falls of Cruachan in Scotland, that try to detect when there might be a boulder on the track. They're 140 years old, and so far no-one's been able to find a better solution — but they're working on it.
Deepstore doesn't let many people film in their massive facilities. So when the team at Laura Ashley invited me down into the mine to look at their archives, I jumped at the chance
"Daly's Bridge", in Cork, Ireland, is better known as the Shakey Bridge. Because it shakes. But what happens when a bridge like that has to be repaired and refurbished?
The Monte Toboggans, in Funchal on the island of Madeira, are wicker sofas: a bit like the gondolas of Venice, only you're going downhill in regular traffic.
Funchal Airport, on the island of Madeira, was too short for modern commercial airliners: but there was nowhere to extend to. The solution is one of the greatest civil engineering projects of our time.
The Chauvet cave, in the south of France, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, filled with art that's tens of millennia old. No-one's allowed in, for very good reasons: but just a few kilometres away, there's a near-exact copy. Is that enough?
Les machines de l'île, in Nantes, are famous for their giant mechanical elephant. And to my surprise, tourists can just pay and ride it.
The Wasserspiele of Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe are 300 years old, powered entirely by gravity, and entertaining tourists. As legacies for rich people go, there are far worse ones.
Monte Kaolino, in Bavaria, Germany, is 35 million tonnes of quartz sand, piled up over the years from a nearby kaolin mine. In the 1960s, one guy just turned up with skis, and now half a century later it's a theme-park destination for sandboarders and skiiers.
In Soda Springs, Idaho, there's a geyser that fires carbonated water into the air, on the hour, every hour. I paid a visit.
On Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, there's a summer tradition: "mail jumping". It's a bit dangerous, a bit ridiculous, and would never be allowed to start today. But it's a tradition.
The Roval Albert Hall is 150 years old; the roof is 600 tonnes of glass and steel. And it turns out that there's a terrifying technicians' trampoline, acoustic-dampening mushrooms, and a complete lack of connections.
The treadwheel crane, or treadmill crane, sounds like something from Astérix or the Flintstones. But at Guédelon in France, not only do they have one: they're using it to help build their brand new castle.
The Doppelmayr Garaventa Monorack is a decades-old product. I've no idea how I missed it before. But for the third video in the Monorail Trilogy, this isn't an advert: I'm just happy to be proved wrong.
At the Swiss Military Museum in Full, there's the last remaining example of a 1970s tank-driving simulator. But there's no virtual worlds here: it's connected to a real camera and a real miniature model.
The Udbyhoj Cable Ferry across Randers Fjord in Denmark is electric-powered: but rather than batteries, it's plugged into mains electricitv. Here's how it works.
Surely water simulation can be done with computers now? Well, not quite. At the University of Sherbrooke, there's an artificial research river, and I asked them to start it up.
The Montreal Olympic Sports Centre has a 20m (65ft) diving board. That's twice the Olympic height. Why would anyone need that?
The Bay of Fundy has cheap, clean power: if you can harness it.
TRIUM's Rabbit Line, on the University of British Columbia campus, sends slightly radioactive material under the streets of Vancouver at 100km/h (60mph). Here's how and why.
Poly Canyon, at Cal Poly, is an experimental architecture laborator. And it's open to the public:
The Parkes Radio Telescope, Murriyang, part of CSIRO, is one of the most famous telescopes in the world: and it's got a unique way of getting equipment up and down from the central section.
At Velocity Valley in Rotorua, New Zealand, there's the Shweeb: a pedal-powered monorail. It's a fun ride: but in 2010. Google gave it a million dollars as a potential "future of transit".
C1 Espresso, in Christchurch, New Zealand, has a set of pneumatic tubes. But that's not enough on its own to keep a business running.
Wellington, in New Zealand, has more than a hundred private cable cars. I found out why.
Nishivama Onsen Keiunkan is not just the world's oldest hotel, but the world's oldest still-operating business. Or at least, that's one way of looking at it. But things are changing here, just like they always have.
The DMV, or Dual Mode Vehicle, on the Asa Coast Railway in Shikoku, Japan, is a hybrid bus and train. And I rode it.
I thought maglev trains were a dead-end technology: but it looks like I was wrong. At JR Central's Yamanashi Maglev Test Track, I rode Japan's new maglev.
Meiringen Air Base, in Switzerland, has an unusual feature: two public roads that go straight over the runway. How do they keep it safe? And, as a side note, just how loud is it when you're standing next to a fighter jet?
At CEA-Leti, in Grenoble, there's a "funicular" that not many people get to ride: because it's between two clean rooms, and getting to it requires quite a lot of preparation.
I went inside the former hotel where, for science (and money), people are volunteering to get colds, flu, and RSV.
At the University of California San Diego, there's the Shake Table: an earthquake simulator with the heaviest payload capacity in the world.
The Catesby Tunnel, in the UK, is an old Victorian railway tunnel that has a new use: a secretive car testing facility, like a wind tunnel but in reverse. So rather than just show it to the world, I thought I'd answer a question: if you stick a camera on the outside of your car, how much does the drag cost you?
The first few moments of an explosion can't be simulated yet. But there's a team at the University of Sheffield working on it.
In an old mill in a remote corner of Italy, sits the Bathysphere Project at Explorandia: a submarine simulator that explores an actual, small pond. It might be the best homemade project I've ever seen.
Through the mountains of Slovenia, there are manual cable cars: some historic, some more modern. There aren't many left. I was able to try one, and to talk to the person who still maintains it.
Well before the first climbing frame was patented as "jungle gym", mathematician Charles Hinton thought they might be able to teach kids four-dimensional thinking.
Near San Diego, California, there's a rotating house: and somehow, all the utilities, the electricity, gas and water, work even on the rotating part. How's that possible?
In Switzerland, there's a new cryonics company: and they invited me to have a look around. I had questions: legal, practical, and ethical, and I want to be clear: this is not an endorsement. I just wasn't going to turn down that invitation.
Zermatt, in Switzerland, bans all private cars and all gasoline cars. But if you run a business, you might be able to buy one of the special, tiny ones that are built right there.
The Honiton Hot Pennies ceremony is the result of 800 ears of tradition: from when rich people would entertain themselves by throwing scalding-hot pennies onto the poor people below. These days, it's a bit less dangerous... but only a bit.
The Bata Skyscraper, in Zlin, Czechia, is a landmark of architecture. And the office of Jan Antonin Bata...is an elevator.
The Bolwoningen, in Den Bosch, in the Netherlands, are experimental architecture: the surprising part is that people still live there.
At the New Town Hall, the Neues Rathaus, in Hanover, there's a strange lift where the track curves unevenly. For years, people from Germany have been emailing me about it: well, I finally visited.
At Port Itawa in Poland, pilots and captains of massive ships train on 1-to-24 scale ship models: and I got to drive one.
Nio is a Chinese auto maker that offers an alternative to charging: just swapping out the whole battery whenever you need it. I borrowed one of their cars.
Here's the full video from a camera attached to a bucket on the Claughton Aerial Ropeway! And here's my whole video about the ropeway and its history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6RiYX...