David visits Aerovironment Inc. where they are building a full scale Pterodactyl model that has been designed based on the few clues scientists have about the real animal. Then David visits Burt Rutan, designer of the Voyager, the first plane to travel around the world without stopping. There David and Burt discuss the custom airplane designs and experimants Burt has made. This information is supplied by Chuck N. Thank you, Chuck.
Jan Carter, Entymologist at the Cincinatti Zoo and Botanical Garden teaches us about the life cycles of the butterfly. David speaks with Glen Wiggins, curator at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto Canada, about Dragonflies and their wings and Moths and their Proboscis. Then there's a recycled segment from season 1, Episode 22, where Marc visits a beekeeper. Then back to David and Glen Wiggins about Beetles. This show's information is supplied by Chuck N. Thank you, Chuck.
Main Concept: Variances in wind currents can be used to create different forms of transportation such as soaring, gliding and hot air balloons. Even inanimate objects like a kite depend on the wind to function properly. Wind power is introduced with Flying Scooters at an amusement park. Hopey learns about the sport of ""soaring"" by taking a trip in a glider sail plane. Repeat of a sequence from the episode Hot/Cold: Temperatures on Earth/In Space: In the mountains of Colorado, Lisa participates in a balloon race to better understand why a hot-air balloon rises. David visits a local Kite Club in Tokyo where he meets a Japanese ""kite doctor,"" who uses science to improve a kite's performance.
How would you like to write your messages in a strictly-ordered way, knowing that one mistake could change the meaning of your sentence? It can happen in English, but it's easier to write Japanese wrong. David and Kaori visit a software researcher and test out software that is designed to read and identify handwritten Kanji characters. (David puts his skills to the test and fails.) David and Kaori also participate in a grueling judo workout, after which they learn about a computer that helps train judo students. Finally, Kaori shows David the next closest thing Japanese language has to the English alphabet.
David and Kaori visit the Furutas, whose family has been making paper by hand for two centuries. They follow the Furutas as they make a batch of fine paper. David, Kaori, and Chizuru Ishizaka join a kite expert and test a kite designed to fly in little wind. This information supplied by Chuck N. Thank you, Chuck.