Abandoned Inventions

Trace the hidden legacy of a cancelled Canadian fighter jet and a failed CIA spy-cat experiment. See how these lost ideas resurfaced decades later, contributing to video games and global mapping tools in ways their creators never imagined.

Uncovering the fallout from a terrifying nuclear missile program and a failed living weapon; learning how abandoned military experiments created unexpected breakthroughs, from the materials used in modern computers to new ways of sensing the world.

Explore a covert mission to recover a sunken Soviet submarine packed with Cold War secrets, then examine a disastrous wartime weapon. See how these forgotten discoveries helped shape the rise of the internet and influence self-driving technology.

Examining extreme Cold War weapons and daring experiments with pressure and propulsion; discovering how these thrilling but dangerous innovations led to medical-imaging advances and unexpected consumer products, including 1991's hottest toy.

Tracking down forgotten ideas that have far-reaching consequences in the modern world; looking at a medieval steel formula that was accidentally rediscovered during the space race; seeing what a lost nuclear formula had to do with an oil rig disaster.

Investigating attempts to harness the human mind and manipulating the weather; seeing how a cruel CIA experiment echoes through modern-day digital behaviour, then connecting the dots from a weather-taming experiment to the world's first synthetic diamond.