'Life After People' -- catch the encore tonight --History Channel 1/23/08

The History ChannelAbout 10,000 years after the end of humans, perhaps the only evidence that we were ever here might be Mt. Rushmore, S.D.
If you're looking for something remarkable on TV tonight, don't go to the major networks. Check out The History Channel's new feature, "Life After People." Using a good deal of imagination, some amazing computer graphics and interviews with scientists and engineers, including a bridge expert from Lehigh University, "Life After People" traces the progress of our planet if all humans disappeared. The only objection might be that no one suggests how we disappear. It just happens. And there are no bodies left behind, just our helpless pets left to a fate the show only hints at. And perhaps it's easy to criticize the show because it's not great literature; "Citizen Kane" it ain't, but it's definitely worth watching just to see the collapse of The Brooklyn Bridge.
But the story isn't meant to shock or depress viewers. It's really an objective look at the deteriorization of manmade infrastructure -- buildings, bridges, skyscrapers and dams -- through a long timeline extending from the day after we're gone through 10,000 years into the future when the only remaining signs of humanity might be The Great Wall of China and Mt. Rushmore (The Great Pyramids are just bumps in the sand and Manhattan is a forest with clear streams running through it).
Some surprises? We already know what the planet will look like in 20 years without humans by looking at The Ukraine, where the Chernoble nuclear power plant blew up in April, 1986. And, 20 years after the end of humans, only one place on Earth will still have electricity -- Las Vegas, because of the self-sustaining Hoover Dam. That will stop, though, because of the buildup of millions of fingernail-sized clams that eventually block water pipes in the dam's hydroelectric plant. Here's what you need to know to tune in:
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Tags: Chernoble, Great Wall of China, Lehigh University, Life After People, Nauroth, Rushmore, The History Channel
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Thought it was just alright. Pretty interesting topic but and some cool graphics but a little bit slow.

I saw it, agree its a good watch. One tidbit I found interesting is:

The concrete is so thick at Hoover dam, it is still curing 70 years later.

Doug said:

The concrete is so thick at Hoover dam, it is still curing 70 years later.

Click to expand...

also:

Fast Facts: Hoover Dam

• At its base, Hoover Dam is as thick (660 feet) as two footballs fields measured end to end.
• Hoover Dam is 726 feet tall. That's almost 200 feet taller than the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.
• During peak periods of electrical demands, enough water runs through the generators to fill 15 average-size swimming pools (20,000 gallons each) in one second.
• There is enough concrete in Hoover Dam (4.5 million cubic yards) to build a two-lane road from Seattle, Washington, to Miami, Florida, or a four-foot-wide sidewalk around the Earth at the Equator.
• The Hoover Dam is so thick and heavy, it doesn't even need to be curved! It's heavy enough to resist the weight and thrust of the water pushing behind it, but designers thought people would feel safer with a curved design.

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Thanks for the heads-up, I was thinking about checking it out.

FYI: It is also on at midnight tonight - I set the DVR for that one.

History channel puts out some interesting stuff, but people need to remember they are pretty big 'what ifs'. I don't see humans leaving anytime soon, but Stanford did beat USC as 41 point dogs.

This was great. It starts out at day 1 and I was amazed to see how fast things will go bad. The Hoover Dam is the only thing that can produce power for more than a few days without man. Great show, I hope someone posts it on Youtube because I would love to watch it again.