Coming this Summer: Discover the Bare Necessities of Survival

04/28/2013

Sad that Naked Castaway is over? Have no fear – Naked and Afraid, Discovery’s brand new survival series, premieres this summer!

Each week on Naked and Afraid, a new pair of strangers will face the ultimate challenge: surviving together for 21 days in some of the world’s harshest environments with no food, no water, no tools -- and no clothes. Think you could handle it?

 

While you wait for the premiere, learn more about survival to prepare for your own adventures:

WATCH: Survival 101 Tips from Dual Survival’s Cody and Joe

WATCH: Bear Grylls’ Ultimate Survival Guide

VOTE: What would be the hardest part of surviving on a deserted island?

NEWS: The Latest on Survival from Discovery News

IDEAS: Prepare for Your Next Big Adventure

 

Read more about Naked Castaway and Naked and Afraid: Discovery Channel bares all with upcoming 'Naked' shows (New York Daily News)

Fire Up Your Friday Nights with Wild West Alaska

04/26/2013

Tune in tonight for the premiere of Wild West Alaska at 10|9c on the Discovery Channel!

On Wild West Alaska, you will step into a world where bears outnumber people and off-the-beaten path is the only direction to go. At Wild West Guns, Alaska’s largest and most successful gun shop, owner Jim West and his team build weapons for every situation  — from everyday hunting to the unique demands of Alaskan life off-the-grid.  The only thing more unusual than their weapons is the stream of colorful characters who walk through their door.  Like Jim and his team say, “In Alaska, the odds are good... but the goods are odd!”

For a sneak peek of the people you'll meet and places you'll see, check out the photos below:

Phred speaks with Ken at Wild West Guns.

 

Wild West Guns' Head Gunsmith Bryan at work.

John and Ken drive to a gold prospect location.

 

John and Ken look for gold in the water.

 

A bear on Kodiak Island, Alaska

Watch Wild West Alaska on Fridays at 10|9c on the Discovery Channel!

 

 

Backyard Oil: Real. Funny. Folks.

04/22/2013

There’s nothing we love better at Discovery Channel than introducing you to new characters. Especially the kind that are going to let you into their private worlds to learn a little bit about what they do and laugh with them as they display their quirky charm. If you ask Executive Producer French Horwitz, that’s exactly why you are going to love the Kentucky wildcat oil drillers of Backyard Oil premiering tomorrow at 10|9c. In his words, “They hit the sweet spot between funny and real. These are just ordinary guys out there working hard, and incredibly it just happens to be on oil wells in their yards and on their farms.”

Yes. We know their story sounds just like The Beverly Hillbillies and we think they are every bit as endearing as the classic TV characters. The big difference is that these unlikely oil barons haven’t pulled up stakes – they’ve hit the jackpot in their own backyards and they are working that land for every drop of Texas Tea they can find there. The Kentucky back country is their home, but for us it might as well be another world.

Fortunately, the Backyard Oil boys are happy to share the peculiarities of their world with us. We’ll learn their language, where sayings like “drinking somebody’s milkshake” dominate conversation. For what it’s worth in Kentucky oil-speak that’s a bad thing – it’s when you are drilling a well and you inadvertently tap into someone else’s underground reserve. In other words, a major faux-pas.

We’ll also learn their sometimes strange ways. Like the unshakable belief held by some that “dowsing” or using sticks can predict where the oil might lie. Or the very expensive gamble that a surprising farm animal can sniff out the prize oil. Do these ways work? Well, they think so and we’ll get to see whether their unconventional wisdom pays off. 

The one thing we will learn for sure is the fact that no matter how they choose to roll the dice and drill the land, once they commit, these fellas are all in. It’s hard to not root for a millionaire that wants to keep wildcatting and dine on nothing more than a grilled bologna sandwich.

When we asked French to describe the characters we are going to meet he kept coming back to the same traits. Whether it’s Jimmy Reliford who draws comparisons to the infamous “JR Ewing” by being the big land owner or the plain-speaking Jed Clampet-esque Travis Coomer, French describes them as “the salt of the earth.”

As for Brent “Mad Dog” Yates and the father-son duo the Pages? Well, we’ll let you form your own descriptions for them - and we can't wait to hear what you think.

Before we let French Horwitz get back to business on Backyard Oil we had to ask him one more question – the one you are probably asking as well. Do these guys get that they are the modern day Beverly Hillbillies? According to French, they do. As he puts it:

“They’re the ones laughing the hardest. The joke isn’t on them, it’s on us. Sure, we may get a kick out of their hillbilly quirkiness, but they’ve been able to make a mint and do it in their own home town and their own terms. They’re laughing all the way to the bank.”

What’s not to love about that?

 

One Day Without Shoes

04/16/2013

Shoes help protect from cuts, diseases and soil-based infections like hookworm, which affect approximately 740 million people worldwide [WHO].

Well, what if you could do something about it?  Today, April 16th, Discovery is joining TOMS in going without shoes to bring awareness to children's health and education.

This is about more than just shoes. This is about being a part of a global movement.  Join us today and leave your footprint in a way that affects positive change.

 

Poll loading...

 

Learn more about TOMS and their effort to to break the poverty cycle at www.onedaywithoutshoes.com

Life on the Edge: Brushes with Death in the Yukon

03/20/2013

Ever been chased by a grizzly bear? Charged by a moose? Fallen through thin ice? These situations could happen any day in the Yukon. We sat down with Yukon Men’s Charlie and Bob Wright as well as Stan and Joey Zuray to hear what they consider their closest brushes with death.

Each week we’ll be releasing one of their stories on discovery.com/yukonmen, and first up is Charlie Wright’s account of one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. Watch the clip below to hear his tale:

Have you ever had an experience like Charlie’s? Share your stories below, and don’t forget to check back for more Brushes with Death videos to watch the Yukon Men recount their harrowing tales of defying death and surviving against the odds.

 

Tune in to Yukon Men on Fridays at 9|8c on the Discovery Channel!

 

 

Tightrope Legend to Attempt Grand Canyon Crossing

03/18/2013

This summer is shaping up to be an exciting one as tightrope legend Nik Wallenda announced today that he will attempt to traverse the majestic Grand Canyon—without using a harness.

Wallenda will tightrope walk higher than he’s ever attempted before at 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River, a height greater than the Empire State Building.

The tightrope crossing will take place in a remote section of the canyon operated by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation.

In 2012, Wallenda became the first person to tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls from the U.S. to Canada at a height of 200 feet. 


“The stakes don’t get much higher than this,” said Wallenda. “The only thing that stands between me and the bottom of the canyon is a two-inch thick wire. I’m looking forward to showing the audience a view of the canyon they’ve never seen before.”

Discovery Channel will capture the nail-biting, play-by-play live event on Sunday, June 23.

Read the full press release below:

 TIGHTROPE LEGEND NIK WALLENDA TO CROSS OVER GRAND CANYON, HIS HIGHEST WALK EVER



Event to air Live on Sunday, June 23, on Discovery Channel 


(Los Angeles, Calif.) — It will be one of the most daring and captivating live events in history -- Nik Wallenda, known as “The King of the High Wire,” will traverse the majestic Grand Canyon, without using a harness. Discovery Channel will capture the nail-biting, play-by-play live event on Sunday, June 23. 


“Discovery Channel continues to bring some of television’s most talked about and historic live events of the year,” said Eileen O’Neill, Group President Discovery and TLC Networks. “From Felix Baumgartner setting the world record for highest skydive in SPACE JUMP LIVE to this latest feat showcasing Nik Wallenda’s greatest challenge yet.” 


Wallenda will tightrope walk higher than he’s ever attempted before at 1,500 feet above the Little Colorado River, a height greater than the Empire State Building.  In 2012, Wallenda became the first person to tightrope walk directly over Niagara Falls from the U.S. to Canada at a height of 200 feet.


“The stakes don’t get much higher than this,” said Wallenda. “The only thing that stands between me and the bottom of the canyon is a two-inch thick wire. I’m looking forward to showing the audience a view of the canyon they’ve never seen before.” 


Wallenda, 34, said that this latest event will be the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to walk at such a great height as well as a chance to honor his great-grandfather, the legendary Karl Wallenda, who died after falling from a tightrope in Puerto Rico in 1978. 


The Grand Canyon, one of America’s most visited tourist destinations, provides a spectacular backdrop to the event. The tightrope crossing will take place in a remote section of the canyon operated by the Navajo Nation Parks and Recreation. 


“We are honored to be a part of this historic event and showcase the beauty that exists on Navajo country,” said Geri Hongeva-Camarillo, Media Representative of the Navajo Parks and Recreation. “The Navajo Nation is home to more than a dozen national monuments, tribal parks and ancestral sites. Many visitors make Navajo Nation one of the top destinations for their travel plans.”


"Navajo Parks and Recreation strives to preserve and protect tribal park land for the enjoyment of all visitors. We use our land and all elements of life as teaching tools for our youth and visitors from afar, we welcome this special event and the community is excited to be a part of it," said Helen Webster, Park Manager of Navajo Parks and Recreation. 


The live event is produced by Peacock Productions for Discovery with Gretchen Eisele, Knute Walker and Benjamin Ringe serving as executive producers. Howard Swartz serves as executive producer for Discovery. To learn more, go to www.discovery.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/discoverychannel and on Twitter @Discovery.

Will Dustin Make It As A Yukon Man?

03/15/2013

Here’s what Executive Producer French Horwitz thinks:

“I live tweet these shows and the most common question I get is, ‘Could I come up there and be on the show and live that way?’ I would respond, ‘You can’t handle it. I promise you.’

It just so happened that Pat Moore was looking for a new dog handler and hired one who was from the lower 48, from North Carolina. In Season Two, we truly show everyone out there how hard it is to survive in this terrain, how hard it is to adapt and just to make it through the day. We get to watch this new character, Dustin, learn to adapt, to handle dogs, to survive in this world.

That, to me, is the most compelling story in Season Two."

Tune in tonight at 9|8c to see if Dustin has what it takes to make it in the Yukon and what big decision the Moores will make about him.

Pi Day Tricks and More!

03/14/2013

Ok, you know by now that we love Pi Day here at Discovery Channel - and of course we are having pizza pie for lunch. Aren't you? If you aren't content to just eat your way through Pi Day and you want to exercise that brain are you in luck. Not only do we have an awesome contest for you and a chance to express yourself via Pi-Ku, it seems a few others in the Discovery family love Pi too. Here's the run down on the fun:

Revision3 Unveils a Pi Day magic trick from Scam School:

 

Of course you just knew Discovery News wouldn't let the day pass unnoticed:

 

Our friends at Science Channel are showing us Brainman's Beautiful Pi:

 

Plus head over to our our brain teaser games to keep up the Pi Day party and get a little hint about an off-the-hook engineering challenge show hosted by Kal Penn coming to Discovery Channel this spring!

 

An Inside Look at the New Season of Yukon Men

02/21/2013

Tune in to Season Two of Yukon Men, premiering Friday, February 22 at 10|9c!

Just 60 miles from the Arctic Circle is a town on the edge of civilization: Tanana, Alaska. This frozen village of 200 people is part of an unknown America where men hunt and trap to survive. Each changing season brings new struggles, new threats and new dangers.

Season Two brings new challenges and even greater fights for survival as the people of Tanana prepare for the oncoming winter. Executive Producer French Horwitz sheds some light on what we can expect from Season Two below.

How is the new season different from Season One?

FH: One thing we tried in Season Two was to get a little deeper into the characters and learn more about their motivations. Why do they live here? Why do they love this place? What do they think of outsiders?

Plus, I think the other really interesting part is, it just so happened that Pat Moore was looking for a new dog handler and hired one who was from the lower 48, from North Carolina. In Season Two, we will truly show everyone out there how hard it is to survive in this terrain. How hard it is to adapt and just to make it through the day.

How have the kids in Yukon Men changed since Season One?

FH: We’ve seen Joey go from living in his father’s house to having his own cabin. That’s a massive responsibility in a town like this. You just can’t go leave and party for six months and then come back – your house would be destroyed. There’s so much riding on their everyday life that, yes they screw up like any other kids sometimes, but they have a much deeper responsibility than most of us have.

How has the town reacted to being filmed?

FH: I think at the beginning the town was a little nervous about having their lifestyle exposed on the big screen. But I think they have come to really appreciate it and now even celebrate the show.

In fact, Stan Zuray told me that every Friday night when the show is on, many people in Tanana get together and watch it and they love it, they absolutely love it.

That’s a credit to the production company, to the crew, and to the characters themselves for just really being honest with the American public. This is what life is like, this is how you live, we’re proud people. And I think it comes across on the show. That to me is a victory.

Why should people watch Yukon Men Season Two?

FH: I think for folks who like survival shows, this is real survival within a real town in America – one of the most remote places in America. These people live with danger every single day. I think it’s a slice of America that is almost 99% gone from our daily lives – very few of us live as free as these folks do, but also have to do so much just to survive. It’s the kind of place I think we can celebrate.

Want to chat with Yukon Men’s EP French Horwitz? He’ll be live tweeting during the season premiere from @frenchhorwitz!

Don’t forget to tune in to Season Two of Yukon Men, premiering Friday, February 22 at 10|9c after Gold Rush Live!

While you wait for the season to begin, here’s another sneak peek from the premiere:

Stan and Joey Zuray prepare a fish raft to transport food to feed their dogs through the winter.

How Do You Raise a Sunken Treasure?

02/20/2013

Senior Project Mgr. Andrew Craig

This past summer, our cameras rolled as the world's best-known deep-sea recovery team, Odyssey Marine Exploration (OME), recovered approximately 48 tons of silver bullion from the SS Gairsoppa - making it the deepest and heaviest cargo recovery in history. Silver Rush, airing this Sunday, February 24 at 8|7c, shows the race to recover this un-imaginable treasure in lost silver and gold.

As if one ship wasn't enough, the SS Gairsoppa was just one of three lost ships OME set out to recover in a mere 90 days  in the treacherous waters of the North Atlantic.  As you’d guess it takes a lot of skill, determination and sheer grit to get an operation like this off the ground. We were fortunate to have Senior Project Manager, Andrew Craig answer a few of our questions on just how they mount such a delicate operation.

Q: How do you research what and where you will search for a lost vessel?

Andrew Craig:  We have a great team of researchers at Odyssey. They scour archives and other sources for information about a ship’s possible location. They also pull historic weather and current information. I work with them to set up a search area for a project based on their information, our equipment capabilities and weather/currents in the area to set up an efficient search. During the search and identification phase, we’ll often send information and images back to the research team to help us identify and confirm what we have found.

Q: How do you prepare for such an expedition? What’s the most difficult part of the planning and training?

Andrew Craig: We spent a significant amount of time acquiring the tools necessary to conduct this recovery which was the deepest and heaviest recovery of precious metal in history. We have a world-class team at Odyssey, who is highly skilled in underwater exploration, working on this project.

The Remora ROV

To give you some perspective on the challenge we face, imagine you are in an airplane and you reach 15,000 feet (which is the depth of the Gairsoppa) then you have to drop a robot down to a house below, go in, navigate around, find the master bedroom, locate the dresser in that room, figure out which drawer the socks are in and then recover all of the socks out of there and bring them back to you onboard the airplane. Now on top of that, add water and instead of socks you’re recovering silver bars that weigh approximately 80 lbs each. It’s an extraordinary challenge, but we thrive on challenges.

Q: Using ROV’s is a huge part of your work. How do you train to use them and are they complicated?Andrew Craig: There are various schools that offer training in operating ROVs; I attended Plymouth University where I earned a degree in Underwater Technology with Hydrography. We use ROVs to act as our hands and eyes deep below the ocean surface.  Our ROVs are modified by our team for deep-ocean exploration and archaeology and are highly sophisticated.

Q: What other technology do you use?

Andrew Craig: We used side-scan sonar, magnetometers and a small ROV with a smaller tethered robot during the search and inspection phase on the Gairsopppa. Among the other suite of equipment we assembled were lights and tools that can withstand the crushing pressures of the deep as well as computers that coordinate the distant but delicate action. The system that we used on the Gairsoppa recovery consisted of a suite of hydraulic tools that are lowered to the sea floor and then controlled by the Remotely Operated Vehicle while the weight of the tool is controlled by a 30t winch. This allowed the technicians at the surface to change out tools on the seafloor without retrieving the ROV to the vessel. We are able to conduct precision cuts and surgically remove the bullion from the shipwreck. Also, at this great depth, an important consideration is the type of cable used to connect the recovery ship and the robot – we are using a plastic cable called Dyneema that is strong as steel but weightless in sea water.

Q: Describe that moment when you and a crew come across a find.

Andrew Craig: We (almost literally) held our breath for 3 ½ hours which is the time it took to get the ROV from the Gairsoppa shipwreck site to the surface! Prior to finding silver, we found ingots on the site, but they were made of pig iron. So the celebration couldn’t start until we brought a bar up and confirmed it was silver. Once the first bar was tested and confirmed, it was a euphoric moment for the crew. We just accomplished something a lot of people thought was impossible.  We are very proud of our marine operations crew on the ship, the crew back in the research department that pinpointed the wreck location for us and for all of the team and fans who supported us through this record-breaking expedition.

Get ready for this amazing adventure with a sneak preview of the action in Silver Rush.

Are you interested in more Odyssey Marine Explorations projects? Relive their 2007 quest to raise treasure from the Black Swan a colonial era ship loaded with silver in clips from Treasure Quest. 

For more information on Odyssey Marine Explorations visit their in-depth website.