We also investigate the notorious Texas outlaw, Wild Bill Longley, and the longstanding family legend that he managed to escape the hangman's noose. The gypsy moth, once brought to the US from Asia as a potential source of silk, has now literally transformed the forests of the eastern US and is working its way west to California. The aggressive brown tree snake, which stowed away on US Air Force planes headed to Guam in the 1940s, has essentially eradicated Guam's bird life. Hopes are resting on a deadly virus that infects the snakes' lungs, now being tested at the National Zoo in Washington. And we look at another stowaway species, the Asian longhorn beetle, which if left unstopped could devastate America's majestic maples.
Many children face challenges far beyond the usual stresses and strains of growing up.
Alan meets several kids who are growing up different, along with the doctors and researchers who are trying to mitigate the difficulties they face. Until very recently the vast area under the world's ocean surfaces was virtually unknown and unreachable by humans. Now, with new technologies and research techniques in hand, the undersea world is starting to yield its secrets. In this program we'll see how scientists using new technologies are exploring life in the undersea world. Stories will include a profile of pioneering ocean explorer Robert Ballard, and an investigation into the plight of the dwindling wild Atlantic salmon.