Did you know that fire fighters can now see through dense smoke? That the air bag was invented as early as 1952? That the average time before a jet engine is overhauled is 50,000 hours? That totally enclosed lifeboats can actually travel through flames? Click on the links below to learn about a host of safety features that manufacturers have introduced in firefighting equipment, cars, planes, and lifeboats over the decades. Fire | Car | Plane | Sea Escape Through Time | Skydive | Human Response Survivor Stories | Pioneers of Survival | Survival Strategies Resources | Teacher's Guide | Transcripts | Site Map | Escape! Home Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH © | Updated November 2000