This article reminded me of the show. The winding path of technology...

Super slurry from Belarus polishes U.S. optics

A high-tech mix used in shock absorbers and clutches in Russian military vehicles has been recast as an award-winning U.S. technology for polishing precision optics, vital components in today's products such as camcorders, CD players, surgical lasers, bar-code scanners, and telescopes.

A team of scientists in Minsk, Belarus, in 1988 came up with the idea of using the slurry to polish glass, an application that piqued the interest of scientists at the University of Rochester's Center for Optics Manufacturing (COM). Initially doubtful, optics expert Stephen Jacobs of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) visited the principal investigator, William Kordonski, in Belarus to see his discovery, and was immediately impressed. The visit resulted in a research collaboration between COM and Byelocorp Scientific Inc., a firm that develops new technologies; the agreement brought Kordonski and members of his team to the United States. Together COM, Byelocorp and Kordonski's team launched a research program at COM in 1994 to perfect the technology. The collaboration has resulted in three patents and commercialization of the technology, known as magnetorheological finishing (MRF), in the optics industry.

I really enjoyed this show, too.  Wish it was still on...

Loved that show as well.
In Connections2 the links got a little more vague / indirect.

That was such a cool show, and the guy had a column in Scientific American. That was the only reason to read that mag.... now they're a bunch of leftists...

Was that the British show about technological evolition? That's the one I remember. I loved it, especially the "SHTF" first episode.

My late son and I really grooved on connections.  It was a great way of developing higher level thinking skills in kids.  In the long run, it didn't matter.

wasn't connections a sequel to james burke's first series on pbs called "the day the universe changed"
probably the best show on pbs

Quoted: wasn't connections a sequel to james burke's first series on pbs called "the day the universe changed" probably the best show on pbs

It wasn't a sequel.  Just a different show hosted by the same guy.