The cast of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk urban legends, old wives' tales, and the like. MythBusters is a Popular science Television program produced by Australian firm Beyond Television Productions originally for the An urban legend or urban myth is a form of modern Folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them An old wives' tale or old wives' saws is a type of Urban legend, similar to a proverb which is generally passed down by old wives to a younger generation This is a list of the various myths tested on the show as well as the results of the experiments (the myth is Busted, Plausible, or Confirmed). MythBusters is a Popular science Television program produced by Australian firm Beyond Television Productions originally for the
Note: The show's first season used "True" instead of "Confirmed"; for the sake of consistency, "Confirmed" will be used on this page.
Visit the Mythbusters episode guide for complete list of episodes. This is an episode list of the Popular science Television series MythBusters on The Discovery Channel.
The myths the show has tested for accuracy include:
| | Contents- 1 Episode 1 — "Ice Bullet, Exploding Toilet, Who Gets Wetter?"
- 2 Episode 2 — "Cell Phone Destruction, Silicone Breasts, CD-ROM Shattering"
- 3 Episode 3 — "Barrel of Bricks, Peeing on the Third Rail, Eel Skin Wallet"
- 4 Episode 4 — "Penny Drop, Microwave Madness, Radio Tooth Fillings"
- 5 Episode 5 — "Hammer Bridge Drop, Buried Alive, Cola"
- 6 Episode 6 — "Lightning Strikes Tongue Piercing, Tree Cannon, Beat the Breath Test"
- 7 Episode 7 — "Stinky Car, Raccoon Rocket"
- 8 Episode 8 — "Escape From Alcatraz, Duck Quack, Stud Finder"
- 9 Episode 9 — "Chicken Gun, Octopus Egg Pregnancy, Killer Washing Machine"
- 10 Episode 10 — "Explosive Decompression, Frog Giggin', Rear Axle"
- 11 Episode 11 — "Sinking Titanic, Goldfish Memory, Trombone Explosion"
- 12 Episode 12 — "Break Step Bridge, Toothbrush Surprise, Rowing Water Skier"
- 13 Episode 13 — "Buried in Concrete, Daddy Long-legs, Jet Taxi"
- 14 References
- 15 External links
|
Episode 1 — "Ice Bullet, Exploding Toilet, Who Gets Wetter?"
Ice Bullet
This myth tested the feasibility of magic bullets, used as a plot device or otherwise mentioned in many movies, such as Most Wanted or Three Days of the Condor. Events 1122 - Concordat of Worms. 1459 - Battle of Blore Heath, the first major battle of the English Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Three Days of the Condor is a 1975 American Thriller film produced by Stanley Schneider and directed by Sydney Pollack.
This myth was retested in Myths Revisited. The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| An assassin can fire an ice bullet to kill someone without leaving a trace. AssassiNation is the sixth album by Krisiun, released in 2006 on Century Media. Ice is a Solid phase, usually crystalline, of a Non-metalic substance that is liquid or gas at Room temperature, such as Ammonia A bullet is a solid Projectile propelled by a Firearm or Air gun and is normally made from metal (usually Lead) | Busted | The ice bullet evaporated before it could leave the barrel. |
| An assassin can use a meat bullet to kill someone without leaving a trace. In modern English usage meat most often refers to Animal tissue used as food mostly Skeletal muscle and associated Fat, but it may also refer | Busted | The meat bullet fragmented on contact with the skin, causing only superficial damage. |
| An assassin can use a gelatin bullet to kill someone without leaving a trace. Gelatin (also gelatine, from French gélatine) is a translucent colourless brittle nearly tasteless solid substance, extracted from the | Busted | The bullet did not cause fatal injury. |
| An assassin can use a poison capsule fired from an umbrella to kill someone without leaving a trace. | Confirmed | It was found to have been the cause of death for a notable Bulgarian dignitary, Georgi Markov. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Georgi Ivanov Markov (Георги Иванов Марков (March 1 1929 – September 11 1978 was a Bulgarian Dissident. The catch is that the umbrella must be fired from point-blank range for it to work (see Bulgarian umbrella). Bought in Washington DC modified in Moscow and used in London the Bulgarian umbrella was an umbrella with a hidden pneumatic mechanism in it which shot out small pellets |
Exploding Toilet
This experiment formally introduces Buster the crash test dummy. For the band see Crash Test Dummies. For the series of toys see The Incredible Crash Dummies.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Pouring gasoline down a toilet and lighting it will cause the toilet to explode. A toilet is a Plumbing fixture and disposal system primarily intended for the disposal of the bodily wastes: Urine and fecal matter. | Busted | The gasoline simply burned without exploding. Not even a tin of gunpowder in the toilet bowl was able to eject Buster from the seat. |
Who Gets Wetter?
This myth was revisited in MythBusters Revisited. The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A person will end up drier running in the rain rather than walking. | Busted | The original test showed that running faster results in getting wetter. |
¹ Original result was later overturned. See MythBusters Revisited. The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like
Episode 2 — "Cell Phone Destruction, Silicone Breasts, CD-ROM Shattering"
Cell Phone Destruction
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Using one's cell phone while pumping gas/petrol can cause an explosion. Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. | Busted | A properly-working cell phone poses almost no danger of igniting gasoline, even when surrounded by gasoline vapor with the optimum fuel-air mix for ignition. The actual risk comes from an electrostatic discharge between a charged driver and the car, often a result of continually getting into and out of the vehicle. Electrostatic discharge ( ESD) is the sudden and momentary Electric current that flows between two objects at different Electrical potentials The term is |
Silicone Breasts
A spinoff of this myth was tested in Myths Revisited. The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like Interestingly, the DVD version includes another version of the spinoff.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Silicone breast implants may explode at high altitudes or low air pressure. | Busted | The implants expanded, but at too high an altitude for the person to live and not enough to explode. |
CD-ROM Shattering
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| CDs can shatter if placed in a high-speed (i. e. 40X or faster) CD-ROM drive. | Busted/ Plausible | It was proven that a high rotation (in excess of 23,000 RPM) could shatter the CDs, but the MythBusters could not achieve this using an average CD-ROM drive (though it was possible that the computer used, a budget model, simply could not keep up with the drive). Physical damage to the CD made shattering more likely. In addition, there was testimony by at least one person (the salesperson who sold the computer) that seemed to verify the myth. The MythBusters concluded that while this event was possible, it was very unlikely to happen. (The myth was called "Busted" in a future episode, but was not "Busted" in the episode where it actually appeared. ) |
Episode 3 — "Barrel of Bricks, Peeing on the Third Rail, Eel Skin Wallet"
Barrel of Bricks
This marks the first time Buster was broken in the course of an experiment. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A bricklayer could be injured repeatedly while hoisting a barrel full of bricks from the top of a three-story building. Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar, and the term "masonry" can also refer to the units themselves A brick is a block of Ceramic material used in Masonry construction laid using mortar. | Plausible | Only by deliberately weakening the barrel and dropping it on a sharp edge were they able to get the barrel to drop its bricks. But there was no evidence of the myth happening; the source of the myth appears to be a joke book. |
Peeing on the Third Rail
In order to avoid appearing insensitive to viewers, no one refers to or shows the male genitalia at any time during the experiment - instead talking solely about the urination process. Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, and more rarely emiction, is the process of disposing Urine from the Urinary bladder
A spinoff of this myth was tested in Myths Revisited. The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Urinating on the electric third rail of a train track can cause electrocution. A third rail is a method of providing Electricity to power a railway through a continuous rigid conductor alongside the railway track or between the rails "Electrocute" redirects here For the band see Electrocute (band. | Busted | Although it is possible to electrocute yourself by urinating on a third rail, you would have to stand unrealistically close to the rail to do it. In most instances, a urine stream would break into droplets before making contact with the rail. |
- The MythBusters also tested the myth that a penny on a rail could derail a train (see "MythBusters Outtakes"). The cast of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like This test can also be seen in the DVD version of this episode.
Eelskin Wallet
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Using an electric eel-skin wallet will cause a static charge that will cause the magnetic strips on credit cards to fail. The electric eel, Electrophorus electricus, is a species of Fish. | Busted | Most eel-skin wallets are not made from electric eels, but rather from a fish called a hagfish which does not produce an electric charge. Hagfish are marine Craniates of the class Myxini, also known as Hyperotreti. Data written to a set of test cards were not affected in any way. In addition, further tests were conducted to see how much magnetism would it take to 'wipe' a card, and was found to be far above what the average person may encounter. |
Episode 4 — "Penny Drop, Microwave Madness, Radio Tooth Fillings"
Penny Drop
Adam and Jamie explore a popular claim, likely to have originated from the Empire State Building. Events 539 BC - King Cyrus The Great of Persia marches into the city of Babylon, releasing the Jews from almost Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco Skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A penny dropped from a skyscraper lands with enough force to either kill a pedestrian on the sidewalk below or embed itself into the sidewalk. A penny (pl pence or pennies) is a Coin or a unit of Currency used in several English -speaking countries | Busted | A penny's terminal velocity is too low and its mass too small for it to penetrate human skin - let alone penetrate concrete or asphalt. A free falling object achieves its terminal velocity when the downward force of gravity ( Fg)equals the upward force of drag ( Fd) Even when fired from a rifle, the penny was unable to penetrate concrete. It did, however, decimate the ballistics gel dummy. |
Radio Tooth Fillings
Adam and Jamie test whether radio signals can be picked up from tooth fillings, as claimed by Lucille Ball in an interview on The Dick Cavett Show. Lucille Ball (August 6 1911 – April 26 1989 was an American comedienne, film television stage and radio Actress, model, film The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several Talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various Television networks including
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| It is possible to pick up radio signals through a tooth filling. | Busted | The tooth filling did not act as an antenna. Explanations for the supposed Morse code pickup included a galvanic reaction between two teeth fillings and saliva. Morse code is a Character encoding for transmitting telegraphic information using standardized sequences of short and long elements to represent the letters numerals |
Microwave Madness
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| It is possible to cook one's insides by using a tanning booth too often. A tanning bed or sunbed is a device emitting Ultraviolet radiation (typically 95% UVA and 5% UVB +/-3% used to produce a cosmetic tan. | Busted | Tanning booths work on UV radiation, which penetrates the body from the outside in, meaning that all one would get is a sunburn. Ultraviolet ( UV) light is Electromagnetic radiation with a Wavelength shorter than that of Visible light, but longer than X-rays A sunburn is a burn to living tissue such as Skin produced by overexposure to Ultraviolet (UV radiation commonly from the Sun 's rays |
| It is possible to blow up a microwave oven by microwaving metal. A microwave oven, or a microwave, is a Kitchen appliance that cooks or heats Food by Dielectric heating. | Busted (with caveats) | Neither a spoon nor a fork had any effect. Tinfoil scrunched into balls caused a light-show with electric charges, but the microwave did not explode. Microwaving metal can possibly ruin a microwave by arcing against the inner wall, sending electricity back to the magnetron, and either destroying it or shortening its lifespan. A cavity magnetron is a high-powered Vacuum tube that generates coherent Microwaves They are commonly found in Microwave ovens as well as various |
| If a glass of water is microwaved, removed, and an additive placed in it, it will explode due to superheating. See Superheater for the device used in Steam engines In Physics, superheating (sometimes referred to as boiling retardation | Confirmed | If the water had no impurities in it at the time of superheating (for instance, distilled water), then any sort of additive placed within will make the water explode. A full explanation of the process can be found here. |
| It is possible to build a super-microwave by aligning four magnetrons around a metal box. | Busted (unofficially) | If there is a proper method to build one, the method used in the show is not it. After a glass of water was exposed to the "super microwave"'s magnetrons for thirty seconds, a thermometer found that the temperature of the water had actually dropped by two degrees Fahrenheit. |
Episode 5 — "Hammer Bridge Drop, Buried Alive, Cola"
Hammer Bridge Drop
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A high fall over water can be survived by throwing a hammer ahead of oneself and breaking the surface tension. Events 69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus the commander of the Danube armies loyal to Vespasian, defeat Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. For the work of fiction see Surface Tension (short story. Surface tension is a property of the surface of a Liquid that causes it to | Busted | Dropping a hammer in front of oneself cannot break the surface tension of the water enough to save one's life if one falls from high up. |
101 Uses For Cola
Cola is able to…
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| …remove bloodstains. Cola is a sweet carbonated drink usually with Caramel coloring and containing Caffeine. | Confirmed | The cola was able to emulsify bloodstains. An emulsion ( IPA: /ɪˈmʌlʃən/ is a mixture of two Immiscible (unblendable liquids |
| …clean rust. | Busted | The cola was unable to break down rust deposits. |
| …act as a toilet cleaner. A bleach is a Chemical that removes color or whitens often via Oxidation. | Busted | This chapter of the myth was shown in Mythbusters Outtakes. |
| …clean chrome. | Confirmed | It surprisingly cleaned the chrome better than the commercial chrome polish used for comparison. |
| …dissolve a tooth overnight. | Busted | The tooth did start to dissolve, indicating that with enough time it could be completely dissolved. However, the acidic solution used for comparison was much more effective in dissolving the tooth. |
| …dissolve a steak. | Busted | The cola just gave the steak a soft, pasty consistency. |
| …clean a penny. | Confirmed | Results were good. The only part of the coin that was not cleaned was an area where a bubble had formed. |
| …clean battery terminals. | Plausible | The cola worked, but it was hard to tell if plain water did not perform just as well. The cola did not do anything spectacular. As Adam noted, it probably only worked because it is a liquid. |
| …remove greasy stains in laundry. | Busted | No effect at all to the grease, but turned the material brown. |
| …degrease engines. | Busted | The cola did not remove any of the grease. |
| …kill sperm. | Busted | The MythBusters added cola to some slides and saline solution to others. They counted the number of live sperm they could see through a microscope camera in one minute, and found that the number of live sperm in both saline and cola was relatively the same. With the help of Dr. Turek, they determined that cola doesn't do much more than dilute the sperm. |
Buried Alive
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| It is possible to stay alive over 1 day when one is buried alive in a coffin. | Busted | Jamie risked his own life for this myth. Without the dirt, Jamie stayed in the coffin for 50 minutes; he maintained just 30 minutes when the dirt was factored in. Suffocation from the lack of outside air would have claimed the life of anyone buried alive. There is also the possibility of the coffin being crushed by the weight of the dirt pressing down on it. The risk of sudden collapse was the main reason the test was aborted after only 30 minutes. After the coffin was uncovered, it was found to have buckled significantly. |
Episode 6 — "Lightning Strikes Tongue Piercing, Tree Cannon, Beat the Breath Test"
Lightning Strikes Tongue Piercing
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Metal body piercings increase one's chances of being hit by lightning. Events 1492 - The Ensisheim Meteorite the oldest Meteorite with a known date of impact strikes the Earth around noon in a Wheat Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Body piercing is the practice of puncturing or cutting a part of the Human body, creating an opening in which jewelry may be worn Lightning is an atmospheric discharge of Electricity, which typically occurs during Thunderstorms and sometimes during volcanic eruptions or | Busted | The lightning did seem to strike a pierced body more, but not the piercings directly, which was the actual myth (see stock footage). It would take a piercing the size of a doorknob to attract lightning. So, technically, it was busted. Adam was also shown having his tongue pierced, but he did not keep the piercing for any significant length of time. |
Tree Cannon
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Under siege from a neighboring clan, a Medieval Hungarian town (Paks) built a cannon out of a tree overnight, but wiped out a great deal of itself when the cannon exploded during a test-fire. Paks is a town in Tolna county central Hungary, on the banks of the Danube River | Plausible | It is impossible to bore a barrel out of a log in a single night using the technology available at that time. The cannon made of a log, loaded with 6 ounces of gunpowder, successfully fired a 1-pound granite cannonball a significant distance (exact measurement unavailable since the cannonball was not found). Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes Loaded with 5 pounds of gunpowder, and with its barrel plugged, the tree cannon exploded violently enough to feasibly destroy part of a small medieval town like Paks. During the test, several blast shields and a tractor were placed between the cannon and the MythBusters crew for protection - large pieces of the log were sent way behind them. |
Beat the Breath Test
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Using various substances and tricks when intoxicated can beat the breathalyzer test (for instance, eating an onion, eating breath mints, drinking mouthwash, placing a penny in the mouth, etc. A breathalyzer is a (breath analyser device for estimating Blood alcohol content (BAC from a breath sample ). | Busted | None of the tested methods worked. In addition, mouthwash actually made the breathalyzer give a higher reading than usual because of the inherent alcohol content. |
Episode 7 — "Stinky Car, Raccoon Rocket"
Stinky Car
A Corvette which has been fouled by a decomposing body…
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| …can destroy the inside of the car. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. | Confirmed | Pig corpses were placed in the car. The car was sealed with tape and placed in a container. Two months later the car was full of condensation, and the seats, door panels, and carpets were dirty and disintegrating. |
| …cannot be cleaned up enough to remove the smell completely. | Plausible | With the aid of a professional cleaning company, the car was cleaned, but it is impractical to disassemble the car, clean every small piece, and then re-assemble it. Some parts, like the seats, proved to be uncleanable. |
| …cannot be cleaned up enough to be sold. | Busted | The MythBusters did find a buyer who was willing to purchase the car for spare parts. |
Raccoon Rocket
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A hillbilly was blasted 200 feet (60 meters) out of a culvert when he tried to light gasoline in an attempt to chase down a raccoon which had wandered down the pipe. Hillbilly is a term referring to people who dwell in remote Rural, Mountainous areas of the United States, primarily southern Appalachia and | Busted | The hillbilly (Buster, a dummy) was simply lit on fire when the gasoline was ignited. The only way the alleged result of the myth was duplicated was by encasing Buster in a foam sabot and propelling him out of the culvert using gunpowder. A sabot (ˈseɪboʊ "saybow" or /ˈsæboʊ/ "sabbow" is a device used in a Firearm or Cannon to fire a Projectile, such as a Even then, Buster only managed about 100 feet, half the distance of their goal. |
Episode 8 — "Escape From Alcatraz, Duck Quack, Stud Finder"
Escape From Alcatraz
Jamie said that this was one myth they just had to test, since it is probably the most famous myth of San Francisco, where the show is based. Events 627 - Battle of Nineveh: A Byzantine army under Emperor Heraclius defeats Emperor Khosrau II 's Persian Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. James Earl "Jamie" Hyneman (born September 25 1956 is an American Visual effects expert best known for being the co-host of the Television series The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Prisoners successfully escaped Alcatraz prison using an inflatable raft made from rain ponchos. Alcatraz Island, sometimes informally referred to as simply Alcatraz or locally as the Rock, is a small island located in the middle of San Francisco Bay | Plausible | The makeshift raft crafted by the MythBusters team did indeed reach the shore. Listed as "Plausible" because no evidence has ever been found suggesting the prisoners survived the actual incident, and personal effects washed up later on shore, indicating that the men probably failed to navigate correctly and drowned in San Francisco Bay. San Francisco Bay is a shallow productive Estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento However, a portion of the scale tests (cut for time but later shown in "MythBusters Outtakes") did show that these belongings could have been released by the successfully escaped prisoners and washed up where they were found through strategic use of the Bay's tides to throw the authorities off their trail, and a paddle like the one described in the myth washed up later, on Angel Island. The cast of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like |
Does a Duck's Quack Echo?
This myth originated in lists of "Random Facts" distributed over the Internet.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A duck's quack does not echo. For duck as a food see Duck (food; for other meanings see Duck (disambiguation. In Audio signal processing and Acoustics, an echo (plural echoes) is a reflection of sound arriving at the listener some time after the direct | Busted | When examined by an audio-expert, it was found that the echo was "swallowed" by the original quack, due to the very similar acoustic structure between the quack and the echo. Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of Sound, Ultrasound and Infrasound (all mechanical waves in gases liquids and solids Because of this, it may be difficult to tell where the quack ends and the echo begins. Normally, a sound and its own echo have very different waveforms on an oscilloscope. As it turns out, a duck's quack and its echo have a very similar waveform. Oscilloscope analysis of a duck's quack/echo could lead someone to not "see" the echo waveform on the display, only the source waveform. In the same way, human hearing may not perceive the difference between a duck's quack and its echo due to the similarities. |
Stud Finders & Mind Control Chips
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| When you go to get blood drawn at the Red Cross, you are actually secretly having mind controlling microchips implanted into your bloodstream that can be detected with a stud finder. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is an International humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers worldwide who stated Mind control is a broad range of psychological tactics able to subvert an individual's control of his own thinking, behavior emotions or decisions This article deals with human microchip implants For use in animals see Microchip implant (animal. A stud finder (also stud detector or stud sensor) is a handheld device used to determine the location of framing studs used in Light-frame construction | Busted | While a stud finder can find microchips (like those used to track pets) embedded in flesh, none were found after a trip to the Red Cross. |
Episode 9 — "Chicken Gun, Octopus Egg Pregnancy, Killer Washing Machine"
Chicken Gun
The original myth involved the Americans borrowing the titular gun for testing train windshields, but were shocked and confused at the amount of carnage the gun did. Events 350 - Generallus Magnentius deposes Roman Emperor Constans and proclaims himself Emperor "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " When they asked the British what they were doing wrong, they were told to thaw the chickens before firing, thus sparking the controversy.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A frozen chicken launched in a bird strike simulation can penetrate aircraft or train windshields better than a thawed chicken. The chicken ( Gallus gallus, sometimes G gallus domesticus) is a domesticated Fowl which is traditionally believed to have descended from A bird strike (sometimes birdstrike, bird hit, or BASH (Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard in Aviation is a collision between an airborne animal (usually | Busted | Originally, impact time or force transferred was the same for both frozen and thawed chickens, but this test was not conducted using airline-qualified glass, which has a thicker consistency than normal pane glass. This myth was later revisited in season 2. The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like |
¹ Original result later overturned. See Myths Revisited. The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like
Killer Washing Machine
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| While overstuffing his washing machine with laundry, a man accidentally wedged himself into the machine and tripped the spin cycle, flailing him around, spilling laundry detergent and bleach as he was bludgeoned to death against the shelves. A washing machine, or washer, is a machine designed to clean Laundry, such as Clothing, Towels and sheets The term is mostly applied Afterwards, the man's dog urinated on the detergent and bleach, causing an explosion that set the room on fire. | Busted | Not one part of this myth was found to be even plausible. A normal washing machine drum can be halted in its spin cycle simply by grabbing on to it. In addition, most machines have a safety feature that prevents the machine from running if the door is open. Finally, dog urine does not react with bleach or detergent in a way that would cause an explosion. |
Octopus Egg Pregnancy
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A woman, while swimming, accidentally swallowed a fertilized octopus egg, which gestated in her stomach and caused symptoms similar to that of pregnancy. The | Busted | The human stomach is too inhospitable an environment to sustain an octopus egg through its full gestation. |
Episode 10 — "Explosive Decompression, Frog Giggin', Rear Axle"
Explosive Decompression
This myth was revisited in MythBusters Revisited. Events 1495 - King Charles VIII of France enters Naples to claim the city's throne "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Explosive decompression can occur when a bullet is fired through the fuselage of a pressurized airplane, causing the hole to grow dramatically and possibly cause the plane to break up as seen in movies. The fuselage (from the French fuselé "spindle-shaped" is an Aircraft 's main body section that holds crew and passengers or Cargo Overview Fixed-wing aircraft range from small training and recreational aircraft to Wide-body aircraft and military cargo aircraft. | Busted | The pressure is not high enough and the hole is too small. Explosive decompression only occurred when a hole the size of a window was made with explosives. Even then, the rush of air could not suck Buster completely out of the hole. Lastly, there are proven instances of explosive decompression where the plane was still able to maintain control and land. |
Frog Giggin'
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A group of hillbillies use a live .22LR cartridge as a makeshift replacement for a burned-out fuse in their truck, but while the truck is driving, the bullet heats up enough to discharge, hitting driver in the groin and causing enough damage to require surgery. | Busted/ Plausible | The bullet did work as a replacement fuse, however when a short circuit was created, the wiring burnt up and the bullet did not fire. Short Circuit is a 1986 comedy Science fiction film starring Ally Sheedy and Steve Guttenberg and directed by When the wiring was upgraded to a higher gauge, the bullet did fire out of the fusebox, but not with enough velocity to cause any serious injury. Though both Adam and Jamie admitted that the myth was plausible from their tests, they had to call it busted due to a lack of conclusive evidence, and the fact that they didn't have a "plausible" verdict during the first season. |
Rear Axle
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A steel cable, attached to both a street light post and the rear axle of a police car, will be able to yank the rear axle clear out from under the car when it tries to drive off, as seen in American Graffiti. A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard or lamp standard, is a raised source of Light on the edge of a Road American Graffiti is a period Coming of age film directed by George Lucas, and written by Lucas Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck | Busted | The rear axle was able to be pulled loose, but only after several bolts securing it were removed. Additionally the axle was caught along the underside of the police car and could not clear the trunk. Adam and Jamie theorized that, in the movie, a ramp was used to give the car and axle enough of a boost to wrench the axle completely free. |
Episode 11 — "Sinking Titanic, Goldfish Memory, Trombone Explosion"
Goldfish Memory
This myth is widely passed around, even making it into Time Magazine's "numbers" section at one point. Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A goldfish's memory lasts only three seconds. The goldfish, Carassius auratus, was one of the earliest Fish to be domesticated, and is still one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish and | Busted | Jamie trained his goldfish to recognize color patterns and complete an obstacle course under water. They remembered what Jamie had taught them over a month later and easily completed the same course without Jamie's prompting. However, Adam's fish suffered from a filter malfunction and they were not getting enough food. |
The Mad Trombonist
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A trombonist had put a firecracker into his mute, and at the final note of the 1812 Overture, launched the mute, striking the conductor and knocking him back into the audience. The trombone is a Musical instrument in the brass family Like all brass instruments it is a lip-reed Aerophone: sound is produced when the player’s A firecracker (also known as a cracker, noise maker, banger or bunger) is a small Explosive device primarily designed to produce A mute is a device fitted to a Musical instrument to alter the sound produced by affecting the Timbre, reducing the volume or most commonly both Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the Festival Overture "The Year 1812" in E major, Op In addition, the bell of the trombone was blown wide open and the slide was launched. | Busted | Using a firecracker, the mute hit the conductor (Buster), but did not knock him over. When the equivalent of six model rocket engines was used, he fell forward after being hit. When even more was used, the trombone was practically destroyed, but the bell still did not peel back, nor did the slide launch. Since not even the first part of the myth could be duplicated, the rest could not have followed. |
This myth was later tested on "Myths Redux"
Sinking Titanic
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A sinking ship creates enough suction to pull a person under if that person is too close (as was rumored to occur when the RMS Titanic sank). The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like Construction The Titanic was a White Star Line ocean liner built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland | Busted | Though using a small ship, neither Adam nor Jamie were sucked under when it sank, not even when they were riding directly on top of it. The use of a vessel with a large displacement was not practical. |
Later, while preparing for the Ping Pong Salvage myth, the Sinking Titanic myth was unwittingly re-tested and re-busted as Adam pointed out. The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like
Episode 12 — "Break Step Bridge, Toothbrush Surprise, Rowing Water Skier"
Breakstep Bridge
The myth was retested for Myths Revisited, but was ultimately cut out of the episode. Events 41 - After a night of negotiation Claudius is accepted as Roman Emperor by the Senate "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " The cast/crew of the television series MythBusters performs experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like [1]
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Soldiers marching in unison can cause harmonic oscillation in a bridge and cause it to collapse. This article is about the harmonic oscillator in classical mechanics | Busted/Plausible | There were some difficulties in testing this myth conclusively. During the first test, Jamie made 12 air-powered marching soldiers, but they moved too slowly. During the second and third tests, the soldiers stomped too hard on the bridge, causing the bridge to collapse without any harmonic vibration. When this myth was revisited, it was proven plausible. |
Rowing Water Skier
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A rowing eight can pull a water skier at sufficient speed for them to stay upright. GB coxless pair of Toby Garbett & Rick Dunn at Henley Royal Regatta 2004 Water skiing is a Sport where an individual (or more than one individual is pulled behind a Motor boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water wearing | Confirmed | After several tries Jamie was able to stay upright for over 40 seconds, with only a few hours experience in waterskiing. |
Toothbrush Surprise
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Fecal coliforms bacteria can grow in toothbrush bristles. Fecal coliforms (sometimes faecal coliforms) are facultatively-anaerobic, rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-sporulating Bacteria. The toothbrush is an instrument consisting of a small Brush on a handle used to clean Teeth through Tooth brushing. | Confirmed | Fecal coliforms were indeed found on all the test brushes, including the control ones. However, none were of a level high enough to be dangerous, and experts confirm that such coliforms were impossible to completely avoid. |
Episode 13 — "Buried in Concrete, Daddy Long-legs, Jet Taxi"
Buried in Concrete
The myth revolved around Jimmy Hoffa, a union leader who unexpectedly disappeared, and the rumors that surrounded his disappearance. Events 590 - Khosrau II is crowned as king of Persia 1637 - Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " James Riddle ("Jimmy" Hoffa ( February 14, 1913 - disappeared July 30, 1975, exact Among one of the myths was that he was buried under the infamous ten-yard bump in Giants Stadium, a rumor that persisted in various forms of media. Giants Stadium, is the home Stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets football teams of the NFL, and the Red Bull New
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Jimmy Hoffa was buried in Giants Stadium. James Riddle ("Jimmy" Hoffa ( February 14, 1913 - disappeared July 30, 1975, exact Giants Stadium, is the home Stadium for the New York Giants and New York Jets football teams of the NFL, and the Red Bull New | Busted | Adam and Jamie tested several areas on the field held by rumor to be Hoffa's final resting place. No readings were found consistent with a cavity left by a body which had rotted away. |
Daddy Long-Legs
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| A Daddy long-legs spider has the most potent venom of all spiders, but is unable to pierce human skin. The Pholcidae are a Spider family in the suborder Araneomorphae. | Busted | A Daddy long-legs was able to bite through the skin of Adam's arm. He reported nothing more than a very mild, short-lived burning sensation. Analysis of the venom proves it does not approach the potency of the Black widow spider. The black widow spider is a group of Spiders which includes the southern black widow ( Latrodectus mactans) the northern black widow |
Jet Taxi
This was the first myth in which the MythBusters were neither able to confirm nor bust the results due to logistics reasons. According to the episode, upon arrival at Mojave Spaceport, the insurance company responsible for the aircraft backed out at the last minute, citing possible foreign object damage to the plane. However, BBC's Top Gear was able to independently verify this myth. Top Gear is a BAFTA, multi- NTA and International Emmy Award -winning BBC Television series about motor vehicles mainly [1]
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|
| Jet wash from an airliner can overturn a taxi if the vehicle passes behind the jet as it goes to full throttle. Wake turbulence is Turbulence that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air An airliner is a large Fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers | Partly Plausible | Adam and Jamie tried overturning a used taxi they had purchased, but were unable to get the car to flip. They couldn't Bust the myth for two reasons. For one, they were unable to acquire proper jet engines for insurance reasons, and had to settle for a huffer, which is used to start the turbines of jumbo jets. For information about the form of substance abuse known as huffing, see Inhalant. For another, a news article confirmed that a taxi in Brazil was blown off the road by a Boeing 737 which was taking off. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout While it is unlikely a car will pass so closely behind a jet taking off, it may flip over in the jet wash if it does pass that close. |
This myth was re-tested and Confirmed in the Supersized Special. The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk Urban legends Old wives' tales and the like
References
- ^ Top Gear Series 4 Episode 8 (18 July 2004)
External links
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