Latest MythBusters Results
Episode 148: Car Conundrum
Air Date: June 23, 2010
This episode was a remix of three of the most popular car myths. It included the following segments:
Special 13: MythBusters Top 25 Moments
Air Date: June 16, 2010
This episode featured a countdown of the favorite myths and moments to date, with comments from the cast.
24. Guns & Ammo
Myth: Tree Machine Gun
Demonstrated the frequent use of various firearms on the show.
23. Science is Golden
Myth: Bullets Fired Up
Demonstrated the use of scientific analysis to explore myths.
22. Failure is Always an Option
Myth: Supersize Rocket Car
Demonstrated experiments going wrong in unexpected ways.
20. Mean Machines
Myth: Steam Powered Machine Gun
Demonstrated massive and intricate builds for testing myths.
19. MythBusters Dress Code
Showed the various safety gear and ridiculous costumes used by the cast.
18. Underwater Car
Myth: Underwater Car
17. Not So Steely Stomachs
Showed cast members getting sick due to gross experiments.
16. Surprise! Surprise!
Myth: Bull in a China Shop
Demonstrated unexpected results from an experiment.
15. Buster: Honorary MythBusters
Myth: Exploding Pants
Showed the trials and tribulations of Buster, the crash test dummy.
14. Duct Tapetastic
Myth: Duct Tape Sailboat
13. Weird & Wonderful
Myth: Vacuum Toilet
Showed the cast members’ most bizarre “what are we doing?” moments.
12. Lunar Lunacy
Myth: NASA Moon Landing
11. Shark Tales
Myth: Playing Dead
9. Human Guinea Pigs
Showed cast members taking part in stunts and physical testing.
8. Bring Out the Blimp
Myth: Hindenburg Mystery
7. One Line Wonders
Featured the cast members’ memorable lines and recurring themes.
6. Alcatraz Escape
Myth: Escape from Alcatraz
4. Accidents do Happen
A montage of Adam and Tory’s frequent mishaps on camera.
3. Rocketry in Motion
Myths: Compact Compact Supersized, Snowplow Rocket Replication
Showed the use of a rocket sled in revisiting a pair of myths.
1. Explosive Fan Favorites
Myth: Cement Mix-Up
Showed a collection of favorite explosions, as chosen by fans and cast members.
Episode 147: Flu Fiction
Air Date: June 9, 2010
A sneeze can leave a person’s nose/mouth at 100 mph (160 km/h).
busted
Adam and Jamie used snuff to irritate their mucous membranes and force themselves to sneeze. Droplets from Adam’s and Jamie’s sneezes traveled at 35 mph (56 km/h) and 39 mph (63 km/h), respectively.
Droplets from a sneeze can travel up to a distance of 30 ft (9.1 m).
busted
To get a visual indication of distance, Adam mixed cherry drink powder into the snuff and sneezed over a 30-foot-long strip of white paper. When this method failed to show any marks, he and Jamie tried drinking a small amount of food coloring just before sneezing. This idea worked, giving a maximum distance of 17 ft (5.2 m) for Adam and 13 ft (4.0 m) for Jamie.
Nasal secretions from a person with a cold can spread so far and so quickly that anyone in the vicinity can become contaminated.
confirmed
Adam and Jamie consulted with an otolaryngologist and learned that a person with a cold may secrete up to 60 milliliters of mucus per hour. Jamie built a rig from a syringe and tubing to match that drip rate with fluorescent dye, and Adam wore it by his nose as he did model-building work. After one hour, he and everything he had touched were stained with the dye.
They then set up a party for Adam to host, with three “germaphobe” guests (Kari, Grant, and Tory, who were briefed to try to avoid contact with Adam) and three unsuspecting ones. Thirty minutes later, Adam, the whole table, and every guest except Kari – who admitted that she actually was a germaphobe – were heavily contaminated. In a second experiment in which Adam consciously did his best to avoid physical contact, all six guests came up clean.
Adam and Jamie declared the myth confirmed at this point, commenting that a healthy person would find it very difficult to avoid being contaminated by a sick one who did not attempt to keep from spreading his/her germs.
Tornado-force winds can propel window glass with enough speed to decapitate a person.
confirmed
Kari and Tory obtained a pig spine with skin and muscle, trimmed it down to resemble an elongated neck, and attached a dummy head. The Build Team then obtained several 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) thick glass panes that conformed to building codes for houses in tornado-prone areas, and began throwing them at “Neck Man” by hand. They had difficulty reaching a suitable combination of speed and accuracy; none of their throws inflicted more than a minor wound.
Tory then built a frame to attach to a pickup truck, with a heavy 14.3 lb (6.5 kg) glass sheet loosely mounted to hit Neck Man edge-on but break loose just before impact. The first attempt, at 80 mph (129 km/h) – the equivalent kinetic energy of a light pane traveling 300 mph (483 km/h) in an F5 tornado – sliced the head off. A second test at 40 mph (64 km/h) (150 mph (241 km/h) for a light pane in a less powerful F2 tornado) also cut completely through the neck. However, the glass did not break out of its holder, indicating that the momentum of the truck may have affected the result.
Back at the workshop, the team built a rig to throw 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) thick panes (twice as heavy as the original ones) at 70 mph (113 km/h). After several tries, they were able to score a hit that completely and cleanly severed the head, leading them to declare the myth confirmed.