Comments on: Episode 12: Break Step Bridge, Toothbrush Surprise, Rowing Water Skier

By: Bobby

Bobby — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 07:58:43 +0000

Just watched an old episode of That’s Incredible from the 70s or 80s in which several rowing teams pulled water skiers in a race…

By: Tyler

Tyler — Wed, 26 May 2010 04:54:43 +0000

I agree…I just watched this episode again for the first time since it came out. The toothbrush test needs to be revisited. The same tube of toothpaste was used even on the control toothbrushes. Their method of applying the toothpaste is too rub the tube on the brush, hence the contamination of all toothbrushes. REVISIT!!!! Separate tubes for each toothbrush.

By: hank

hank — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:40:05 +0000

The toothbrush tests show a correlation, not a direstion.
So, the brush can get e coli from your mouth (yes!), don’t assume which direction the cause runs.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:21:23 +0000

With regards to resonance and bridges, the millennium footbridge in London is a very good example of this phenomenon.

The engineering consultants responsible for investigating and fixing the oscillation problem were invited to give a presentation to the British Institution of Structural Engineers and is available on-line. It describes the oscillation and it’s causes for this particular case and may be of interest here.

http://info.arup.com/millenniumbridge//indepth/pdf/IStructE.pdf

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:17:02 +0000

I just saw the Dr.’s show and remember this Mythbuster episode. I was surprised to see the response before me. In fact, I think the Dr. could be a good source for a retest. Keep up the great work!

By: Gordon

Gordon — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:07:15 +0000

This morning Dr. Rosefeld on Fox News repeated this idea that a flushing toilet will contaminate nearby items such as toothbrushes and towels. This isn’t the first time I’ve heard this but it doesn’t seem right to me. Does anybody have a definative answer? Seems a concern worthy of a rigorous test.

By: Paul Goodliffe

Paul Goodliffe — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 12:30:56 +0000

Hi – I was really disappointed with the initial “busted” result of bridge resonance. While I appreciated the engineering that created the bridge and the boots, the result indicated a lack of knowledge of resonance. This raised my eyebrows; surely these guys should know the basics ? As someone above pointed out, the bridge ends were not secured. This means that any energy introduced into the bridge cannot rebound from the ends. This means resonance is impossible in the structure anyway; the energy is lost. I stopped watching Mythbusters for a while in despair; I was so disappointed in them !
Do your homework first, guys, but you should already know some basic physics !

By: Gurgi

Gurgi — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:20:08 +0000

It would be interesting to have the toothbrushes and toilet flush aerosol repeated with the toilet lid down.

By: josh stephens

josh stephens — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:16:01 +0000

This is josh stephens i like the show you palyed last night the date was the 3urd when you did the last a sploshen that was vare big and cool bye.

By: Michael West

Michael West — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:01:40 +0000

Re the Rowing 8 and the Water Skier: What kind of skis used, how big/heavy the skier and was he/she pulled up out of the water by the crew? If it was regular water skis, normal size human coming out of the water, this is Bolshoi!