MythBusters Episode 6: Lightning Strikes Tongue, Tree Cannon, Beat the Breath Test
Air Date: November 7, 2003
Metal body piercings increase one’s chances of being hit by lightning.
busted
The lightning does seem to strike a pierced body more, but not the piercings directly. It would take a piercing the size of a doorknob to attract lightning.
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.
partly confirmed
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). 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 gun were sent way behind them.
Using various substances and tricks (eating an onion, eating breath mints, drinking mouthwash, placing a penny in the mouth, etc.) when drunk can allow someone to beat the breathalyzer test.
busted
None of the tested methods worked and a blood sample can always be requested by the police. In addition, mouthwash actually made the breathalyzer give a higher reading than usual because of the inherent alcohol content.
Metal body piercings increase one’s chances of being hit by lightning: “The lightning does seem to strike a pierced body more” sounds like a confirmation to me. The hypothesis says nothing about direct hit on the piercing(s).
June 26, 2007 at 8:53 AMRecent evidence shows that you’re likely to burn your ears if struck by lightning when wearing an iPod (BMJ).
August 3, 2007 at 9:15 PMI’ve got to agree with Gregg’s conclusions concerning the lightning and piercings test. Also, I suspect that even if Adam and Jamie had found a way to beat the breathalyser, there’s no chance they would have televised it, especially with the police participating in the test. The speed camara test they did in a later episode, with the help of the speed camera developer, is no different. I love the show, but I think that tests like this, where there is a blatant conflict of interest, are a bit of a waste of airtime.
August 15, 2007 at 9:46 PMwe think the breath test is awesome with the mouth wash making it higher!
And we agree w/ gregg!! we thought it would make it more common to get struck w/ the piercings!!
August 30, 2007 at 5:06 PMcan lighting be attracted to a wireless head set such as a blue tooth ? your show is a favorite among long haul drivers.
October 2, 2007 at 12:49 PMMe and a few of friends went to a party not to long ago and we got really drunk right and we got pulled over the cop had to take all of us girls in and for some reason gave us the test there and we had stuck penny’s in our mouths right before we got into the car and we all of our tests came out negative tho the officer new we were drunk and under age he had to let us go.
October 22, 2007 at 2:20 PMI was there and that is not what happened Krystin. Don’t you remember he let us go because you polished off his sausage like a champ. What a fun and crazy night that was!
October 22, 2007 at 9:12 PMI loved how Adam was so courageous to get his own tongue pierced. Congrats!!! Also I think the only reason why the myth was busted because they put the heads on metal mounts. That’s all I gotta say.
January 8, 2008 at 6:15 PMAlso the reason why the mouthwash did’nt work was because it had alcohol in it. They should’ve used alcohol free.
January 8, 2008 at 6:17 PMI think it would be impossible to make a
January 28, 2008 at 5:48 PMcannon in one night with midevil tools.
Nice try mythbusters!
I heard many years ago that if you eat enough honey to coat your throat and the inside of your mouth, you can beat the breathalyzer. Of course, I heard this from an old beekeeper and I’ve never actually tried this out.
April 21, 2008 at 4:29 PMYou can beat the breathalyzer by hyperventilating not the blood test
May 1, 2008 at 8:08 PMCouldn’t you just tell the cop that you were using mouthwash if you flunk a breath test?
May 8, 2008 at 1:33 PMThen if he asks for a blood test, you tell him you’re a hemophiliac and if they poke you, you’ll bleed out and die. By the time they figure out you’re lying, you’ll be sober enough to pass.
I’ve often wondered if the “scent remover” disks they sell at stores like “bed bath & beyond” or “linens and things” that are the size of a small dog tag could be hidden in the top of your mouth and eliminate the smell enough to fool a breathalyzer.
June 25, 2008 at 9:54 PMKari:
Breathalyzer does not measure the “scent” of you breath. Some of the alcohol from your blood is absorbed in to the air when you breathe, and the device measures the percentage of alcohol in the air you exhale. Only thing that could help would be some kind of “gas container” of “fan” in your mouth that blew external air in to the breathalyzer.
You could try to put a balloon in your mouth and release it to the breathalyzer :)
Just remember to fill it BEFORE you start drinking.
I’ve also heard that some people can inhale trough their noses while exhaling trough the mouth.. that could help also as part of the air would never enter your lungs,
August 6, 2008 at 9:27 AMInstead of trying to fool the breathalyzer there’s an easier way to beat the test…don’t drink and drive!!!
Killing with a gun is murder…it should be the same for drunk driving. Both are lethal weapons.
September 9, 2008 at 9:45 AMI think it is safe to say, that if you have piercings, and you are listening to your iPod while using a Blue tooth, do not do so outside during a lightning storm.
December 4, 2008 at 3:35 AMA Breath test CAN be beaten by hyperventilating I confirmed this. Hyperventilating flushes the air in the lungs and purges the residual air in the lungs of excess alcohol vapour. doingh it fast flushes faster than alcohol accumulates in the air in the lungs.
July 6, 2009 at 1:03 PMYou need to breath deeply in and deeply out. BUT this needs to be done VERY close to the time of the breath test else alcohol vapour accumulates in the air in the lungs again. -So fake a panic attack… being stopped by a cop should be excuse enough!. Inhaling through the nose while still blowing like diggeridoo players would be a great idea but it’s difficult to maintain enough airflow so as not to invalidate the test.
The blood test is very hard to fake out… I agree delaying is a good idea… saying you’re haemophiliac would be great. BUT the Dr. may be fast arriving. Only way to be sure is to reduce the alcohol in the blood: same idea as for breath… here you ‘wash it out’ a bit by drinking LOADS of water (which will dilute it a bit) and peeing … Hopefully by the time the Dr. comes to bust your haemophiliac myth, your blood will be purer!
Its not impossible to make the wooden cannon. They had all the materials and technical skills at the time of the siege. The process doesn’t have to be completely mechanical. Use an iron rod heated red to white hot. Burn the hole then bore it out to smooth it. Wood workers have been using fire to hollow out everything from spoons to ocean going canoes.
Also I noticed that they used iron banding. What would limit the number of bands? Nothing says, they couldn’t have abutted them for the length of the cannon. If they could do that the could make the wooden part of the contraption in two parts.
September 16, 2009 at 9:34 PMheard that a anti acid mint can fool it
October 19, 2009 at 7:02 AMas they measure acid on the breath
and a cigerette/food/soft drink can register on the test machine too
It is a shame to say this is myth, or “partly confermed”. The tree canon is documented in the Bulgarian Hystory, and ALL the revolutions against the Ottoman Turks(1815-1878). It is used in the bulgarian and balkan literature many, many times.
November 15, 2009 at 7:20 AMIf you want to learn more, google bulgarian history, or just find an expert to tell you, how blind you were.
It is a shame and I hope the MythBusters will acknowledge it publicly.
well, you can actually pass the breath test by eating a white chocolate bar!!! I’ve never tried it but my brother did and he got away… the traffic officer couldn’t believe the results! Remember to use WHITE ChoColate. don’T know why…
December 30, 2009 at 5:35 PMHere is a thought……how about not drinking and driving????
December 30, 2009 at 8:35 PMI have 2 4 the peircings one you should supersize it and get mabye 50 peircing all in a circle then test that or get a peircing the size of a doorknob or make one.For beat the breath teat you should eat mint or parsly and other herbs.
January 20, 2010 at 7:15 AM