Air Date: October 25, 2006
SPINOFF: A sword can cut a machine gun in two. (From special 9)
busted
A machine gun barrel cannot be sliced in two using a sword. Using the barrel from a .30 caliber Browning machine gun, the team heated the barrel until it was red hot and struck it with the sword machine. Even with the barrel red hot, the sword could only make a small gouge in the barrel. What further disproved the myth was the fact that the barrel’s outer heat-dissipating shroud was removed and the machine was swinging the sword with power that significantly exceeded a normal human’s capabilities. The team then rapidly heated and cooled the barrel to make it more brittle, but when hit by the sword, it shattered instead of being cut. Finally, the team tried to cut a thinner Thompson submachine gun barrel, but only managed to bend it, proving that a sword cannot cut a gun barrel in two.
SPINOFF: Bracing a windshield can keep it from shattering. (From episode 58)
busted
Bracing a window with a hand was unsuccessful in preventing a window from being shattered by a rock or a fired BB.
REVISITED: A hybrid rocket can be made out of salami. (From episode 51)
re-confirmed
Using Salami as a rocket fuel can create high amounts of thrust with the right nozzle. Readings from the force gauge proved that salami did in fact generate much more thrust than just the released nitrous oxide gas alone, though they do admit that the NOX output alone could’ve launched the rocket, as may have been the case with the original launch.
REVISITED: It is more fuel efficient to drive your pick-up truck with its tailgate down, rather than up. (From episode 43)
re-busted
Using a calibrated fuel flow gauge, Adam and Jamie first re-busted the tailgate up vs. down myth, then went on to test various other truck configurations (hard top, mesh tailgate, no tailgate).
SPINOFF: A plastic mesh tailgate provides superior fuel efficiency compared to the standard metal tailgate. (From episode 22)
confirmed
Again using a calibrated fuel flow gauge, Adam and Jamie proved that the mesh was the most efficient way to configure a pickup truck.
i noticed while watching this one that the sword machine was triing to apply force along its point rather than cut. cutting is caused by friction along the edge, not simply the force behind the sword. pressing the blade against the barrel and sliding the blade will produce much better results (doubtful it will cut through the barrel through).
July 16, 2007 at 3:52 PMMy car, a European standard model Peugeot 206sw 1.4 HDi does 45 miles per gallon (US gallon) at 55mph (measured).
Jamies pick-up does 11 miles per gallon
(5 gallons per hour at 55mph).
Do all US vehicles have such appalling fuel consumption? (and consequently very high global warming greenhouse gas emissions?)
July 23, 2007 at 10:03 AMGerald, your car must not have a catalytic converter. Do ALL non US vehicles pollute the environment as much as yours?
:sarcasm:
July 24, 2007 at 11:40 PMI was wondering what the science is behind why the mesh tailgate is the best for fuel efficiency?
Plus my Honda made here in the US is around 35 highway..
July 26, 2007 at 9:19 AMIam not sure but was that Katana a original one? I think not, it was just a cheap replica. The real ones are to expensive (more than 5k $) for using in a test.
In my opinion a the results would be different if a real katana would be used.
Check out this video: Katana vs. machine gun. A Katana is able to cut 7! bullets before being broken….
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/28991/machine_gun_vs_katana/?logout=1
(sry for bad english:)
July 31, 2007 at 12:58 PMI also have a complaint whether the sword used was a Katana or not, it looked like a European sword to me, katanas are no ordinary swords, they have a carbon core and a special metal called “tamahagni” as the cutting end this metal is only found in Japan & is made from a special kind of soil.
August 4, 2007 at 3:06 AMHey RaisnCain, got any visible PROOF to dispute your belief that a sword can cut a machine gun?
Your word-and belief against one documented test to show SOMETHING.
Swords can’t just cut anything on the planet-get over yourself already. And a Jedi is as fictional as your belief…talk about poor reasoning.
August 8, 2007 at 10:42 AMYou have a point RaisnCain. It is in fact scientific law that nothing can in fact be completely disproven. However, until the mythbusters happen to attain the services of a mythic or mythically powered swordsmen, and the producers decide to cough up the money for an authentic, traditionally made katana, I’m afraid we will have to settle for the current findings.
September 1, 2007 at 12:45 AMAnd the sword cutting bullets, while cool, I am still not convinced. I do not know the force exerted by the bullet at the point of impact, but I doubt it is something a human could do. Also, bullets are a heck of a lot softer than machine gun barrels, and you saw what happened to the sword edge when it broke a bullet. Finally, it did not appear to actually slice the bullet, the bullet appeared to fragment.
September 1, 2007 at 12:51 AMI WAS JUST WONDERING IF A TOOL BOX WAS CONSIDERED IN THE TAILGATE TEST.
September 9, 2007 at 3:44 PMI HAVE ON THAT IS ALWAYS COLLECTING KRAP UNDER IT THAT THE WIND FORCES THERE.
I work with glass and have done so for over 13 years. I know that placing your hand against the windshield might actually make it break easier, i notice that they never tested this using their pellet gun.
We manufacture glass and know that when no force is behind the glass or when its in a window, the glass actually flexes more as to when its say on a flat surface like a table etc and hit with a hammer, it will break a lot more easier.
Thanks Lee.
September 21, 2007 at 6:35 AMWhy does everyone on this site keep saying that a “scientific law” says things can’t be disproved? There is no such “law” and things can be disproved. One way to disprove a proposition or statement is to provide a counterexample and the mythbusters do a lot of that. The “scientific law” that you are referring to is called the scientific method and it is a method according to which hypotheses are proposed and are then either rejected or not rejected.
December 22, 2007 at 1:28 PMA hybrid rocket can be made out of salami, good in a controlled environment, when you guys go out to the desert where you do your entire rocket testing, could it be possible to launch one or two out here to get the real affect of what the myth is/was all about.
Great results in your chamber, I thing the results will be spectacular when launched outside.
Thanks SA
March 31, 2008 at 2:27 AMTailgate myth
Mythbusters are dopes. Fuel injection pushes fuel through the fuel line at a constant rate. The engine is injected with the fuel it needs and the rest of the fuel is returned to the gas tank through a return line. They need to measure the difference in fuel through the main line and return line to see how much gets burned.
July 3, 2008 at 12:00 AM