MythBusters Episode 87: Myth Evolution
Air Date: September 5, 2007
A modern ninja can slap a bullet out of the air.
busted
The Build Team first set up a small scale test by firing paint balls at Tory and seeing if he could slap the paint balls away. During the test, Tory proved that human reflexes were fast enough to flap away a paint ball. They then constructed a rig that would mimic a human hand making a slapping motion and used it to try and slap bullets fired from a 9mm handgun. The Build Team quickly discovered that human speed was nowhere near fast enough to slap the bullet so they powered up the rig to slap at superhuman speed. The hand managed to slap the bullet, but it wasn’t powerful enough to change the bullet’s trajectory.
Drivers who hold the steering wheel in the “10 and 2″ position can have their thumbs ripped off by a deploying airbag.
busted
The Build Team obtained an old car with a working airbag and created a pair of ballistics gel hands that would simulate a driver holding the steering wheel at the 10-2 position. When the airbag deployed, it knocked the arms off of the steering wheel, but did not cause any visible damage to the thumbs. Then, following a fan suggestion, the Build Team then tested the myth under the assumption that the driver was holding the wheel with his hands in a fashion similar to the Vulcan Salute. The deploying airbag caused serious damage to the thumbs, which would have meant broken thumbs if an actual person were holding the steering wheel. However, because the myth was based around the commonly used 10-2 position, the myth was busted.
An RFID tag will explode if placed inside an MRI.
busted
The Build Team inserted an RFID tag into pig flesh and placed inside the MRI but failed to get any results. Kari then had an RFID tag placed inside her arm and was placed inside the MRI. The RFID tag remained unaffected and left Kari unharmed.
A person can stay underwater for an extended period of time by breathing the air from a car tire.
busted
Once again, Adam volunteered to sit inside a sinking car. Once the car sank, Adam exited the vehicle and cut a hole in the tire and attempted to breathe the air leaking from it. However, he could not breathe in enough air from the tire and was forced to breathe from an emergency air tank.
REVISITED: A speed camera can be beaten by a magnified cover. (From Episode 72)
re-busted
The magnified cover failed to obscure the license plate.
(After the original episode viewers complained that the speed camera was mounted too low at 5 feet instead of 10 feet. For this episode the camera was mounted at 10 feet.)
REVISITED: A speed camera can be beaten by a reflective cover.
re-busted
The reflective cover failed to obscure the license plate.
REVISITED: A speed camera can be beaten by commercial spray.
re-busted
The commercial spray failed to obscure the license plate.
REVISITED: A speed camera can be beaten by extreme speeds.
confirmed
The Mythbusters obtained a race car dubbed “The Beast”, which used a jet engine that could propel it to speeds of up to 300 miles per hour. In the first run, The Beast hit 245 miles per hour and managed to pass the camera so fast that it never took a picture. In the second run, the speed camera was slightly modified to account for the increased speed, but still failed to take a picture of The Beast, which traveled faster than the first run. Even though the speed camera was beaten, the Mythbusters pointed out that only specialized cars like The Beast could achieve those kinds of speeds and would therefore be very easy to find by the authorities.
Newer: Episode 88: Trail Blazers
Older: Episode 86: Superhero Hour
Studies link implantation of RFID microchips with the formation of tumors. Their approval by the FDA may have been financially motivated. Check out the article at:
http://www.comcast.net/news/index.jsp?cat=GENERAL&fn=/2007/09/08/758525.html
I suggest Kari read the article VERY closely.
September 8, 2007 at 3:24 PMI believe I know of a way to defeat the speed camera…My father was a pro photographer and I recall that he had polarizing lenses for his cameras. I have also seen some traffic lights with similar lenses. If a clear, polarized, plexi sheet was placed over the license plate, the camera would not be able to read the plate at an angle unless the camera was directly behind and perpindicular to the plate. Just a thought.
September 9, 2007 at 11:18 PMLove the show.
A modern ninja can stop a bullet.Ninja wears ninja equiment like hand claws for fighting and stopping swords or deflecting bullets this is why it is inportant 4 ninjas to wear them. The build team did not use them in thier myth, they are made of steal and will protect the hand, if the hand is at an angle to the body it will bounce off the hand missing the body, also the arm went in a up and down
September 11, 2007 at 12:12 AMmotion instead it must be moving from the shoulder outward and across the body at an angle,—-you do not need super human speed, a ninja has super mental powers to move the hand before the blast, deflecting the bullet as he turns sidways there four living to fight. [plausible]
The only way a “modern ninja” can stop a bullet is by dodging it. Pistol are feasible in a 15ft or less distance. So the ninja would probably know what to do within that distance to get the gun or subdue the guy. But out side the 15ft distance the bullets would start to vary in there original trajectory. So the ninja with the proper training would be need to dodge the aiming of the gun and keep moving around. But to stand there and stop the bullet would still be impossible. 1) The bullet is going faster than sound. So reaction time would require you to be moving the hand before the gun even fired. 2) The hand is too thin and brittle to stop a bullet that is traveling faster than sound. Just review the high speed footage; the laws of physics are still applicable even if the hand is in front doing a side sweep motion. You will probably end up getting the bullet stuck in your arm as it travels strait through your wrist.
September 14, 2007 at 4:27 PMMany speed cameras models here in Europe can manage as much speeds of 250km/h, newest models and many laser systems can manage about 300-320km/h.
You don’t need a jet car, you only need a good sportcar like the Lambo LP640 you used in your first chance, but you need enough space to reach those 250-320km/h that those car can reach in the Europear Highways.
regards
September 22, 2007 at 4:15 PMOn breaking thumbs by airbags. Technically this is still possible if the thumbs are in a vulnerable position. But the myth started (by anti-airbag people) based upon a method of driving we were taught in the Arm. When off-road, you do NOT wrap your thumbs around the steering wheel. If the wheels snap left or right on a rock hidden in the grass, the steering wheel cross bar WILL break at least one thumb. I taught this trick to my wife and daughter with our 4X4 IH p/u when on our land in Oregon which is very rocky. We all have our thumbs in the correct position.
September 24, 2007 at 11:19 PMWhen I went through Driver’s Ed, they had just started teaching the “4 and 8″ position instead of “10 and 2″. The reason I was given wasn’t to protect the thumbs, but to keep the driver’s forearm from being blown back into their face and causing damage.
September 29, 2007 at 10:04 PMThey fed me some high percentage statistic showing that drivers swerve before any kind of frontal impact.
Their reasoning is that when the driver swerves, the forearm passes in front of the airbag just before the impact that sets them off, thus sending the forearm ricocheting into the driver’s face and causing damage, whether it be breaking a nose or knocking out some teeth.
In reality, it probably doesn’t matter where you keep your hands while driving, but where they end up.
The speed camera can be defeated. At the request of a friend who sold radar detectors, I designed and made such a device in 1986. I calculated the angle at which a camera would take a picture of a license plate on a car traveling down the highway. I then used that angle to make a kind of light-ray filter. The thought being that it would allow the plate to be viewed straight-on (so as to be legal) but would prevent the plate (and thus the numbers) to be viewed and photographed off angle. I took a 1/8 inch thick piece of plexiglas the same size of a license plate. I then milled 1/8 inch holes in the plate on 1/4 inch centers to cover the area of the numbers. I staggered the holes from one row to the other to make it stronger. I then mounted it 1/4 inch from the license plate. I took photos of it from straight on and at various angles. IT WORKED but I was afraid of the legal implications and never pursued it further.
I also made a device using the doppler effect and a corner cube to defeat a radar detector. I mounted the corner cube , made out of aluminum, on a speaker cone, which I excited at a frequency of 60 miles an hour faster than the speed limit so that the radar return would be the speed limit plus the doppler frequency for 60 miles per hour. The idea being that the speed detected and displayed in the radar detector display would be thought to be impossible and thus ignored as an anomaly.
Keep up the good work — you are my favorite show.
October 3, 2007 at 4:17 PMAgree with Eduard, you dont need a jet car to beat a speed camera. A program in U.K called Top Gear tested this using a Gatso speed camera, (the most common in U.K) and a TVR doing 171 mph, and the speed camera didn’t pick it up. You also need very long track.
Love watching Mythbusters, keep up the good work.
October 4, 2007 at 3:21 AMI’m writing concerning soda can explosion in a car. I had a soda can explode in my station wagon. The car was parked in the parking lot of my doctors clinic. We were in the clinic for several hours and when we came out and got in the car it hadsprayed all over the roof of the car. The can was closed by the way.It was in direct sunlite.
October 8, 2007 at 11:08 AMDid you see Charolette’s Web? see if a spider can make words in it’s web.
October 16, 2007 at 3:23 PMmy doctors clinic. We were in the clinic for several hours and when we came out and got in the car itdoing 171 mph, and the speed camera didn’t pick it up. You also
October 20, 2007 at 7:15 PMmythbuster you should try puting cleanfilm round the actule speed camera about ten times or more
October 21, 2007 at 2:38 AMIs it true that if you hold a two guns and shoot them at the same time will you miss the shoot?
October 23, 2007 at 2:39 PMIs it true that if you hold a two guns and shoot them at the same time will you miss the target?
October 23, 2007 at 2:39 PMI think you sould try it and i think you and Jamie,toorie,grant,and,the other girl should try to make a elploding keybord?
October 23, 2007 at 2:45 PMRe: RFID Chips – How can you do a show with RFID chips and not have THE expert on spychips, Katherine Albrecht on your show? Instead you plug VERICHIP!?!?! Dont you know this company paid the government to ignore their OWN medical research which shows RFID chips cause CANCER in excess of TEN PERCENT OF THE LAB RATS INJECTED!
There is a “myth” for you, “Do RFID chips pose a HEALTH HAZARD to animals”
here is your “urban myth” A homeowner gets Verichip for his dog so he never has to worry about losing him (Verichip can be tracked down to a foot and a half), three months later the dog DIES due to a VERY large tumor that has metastasized around the RFID chip.
I suggest you research this by implanting EVERYONE ON AND WITH THE SHOW (need a large sample population) and also EVERYONE’S FAMILY AND PETS. Not willing? Then dont try to convince America RFID chips in humans or animals is ok.
Goto http://www.SpyChips.com
October 25, 2007 at 9:48 PMi dont know if you guys have done this yet, but reguarding the ninja slapping the bullet thing, i think the modern day ninja would have definantly been using one of the hand guards that the ninjas that stopped the swords were wearing
i think with this extra help, the bullet could be easily deflected and easily confirmed
November 1, 2007 at 9:14 PMRegarding cartridges exploding in a fire, oven, etc. – decades ago, the American Rifleman published an article where 30-06 rifle cartridges were “cooked off” by electric heat under a cardboard box. Most times, the cardboard wasn’t penetrated.
Regarding “modern ninjas”, whatever they are, deflecting handgun projectiles, let’s start with something easy. Deflect a fast beanball from a pro baseball pitcher at a distance of 20 feet. I mean, you can SEE the baseball, right?
November 2, 2007 at 11:16 PMI kick myself for not remembering this – try cooking off cartridges loaded with BLACK POWDER. Bang!
November 3, 2007 at 12:17 AMto test the bullet stopping ninja, mythbusters could use a real ninja and fire rubber bullets which cops use in riot situations to see if its possible to deflect.
November 4, 2007 at 11:49 AMRE: Exploding Hindenburg Episode
One factor that was not taken into account during the testing was the large diesel fuel tanks installed in the Hindengurg. The tanks would have been nearly empty after a long flight but filled with oil fumes. The tanks would have acted like bombs in the fire and the remaining fuel would have significantly added to the fire.
November 6, 2007 at 8:37 AMYou guys should try and reproduce the scenes suggesting Human Internal Combustion. If you didn’t do it already, it is suggested that bodily fluids can act as fuel.
November 7, 2007 at 3:04 PMTo Glenn with the exploding Hindenburg. You can try the exploding diesel tanks. But I really don’t believe that it will do much of anything. If you ever noticed the Military uses nothing but diesel fuel in all of their equipment; and the reason being is because if there tankers get hit (or any of the vehicles for that matter) the fuel will not explode since it doesn’t produce the explosive fumes like gasoline does. So probably all you may get is a longer burning fire or a really bad smell from the diesel.
November 11, 2007 at 12:38 AMGlenn
November 12, 2007 at 9:33 PMNot only is it as Joseph said, but as an added procaution, the Hindenburg was equiped so that a nonflamible liquid that was lighter than diesel was pumped into the tanks as they emptied. But i do have to ask, why didnt you post this comment on the page related to the Hindenburg mith?
ONE MORE ABOUT THE SPEED CAMERA! If preventing a speeding ticket is the objective, I have heard that photographers use a ’slave’ flashgun, which is triggered by the light of the ‘master’ flashgun; If a slave is mounted on a car by the numberplate, pointed roughly to where the speed camera would be, if the speed camera flashes, the slave is triggered and ‘blinds’ the speed camera so the number cannot be read!! This would work at any speed as the flashes are synchronized!
November 15, 2007 at 4:50 PMWith regards to the speed cameras (and probably the red light cameras also), I wonder if one solution for those who drive a pickup would be to leave the tailgate down since that would make the angle such that the camera would need to be closer to the ground.
December 4, 2007 at 4:50 PMYou’lle hurt your thumbs maybe not with an airbag but in a 4×4 run lol. Just have to drive over a hard pot-hole and your thumb’s gone, well either hurt or broken lol.
December 10, 2007 at 3:57 AMthere might be a solution about the SPEED CAM. If the camera is placed horisontal to the plates and placed lamoust in front of the speeding car. Try it
December 21, 2007 at 7:37 PMRegarding the thunb/airbag myth.
January 17, 2008 at 10:46 PMyour thumbs might not break in the 10-2 position but they could break or seriously damaged by the force of your entire body when the car stops instantly during an accident.
with the thumb/airbag myth this could still be possible. There is different kinds of steering wheels that. have the airbags in different spots. Also you can be turning and crash and do it. (if the airbag is located at the bottom of the wheel)
January 18, 2008 at 3:55 PMTop Gear tested the speed-vs-speedcamera theory a while back, and a TGV Sagaris managed to drive past at 155 mph and not trip it.
It was revealed that in fact most modern speed-cameras have a system in place so they won’t take a picture if the speed of the object is calculated above a certain threshold, due to this being registred as an error in the speed sensor.
Incidentally many modern systems consist of two different continous cameras, which measure the average speed between the two cameras.
January 30, 2008 at 10:34 PMRe Trying to breath the air from a leaking
tire underwater.
If he punched a hole in the top of his hat,
held the hat over the air stream, then sucked on the hole!!
Be warned one cubic foot of air underwater
has a lift of 62.4Lb
Silly idea!
February 27, 2008 at 5:15 AMMissing Thumbs
From the days when it was possible/necessary to hand crank a car.
It was always advised that one should keep the thumb on the same side of the handle
February 27, 2008 at 5:31 AMas the fingers.
As otherwise a backfire could break the thumb.
Re: Try breathing
Definitely possible…
Agreeing with Paul who said that about the hat, you could also cup your hands over the hole and suck from that if you didn’t have a hat. The key is to trap enough air to actually breathe from
I have done that at the spas from breathing from one of the air bubblers…got told off by a lifeguard as I scared everyone staying under for like 5 minutes
Also make sure your face is horizontal to the air bubble stream (i.e. the air is going upwards), meaning your trachea is at the roof of where the air goes and thus you get the air before the water when you breathe as air obviously lighter then water
But I did not know about the lift…that might make it troublesome. As I did it only like 50cm underwater.
But seeing as the air content from the type was fine, this myth should have definitely been at least plausible
March 1, 2008 at 9:16 PMI think the team forgot to realize that in an accident a person’s grip on the steering wheel would be much stronger than the dummy hands and therefore much more likely to damage thumbs when the airbag deploys.
May 18, 2008 at 12:36 PMFor the speed camera one.. Four 3 watt IR LEDs placed on the four corners will mask your plate from the speed camera while still visible with the naked eye.
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/20/infrared-leds-make-y.html
July 24, 2008 at 3:21 PM“the Mythbusters pointed out that only specialized cars like The Beast could achieve those kinds of speeds and would therefore be very easy to find by the authorities.”
August 23, 2008 at 6:17 AMBut the police wont know what to look for because the speed camera didnt take a photo!
The RFID & MRI experiment was already done in 2004
September 2, 2008 at 4:32 PMhttp://www.rfidjournal.com/whitepapers/7/4
Well, it isn’t just where you hold the wheel, it is whether you were reaching for the horn at the time of impact. Most manufacturers put the horn in front of the airbag, putting the driver at risk of hand damage if they were trying to alert the other driver, as was the case with me. My right hand will be in a cast for another three weeks. So, we know that the airbag can break your hands, but you should be testing to see if it can cause your own hand to hit your face!
September 3, 2008 at 5:19 PMI know this comment is a bit late but I have just seen the episode here in south Africa. I concur with the statement above about breathing from the tire I think this one should be revisited I think something like a polystyrene coffee cup would be used with a hole in the bottom that you would seal your mouth around then you would have a small reservoir of air to breath from you would also exhale through the cup purging the water in it if it hasn’t filed with air yet and if the flow wasn’t enough to breath from properly it would still allow you to re breath a bit and extend your bottom time.
April 29, 2009 at 2:12 AMA person can stay underwater for an extended period of time by breathing the air from a car tire if they use a straw on the air valve and that will stift out the water and they can breath freely.
July 24, 2009 at 10:24 AMhaha “the Build Team then tested the myth under the assumption that the driver was holding the wheel with his hands in a fashion similar to the Vulcan Salute.” I drive like that…. oops.
July 25, 2009 at 9:14 PMBREATHING FROM CAR TIRE:
When I took my scuba training many years ago, back in the last millenium, we were taught how to breathe straight off the top of an air tank without using any form of regulator.
First, crack the tank valve open slightly so you get a stream of bubbles about like what you would get from a car tire.
Now, touch your thumb to your forefinger and keep your other fingers together. Hold your hand to your mouth as though you were shouting at someone, hold your hand and face above the air source, and viola! the bubbles get separated from the water. I have spent over 20 minutes at the bottom of a 15-foot pool using this technique.
August 10, 2009 at 3:32 PMThe car tire myth hasn’t been busted at all.
Both times I’ve seen this on TV, (Alias Season 1 Episode 17 & James Bond “A View to a Kill”) the person breathed from the tire not by slashing it as Adam did here, but by opening the tire valve and breathing from that.
Is there even a myth of slashing a tire to breath from it at all? Come on guys, until you revisit this it hasn’t been disproven!
September 6, 2009 at 10:41 PMThe trick to breathing from a tire should be similar to the scuba technique previously mentioned. In my scuba training, I was taught that regulators were designed to “break” into a freeflow position. Hence air would continue to pour out.
Adam held his head in a more or less vertical position. Therefore his throat was lower than his mouth…sorry folks, water runs down hill.
In training we were taught to hold the regulator in a free flow position and put our heads directly above the flow of air…horizontal position.
The air bubbles flow directly into your mouth forcing the water down and away from your throat. You can now breathe as the air flow rate is too high to allow water to enter your mouth. Your breathing rate would have to be adjusted to the air flow delivered by the tire, but now it is plausible at least.
“No you do not put your mouth on the regulator as it is escaping at up to 20 times normal air pressure.”
October 14, 2009 at 12:01 AMI realize that the myth about the broken thumbs has been visited a couple of times, however, in the process of the air bags going off, Buster was not in a forward motion towards the steering wheel as he would be in the event of a crash.
October 16, 2009 at 12:59 PMi loved this episode but i agree.. you don’t need a rocket car like “the beast” in 2007 the SSC Ultimate Aero (Modified) went 257mph..0-60 in 2.7 seconds & according to guiness 07′ is the fastest car in the world.
December 6, 2009 at 6:43 PMIn regards to the car tire myth and Nicole saying that Adam should not have slashed the tire but breathed from the valve, he actually did that before he tried the slashing technique. If you had watched the episode you would know this. However what he did not do is put his lips around the valve – he tried to breathe in the escaping bubbles which of course rose to the surface far too quickly.
Also, for Jo talking about Top Gear beating the speed camera with speed and that the Mythbusters didn’t need to resort to a jet car – again if you had actually watched the episode, the guys comment on Top Gear’s attempt, and point out that in the UK you actually need to get two photographs to issue the ticket but in the USA it only needs one photo to issue a ticket (so they’re pointing out that Top Gear only needed to go fast enough to let a single photo be taken but not the second photo, whereas they in the US would have to make the attempt in a car fast enough to prevent even a single photo being taken of it in order to beat getting the ticket).
January 1, 2010 at 3:10 PMto beat a speed camera all you need is black reflective signwriting vinyl and cut out the numbersto fit over the numbers on the plate / black reflective goes white with light and the camera cant see it.
January 2, 2010 at 11:24 PMregards Colin
I was told not to use the 10 and 2 position because when the air bag deploys your arm is flung off towards the window causing cuts etc.
The thumb thing is for excessive breaking or a crash…
January 5, 2010 at 11:27 PM