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Episode 98: "James Bond Special 2"

Air Date: February 6, 2008

A ballpoint pen bomb can be used to completely destroy the top of a mannequin.

busted

Using the most powerful explosives they could and a normal sized pen, the Mythbusters demonstrated that a pen bomb could be fatal. However, they needed an unrealistically large pen to completely destroy the top half of the foam dummy they used.

A metal-brimmed bowler hat can be thrown hard enough to knock the head off of a stone statue.

busted

The Build Team made two duplicates of the hat worn by the character Oddjob. They also designed a hat-throwing robot and acquired a few statues as test targets. The bonded marble statue they first tested was decapitated by the robot, but as it wasn’t actually solid stone it wasn’t considered a valid test. Next, they tested a concrete statue on the premise that it would be a good match for the hardness of natural stone. It was chipped several times but not badly damaged.

A person can use a set of metal teeth to bite through a cable car’s cable.

busted

Adam and Jamie created two versions of the teeth shown in the movie, but neither was able to cut through the one inch cable they used. Not even 10 tons worth of force applied from the teeth was able sever the cable. In order to replicate the results seen in the film, Jamie had to use a hydraulic cutter to cut the cable.

Newer: Episode 99: "Viewers’ Choice Special 2"

Older: Episode 97: "Airplane on a Conveyor Belt"

19 Comments

  1. Zfan122:

    Hey all, I just watched Casino Royal a few nights ago. And BUSTED! You guys need to pay more attention when doing your research, he doesn’t just shoot that propane tank anywhere like you guys did. He shot it right at the release valve! Try THAT, then we’ll talk about busted. If you don’t believe me view that sene again and press pause immediately when the gas tank shows up, The bullet flies right through the hole in the ring around the top.

    February 15, 2008 at 9:30 PM
  2. Zfan122:

    And when you think about it at twenty feet, a person trained to do THAT kind of stuff could obviously shoot that acurately. (even it it IS a fictional character.)

    February 15, 2008 at 9:35 PM
  3. archerbob:

    well, you failed me miserably, the archery test with the pointed stick vs. the flint arrowhead.
    Newsflash!
    1. the accuracy on both sucked because the bow had too much thrust for those wooden arrows, you could see the shafts flexing from the thrust! stupid’s!
    2. if you shoot an animal with a pointy stick, unless you pierce the heart perfectly, six months later there will be an animal running around with a sick sticking out of it! the flesh and skin will be tight around the shaft and the animal will never die!
    2a. the slice that the flint tip leaves will allow blood to leak out around the shaft and it will eventually die.

    Next time i suggest that you get an archer involved!

    February 17, 2008 at 9:17 PM
  4. Wolf.:

    Guys! Take it easy on the Mythbusters! They only have one week to do all that! I think they’re doing it good enough. ¬_¬
    Good job, mythbusters!

    February 25, 2008 at 3:07 PM
  5. David:

    I know, if you think you can do it better shutup and do it yourself.

    February 26, 2008 at 8:27 PM
  6. The009:

    archerbob: You really don’t know crap about wooden arrows do you? Every wooden arow caught on high speed camera flexes in the same way. The only arrows that do not are ones made from fiber or metal.

    February 29, 2008 at 3:28 AM
  7. David:

    ALL arrows flex when loosed - and the flexing measurement is called the spine rating! That applies even to metal and fibre compound shafts.
    The ‘pointy stick’ arrows … the hunters who traditionally used them would track the wounded animal which, having been weakened and leaving a more easily tracked spoor, could then be despatched at close quarters. Usually the points of the arrows were fire-hardened and often had the tips poisoned.
    I think the Mythbusters do a great investigative job especially within the time constraints.
    Cheers
    David

    March 5, 2008 at 5:28 AM
  8. Kyle:

    Zfan: James Bonds Pistol Didn’t Even Pierce The Tank, Then Release Valve Would Be Made From The Same Metal.

    March 10, 2008 at 10:31 PM
  9. bob:

    The valves on the tanks are brass/bronze and would easily split from a gun shot.

    March 12, 2008 at 5:58 PM
  10. bob:

    Ball point pen bomb.?? They obviously haven’t heard of the latest complex explosives like nitrocubanes, energetic polymers, a match head size piece can blow off your hand.?

    March 12, 2008 at 6:03 PM
  11. Adam:

    Can you smash a home with a train.

    March 12, 2008 at 10:42 PM
  12. Kirsty-10yrs old:

    Take it easy on the Mythbusters, Adam and Jamie do a fab job!! I love them!!!! They’ve taught me loads!!!

    March 24, 2008 at 8:34 AM
  13. Ian:

    Hi Im 10 years old and I wanted to know if you sneeze with your eyes open will they fall out???? Do your eyes automatically shut when you sneeze????

    March 29, 2008 at 7:54 PM
  14. JoNo:

    Hi, I’m a big fan and all, but you now the myth about the phantom shooting a grapple from a cannon, the rope would’nt quite wrap around the thick pole, you use all sorts of rope some even broke. I was thinking it may work if you use a chain.

    April 15, 2008 at 1:40 AM
  15. elanor:

    hi im elanor i dont get to see the show that much but i did see the 1 when buster was sent off a crane with a hammer, i was telling my mum that you can poor dish washing detergent in to the water as you fall. because the cemical reaction makes the water tenshion weeken, then the fall will be a bit softer. maby you can try it with buster.

    and i will have to agree with jono about the chain. good i diea jono!

    April 23, 2008 at 3:13 AM
  16. Gianluca:

    Hi jamie,Adam,Grant and tory.My name is Gianluca and I live sydney Australia and I think you guys rock and that you should come to sydney because many of my frieds like you very much and to do the myth of shootimg someone out of a cannon. My favourite myth was when you concentrated 1000s of mirrors on the boat.

    April 23, 2008 at 8:02 PM
  17. Yeti:

    You guys should blow more stuff up!!. Like the truck with the gun powder in it,WOW that was cool!!. You guys are doing a great job. What happens When you run out of myths???

    April 24, 2008 at 4:23 AM
  18. Tom:

    Hang on. The metal hat took the head off a statue! OK one made of ‘bonded marble’, but presumably looking like stone. And there are lots of types of stone, some weaker than concrete. So ‘Busted’ is way off the mark - I’d say Confirmed! Not the first type mythbusters have done a good demonstration but given it totally the wrong rating :-@

    May 21, 2008 at 2:43 PM
  19. caleb:

    If the pen was full of nitro glicerean, it would have blown up the whole man.

    June 1, 2008 at 8:15 AM
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