MythBusters Special 1: Viewers Choice Christmas Special

5 Comments

Air Date: December 22, 2004

In this episode Adam and Jamie tested holiday-related myths while revealing the top ten myths (to date) as voted upon by fans. They were:

  1. Tree Cannon
  2. Rocket Car
  3. Escape from Alcatraz
  4. Stinky Car
  5. Barrel of Bricks
  6. Lawn Chair Larry
  7. Pop Rocks and Soda
  8. Beat the Breath Test
  9. Chicken Gun
  10. CD-ROM Shattering

A frozen turkey can explode if it is dropped into deep fryer pot too fast.

busted

While it will not explode, the turkey can cause the boiling oil to splash all over the place (which can be extremely dangerous) if it is dropped into the deep fryer improperly.

Placing a silver spoon in a bottle of champagne can keep it bubblier for longer.

busted

The spoon actually reduces the fizziness of champagne. In a blind taste test when compared to several controls (opened champagne, re-corked champagne and unopened champagne) both Adam and Jamie ranked the spooned champagne the lowest in terms of fizziness.

A falling icicle can kill a person.

confirmed

An icicle over 1.5 feet (45 cm) in length falling from about 15 feet completely penetrated a steak, showing that it is possible for a icicle to kill a person.

A clothed snowman melts slower than a naked one.

confirmed

In the 80 °F (25 °C) San Francisco summer heat, the naked snowman melted considerably faster than the clothed snowman. The clothes on the snowman protected it from the heat and acted as insulation to help keep the temperature of the snow from rising.

A urine stream can freeze in the cold of winter.

busted

When tested in a freezer at -70 °F (-50 °C) the fake urine stream the MythBusters used did not freeze in midair.

The area around a fireplace is actually colder than the rest of the room when a fire is burning.

confirmed

The area near the burning fire was around 1.5 °C colder than the rest of the room.

5 Comments

  1. Mojojojo:

    My favourite Myth from the top 10 is the “escape from Alcatraz”. I think the did it a wonderful way, testing it in reality. I always loved the show. Congratulation to Adam and Jamie.

    September 22, 2007 at 10:47 AM
  2. Graham:

    Mythbusters got the deep-frying a turkey completely wrong. First off, they didn’t use a propane fire (they used electric). Secondly, they didn’t heat it to the highest temperature setting. AND there is evidence this has happened before. In 1998, there were 75 incidents involving flame, fire or burns from fire caused from oil spilling over and catching fire according to the CPSC.

    January 6, 2008 at 1:47 PM
  3. Rebekah:

    Hey, how about the Myth that meat (turkey) thaws faster if you run it under cold water, rather than hot water?

    October 24, 2008 at 4:16 PM
  4. Sam:

    Sorry, Mythbusters, but I think you guys got another one wrong. I good friend of mine went Elk hunting in Canada and he managed to freeze urine in mid-air. It was about thirty degrees warmer. I guess you guys musta missed something.

    March 21, 2009 at 12:27 AM
  5. Fairbanks Jason:

    Sorry, Sam, but I’m from Fairbanks, Alaska, and have peed outside several times in temps below -60F, and never ever saw anything resembling ice. Lots of steam, yes; ice, no. My masters degree in thermo/fluid-dynamics agrees — you need some pretty unrealistic special conditions to manage to get ice. Your elk-hunting friend is screwing with you.

    November 3, 2009 at 2:10 PM

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