Annotated Mythbusters

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March 19, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

• Plane on a Conveyor Belt: A plane on a conveyor belt, matching its takeoff speed in reverse, can't take off busted
• Cockroach Survival: cockroaches will be the only survivors of a nuclear blast busted
• Shaving Foam Shenanigans: a frozen cyclinder of shaving cream will expand to fill a car when it thaws busted

The plane took off! To quote Adam: "I've read literally thousands of pages, of vitriolic commentary and arguments about airplanes on a conveyor belt, but nowhere did I find anyone who'd put an airplane on a conveyor belt." The MythBusters did and was one of the most straightforward mythbustings they've done: plane + conveyor belt = flight. To those who still have trouble wrapping your head around the problem: the wheels on a plane don't matter; they spin freely. The conveyor belt can't keep the plane stationary.

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January 31, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)

• Lead Balloon: A lead balloon cannot fly busted
• Surfing with Dynamite: You can use dynamite to make surfable waves busted

Lead Balloon featured the MythBusters at their best: clever design, difficult construction, good results. It was an engineering challenge and Adam and Jamie succeeded with a delicate 10 ft lead cube balloon.

The Surfing with Dynamite continued the trend towards busting Internet videos that has been appearing in MythBusters. In this case, they busted an absurd video that features people throwing dynamite into a canal and catching waves from the resulting churn. It was mostly an excuse to explode 200lbs of TNT beneath the water.

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January 27, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)

• Eye-popping sneeze: if you sneeze with your eyes open, your eyes will pop out busted
• Car Explosion: Adam and Jamie can blow up a kid's parents' car confirmed
• Stopping a Car in Reverse: you can stop a car by throwing it into reverse busted
• Killer Butts: Three cigarettes shot from a rifle at 7 feet point-blank can be lethal confirmed
• Car Remote Capers: You can open a car lock with a tennis ball busted
• Stopping a Blade: A book in your pocket can stop a sword confirmed, coins in your pocket busted

For this episode, the MythBusters blitzed through several myths submitted by their fans

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January 26, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

moar funny pictures

thanks cshell for the link

January 22, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

• Talked Into Landing: a passenger can be talked into a safe landing of an airplane plausible
• Parachute Pandemonium (aka Point Break parachute myths):
  • You can fall 4000 ft in 90 seconds: busted
  • You can have a shouting match in mid-air: busted
  • You can catch another skydiver with a 15-second lead: confirmed
• MacGuyver mini-myth: You can stop a sulfuric acid leak using chocolate and hot water confirmed

This episode gave me ideas on places I want to visit in the Bay Area: NASA Ames' Advanced Concepts Plane Simulator and iFly SFBay's indoor skydive facility.

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January 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)

The MythBusters tested out three different James Bond movie myths:

• Electro-magnetic watch (Live and Let Die): you can deflect a bullet using an electro-magnetic watch busted
• Propane tank peril (Casino Royale): you can explode a propane tank with a 9mm handgun busted
• Speedboat Survival (Live and Let Die): you can jump a car with a speedboat and continue driving busted

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January 16, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)

"...for those concerned that this story has been cancelled, don't worry, planes on a conveyer belt has been filmed, is spectacular, and will be part of what us Mythbusters refer to as 'episode 97'. Currently that is due to air on January 30th."

Link

December 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

• Row Boat Sub: Jamie and Adam busted the scene from Pirates of the Caribbean where Jack Sparrow and Will Turner walk underwater with a row boat over their heads.
• Buried in the Sand: You can die from being buried up to the neck in sand confirmed
• MacGuyver mini-myth: A bottle of drain cleaner can blow-out a light bulb confirmed
• Cannon ball chaos: Make-shift cannon ammo:
  • Ye old Pirate Rum (glass): busted
  • Forks and spoons: busted
  • Steak knives: plausible
  • Peg leg: busted
  • Nails: plausible
  • Chain link: confirmed

What's a Pirate's favorite element? Arrrrgon

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November 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)

• Shooting fish in a barrel: confirmed. You may miss them with the bullet, but the shockwave will kill them.
• Hot chili cures: they tested water, beer, tequila, petroleum jelly, and wasabi to see if any were better than milk, all were busted
• Elephants afraid of mice: plausible. they don't freak out, but they appear to be cautious

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November 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)