The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk urban legends, old wives' tales, and the like. This is a list of the various myths tested on the show, as well as the results of the experiments (the myth is busted, plausible, or confirmed).
Episode overview
Episode 44 – "Paper Crossbow" Original air date: January 11, 2006
Paper Crossbow This myth was the first entry among those listed as one of the twelve myths that would not be tested in MythBusters: The Explosive Truth Behind 30 of the Most Perplexing Urban Legends of All Time. In an interview for Skeptic magazine, the myth apparently was considered too controversial by Discovery Channel, which thought testing the myth could provoke prisoners to try similar things.
Myth statement Status Notes A prison inmate can kill another inmate from across the hall by using newspaper for a paper crossbow. Plausible Jamie and Adam built separate crossbows for the myth and fired a few shots each. Testing proved it is possible to kill someone by using a paper crossbow, but it would require a precise shot to a vital spot (such as a jugular vein or eye), which is difficult with improvised weapons such as a paper crossbow. Adam's crossbow achieved a maximum arrow velocity of , a maximum arrow energy of , and pierced a dummy's throat one inch (25 mm) deep from a distance of on the first shot. The crossbows each gradually became useless after a few shots, showing that the shooter would have only a few shots to hit a vital spot. Also, the obvious problem of getting off one shot or more without being caught in the act exists.
A visit to a local prison revealed inmates have improvised far more effective weapons in the past, up to and including a handmade gun with a flash suppressor, firing bullets smuggled into the prison.
Vodka Myths II Kari, Tory, and Grant tested to see if vodka... Myth statement Status Notes ...can remove cigarette smoke smell from clothes. Plausible The difference was noticeable between the control jacket and the one sprayed with vodka before washing. Grant described the control jacket as having an "oaky smell" to it, while on the vodka jacket, he could not detect such a smell. ...can kill bees like an insecticide. Busted The control water killed more bees (two) than vodka, which failed to kill any. The bees sprayed with water went into a comatose-like state and awoke later the next day when they dried off. The bees sprayed with vodka showed no ill effects at all (though they seemed to fly in a weird manner as if they were drunk). ...can be used as a bathroom cleaner. Plausible Vodka proved to be less effective than a commercial bathroom cleaner but still serviceable.
Episode 45 – "Shredded Plane" Original air date: January 18, 2006
Shredded Plane One widely circulated photo showed a systematically and neatly sliced Piper PA-44 Seminole. The damage was caused by...
Myth statement Status Notes ...a chainsaw.Busted The slices made by the chainsaw were jagged, while the ones seen in the photo were clean slices. In addition, the chainsaw left damaged paint in the areas it initially sliced into as a result of the blade sliding across the surface before cutting in, which is not seen in the photo. ...a runaway taxiing plane's propeller.Confirmed Adam and Jamie first investigated whether or not it is possible to hand start a modern airplane, and why a pilot may need to do so. They then calculated that a plane, with engine running at idle speed, would need to travel at 30 miles per hour in order to make cuts at the distances seen in the photo, which they deemed as a reasonable speed for a plane running at idle speed to be traveling at. The full-scale test was done with a runaway engine and stand-in tail section, producing a result that was almost identical to the shredded plane seen in the photo.
The incident was later confirmed as having taken place, with the photo coming from a newspaper article in Australia. Furthermore, the accident, which happened in August 2001 at Parafield Airport near Adelaide, occurred after a pilot tried to hand-start a Saratoga after its electrical system went flat, inadvertently sending the plane running amok and crashing into five other planes, including the Seminole in the myth's photograph.Shredded Seminole Check-Six.com This supported what Adam and Jamie had learned during the course of testing the myth; modern airplanes do sometimes need to be hand-started should the battery go flat and can run away if nobody is controlling it.
Fire Without Matches Fire can be started... Myth statement Status Notes ...using the friction caused by rubbing two sticks together. Confirmed While the Build Team—in their own words—cheated and used a drill and some gunpowder, with a stick in place of a drillbit, the friction from the drill did light the tinder on fire. This myth was tested legitimately in the 2012 season's "Duct Tape Island" with a bamboo bow drill and duct tape string. ...using a bullet. Confirmed Earlier tests using modern weaponry (and smokeless powder) were unproductive. Tory then modified an old musket and replaced the bullet with a piece of cloth. When the gun was fired, the black powder ignited the cloth, which then ignited the tinder into which it was shot. ...using a soda can bottom polished with chocolate. Confirmed Chocolate was used to buff out the wear marks and ink marking and give the can bottom a reflective shine that could focus light and produce heat. While the can was not able to light tinder that was held by hand, the rig easily lit when the tinder was secured on a makeshift rig that kept it from moving. ...using steel wool and the ends of a battery. Confirmed It took several tries, but the ends of the battery eventually heated the steel wool (through electric resistance) enough to light it on fire. A clip from a survivalist TV show with Ron Hood also showed this myth to be confirmed. This is also a requirement for the American Boy Scout Wilderness Survival merit badge. ...using ice. Confirmed Kari used a globe of specially produced clear ice about half the size of a bowling ball to produce smoke and later fire when she used it as a refractive lens.
Episode 46 – "Archimedes Death Ray" Original air date: January 25, 2006
This was the third episode where myths from previous episodes were revisited, as well as the third episode to focus on just one experiment.
This episode, referred to as the "MythBusters Mailbag Special: The Great Archimedes Burn-Off" from within the episode itself, saw a retest of the Ancient Death Ray myth after fans of the series contested the MythBusters' original decision. To this end, the MythBusters commissioned a contest, challenging viewers to prove the myth plausible.
Candidates could enter in either of two categories: a smaller-scale version where the object was to ignite an object from away, or the full-scale version, where the object was to ignite a replica trireme from away (as per the original myth). For the smaller-scale version, two finalists—the team of Kari Lukes and Jess Nelson, both from UCSB, and the team of Brenden Millstein (Harvard) and Stephen Marsh (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)—were chosen to compete against the MythBusters' own entry in the retest (which was disqualified when it was found that the MythBusters had not followed the contest rules they had set out themselves). Only one entrant (Mike Bushroe, a NASA space scientist) entered a full-scale contest; however, the winning entry was destroyed en route for the retest.
The MythBusters also invited a team from MIT, led by Professor David Wallace, who had independently verified that a ship could be lit from afar using an array of mirrors, to retest the myth with Archimedean-era technology instead of the modern technology used in their own experiment.
Myth statement Status Notes An array of bronze mirrors can set a wooden ship on fire. (From Ancient Death Ray) Re-busted The large-scale array simply took too long to light the ship on fire. In addition, the ship ignited only when it was stationary and positioned at less than half the distance described in the myth. The myth was plausible at a smaller scale, however. Flaming arrows were fired from a ballista at the ship but to little effect. The most effective (and plausible with Archimedes-era technology) method of lighting the ship ablaze was through the use of Molotov cocktails.
While it was shown extensively that it is, in fact, plausible that an array of mirrors (or a parabolic mirror) could set objects on fire, the MythBusters stood by their original "busted" verdict because of many factors: Syracuse, where the myth was supposed to take place, faced east, thus it could not take advantage of the more intense midday rays, instead relying on less powerful morning rays. The death ray would not work during cloudy weather. Enemy ships were likely to be moving targets, thus the mirrors would need to be constantly refocused. The historical records: No mention of the use of fire during the Battle of Syracuse was made until 300 years after the event, and no mention of mirrors was made until 800 years after the event. The impossibly large numbers of mirrors and personnel needed to light a boat with any reasonable speed. The availability of other weapons that were much more effective: Flaming arrows and Molotov cocktail were more reliable at setting an enemy ship ablaze, and they were more effective over longer distances.
The MythBusters also addressed fans' criticisms that suggested they try to light the ships' sails instead of the body of the ship, and showed the sails diffused the light due to their composition and the wind blowing against them, thus they could not be as easily set on fire compared to the body of the ship.
The myth would be visited a third time in 2010 in the President's Challenge, only to be re-busted.
Episode 47 – "Helium Football" Original air date: February 1, 2006
Helium Football Adam and Jamie took on a myth prevalent around football circles, made more prevalent during the time of prolific punter Ray Guy, whose kicks carried so much distance and had so much hangtime, some had suspected the footballs he used were filled with helium.
Myth statement Status Notes A regulation NFL football will fly farther when filled with helium as opposed to compressed air at regulation pressure ().Busted Under the same amount of impulse under the same atmospheric conditions, balls filled with helium showed no significant difference from balls filled with compressed air. Under the same impulse, both types of balls had the same initial velocity; since the helium-filled balls have a lower mass than the air-filled ones, the helium-filled balls have less inertia in flight. In fact, they may perform worse than air-filled balls over larger distances.
Catching a Bullet in Your Teeth The Build Team takes on the bullet catch magic trick and sees whether it is possible to do the trick for real.
Myth statement Status Notes It is possible to catch a fired bullet in one piece with one's teeth.Busted A pig's teeth are significantly stronger than a human's, and yet they were shattered by an impulse test when a bullet, held by a pig head's teeth under the same pressure as an average human's maximum bite strength, was suddenly forced forward by a force equivalent to a speeding bullet. Furthermore, the reaction time needed to perfectly capture a bullet in one's teeth is too short and has too tight a tolerance for any human to succeed. Finally, when the bullet was captured perfectly, the velocity at which it traveled completely destroyed even a full metal jacket bullet. It is impossible to catch a bullet in the same state as it exited a gun, by solid mechanical means.
Episode 48 – "Franklin's Kite" Original air date: March 8, 2006
Franklin's Kite