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). The 2013 season premiered on May 1, 2013, returning to its Wednesday time slot.
Episode overview
Episode 197 – "JATO Rocket Car: Mission Accomplished?" Original air date: May 1, 2013 This was the first of two "10th Anniversary" episodes.
JATO 3: Mission Accomplished? Myth Status Notes A car with a JATO rocket attached can speed up to , become airborne, and impact with the side of a cliff. A revisit of the "Jet Assisted Chevy" myth from the first pilot episode. Re-Busted For this experiment, Adam and Jamie planned the particulars for two launches, while the Build Team modified a large dump truck with a protective metal cage around the exterior of the cab for use as a mobile command bunker (later dubbed "the Beast"). The first test involved a Chevrolet Impala with five rockets attached, fired as it approached a line of sandbags. The car crossed the sandbags at over , but only managed to get airborne by flipping and tumbling when Adam lost control of it. There was no indication that the sandbags had contributed to the car leaving the ground.
The second test involved a second Impala with six rockets attached, launched off a giant ramp as in the Supersized Myths special. This time, the car hit the ramp perfectly straight and was launched into the air, but it immediately began tumbling and landed about away. The team came to the conclusion that the myth scenario is impossible simply because cars are not shaped like rockets and are therefore not aerodynamic in a way that supports flight.
Episode 198 – "Deadliest Catch Crabtastic Special" Original air date: May 8, 2013 This episode aired out of order on Discovery Channel in the United States, as the small-scale test for "Killer Loop" briefly referenced the small-scale test for "Crash Cushion". For all three myths, Adam, Jamie, Tory, Kari and Grant were joined by two Deadliest Catch captains - F/V Time Bandit captain Johnathan Hillstrand and Seabrooke captain Scott Campbell Jr.
Killer Loop Myth Status Notes A fisherman can be pulled to the bottom of the ocean if he is caught in a coiled rope attached to a sinking crab pot. Plausible A scale model test showed that over-under coiling was more effective in pulling someone overboard than regular coiling, but regular coiling was used for the full-scale test as it is a more common technique to be used on a crab boat. All tests in which Buster was standing up or leaning on the pot launcher failed to work; Buster would get caught on the pot launcher. However, a final test with Buster leaning over the rail finally resulted in him going overboard. When Buster was recovered, his depth gauge read , and he was still attached to the rope in the same place it caught him. Jamie and Adam declared the myth plausible since getting caught in the coil does not guarantee that the person will go overboard, but remarked that if one were to go overboard they would, in fact, be pulled all the way to the bottom.
Crab Napping Inspired by Bering Sea crab boat shifts lasting as long as 30 hours, which leads to some captains swearing by this myth. Myth Status Notes Working a 30-hour shift with a 20-minute nap every six hours results in double the performance of not getting any sleep. Confirmed Kari and Tory went onto an anchored ship and set up an obstacle course featuring tasks that a Bering Sea crab boat deckhand could expect to face, including throwing a hook, sorting crab, dodging mock versions of crab pots, answering navigation questions, and a steady hand test with a total 100 possible points. Kari and Tory both got perfect scores for their (fully rested) control and then ran two tests after 30 hours awake, with the difference being that the second included the 20-minute crab naps. Without the crab naps, Kari scored 27 and Tory scored 34, but after adding in the naps, Kari and Tory successfully doubled their scores in the re-test (and then some) with scores of 64 and 81.
Indestructible Pot Myth Status Notes Crab pots are indestructible. Busted After the Build Team declared that any damage to the steel frame would have constituted some destruction, the first test with of C4 suspended inside the pot failed to damage the steel. However, a second test with the same amount of C4 strategically placed below the pot in direct contact with the frame damaged the steel in multiple places. As a result, Johnathan and Scott treated the Build Team to dinner.
Episode 199 – "Down and Dirty/Earthquake Survival" Original air date: May 15, 2013
Down and Dirty Myth Status Notes Hand dryers in public restrooms are a less effective method of removing bacteria from one's hands after washing than paper towels, and spread more bacteria around the drying area. Confirmed First, to find out if washing hands even leaves behind any bacteria to be removed by hand dryers, Adam and Jamie tested three different, commonly used methods of "washing" hands, each followed by swabbing and incubating in Petri dishes: rubbing hands together without placing them under the water; getting hands wet but neglecting to use any soap; and washing hands with soap and water, which is the proper method. They discovered that washing their hands with soap and water yielded no bacteria whatsoever, whereas washing without soap left a fairly substantial amount of bacteria and attempting to wash without water left far too much to count.
Next, they enlisted 16 volunteers to have their hands sprayed with a harmless strain of Escherichia coli bacteria, then swabbed for a sample, then washed using water but no soap, then swabbed again, then dried using paper towels, then swabbed a third time. Then they repeated the process with the same volunteers, bacteria and washing technique, but using hand dryers instead. On average, the paper towels removed 71% of the bacteria on the volunteers' hands, while the hand dryers only removed 23%, confirming the first part of the myth.
Samples taken from swabbing the testing areas yielded 3 for the paper towels and 41 for the hand dryers, confirming the second part.
Stall Number 1 Myth Status Notes In a public restroom, the bathroom stall closest to the entrance is used the least often and contains the least amount of bacteria. Confirmed After 119 different men used a restroom with four bathroom stalls that had been freshly cleansed of all bacteria, Adam and Jamie swabbed each of the stalls and counted the number of colonies of bacteria produced. The stalls, numbered in order from the closest to the entrance (as 1) to the farthest (as 4), had 162, 267, 290 and 231 colonies, respectively. In addition, a tally of the users of each stall showed that the stalls were used by 23, 38, 34 and 24 people, respectively.
Earthquake Emergency Myth Status Notes Standing in a doorway yields the best chance of survival when an earthquake hits. Busted The Build Team built a earthquake shaking table using pneumatic valve springs and air casters, then had a small masonry house built on top of it. They placed mannequins in three different locations inside the house: one standing in the room, one lying under a table, and one standing in the doorway. When they started up the shake table, the masonry house began to collapse fairly quickly, except for the doorframe. The mannequins standing in the room and lying under the table suffered, but the one in the doorway was subject only to being battered by the swinging door.
Then they retested with a new house with a wooden frame, and the mannequin standing inside was soon dispatched, but the doorway and table mannequins remained intact. After a final shake with enough force to simulate a magnitude 9.5 earthquake, the doorway mannequin fell over, leaving the under-the-table mannequin the last one to survive. Despite the doorway testing as the best spot in the masonry house, the Build Team declared the myth busted due to the high rarity of such houses in current times.
Episode 200 – "Indy Car Special" Original air date: May 22, 2013
Man vs. Car Myth Status Notes In a race, a human can outrun a race car. Busted At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, Jamie and Adam each took turns driving the race car, while the other tried to outrun it. Each tried three times, and Adam had one dead heat with the race car, but they both ultimately failed to beat it. They then enlisted Olympic runner Wallace Spearmon to race against IndyCar Series driver Ryan Briscoe, with the latter winning by a comfortable margin every time.
Manhole Mishap Myth Status Notes During an IndyCar Series road race, race cars can generate enough suction against the ground while driving to remove manhole covers from their manholes. Busted Adam and Jamie installed a mock manhole cover inside a mock manhole that was dug by the owners of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, adding weights to the bottom because the cover itself weighed less than a real one. They attached high-strength line to the cover so it could only move half an inch. Finally, IndyCar Series racer Logan Gomez drove over the manhole cover at 100 and , but failed to impart enough force to move it. After removing the weights for a final test, the car imparted on the manhole cover, which was just barely enough to move it at all, and would certainly not be enough to move a real manhole cover.
Sweaty Speed Myth Status Notes During an IndyCar Series race, a driver can lose . Plausible As a control test, the Build Team spent three hours, the length of an Indianapolis 500 race, in a dry sauna. Grant and Kari lost each, while Tory lost . Next, Tory spent three hours driving a race car around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but only lost . As a final test, the Build Team drove laps for three hours around Thunderhill Raceway Park. Kari lost , Tory lost , and Grant lost . Although it was not the amount required by the myth, they deemed it plausible due to the much more extreme circumstances in a longer and faster race such as the Indianapolis 500.
Episode 201 – "Battle of the Sexes: Round 2" Original air date: May 29, 2013
Man Throw Myth Status Notes Men are better at throwing objects than women. Based on the insult of "throwing like a girl" towards a grown male (i.e. throwing with less power than needed). Busted Adam and Jamie selected a female and a male from each of four age groups: 7-, 12-, 18- and 24-year-olds. In the first test, which involved throwing tennis balls at a target, the females threw more accurately than the males, but not as fast. They repeated the test with the 7- and 24-year-olds in a motion capture studio at Industrial Light & Magic in order to analyze the subjects' body movements while throwing, and noted that the females tended to throw while keeping their bodies upright, while the males leaned forward, more closely resembling the movement of professional baseball pitcher Greg Reynolds. In the final test, which had the subjects use their non-preferred hands to make throws, the males threw more accurately but not as fast, a reversal of the first test. Additionally, all subjects showed the same form when using their non-preferred hands, regardless of gender. Finally, Adam and Jamie enlisted softball pitcher Jordan Taylor for the test, and found that her form was identical to that of Greg Reynolds. The MythBusters declared the myth busted on the basis that throwing objects is a skill that can be learned with equal effectiveness by both genders, and that any perceived difference is due to cultural bias that exposes males to more ball sports.
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