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.
Vodka Myths II
Kari, Tory, and Grant tested to see if vodka...
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...
Fire Without Matches
Fire can be started...
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 their 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.
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 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 was made of the use of fire during the Battle of Syracuse until 300 years after the event, and no mention of mirrors 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 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 could not be as easily set on fire compared to the body of the ship.
The myth would be re-visited 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.
Catching a Bullet in Your Teeth
The Build Team took on the bullet catch magic trick, and see whether it is possible to do the trick for real.