Buckle up and hang on as Jamie and Adam bring Mythbusting Mayhem on Discovery Science

Media News

New Delhi, April 1, 2011

MYTHBUSTERS Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are back to bust more myths and dispel untruths in the name of science. Get ready for more combustible action as Jamie and Adam combine science, special effects and technology to determine the validity of countless popular myths and legends through a series of experiments. The results are often surprising - and explosive. MYTHBUSTERS premieres every Tuesday at 7:30 pm, starting April 5th on Discovery Science.

The Emmy®-nominated series MYTHBUSTERS aims to uncover the truth behind popular myths and legends by mixing scientific method with gleeful curiosity and plain old-fashioned ingenuity to create a signature style of experimentation.

Some of the myths the team has put to test:

• Can combining Diet Coke and Mentos make your stomach explode?

• Would a bull really cause destruction in a china shop?

• Is it possible to beat a lie detector test?

• Can plugging your finger in a gun barrel cause it to backfire?

• Is there a way to beat police speed cameras?

• Can Christmas tree lights really cause house fires?

• Is a dirty car more fuel efficient than a clean car?

The MYTHBUSTERS' quest is simple: to uncover the truth behind popular rumours, urban and Internet myths, and historical claims, using their trademark quirky, action-packed - and often unconventional - methods. MYTHBUSTERS is inspiring a generation to inquire, interact and get involved with science by proving or disproving popular myths, misconceptions or legends.

MYTH FILES

MYTH: Can COMBINING DIET COKE AND MENTOS MAKE YOUR STOMACH EXPLODE?

Finding: BUSTED

Explanation: Ever have one of those days when you have to eat lunch out of a vending machine? Anyone whose heard the Internet-fueled rumor about the guy who ruptured his stomach by downing Diet Coke and Mentos will probably avoid that sugary combination on such occasions. Yet, as with like many cyber sensations, there's a lot of hot air behind the Diet Coke and Mentos rumor.

It's true that if you drop a pack of the chewy mints into a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke, the candy's properties react with the carbon dioxide in the soda to spew forth fizz. Physicist Tonya Coffey determined that this happens because Mentos' rough surface breaks up the attraction between water molecules in the Coke, clearing room for carbon dioxide bubbles to form. The gum arabic further fuels the fizz by making the candy fall through the liquid faster, which causes bubbles to form more rapidly.

However, when you open and drink a Diet Coke, it releases much of the pressurized carbon dioxide that forms the carbonation. As the soda warms while traveling to the stomach, the gas continues to vaporize. Any remaining might cause your stomach to expand, but it isn't enough to spark a dangerous gassy rebellion if you chase the soda with a pack of Mentos.

The nutritional value of a Diet Coke and Mentos snack is still questionable, but if that's your only vending machine vice, your stomach should make it through just fine.

MYTH: WOULD A BULL REALLY CAUSE DESTRUCTION IN A CHINA SHOP?

Finding: BUSTED

Explanation: This myth has been on record since the early 1800s — it was even captured in a dance-hall song. If someone says you're like a bull in a china shop, odds are you have a reputation for being clumsy when you should be careful. That's why pitting an 1,800-pound animal against Grandma's gravy boat makes this myth seem like a no-brainer. Surely, setting a bull loose in a china shop would lead to dish damage of catastrophic proportions.

But when the MythBusters put it to the test, what they discovered was more bull ballet than dish destruction. The bulls nimbly avoided aisles of shelves stacked with fragile china. Introducing multiple bulls didn't even cause the carnage MythBusters expected — the animals daintily trotted amidst the breakables.

So what gives?

Bulls, horses and other animals with hooves can pivot 360 degrees. By lifting three legs and leaving just one hind hoof on the ground, a bull can turn sharply in one quick motion — much like the pirouette of a classically trained dancer. This ability, especially as the bull takes a corner, delivers some china-preserving results, making the myth itself the most fragile thing in the room.

MYTH: COULD ROACHES REALLY SURVIVE A NUCLEAR EXPLOSION?

Finding: PLAUSIBLE

Explanation: The myth that cockroaches will inherit the Earth in the event of nuclear warfare surfaced shortly after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Reports later emerged that the 300 million-year-old insects were among the razed Japanese cities' only survivors. During the Cold War, anti-nuclear activists and scientists spread the myth far and wide as a cautionary tale of the atom bomb's destructive potential.

To test whether this doomsday scenario has any legs, the MythBusters subjected German cockroaches to three levels of radioactive metal cobalt 60. They started with a baseline exposure of 1,000 radon units (rads) of cobalt 60, capable of killing a person in 10 minutes, and followed it up with 10,000 and 100,000 rad exposures on separate guinea pig — er, roach — groups. (As a comparison, the bomb on Hiroshima emitted radioactive gamma rays at a strength of around 10,000 rads.)

Since radiation gradually destroys organisms on the cellular level, the MythBusters monitored the radiated roaches for 30 days. After a month, half the roaches exposed to 1,000 rads were still kicking, and a remarkable 10 percent of the 10,000 rad group was alive. The results confirmed that cockroaches can survive a nuclear explosion — but only to a point, as none of the critters in the 100,000 rad group made it through.

Cockroaches' ability to withstand extreme radiation exposure may come down to their simple bodies and slower cell cycles. Cells are said to be most sensitive to radiation when they're dividing. That's why humans are more vulnerable — they have some cells that are constantly splitting up.

Roaches, on the other hand, only molt about once a week at most, which makes radiation's window of opportunity to attack cells much narrower. But if the nuclear explosion was powerful enough, even these ancient critters couldn't continue on.

MYTH: DOES THE COLOR RED REALLY MAKE BULLS ANGRY?

Finding: BUSTED

Explanation: Spanish matadors began using a small red cape, or muleta, in bullfighting around the 1700s. Ever since, it seems, people have perpetuated the color-charged myth that red makes bulls go wild.

An 1,800-pound bull can hook a grown man with his horns and toss him 30 feet in the air, so the MythBusters set out to find a way to test this myth — carefully. They decided to put makeshift matadors into an arena, each holding a flag of a different color, and wait for an angry bull to see red.

The red, blue and white flags got equal, half-hearted attacks when they were motionless. In order to elicit an aggressive charge response from the bull, the flags had to be waved.

Turns out, the color red isn't what causes bulls to attack. In fact, bulls don't seem to have any color preference at all. They'll charge whichever object is moving the most, which means this old myth can get tossed right out of the ring.

CAN BUG BOMBS MAKE A HOUSE EXPLODE?

Finding: CONFIRMED

Explanation: MythBusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage proved that setting off a bug bomb in your house can get rid of more than roaches. The pesticides can actually blow away your entire house. In California alone, at least a couple of people set off destructive bug bomb blasts each year, and the MythBusters demonstrated how those explosive scenarios can take place.

Jamie and Adam rigged a 500-square-foot house with a variety of ignition sources, including a pilot light, thermostat, water heater and stove igniter. Then, they littered the shack with 12 bug bombs, or 10 times the manufacturer's recommendation.

Sure enough, when the aerosol bombs discharged, the propellant gas reacted with the ignition sources and sparked multiple explosions. The MythBusters' bombed-out bungalow confirmed that manufacturer warnings exist for good reason. Fail to follow the directions, and your house could kick the bucket along with those bugs.

MYTHBUSTERS episode descriptions:

Escape Slide Parachute

Could an airline's emergency life raft be used as a parachute? Is it possible for oxygen, an electrical spark and hair cream to result in a deadly cocktail? Can a human survive a terminal velocity fall?

MythBusters Revisited

Adam and Jamie take their detractors head on as they revisit some of their favorite myths. They're going to answer them once and for all and forever silence their critics!

Chinese Invasion Alarm

Is an ancient Chinese text alluding to a subterranean sonar system that could apparently detect and intercept an invasion from below true? Is the five-second rule for food really safe to eat?

Quicksand

Can you really murder someone by dropping an electrical appliance into a bathtub? Does a tattoo react with an MRI's rays? Will killer quicksand take down the MythBusters?

Exploding Jawbreaker

Is it possible to throw a regular playing card fast enough to inflict bodily harm? Can a heated jawbreaker explode in your mouth. Can a sandblasted PVC pipe become a deadly cannon?

Pingpong Rescue

Is it possible to lift a sunken boat from the ocean floor using only pingpong balls? How many does it take to lift a 3-year-old child off the ground?

Scuba Diver and Car Capers

Can a SCUBA diver be sucked out of the water by a fire-fighting helicopter and get spit out in the middle of a forest fire? Will a banana in a car's tailpipe make it stall?

Ancient Death Ray

Did the Greek scientist Archimedes set fire to a Roman fleet of ships using only mirrors and sunlight? Willl a bulletproof shield really stop a direct hit from a bullet?

Elevator of Death, Levitation Machine

If an elevator suddenly falls, can you save yourself in the nick of time by jumping just before it hits bottom? Will the MythBusters be able to create a homemade levitation machine?

Ming Dynasty Astronaut

Will Buster survive an explosive launch into space? Will a stunt double lose his head at the hands of a killer fan, as the MythBusters search for a source of free energy?

Boom-Lift Catapult

Will Buster overcome the raw power of a 30,000-pound piece of machinery, or will the boom-lift turn into the ultimate medieval catapult? What is the most fuel-efficient way to keep cool in the car?

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