Friday, November 21, 2008

Popular MythBuster Episodes

By Amy Nutt

MythBusters is a television show hosted by two men, Jamie and Adam, who set about testing myths to see if they hold up to scientific fact. The men have a lot of impressive skills and knowledge at their fingertips and what they don`t know, they learn. But not every episode is a winner, some clearly stand out from others.

Episode 12: This episode checked a very popular myth . . . do your toothbrushes really get fecal matter on them when you leave them in the bathroom? The answer might astonish you . . . and have you moving your bathroom as far from the house as possible! Also in the twelfth episode, Jamie and Adam built a machine to find out if they could actually collapse a bridge with soldiers marching in lock step across it, and a team of varsity rowers tested their strength by attempting to tow a waterskiing Jamie behind their 8 person shell.

Episode 20: Can you really die from eating a heated jawbreaker? Urban legend says it could explode in your mouth . . . so of course Adam and Jamie have to take on this challenge. They also check out the truth in the story about a man being electrocuted by sandblasting a plastic pipe and, one of the more popular tests, find out if a playing card really can be deadly when flicked at high speeds on edge. Curious? This is a great episode to watch!

Episode 30: Anything to do with sex tends to be popular and this episode, though it doesn`t actually contain anything risqu, is no exception. If you`ve heard the old story of a civil war soldier being shot through the lower body and the bullet then lodging in the uterus of a young woman who became pregnant, you`ll have an inkling as to what this interesting episode is about! The other myths include whether or not it can be fatal to use a phone in a thunderstorm and the re-enactment of a boat heading out to sea with the vehicle still attached.

Episode 35: Have you heard the one about the human slingshot? Apparently Mexicans were hurtling themselves over the border via giant slingshot, aiming so perfectly that they landed neatly on a mattress placed on the US side of the border. This is definitely a task for the MythBusters cast and they set about to find out if humans really can fly safely through the air.

Episode 67: Fans love a good shootout, something the Busters are famous for and this episode features three different gun related myths to put to rest. These more obscure myths include the supposition that two Civil War bullets that collided in midair fused together and the possibility of killing a sniper by shooting through his gun scope. The guys also investigate and try to disprove the story about a criminal`s bullet jamming the empty chamber in a policeman`s gun. And, as a bonus, we get a chance to find out just how dangerous a hammer really is!

Episode 72: Are you curious about the statement that you can`t fold a piece of paper in half more than 7 times? This episode of Myth Busters tests that theory to the max by building a sheet of paper the size of a football field to fold, but that`s not the most exciting part. How about a daring escape from a sinking car? We all know how dangerous it is to be inside a vehicle when it hits the water, but just how difficult is it to get out once you`re submerged?

There are plenty of MythBusters episodes to watch and all of them are good. However, these are some of the public`s favorites and well worth watching.

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