I know I’m not Lori Beth Denberg or anything, but I figured with an extra day off I could take the time to make a little list of information that will most likely rock your world. It’s no secret I love me some Mythbusters. In fact, after going through each of the 138 episodes to complete this list, I realized I’ve seen 135 of the episodes. Yeah…I know. I apologize for the nerdiness of it all, but I hope you still enjoy this boundless flow of useful knowledge.
Inspired by watching two Mythbusters marathons in less than a month (thank you, Discovery Channel!), Here’s a list of the top 20 things we now know because of Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman were able to test, demonstrate, recreate, and stamp one of three possibilities on them (BUSTED, PLAUSIBLE, or CONFIRMED)…Enjoy!
1.) A kitchen sponge is the most filthy thing a person normally comes into contact with. And actually has hundreds of thousands of harmful germs on average. Ouch.
2.) A corked baseball bat doesn’t actually make the ball go any farther than a normal wooden bat. In the words of DeAndre Cole, “What Up Wit Dat?”
3.) A penny dropped from a skyscraper will not even break human skin, let alone kill someone or make a dent in the sidewalk. Man, for some reason I thought this was definitely true…dang it. Apparently a penny’s mass just isn’t big enough to do much.
4.) A layperson can successfully land a plane if directed by a pilot or aircraft controller over the radio. Who woulda thunk? They were unsuccessful without the help, but as soon as Jamie and Adam jumped into the simulator with the aid of a pilot over the radio, they successfully landed onto the airstrip. Pretty sweet.
5.) You actually get less wet when running in the rain, compared to walking in it. Who knew? Ok, so we all assumed…and we all do still run in the rain, but still, we all weren’t SURE until the guys tested it and confirmed it.
6.) Diving under water can help you avoid being hit by incoming bullets. Probably one of the least-used myths in everyday life, but still one we all think about…just in case…
7.) You can’t make a candle out of earwax. Maybe the most disgusting episode of Mythbusters ever.
8.) A toilet seat is the cleanest place in your house. (Most houses, at least.) Seriously. This is crazy… Probably the least-believable confirmed myth.
9.) Running the air conditioning is more fuel efficient at speeds over 50mph, than driving with the windows down (but less fuel efficient under 50mph). Definitely something I think about at least once a week.
10.) If you sneeze with your eyes open (somehow), your eyes will NOT fall out of your head. Thank God!
11.) It’s possible to chop down a tree with a machine gun. That is, a machine gun that shoots 50 rounds per second. Good luck with that…
12.) Cars don’t immediately explode into flames after falling off a cliff. Yet another earth-shattering busted movie myth. Depressing.
13.) A highway patrol speed camera can be beaten if you drive fast enough. Definitely useful…if you can reach speeds of 245mph or more that is.
14.) Shooting someone (with any size/type of bullet) will not propel and/or move them backward at all. No really. I know! Makes just about every movie just seem kinda goofy now, huh?
15.) The 3 men who escaped from Alcatraz in 1962, very likely succeeded. This was one of the most thorough myths I’ve ever seen them try to bust and well, they just couldn’t. All the of the parts they were skeptical about were all of the parts that actually happened during the real-life escape. The only part that wasn’t proven was their raft trip from Alcatraz to either Sausalito or San Francisco, which Adam and Jamie (and a crew member) completed in less than 45 minutes…at night. Well done, boys!
16.) A person can dip their hand in molten lead without injury, if they dip their hand in water first. This one looked crazy, and well, was a little crazy seeing them actually do this with their own hands. Pretty epic, though.
17.) A motion-detector can be fooled if you move slow enough. Okay, I’ve never even seen one of those things in real life, but I thought this was awesome.
18.) You can run a diesel-fuel engine on vegetable oil instead of gasoline. This was crazy! Absolutely no damage to the car and no other alterations were necessary for the car to run normal. Wow…kinda wish I had a diesel engine now…
19.) Girls pass gas. Now, even though they technically “confirmed this,” I’m still skeptical…
20.) Ninjas can’t run across water, catch arrows, or stop blades between their palms (however, they can deflect arrows with their swords). This was the most earth-shattering episode for me and all other ninja-loving viewers.
**Thanks to the people at http://mythbustersresults.com/ for the help!
Hahaha! You nerd. (I mean that as a sincere compliment.) Also, as per a recent discussion of improbability, http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2828/could-i-survive-on-nothing-but-potatoes-and-milk
I definitely thought of you during the Alcatraz myth episode. :o)
I’m pretty sure I’ve seen almost every episode, too. There hasn’t been a single episode I haven’t seen in any of the last three Mythbusters marathons. #nerdtastic
Wow, Em. Despite your best efforts to out-nerd me on this web page, I think I still win. Maybe try making a list of possible veggies you can live off of and then create your own website and put ’em on a blogpost on that website. THEN you’ll have out nerded me. Nice try tho…
This definitely kept me entertained for a good 15 minutes at work. Thank you for that!
Actually a friend who is a microbiologist explained about 15 years ago why the toilet seat is one of the cleanest things around [and bathrooms in general] – they actually get cleaned with fairly harsh chemicals more frequently than things like light switches, electrical outlets/plugs, doorknobs and window latches. It really makes sense if you stop to think about it. They did not start to advertise the lysol and other brand sanitizing wipes until a few years ago, though in the food service industry they have been using quaternary wipes and wiping/cleaning solutions for about 30 years. Prior to the home use of lysol wipes homemakers were using dishcloths and kitchen sponges to clean countertops and stoves.[blech!]