Mythbusters Season Six

The new season of Mythbusters kicks of Wednesday April 8^th. From the previews it looks to be one action packed show full of what has made the show such a success. Lots of crashes and things blowing up. Adam and Jamie return for their seventh season of testing every type of urban legend. In the past six seasons they have aired some 118 shows and have tested literally hundreds of myths. As we look forward to the new myths and hopefully bigger and better acts of destruction, I thought it would be fun to look back at last season.

Season six episode one aired on January 16^th, 2008. "James Bond, part 1" tested three myths from the famous Bond, James Bond movie series. Two of the three were busted as it seems it is impossible to deflect a bullet with a magnetic watch, and James Bond's pistol could not have penetrated a propane tank, much less caused it to explode. The final myth was to test if a speedboat could make a fifty foot jump, land, and still be usable. The team had some trouble getting the ramp built and Adam had even more difficulty in controlling the boat via radio control due to the waves and rough water. As a result, the jump did not go well, and even though the boat ended up capsized, it was virtually undamaged. That one would have to be plausible since the boat was usable, but the myth did not succeed as planned.

The season continued with eighteen more episodes and more than fifty myths to test. Here are my top ten myths from Season six, and how they turned out.

At number 10, was an educational and safety related myth. During Alaska week the team attempted to determine if a car was about to strike a moose, would it be better to hit the brakes, or hit the gas? The dummy moose they created was very cool as were the testing methods they used. When all was said and done it was still a bit unclear of which was your best option, other than avoiding the moose all together.

Number 9, dealt with road rage. Does a person who is angry use more gasoline than a person who is calm? While the experiment was interesting, what was even more entertaining was how Kari brought on the road rage in her two companions. She used some devilish tactics to create a most uncomfortable and stressful driving situation. Can you drive calmly with mice running loose in the car, or the radio blarring, or the steering wheel covered in goo? By the way, you do use more gas when driving angry.

Coming in at number 8, was a myth from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Can you flip a motorcycle by jamming a flagpole into the spokes of the front wheel? This myth showed all of the different elements which have to be checked when working with these types of myths. As it turns out, a wooden flag pole would not be strong enough, nor are the standard spokes of a motorcycle tire. The physics are also all wrong and the team showed exactly why this myth was totally busted.

Number 7 was during episode two in which the team took on the myth of the lead balloon. Not to be outdone, the team built a huge lead balloon which had to be built and launched in an aircraft hanger. Building the square balloon was a chore but inflating it turned out to be even more of a challenge. After having to come up with some very inventive fixes, the team was finally able to get the balloon in the air and proved you can fly a lead balloon. The myth that a lead balloon won't fly was busted.

At number 6, deals with the NASA moon landings, which some still dispute ever happened. Using intricate models and showing how angels and line of sight can fool you, the team disproved each of the conspiracy theories. It would seem we did land on the moon after all.

In 5^th place, was a myth from the James Bond episode, part 2. This myth concerned a pen used by James Bond which when ignited literally blew away the top half of the test dummy. The team tried to recreate the pen but found it impossible to pack enough explosives into such a small container. They eventually blew away the test dummy, but with considerably more explosives. This myth was busted.

Coming in at 4^th, was an extremely fun episode in which the team took on the myth that you can cut down a tree with gunfire. Try as they might, the team could not cut down a tree, using a reasonable amount of ammo, using any of the weapons shown in the videos. They did however find a very nice mini-gun which was quite capable of getting the job done. As cool as the mini-gun was, the myth was still busted.

At number 3 was the phone book. The myth goes like this. If you interweave the pages of an ordinary phone book, without the use of any glue or other adhesive, the friction alone will keep you from pulling the phone books apart. As crazy as it sounds at first, it is true, you cannot pull them apart, without the use of two armored vehicles that is. If you have a few hours to spare at home, you can give this one a try.

Number 2, was a great shoot-em-up myth. The team looked at various items that are said to be bullet-proof. Before you pick out something to stop a bullet based on what you have seen in the movies, you may want to watch this episode. Many of the things which stopped a bullet in the movies did little to even slow down a bullet in real life.

And the number 1 myth tested in season 6, was one of my all time favorites. There is a story of an ancient artillery weapon which could fire up to 200 exploding arrows at an enemy over 500 yards away. The team first tested the arrows for range, accuracy, and for their ability to be lethal. They then constructed a full scale weapon complete with 200 rocket powered arrows. With so many things that could possible go wrong, the team got it just right and the weapon worked to perfection, proving the myth was most certainly plausible. The launch of the 200 rocket arrows was a sight to see.

I am looking forward to the new season and seeing the team blow some more stuff up. It seems with each new season the show's budget improves and they are allowed to do bigger and better things. From the looks of the premier episode for season seven, this is most certainly the case.