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 either busted, plausible, or confirmed). The 2014 season premiered on January 4, 2014, changing to a Saturday time slot. The show resumed in July, called a "new season" by the Discovery Channel. It then moved to a Thursday time slot.
This would be the last season for Kari Byron, Tory Belleci and Grant Imahara, after it was announced the build team would not be returning for the 2015 season. Hyneman and Savage would be the sole hosts of the show from this point onwards. In December 2014, Savage would go on to address the Build Team departures, indicating that the separation was a result of failed contract negotiations between Discovery Networks and the team members.
Episode overview
Episode 208 – "Star Wars Special" Original air date: January 4, 2014
Adam, Jamie, and the Build Team examined three scenes from the Star Wars film series—eventually choosing one scene from each episode of the original trilogy. This episode is alternatively referred to as "Star Wars: Revenge of the Myth" or "SithBusters." They tested...
Myth Status Notes ...Luke Skywalker's grappling-hook swing across the chasm in the Death Star, while carrying Princess Leia, to escape the pursuing Stormtroopers. (A New Hope) Plausible Adam and Jamie chose three elements for testing: the ease of throwing/launching a grappling hook and cable and snagging an overhead fixture, the effects of using only a waist belt for weight support, and the effect of a second person's weight on the ability to make the swing. Jamie built a hook similar to the one Luke used, and at a warehouse at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, he practiced throwing it at an overhead strut approximately away. He was only able to snag the strut after several tries, prompting him to declare this part of the myth plausible but unlikely.
For further testing, Adam and Jamie set up two platforms apart. Jamie was concerned that using only a belt to support his weight could lead to serious injury, so he did a short test swing only a few feet above the ground while carrying a Leia dummy. He was able to complete the swing but suffered considerable pain; as a result, he declared the second part of the myth plausible but likely to injure a person badly.
For the third part, Jamie donned a safety harness and performed the swing first by himself, then carrying the dummy. After both of these attempts succeeded, he made one last swing carrying Sophia Bush as a stand-in for Leia (complete with her dress and hairdo while Jamie and Adam dressed as Luke and Han), and was able to cross the gap safely. He and Adam declared the overall myth plausible.
Note: The Stormtroopers in the episode were all members of the Golden Gate Chapter of the 501st Legion. Adam and Grant - both Industrial Light and Magic alumnus - were already honorary members, and Jamie was inducted into the New England Chapter in 2014.501st Legion's New England chapter inducts Jamie Hyneman (MythBusters) 501st New England Garrison on Twitter ...the Ewoks' destruction of an Imperial AT-ST walker by crushing it between two swinging logs. (Return of the Jedi) Plausible With help from a local power crew, the Build Team used telephone poles to construct and brace a set of support frames to hold the logs. They estimated that the logs were long and in diameter, and chose eucalyptus wood for its hardness; each log weighed approximately .
From studying the movie scene, they determined that the logs were pulled back 45 degrees and released to hit the AT-ST at a height of . The team placed a passenger van at this height and began to pull the logs back, but the structure began to buckle well before they reached 45 degrees. When the logs were released, the impact damaged both sides of the van considerably, prompting the team to try a full-scale test on an armored truck.
In order to be able to reach a larger swing angle, they reinforced the structure and lowered the logs to just above ground level. This time, the logs punched the truck's side panels off the frame, leading the team to declare the myth plausible. However, they noted that the chances of such a trap succeeding were very small, since the logs would have to be placed at just the right height to hit the AT-ST. For a final test, they put a Stormtrooper dummy in the driver's seat and repeated the swing; the dummy was smashed to pieces. ...Han Solo's use of a Tauntaun carcass to keep Luke warm on the planet Hoth. (The Empire Strikes Back) Plausible Adam carved a Tauntaun from a block of foam and added an outer layer of synthetic skin and fur, while Jamie created simulated organs to fill the body cavity and conduct heat in a realistic manner. They decided to use the dummy from the 2012 myth "A Titanic Tale", dubbed "Thermo Boy", to stand in for Luke as it had a circulatory system and a heater to simulate human metabolism.
A food refrigeration facility was chosen to simulate the cold climate on Hoth, and Adam and Jamie built an insulated chamber inside that could be loaded with dry ice to achieve a temperature of −40 °C. Both Thermo Boy and the organs were warmed to and loaded into the Tauntaun, which was then moved into the chamber; once Thermo Boy had cooled to , Adam and Jamie started to monitor his temperature. They reasoned that Han might need 2.5 hours to build an emergency shelter for himself and Luke, and that Luke would die of hypothermia if his temperature fell to within that time. At the end of the test, Thermo Boy had only cooled to , and Adam and Jamie deemed the myth plausible, speculating that the reason for this might be the strong ability of water (which composes the majority of most mammals) to absorb and retain heat.
Episode 209 – "Moonshiner Myths" Original air date: January 11, 2014
Adam, Jamie, and the Build Team examined two myths based on the Discovery Channel series Moonshiners. They tested...
Exploding Still Myth Status Notes A malfunctioning moonshine still can explode with enough force to destroy the shack in which it is housed. Confirmed Adam built a copper still in the workshop, while Jamie acquired a steel milk can that had been fitted with an internal heater and modified for use as a still. They fermented a load of corn mash and distilled it to obtain 156-proof moonshine, noting that they had obtained permits allowing them to do so legally.
They built a shack, placed Adam's still inside, and plugged the condenser outlet to simulate a clog in the tubing that would allow pressure to build up. The still was loaded with pure ethanol and heated; there was no explosion after 30 minutes, but Adam and Jamie observed large quantities of smoke and flames coming from the shed. They found that the still had been destroyed by fire, and Adam theorized that gradual failure of the material and welds would have let the ethanol vapor escape slowly enough to burn rather than explode.
In the workshop, they boiled a pan of ethanol inside a model shack and experimented with methods for igniting the vapor. An open flame, created by sparking a rag tucked between electrodes, caused an explosion that blew out one of the model's walls. For a second full-scale test, Jamie's still was set up in a new shack, heated, and allowed to vent its vapor until a flammable concentration had been reached. When they sparked the rag, representing a cigarette being lit by an unsuspecting moonshiner, it triggered an explosion that blew the shack apart. Adam and Jamie declared the myth confirmed.
Firewater Fuel Myth Status Notes A car can run properly on moonshine without any modifications. Confirmed The Build Team decided to test the operability, performance, and longevity of cars running on moonshine. For operability testing, they obtained three cars of the same make and model, but from different decades: 1970s (carbureted), 1990s (fuel injected), 2010s (fuel injected, modern). They laid out a course with sections designed to test starting, acceleration, maneuvering, and turns. Each car ran 3 laps with 192-proof moonshine in the fuel tank. Tory, in the 1970s car, had trouble with stalling when he started and was unable to complete one full lap. Grant completed one lap in the 1990s car, but gave up on the second after his engine began to stutter and lose power. Kari, using the 2010s car, was able to finish all three laps even though she noted slower-than-normal acceleration.
The team used the 2010s car for the performance testing to determine whether moonshine was as effective as a gasoline replacement. They chose three different strengths of moonshine (151, 170 and 192 proof) and planned to do three trials with each strength, calculating the average time to accelerate from 0 to . The car would not start on 151 proof, reached an average of 19.4 seconds at 170, and achieved 9 seconds at 192. At Petaluma Speedway, Tory drove 3 laps in this car, clocking times of 2:26 (gasoline) and 2:24 (moonshine). He noted that even though the acceleration was slower on moonshine than gas, the effect gave him better traction on the dirt surface of the track.
For the longevity test, they chose to use Thunderhill Raceway Park for the many twists and turns on its track. Grant, in a moonshine-fueled car, drove past Kari and Tory, who were standing by a parked gasoline car; they then jumped in and began chasing him. He was able to stay ahead of them through 3 laps, totaling almost , and the team declared the myth confirmed. However, Kari commented that standard passenger car engines are not designed to run on high-purity ethanol, and that it gives poor gas mileage.
Episode 210 – "Hollywood Car Crash Cliches" Original air date: January 18, 2014
Adam, Jamie, and the Build Team explored three scenarios related to vehicle-based movie stunts and effects.
Slapstick Shatter Myth Status Notes If a car crashes through a sheet of glass being carried by two men, it can destroy the glass without injuring the men. Busted Adam built human analogs from foam rubber covered by plastic sheeting, with red liquid "blood" between the two (to make injuries easy to detect) and supported by plastic tubing. He and Jamie chose three types of glass for testing: tempered, laminated, and ordinary plate glass, each thick. With a sheet of glass held in a vertical frame between two analogs, and using a car with a reinforced windshield to protect themselves, they drove into the glass at .
The plate glass shattered into shards that inflicted a small number of slash wounds on one analog, while the other one was not injured. The laminated glass broke into several large sheets and did not inflict any injuries; the tempered glass broke into many small fragments that caused multiple injuries to both analogs. Since the workers were at high risk of being wounded by the flying glass, Adam and Jamie classified the myth as busted.
SUV vs. RPG Myth Status Notes A sport utility vehicle hit by a rocket-propelled grenade will flip over instead of exploding where it stands. Busted The Build Team set up tests at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, in order to investigate the use of both stationary and moving SUVs. An RPG fired at the front end of a stationary SUV punched into the engine compartment, but the vehicle remained in place and did not flip. For the second test, the team allowed the SUV to roll downhill along a track before firing; the explosion damaged the front end, but the vehicle continued to roll forward without flipping. The team declared the myth busted at this point, and Grant noted that the RPGs they used had been designed to penetrate armor and channel their force to the interior of a vehicle.