The Mythbusters are great at Statics

[pokerfan]

but obviously flunked Dynamics. Remedial mechanical engineering for the lot.

[Pierre.Suave]

1. Their methods are flawed...

and tarted up for TV...

[Javaman]

24. But honestly, are you watching it for the science or to see if someone gets hurt?

:evilgrin:

[jobycom]

2. Yeah, but they got a cool job!

Who cares about dynamic physics, they blow stuff up!!

[Pierre.Suave]

3. Exactly...

that is one cement truck that wont be hauling any more cement...

:P

[pokerfan]

4. True, but.....

F = ma and when a = 42 g's, they seem surprised that things fall apart.

[Pierre.Suave]

5. What was it?

I was not watching today. Was it the dummy?

edit: I should clarify exactly which dummy I am referring to, I am most interested to learn if the 42g acceleration was experienced by the test dummy, and not one of the hosts...

[pokerfan]

8. Two dummies

Falling skydiver hitting a playground sea-saw and launching a ten-year-old seven stories skyward. On the first attempt, the sea-saw broke in half and the child dummy hardly moved. Like I said, F = ma.

[jobycom]

7. They only feign surprise.

They want things to fall apart. Better TV.

42g's? What were they doing?

[pokerfan]

9. Post #8

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

27. I would *LOVE* to have that job

[Orrex]

6. I've never seen an episode of that show that can't be summarized as "they blow shit up"

Very much a one-trick pony. :boring:

[jobycom]

10. Nah, that's not true.

They've rotted pigs in cars, dropped dummies out windows, tested various fuel economy scenarios, tested guns on everything from their ability to blow open a lock to their trajectory through water, tested cell phone transmission effects on avionics... It's hardly academically sound scientific experimentation, but they are a long way from a one trick pony. They promote skepticism and observational analysis, and that's a good thing.

[Orrex]

13. I dunno

The "observational analysis" that they promote is very method-specific. They don't, for instance, seem to give much information about how to analyze a claim based purely on logic, unless they can also shoot a bullet through it or drop it from a crane.

Have they ever tackled a "myth" that didn't require a massive, spectacular demonstration? That is, have they ever debunked a myth purely on its own terms, or do they run to the workshop every time?

That's a sincere question; for all I know, they might do that in every episode except for the two dozen or so I've seen (which includes the pigs in the Corvette, by the way).


You're right, of course, that it's not all about blowing shit up. But every episode I've seen (again, around two dozen) has involved at least one "myth" about something exploding or having a bullet shot through it.

[DarkTirade]

14. I dunno, the 'Bull in a china shop' one didn't involve much destruction...

:)

[Believing Is Art]

15. Yeah but it's never the main attraction

They tested a really stupid one - pyramid power. Put some fruit under a pyramid made of sticks and supposedly it will stay fresh longer. The funny thing is worked the first time. They think the blade they used to cut the apple sterilized one side.

There are other examples of this, but the main project always involves shooting things, blowing things up, dropping things from spectacular heights, etc.

[jobycom]

18. They aren't formatted to be a sit-down-and-analyze program.

So they don't do round-table logical debunkings. Within their format, they try to make their experiments fun, but still use logical analysis. They aren't trying to teach future scientists to be mathematically precise, they are trying to show the "Hold ma beer and watch this" crowd not to believe everything they see or hear without thinking it through.

And they blow stuff up sometimes, but to be fair, most urban myths involve some gruesome or explosive element, especially the ones created by the movie industry.

[Orrex]

20. "Hold ma beer and watch this" LOL!

I like that summation, and I suppose you're correct. What still bothers me about it, though, is that Myth Busters and lots of other "hold ma beer" shows are marketed as educational programming. I suppose that they are educational, after a fashion, in the same way that we can see that Peter from Family Guy gets hurt when he jams his finger into a pencil sharpener.

[Ptah]

11. Good point

[pokerfan]

12. That's my old text!!!

Only, it was in two volumes, not one.

[Believing Is Art]

16. Did they used to shove statics and dynamics into one semester?

Or was it just in one book so students wouldn't have to spend as much money? That would be nice.

Statics and dynamics in one semester is a terrifying concept.

[pokerfan]

17. Two semesters, two books

Don't see how you could teach it all in one semester.

I had one calculus text for both semesters (differential/integral) of freshman math.

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. I had them as separate classes

[Mojo_electro]

19. Mmmmmmmm

Mmmmmmm, Kari Byron! :loveya:

So beautiful and so smart.
Big fan!

[LeftOfSelf-Centered]

26. I second that emotion....

MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm indeed!

[LibertyLover]

21. Adam and Jamie are amusing but

after watching one of the pirate episodes where they "busted" the "myth" regarding wooden ships and the injuries caused by splinters of wood during sea battles, I realized that neither of them know history. I still watch it for the amusement value, but that's about all.

[NJmaverick]

22. ARGGHHH!!!! Should not have clicked into this thread

Engineering text book covers, brings back horrible memories.

[pokerfan]

28. lol

[DS1]

23. At work yesterday we came to the conclusion that they make up half the myths on the spot

hmmm, what shall we do next, Adam?


Well, uh, I heard... If you detonate 100,000 pounds of explosives in a baseball field, the mushroom cloud will form in the shape of Hank Aaron.

Let's try it!

[Bertha Venation]

25. LOL

:thumbsup:

[hunter]

29. Sometimes I think they hang out with boys on a middle school playground.

But they never tell the stories where some guy takes too much Viagra and his dick explodes.