Mythbuster Results

[barondave]

Many of my FList are fans of the PBS program Mythbusters, where a group of crazy engineers and former movie sfx people recreate and try to prove or disprove various myths. Here is a website with the Mythbuster Results into the fifth season. Some selected myths:

You stay drier running in the rain than walking.
confirmed*
When originally tested, the faster you run the wetter you get.
*The original result was "busted," but when revisted in episode 38 it was changed to "confirmed."

Cola is able to clean chrome.
confirmed
It surprisingly cleaned the chrome better than the commercial chrome polish used for comparison.

A duck's quack does not echo.
busted
When examined by an audio-expert, it was found that the echo was "swallowed" by the original quack, due to the very similar acoustic structure between the quack and the echo. Because of this, it may be difficult to tell where the quack ends and the echo begins.

Toast is more likely to land buttered side-down when dropped.
busted
In an extensive and highly objective test the toast showed no statistical preference for landing buttered side-down or up when dropped. It was an even 50-50 split when the final results were compared. However, when pushed off the side of a table, toast showed preference to flip once and land buttered side down.

Comments

[barondave.livejournal.com]

You should watch the show. They never (or rarely) to a single trial. It's usually a series. They did the toast test a bunch of times, in different situations. They ran two trucks into a VW several times, though only one test worked to the specs. They may not be the last word, but they're more authoritative than a foaf.

[calimac.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking of things like this:

"When you go to get blood drawn at the Red Cross, you are actually secretly having mind controlling microchips implanted into your bloodstream that can be detected with a stud finder.

busted

While a stud finder can find microchips (like those used to track pets) embedded in flesh, none were found after a trip to the Red Cross."

First off, while maybe they can find microchips with a stud finder, I can't even find studs with a stud finder, so the assurance in the second part of the myth is unreliable.

Second, =A= trip to the Red Cross? Proves nothing except that it doesn't always happen.

I don't believe the myth at all, but this doesn't disprove it.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

It's hard to disprove a negative. Your proof requires that all trips to the Red Cross be tested to a high degree of microchip finding. With all due respect, they're better with a stud finder than you are. Remember, these aren't just your average everyday implanted chips so WalMart can automatically deduct your purchase as you leave. No, these are mindcontrol chips, which have to do, er, something unspecified but powerful to get you to, um, Do The Master's Bidding. These cannot be passive.

I agree that one trip to the Red Cross isn't a full-spectrum analysis, but the Urban Legend is that every trip results in such an implantation so you should never go. Therefore, one example shoots down at least a large part of the paranoia.

Taking the other side, I might argue that this proves that the chips are so powerful that they would cause the Mythbusters to falsify results. That, I'm afraid, is a test for Mythbusting Mythbusters, a potential show on Fox hosted by Bill O'Reilly.