Mythbusters Picks on Less Obvious Targets

1+1 = 2: In their Season 10 debut, Adam and Jamie explore a myth that’s been circulating for years online and in classrooms nationwide. Does adding one thing to another thing really give you two things?

• Oil and Water: Adding oil to water gives you… oil and water! Strike one for today’s myth.
• Bunny Rabbits: Sent in by a reader who bought a boy bunny and a girl bunny right before a two-week vacation. She expected to find two bunnies when she returned, but as you can see from her footage, reality left the myth on its last legs; we’ve got eleven—make that twelve—bunnies in there!
• Pianos: A big thank you to Steinway for their donation of these fine baby grands. With Kari manning the crane, Adam and Jamie carefully position the other piano at the drop site. And…HERE WE GO! Bang! Did you see that? Let’s get that again in slow-mo, just so the disintegration…yeah. One plus one just equals a pile of polished lumber.

Verdict: BUSTED

Round Earth Theory: Starting with the secretive scribbles of Pythagoras, this myth was picked up by the infamous Ptolemy, who continued to spread it despite Biblical scholars’ sensible efforts to refute him. Have you seen the “curvature” of the Earth lately? Has anyone you know fallen off the bottom of the world and into space? Could our home planet really be…spherical???

• Skateboarding: Adam stands on his board in some of the flattest places on Earth: the Arizona desert, Australia’s Nullarbor plain, and the Maldives. Does he roll? Nope! What if we push him? Wow! Should’ve worn a helmet, Adam. But we see the skateboard stop, which makes this whole “curve” idea seem pretty silly…
• Horizon: The Mythbusters hire a small sailboat, toss the captain overboard, and see how long it will take Grant and Kari to sail over the curve and vanish. After a few hours, the boat’s not very far off shore and seems to be slowing down. We’ll come back later.
• “Around the World”: Jamie and Adam hire a private helicopter to fly to Madagascar, on what should be the opposite side of the planet. The boys land, brace themselves, wait to fall…and nothing! Looks like another successful show—
• Horizon, Part II: Whoops, Grant and Kari on the line. Let’s listen in: “Oh my god we’re sinking we knew we shouldn’t have come out this far in this leaky little tub help!” It sounds like our intrepid assistants must have sailed straight to the edge of the world! According to this nice, flat map, that’s where the monsters live.

Verdict: BUSTED

E=mc²: In 1905, a manic physicist by the name of Albert Einstein inflamed the scientific underground with something called the “theory of general relativity.” With only five little symbols, Einstein claimed that—well… Um..Anyway, don’t worry about it. We’re sure it’s false.

Look at that nutball’s hair, for Christ’s sake!

Verdict: Who gives a damn?

Gravity: Today, Adam and Jamie are exploring a myth that dates back to 1687, when a religious fanatic named Isaac Newton published a long, convoluted book called the Principia Mathematica. What is the truth behind the force that supposedly pulls objects down to Earth?

• Birds: The Humane Society wouldn’t return our calls, but Grant and Kari use drugged birdseed to capture a few pigeons for the Mythbusters. Next stop: the picturesque Golden Gate Bridge. We open the cage, spill them over the side—and off they fly! Looks like gravity doesn’t apply to pigeons…
• More Birds: …or does it? Adam notes the hefty remaining bird supply and plucks a few still- unconscious critters off of the pile. They certainly drop like something’s pulling them; score one for Newton! But they don’t make much of a splash, and Jamie is impatient to break the tie.
• Grant: The young associate Mythbuster takes one for the team and hops off the side, flapping his arms in case the lift becomes necessary. We’ll be putting that splash up on the Discovery Channel homepage; keep checking back!