Welcome back Mythbusters!

My biggest problem with the car vs motorcycle for “greenest” mode of transportation, comes from understanding the California Emissions standards. Cars are subject to them, but motorcycles obviously have different standards. If cars from states that don’t require the stricter CA emissions criteria were used, the results might be very different.

Love that RPGs really only destroy what is in front of them, and that a bullet can set one off, but only if the RPG is already armed. I think if I were in high school today, I might be dreaming of attending New Mexico Tech.

I was not surprised by the result Adam and Jamie got regarding floating on your back instead of treading water to survive an underwater blast. The military generally knows what they are talking about when it comes to keeping soldiers alive.

We also watch Deadliest Warrior, so we already knew that paper armor worked, but it was fun to see the ways in which the Build Team chose to test it. However, when it came to crawling along a rope over water wearing armor (paper or steel)- who thought that would be a good idea? Shouldn’t someone have common sense?

I enjoyed the lighting a tomb with mirrors myth. It was simple and straightforward. I was not surprised by the result (plausible but not practical), due to the sun moving.

As for the Build Team, we have decided they do not even field calls from the insurance company anymore. Torrie’s harpoon, while it worked, was scary. On this one, I really think they should have pressed the “do not try this at home” bit harder. Maybe they should have had the “professional drivers on a closed course, do not attempt” standard white text scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

I think what I like best about the retrospective shows is when they highlight myths I only barely remember- the ones that aren’t on every other retrospective show they do. Last night, it was the first myth to make their countdown that made us smile. We barely remembered the landing a plane with just an air traffic controller to talk you down. Not only is it an impressive result, it reminds you how skilled air traffic controllers have to be. This guy not only knows his own maximum stress job, he apparently has the control panel of a plane memorized.

Of all the flat fixes, only two actually seemed viable to me, not because of how well they worked, but more due to the likelihood of me being able to pull them off.

Those two were the stick to make a sled and driving on the rims. But where do you go hiking or camping that there’s straw lying around, or even enough tall grasses? And unless you were cutting down a Christmas tree, whose going to have a chainsaw to make the wooden wheel? Same type of question for the manhole cover. Welding materials but no spare? Spare me.

About the myths: I’m not surprised you can’t dodge a bullet aimed at your chest, but what about one aimed at your head? That would require much less movement.

And while water may not be compressible, it is easily displaced.

 One thing they did last night that bugged me- when the timing foil for the gun didn’t work at first, they did not show us how they fixed it, or tell us why it didn’t work in the beginning. I learn as much from their experiment set up as I do the experiments, and I really wanted to know more.

I love it when they do a whole bunch of mini-myths, like the sound effect section with Adam and Jamie. It’s funny that they have to bring in an “expert” when it comes to the punches, as their expertise is with movie special effects. I guess special effects and sound effects guys don’t talk a lot.

Physics thought experiments are also fun.Newtonwas a genius, and you really wouldn’t believe how well his laws hold up to just about everything. However, I don’t think it ever occurred to him to take jet engines and flame resistant material into account.