1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 On this episode of Mythbusters... 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:10,000 Like that. 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:11,000 Sparks are flying. 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:12,000 Totally f***ing f***ing me. 5 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:16,000 We finally get a reasonable experiment here and he's like... 6 00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:17,000 And trouble's brewing. 7 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:21,000 I would say that the rig is not safe at all. 8 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,000 Adam finds out that the falling penny myth can really be a pain in the... 9 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:27,000 Oh! 10 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:31,000 We'll see why these guys don't have their own cooking show. 11 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:37,000 And find out the link between Japanese spies and Lucille Ball's teeth. 12 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,000 The more scalded. 13 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Who are the Mythbusters? 14 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,000 Am I missing an eyebrow? 15 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,000 Adam Savage. 16 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,000 I always enjoyed seeing Adam in pain. 17 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:51,000 Oh! 18 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:52,000 And Jamie Heidemann. 19 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,000 Jamie wants a big bone. 20 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:58,000 More than 30 years special effects experience. 21 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,000 You're kind of sexy. 22 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,000 They don't just tell the myth. 23 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:06,000 They put them to the test. 24 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:24,000 This myth originated in the Big Apple atop an architectural icon. 25 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:26,000 The Empire State Building. 26 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,000 The myth is that if you throw a penny off of a building this height, 27 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:34,000 that it'll either get going so fast that it'll embed itself in the concrete 28 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:39,000 at the base of the building or it'll hit somebody in the head and kill them. 29 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:43,000 Lydia Ruth has worked here for 18 years. 30 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,000 She's heard the penny myth many times. 31 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,000 I know one gentleman who worked in the lobby was with the building from 32 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,000 late 1930s right after the building opened and he had heard it. 33 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,000 So I think it's just one of those myths that belongs to the Empire State Building. 34 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,000 Tossing a coin off the Empire State is not as easy as it sounds. 35 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:07,000 Tall buildings like this can generate their own unique weather conditions. 36 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,000 Some updrafts can reach cyclonic speeds. 37 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:15,000 It's 8 a.m. in the morning and the wind's already starting to pick up. 38 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:19,000 There's every possibility that if you hurl this thing off the edge of the building 39 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,000 that it'd just blow it back over. 40 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:25,000 When the wind blows against the face of the building, the wind blows up. 41 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,000 And you might have heard the story of it raining up or it's snowing up. 42 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,000 Well, that actually does happen. 43 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,000 It will blow against the side of the building. There's an updraft. 44 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,000 So if you throw something off, no matter how far away you throw it, 45 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,000 the wind is going to catch it. 46 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:43,000 Of course, there's also the possibility that the story might be true. 47 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:47,000 In which case, you risk killing some innocent pedestrian. 48 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:53,000 We need to figure out how fast a penny would be going if it fell 1280 feet. 49 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,000 What kind of damage it would do. I think we need to go back to the shop and test it. 50 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:01,000 Adam and Jamie need to find out what is a penny's maximum speed when falling. 51 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,000 In other words, it's terminal velocity. 52 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:08,000 Once they've done that, they'll shoot the coin at concrete, asphalt, 53 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,000 and a head made from ballistics gel. 54 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:12,000 Nice. 55 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:16,000 Step one, finding out a penny's terminal velocity. 56 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:23,000 Now, we know a person's terminal velocity is about 120 miles per hour. 57 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,000 But is a penny's the same? 58 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:33,000 In his quest to find out, Adam's willing to jump out of a perfectly good plane for the first time. 59 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:40,000 As he plummets, he releases handfuls of pennies. 60 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:42,000 Well done. How'd it go? 61 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:44,000 That was amazing. 62 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,000 I mean, unlike anything I've ever tried before, you really should have done it. 63 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:51,000 A penny's the same as a penny's. 64 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:52,000 Well done. 65 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:53,000 What a story. 66 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,000 You're a real master of pennies. 67 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:56,000 I can tell you. 68 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,000 I'm a real master of pennies. 69 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,000 You're a real master of pennies. 70 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:02,000 Well done. 71 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,000 How'd it go? 72 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:05,000 That was amazing. 73 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,000 I mean, it's unlike anything I've ever tried before. 74 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:09,000 You really should have done it. 75 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:10,480 I really should have done it. 76 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:11,760 What did the pennies do when you let them go? 77 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:13,380 The pennies flew right out of my hands. 78 00:04:13,380 --> 00:04:15,040 I opened one hand and then the other, 79 00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:18,120 and the pennies just shot out towards the sky. 80 00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:20,280 Out of one hand, they hovered for a second 81 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:23,800 in the burble above my hand, the air bubble vortex. 82 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,600 And other than that, I was traveling way faster 83 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,040 than they were. 84 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:28,960 I want to do it again. 85 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:30,080 That was awesome. 86 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:30,920 Boom! 87 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:36,860 The guys have seen complex equations 88 00:04:36,860 --> 00:04:41,820 that put a penny's top speed at somewhere between 35 and 65 89 00:04:41,820 --> 00:04:44,900 miles per hour. 90 00:04:44,900 --> 00:04:47,300 I used to be able to juggle them. 91 00:04:47,300 --> 00:04:50,380 But Adam's not taking those figures at face value. 92 00:04:50,380 --> 00:04:53,420 He wants to test them in his own penny wind tunnel. 93 00:04:57,340 --> 00:05:01,820 At the bottom, wind speed is clocked at 65 miles per hour. 94 00:05:01,820 --> 00:05:04,580 Holes in the tube allow the air to dissipate, 95 00:05:04,580 --> 00:05:08,540 so the speed at the top drops to 35 miles per hour. 96 00:05:08,540 --> 00:05:13,060 If the penny stays in the tube, then the equations are correct. 97 00:05:13,060 --> 00:05:13,900 Bingo! 98 00:05:13,900 --> 00:05:18,820 Adam's one happy myth buster, if only Jamie was excited. 99 00:05:18,820 --> 00:05:21,420 This matches the math, the complex equations 100 00:05:21,420 --> 00:05:22,940 that we have showing the velocity. 101 00:05:22,940 --> 00:05:24,620 I think we should go for a worst case scenario, 102 00:05:24,620 --> 00:05:26,540 like 65 miles an hour. 103 00:05:26,540 --> 00:05:27,620 OK, works for me. 104 00:05:27,620 --> 00:05:28,820 This is excited, Jamie. 105 00:05:28,820 --> 00:05:29,300 Yeah, this is dance. 106 00:05:29,300 --> 00:05:30,220 We've got a world first. 107 00:05:30,220 --> 00:05:32,300 It's going out on television that we 108 00:05:32,340 --> 00:05:35,060 did the experiment that showed exactly how fast a penny goes. 109 00:05:35,060 --> 00:05:38,860 No math, no ideas, no timing off a building. 110 00:05:38,860 --> 00:05:40,620 We got it right here in the lab. 111 00:05:40,620 --> 00:05:41,940 It's great. 112 00:05:41,940 --> 00:05:43,580 Good job. 113 00:05:43,580 --> 00:05:44,660 Totally f***ed me. 114 00:05:44,660 --> 00:05:46,780 We finally get a reasonable experiment here, 115 00:05:46,780 --> 00:05:49,420 and he's like, ugh, ugh. 116 00:05:49,420 --> 00:05:50,580 Well, that's great. 117 00:05:50,580 --> 00:05:52,180 It's like, what are you going to do? 118 00:05:52,180 --> 00:05:53,500 How are you going to please the guy? 119 00:05:53,500 --> 00:05:55,460 I don't consider it an enormous feat 120 00:05:55,460 --> 00:06:01,300 to be able to elevate a penny in a wind chamber. 121 00:06:01,300 --> 00:06:07,220 On that note, the mythbusters go their separate ways. 122 00:06:07,220 --> 00:06:11,660 Jamie's looking for a way to fire a penny at 65 miles per hour, 123 00:06:11,660 --> 00:06:15,020 while Adam begins work on the dummy head. 124 00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:18,020 I decided to use the staple gun because when we're 125 00:06:18,020 --> 00:06:20,780 experimenting with things here in the shop, a lot of times, 126 00:06:20,780 --> 00:06:23,620 I don't like to go through a whole elaborate process 127 00:06:23,620 --> 00:06:26,740 in days of machining something, only to find 128 00:06:26,740 --> 00:06:29,500 that it was the wrong approach or didn't have the right speed. 129 00:06:29,500 --> 00:06:31,700 I like to kind of find something that 130 00:06:31,700 --> 00:06:33,420 will allow me to move into it quickly. 131 00:06:33,420 --> 00:06:35,620 To make the petty fit in the staple gun, 132 00:06:35,620 --> 00:06:37,660 Jamie lops a little off each side. 133 00:06:45,460 --> 00:06:45,960 What? 134 00:06:49,060 --> 00:06:49,980 We should get out of here. 135 00:06:49,980 --> 00:06:51,740 That's mercury vapor there. 136 00:06:51,740 --> 00:06:53,500 OK. 137 00:06:53,500 --> 00:06:56,300 Well, the good news is it works. 138 00:06:56,300 --> 00:07:00,500 I guess I should look up before I shoot those things. 139 00:07:00,500 --> 00:07:01,740 Well, that worked. 140 00:07:01,740 --> 00:07:06,220 Next, Jamie has to measure how fast the penny is going. 141 00:07:06,220 --> 00:07:07,740 We've taken a staple gun, like what 142 00:07:07,740 --> 00:07:09,820 you would have in a normal wood shop. 143 00:07:09,820 --> 00:07:11,500 We put it in front of a chart that we 144 00:07:11,500 --> 00:07:13,620 can track the speed of the penny with. 145 00:07:13,620 --> 00:07:16,860 We've got a concrete block and a high-speed camera. 146 00:07:16,860 --> 00:07:19,700 So we've modified this staple gun to accept the penny. 147 00:07:19,700 --> 00:07:22,060 We're firing it and tracking it, recording 148 00:07:22,060 --> 00:07:25,180 how fast it goes based on this information. 149 00:07:25,180 --> 00:07:27,300 It's time to see if Jamie's penny can 150 00:07:27,300 --> 00:07:29,700 achieve terminal velocity. 151 00:07:29,700 --> 00:07:33,300 The modified staple gun blasts the coin from three feet 152 00:07:33,300 --> 00:07:34,820 at the concrete block. 153 00:07:34,820 --> 00:07:37,380 OK, you can see the penny in the current. 154 00:07:37,380 --> 00:07:42,380 The penny traveled the three feet in 16, 500s of a second. 155 00:07:42,380 --> 00:07:45,420 The rig has shown that we can fire this penny at about 65 156 00:07:45,420 --> 00:07:49,540 miles an hour, which is at the upper level of what studies 157 00:07:49,540 --> 00:07:52,940 have shown that the terminal velocity of a penny would be. 158 00:07:52,980 --> 00:07:56,140 Jamie's strong points are that he'll try a solution that 159 00:07:56,140 --> 00:07:59,660 seems ridiculous. 160 00:07:59,660 --> 00:08:04,020 Chewing gum and nails to do something 161 00:08:04,020 --> 00:08:06,100 will seem really inelegant, but he'll 162 00:08:06,100 --> 00:08:11,260 have grasped by trying that a central thing about the mechanics 163 00:08:11,260 --> 00:08:12,220 of what he's doing. 164 00:08:12,220 --> 00:08:15,380 And his solution, therefore, won't be too clever. 165 00:08:15,380 --> 00:08:18,340 It will be very unadorned, very simple, but it'll work. 166 00:08:18,340 --> 00:08:20,300 But the staple gun's not perfect. 167 00:08:20,300 --> 00:08:23,100 It has to fire a whole penny. 168 00:08:23,100 --> 00:08:25,580 Obviously, it was really easy to nip the corners off 169 00:08:25,580 --> 00:08:27,420 of this penny to make it fit in the gun. 170 00:08:27,420 --> 00:08:29,420 And it's not that much different in mass 171 00:08:29,420 --> 00:08:30,420 than what real penny is. 172 00:08:30,420 --> 00:08:32,180 So I'm pretty sure, based on that, 173 00:08:32,180 --> 00:08:37,020 that if I widen the channel or the throat of this staple gun, 174 00:08:37,020 --> 00:08:41,020 that I should be able to make it fire a full-size penny just 175 00:08:41,020 --> 00:08:42,580 as well and with the same kind of speed. 176 00:08:42,580 --> 00:08:51,820 Well, it took relatively little work. 177 00:08:51,820 --> 00:08:56,060 And this is a high-velocity penny shooter. 178 00:08:56,060 --> 00:08:58,380 Terminal velocity gun right here. 179 00:08:58,380 --> 00:09:01,780 Meanwhile, Adam's mood has changed dramatically. 180 00:09:01,780 --> 00:09:04,140 Ah, screw. 181 00:09:04,140 --> 00:09:05,380 That's total wash. 182 00:09:05,380 --> 00:09:06,220 I don't have it. 183 00:09:06,220 --> 00:09:07,300 I'm going to argue against this. 184 00:09:07,300 --> 00:09:08,140 I don't have it today. 185 00:09:08,140 --> 00:09:09,740 I'm just going to get really frustrated. 186 00:09:09,780 --> 00:09:13,020 He's vacuum forming a mold to make the ballistics bus. 187 00:09:13,020 --> 00:09:16,900 It's a female skull, which is why I use the female head here. 188 00:09:16,900 --> 00:09:19,180 The skull is placed inside the mold, 189 00:09:19,180 --> 00:09:22,020 and ballistics gel poured in around it. 190 00:09:22,020 --> 00:09:26,100 When it sets, the gel has the same density and elasticity 191 00:09:26,100 --> 00:09:32,260 as human flesh, which is why the FBI uses it to test weapons. 192 00:09:32,260 --> 00:09:34,140 The mold has sprung a leak. 193 00:09:34,140 --> 00:09:37,100 Paper toweling and glue stem the tide of gel. 194 00:09:40,740 --> 00:09:43,940 Most coins thrown from the top of the Empire State Building 195 00:09:43,940 --> 00:09:45,540 don't get very far. 196 00:09:45,540 --> 00:09:51,940 They wind up here, just five stories down on the 81st floor. 197 00:09:51,940 --> 00:09:53,340 It proves one thing, though. 198 00:09:53,340 --> 00:09:55,940 A lot of people have heard the penny myth. 199 00:09:55,940 --> 00:09:58,060 So it would seem that even though the myth is prevalent, 200 00:09:58,060 --> 00:10:00,140 people are pretty cavalier about testing it. 201 00:10:00,140 --> 00:10:02,140 Yeah, they do it all the time, and it scares me 202 00:10:02,140 --> 00:10:03,820 because if they really thought that their penny 203 00:10:03,820 --> 00:10:05,900 was going to kill somebody, what are they thinking? 204 00:10:05,900 --> 00:10:08,100 And it seems penny-related myths 205 00:10:08,260 --> 00:10:10,740 have always had plenty of currency. 206 00:10:10,740 --> 00:10:12,900 Penny's have long been associated with luck, 207 00:10:12,900 --> 00:10:14,620 in this case, really bad luck. 208 00:10:14,620 --> 00:10:16,500 But normally, very good luck. 209 00:10:16,500 --> 00:10:19,620 If you find a penny, pick it up, and all day you'll have good luck. 210 00:10:19,620 --> 00:10:22,180 If you pass up a penny, you'll lose a dollar. 211 00:10:22,180 --> 00:10:23,780 If you find a penny that's heads up, 212 00:10:23,780 --> 00:10:26,540 it's particularly good luck, and you should carry it with you 213 00:10:26,540 --> 00:10:27,580 as a charm. 214 00:10:27,580 --> 00:10:29,860 A bride should always have a penny in her shoe. 215 00:10:29,860 --> 00:10:32,220 And following the wedding, she should take that penny 216 00:10:32,220 --> 00:10:34,740 and get it made into a piece of jewelry, a pendant, 217 00:10:34,740 --> 00:10:36,660 or a bracelet, or something like that. 218 00:10:36,700 --> 00:10:40,500 Back in the workshop, Jamie's showing off his penny gun. 219 00:10:40,500 --> 00:10:42,780 Adam can't hide his approval. 220 00:10:42,780 --> 00:10:45,060 Oh, my God. 221 00:10:45,060 --> 00:10:48,700 Damn, that is some serious impact there. 222 00:10:48,700 --> 00:10:52,100 I mean, are you sure this is 64 miles an hour? 223 00:10:52,100 --> 00:10:53,980 64.4. 224 00:10:53,980 --> 00:10:56,180 Of course, now he wants to have a turn. 225 00:10:57,220 --> 00:10:59,860 He also apparently wants to do his own narration. 226 00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:03,820 Adam loads a penny into the lethal penny shooting device. 227 00:11:03,820 --> 00:11:07,060 This time, the penny is launched at a block of asphalt. 228 00:11:09,060 --> 00:11:11,220 The penny bounces right off. 229 00:11:11,220 --> 00:11:15,020 So the test shows that a coin traveling at terminal velocity 230 00:11:15,020 --> 00:11:17,820 cannot penetrate concrete or asphalt. 231 00:11:18,940 --> 00:11:21,020 But what about flesh and bone? 232 00:11:21,020 --> 00:11:23,660 Remember, the penny myth talks about a penny 233 00:11:23,660 --> 00:11:25,740 shattering someone's skull. 234 00:11:25,740 --> 00:11:28,860 Enter Norma, Adam's ballistics dummy. 235 00:11:28,860 --> 00:11:32,220 Norma's cranium will take the full brunt of a penny 236 00:11:32,220 --> 00:11:34,140 traveling at terminal velocity. 237 00:11:34,140 --> 00:11:34,980 Lights. 238 00:11:36,220 --> 00:11:38,020 Perfect hit. 239 00:11:38,020 --> 00:11:39,660 Lights off. 240 00:11:39,660 --> 00:11:42,700 The penny broke through the thin layer of ballistics gel, 241 00:11:42,700 --> 00:11:44,900 but the skull is intact. 242 00:11:44,900 --> 00:11:46,740 So you ready to put that to the ultimate test? 243 00:11:46,740 --> 00:11:49,780 We've tried it on all the other stuff we've got. 244 00:11:49,780 --> 00:11:51,100 Want to try and catch it in your hand? 245 00:11:51,100 --> 00:11:54,340 The penny is leaving an imprint in the concrete when it hits. 246 00:11:54,340 --> 00:11:59,260 So, you know, I'm a little hesitant about catching it, 247 00:11:59,260 --> 00:12:00,500 actually. 248 00:12:00,540 --> 00:12:03,180 The mythbusters are about to find out what happens 249 00:12:03,180 --> 00:12:08,020 when a penny traveling at 64 miles per hour hits skin. 250 00:12:08,020 --> 00:12:08,860 I'll do it. 251 00:12:08,860 --> 00:12:09,380 OK. 252 00:12:09,380 --> 00:12:10,340 But you got to do it too. 253 00:12:10,340 --> 00:12:12,300 Otherwise, you know, you're like a wuss. 254 00:12:12,300 --> 00:12:13,820 OK, you first. 255 00:12:13,820 --> 00:12:16,060 OK. 256 00:12:16,060 --> 00:12:18,260 You still look wuss. 257 00:12:18,260 --> 00:12:19,860 I'll kick your ass. 258 00:12:19,860 --> 00:12:23,060 Penny, for your thoughts, right about now, Adam. 259 00:12:23,060 --> 00:12:24,460 I'm scared. 260 00:12:24,460 --> 00:12:26,180 OK. 261 00:12:26,180 --> 00:12:29,740 Three, two, one. 262 00:12:29,780 --> 00:12:31,780 Ow! 263 00:12:31,780 --> 00:12:34,100 Wow. 264 00:12:34,100 --> 00:12:36,700 That didn't actually hurt that much. 265 00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:38,060 We can try again. 266 00:12:38,060 --> 00:12:39,060 OK. 267 00:12:41,900 --> 00:12:42,700 Looks pretty good. 268 00:12:42,700 --> 00:12:43,940 Are we ready? 269 00:12:43,940 --> 00:12:45,020 Ready, Adam? 270 00:12:45,020 --> 00:12:46,300 Well, you are. 271 00:12:46,300 --> 00:12:48,060 OK, three, two. 272 00:12:49,260 --> 00:12:50,500 Ow! 273 00:12:50,500 --> 00:12:52,340 What? 274 00:12:52,340 --> 00:12:56,260 You hit me in the same exact place. 275 00:12:56,260 --> 00:12:59,020 It didn't hurt that much before, but now it really hurts. 276 00:12:59,740 --> 00:13:01,700 Oh, you baby. 277 00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:02,780 It looks like it's swelling. 278 00:13:02,780 --> 00:13:03,820 Yeah. 279 00:13:03,820 --> 00:13:07,980 It stings, but there's no bruising or broken skin. 280 00:13:07,980 --> 00:13:10,780 Well, I always enjoyed seeing Adam in pain. 281 00:13:10,780 --> 00:13:12,380 I am not sure what it is. 282 00:13:12,380 --> 00:13:13,940 All right, honey man. 283 00:13:13,940 --> 00:13:14,660 Are you ready? 284 00:13:14,660 --> 00:13:17,660 Now it's Adam's chance for revenge. 285 00:13:17,660 --> 00:13:18,660 Show. 286 00:13:21,980 --> 00:13:23,980 That was totally off. 287 00:13:23,980 --> 00:13:25,460 I felt it on my wrist. 288 00:13:25,460 --> 00:13:28,420 If it hurt, he's hiding it well. 289 00:13:28,460 --> 00:13:30,900 And you know how Adam wasn't having a good day? 290 00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:31,780 Well. 291 00:13:31,780 --> 00:13:32,940 Go ahead, shoot me in the ass. 292 00:13:32,940 --> 00:13:33,900 Come on. 293 00:13:33,900 --> 00:13:34,900 I can take it. 294 00:13:39,220 --> 00:13:40,220 Oh! 295 00:13:40,220 --> 00:13:41,220 Ow! 296 00:13:41,220 --> 00:13:42,220 That hurts. 297 00:13:42,220 --> 00:13:44,500 Ow! 298 00:13:44,500 --> 00:13:46,500 Oh, man! 299 00:13:46,500 --> 00:13:47,500 Ouch! 300 00:13:49,980 --> 00:13:50,780 Oh! 301 00:13:50,780 --> 00:13:51,860 Well, you said I could. 302 00:13:51,860 --> 00:13:52,500 I did. 303 00:13:52,500 --> 00:13:55,500 No, I was prepared for the consequences. 304 00:13:55,500 --> 00:13:56,500 Woo! 305 00:13:58,660 --> 00:13:59,860 So you made that great gun. 306 00:13:59,860 --> 00:14:02,380 We made the pennies go 64 miles an hour. 307 00:14:02,380 --> 00:14:03,780 What did we end up with? 308 00:14:03,780 --> 00:14:05,900 Well, it didn't penetrate the asphalt. 309 00:14:05,900 --> 00:14:08,060 It didn't penetrate the concrete. 310 00:14:08,060 --> 00:14:10,980 It didn't penetrate the skull of the ballistics dummy. 311 00:14:10,980 --> 00:14:12,900 And it didn't hurt your butt. 312 00:14:12,900 --> 00:14:13,900 Thank goodness. 313 00:14:13,900 --> 00:14:17,420 I mean, it kind of stung when we hit the bones on our hands. 314 00:14:17,420 --> 00:14:19,740 But you know, the myth's not looking good. 315 00:14:19,740 --> 00:14:22,780 But that doesn't faze the mythbusters. 316 00:14:22,780 --> 00:14:26,060 It's time to see how fast a penny has to go 317 00:14:26,060 --> 00:14:28,620 before it does serious damage. 318 00:14:28,620 --> 00:14:35,220 Any time we get to play around with explosives, gunpowder, 319 00:14:35,220 --> 00:14:37,940 you know, cool weapons and things like that, 320 00:14:37,940 --> 00:14:40,180 here at Mythbusters, we're happy campers. 321 00:14:49,180 --> 00:14:54,140 Adams modifying a high-powered rifle so that it will expand a penny. 322 00:14:55,140 --> 00:14:58,140 That's not chambering around, I'm just test firing. 323 00:14:59,140 --> 00:15:02,140 The coin will be fired from a special aluminum barrel 324 00:15:02,140 --> 00:15:05,140 attached to the rifle like a silencer. 325 00:15:05,140 --> 00:15:08,140 The rifle itself will be loaded with a blank round. 326 00:15:08,140 --> 00:15:11,140 When it's fired, the expanding gases from the cartridge 327 00:15:11,140 --> 00:15:13,140 will explode along the barrel, 328 00:15:13,140 --> 00:15:17,140 propelling the coin from the slot with bullet-like speed. 329 00:15:17,140 --> 00:15:21,140 It's a bold plan and a potentially deadly one. 330 00:15:21,140 --> 00:15:23,140 Jamie's far from convinced. 331 00:15:23,140 --> 00:15:26,140 I would say that the rig is not safe at all. 332 00:15:26,140 --> 00:15:29,140 There's a significant chance that there will be an explosion 333 00:15:29,140 --> 00:15:32,140 and either the breach of the rifle will blow out 334 00:15:32,140 --> 00:15:38,140 or what may well be likely is that the whole head of the rifle, 335 00:15:38,140 --> 00:15:41,140 the device that Adam has constructed on here, 336 00:15:41,140 --> 00:15:43,140 may just shoot off the end of the rifle. 337 00:15:43,140 --> 00:15:47,140 Well, Jamie, take cover because Adams taking aim. 338 00:15:47,140 --> 00:15:53,140 Alright, firing and three, two, one. 339 00:15:55,140 --> 00:15:57,140 That seemed to work like a charm. 340 00:15:58,140 --> 00:16:01,140 Look at that imprint. You can clearly see where it hit. 341 00:16:02,140 --> 00:16:06,140 The penny is shot from the slot at almost three times the speed of sound. 342 00:16:07,140 --> 00:16:10,140 The high-speed camera result apparently is 3,000 feet per second. 343 00:16:10,140 --> 00:16:14,140 That's like a bullet. That's the speed of a bullet. 344 00:16:14,140 --> 00:16:18,140 The coin still did not end up embedded in the block. 345 00:16:18,140 --> 00:16:20,140 Where's the penny? 346 00:16:20,140 --> 00:16:24,140 This is one penny, however, that has been well and truly spent. 347 00:16:24,140 --> 00:16:27,140 The detail on the face of it is flattened. 348 00:16:27,140 --> 00:16:29,140 It worked like a charm. 349 00:16:29,140 --> 00:16:31,140 And Jamie's forced to eat his words. 350 00:16:31,140 --> 00:16:33,140 Yeah, congratulations. 351 00:16:33,140 --> 00:16:34,140 Thank you. 352 00:16:35,140 --> 00:16:37,140 I wouldn't want to get hit by that thing. 353 00:16:37,140 --> 00:16:38,140 One penny down. 354 00:16:40,140 --> 00:16:41,140 Went to go. 355 00:16:42,140 --> 00:16:43,140 I'm sorry. 356 00:16:43,140 --> 00:16:45,140 Even at supersonic speed, 357 00:16:45,140 --> 00:16:48,140 a penny weighing just two and a half grams 358 00:16:48,140 --> 00:16:52,140 simply doesn't have enough mass to break through concrete. 359 00:16:53,140 --> 00:16:54,140 Or bone. 360 00:16:54,140 --> 00:16:57,140 Unlike, say, a real bullet, 361 00:16:57,140 --> 00:17:02,140 which in this case is 6.65 millimeters of solid lead. 362 00:17:04,140 --> 00:17:07,140 The penny drop myth isn't worth a dime. 363 00:17:07,140 --> 00:17:10,140 Oh, man. 364 00:17:11,140 --> 00:17:13,140 I hate when that happens. 365 00:17:13,140 --> 00:17:15,140 Eliminating all the things that are in the penny's way 366 00:17:15,140 --> 00:17:17,140 from just reaching the ground, 367 00:17:17,140 --> 00:17:21,140 64 miles an hour just wasn't enough to cause any kind of damage to a person. 368 00:17:21,140 --> 00:17:25,140 And then when we made it go almost three times the speed of sound, 369 00:17:25,140 --> 00:17:27,140 it still wasn't enough to break the bones. 370 00:17:27,140 --> 00:17:32,140 Yeah, I mean, the worst thing I can come up with is if you were looking straight up in the sky 371 00:17:32,140 --> 00:17:35,140 and you got hit in the eye, it probably wouldn't be very good for you. 372 00:17:35,140 --> 00:17:37,140 But even then, I don't know whether it would take your eye out. 373 00:17:37,140 --> 00:17:39,140 I think we busted the heck out of this one. 374 00:17:39,140 --> 00:17:40,140 And it busted. 375 00:17:40,140 --> 00:17:41,140 Yeah. 376 00:18:00,140 --> 00:18:02,140 That's really disgusting. 377 00:18:02,140 --> 00:18:05,140 What sort of foul play is this? 378 00:18:05,140 --> 00:18:08,140 Chickens soaking up the rays on a tanning bed? 379 00:18:08,140 --> 00:18:13,140 What urban myth could be solved in such a poultry fashion? 380 00:18:16,140 --> 00:18:18,140 The humble microwave oven. 381 00:18:18,140 --> 00:18:20,140 Is it a handy cooking device? 382 00:18:20,140 --> 00:18:24,140 Or mysterious machine with dark and frightening powers? 383 00:18:24,140 --> 00:18:28,140 Microwaves just seem to be magnets for urban legends. 384 00:18:28,140 --> 00:18:32,140 So we're going to put some of the main ones to the test. 385 00:18:36,140 --> 00:18:37,140 Whoa! 386 00:18:37,140 --> 00:18:39,140 You are the man. 387 00:18:44,140 --> 00:18:49,140 Of all the myths surrounding the microwave oven, none is more famous than the story of the poodle 388 00:18:49,140 --> 00:18:53,140 sent for a spin in a microwave to dry its fur. 389 00:18:53,140 --> 00:18:54,140 The result? 390 00:18:54,140 --> 00:18:56,140 One hot dog. 391 00:18:56,140 --> 00:19:00,140 Well, meet Jazzy, a two-year-old show poodle. 392 00:19:00,140 --> 00:19:04,140 Jazzy's being groomed for her Mythbusters guest appearance. 393 00:19:04,140 --> 00:19:07,140 So we'll come back later to check how she's doing. 394 00:19:07,140 --> 00:19:12,140 Meanwhile, it's time to turn up the heat on Microwave Myth Number One. 395 00:19:14,140 --> 00:19:19,140 30 million Americans tan indoors at salons like this. 396 00:19:19,140 --> 00:19:26,140 And in recent years, one microwave myth has caught on and spread like good quality tanning lotion. 397 00:19:26,140 --> 00:19:31,140 Have you actually heard the myth of the tanning bed cooking the insides of the bride to be? 398 00:19:31,140 --> 00:19:32,140 Oh, yes. 399 00:19:32,140 --> 00:19:38,140 There's a woman who's getting ready for a special occasion, and she decides she'll look fabulous in her dress if she's very tan. 400 00:19:38,140 --> 00:19:45,140 So she goes to a tanning salon, and she's very annoyed that they have this half-hour daily limit on tanning. 401 00:19:45,140 --> 00:19:51,140 So she goes there, and then she goes to several other places, and basically is tanning for hours a day. 402 00:19:51,140 --> 00:19:56,140 After a few days of this, her husband says, honey, you smell kind of funny. 403 00:19:56,140 --> 00:19:57,140 So she showers. 404 00:19:57,140 --> 00:19:59,140 You still smell kind of funny. 405 00:19:59,140 --> 00:20:10,140 So she goes to the doctor, and the doctor does numerous tests upon which she finds that she's microwave-turned internal organs and only has two weeks to live. 406 00:20:10,140 --> 00:20:14,140 Rick Mattoon is director of the National Tanning Training Institute. 407 00:20:14,140 --> 00:20:17,140 How many different versions of the story have you heard over the years? 408 00:20:17,140 --> 00:20:23,140 We have a tendency of getting a different version about every month for about the past four years that I've been involved in the indoor tanning industry. 409 00:20:23,140 --> 00:20:26,140 Do you keep an archive of all the stories that you've gotten? 410 00:20:26,140 --> 00:20:33,140 I do, and it's very interesting. It's picked up typically anywhere, or grows anywhere from the local level to a national level. 411 00:20:33,140 --> 00:20:38,140 And bottom line is that it always has a tendency to go back to the microwaving theory or story. 412 00:20:38,140 --> 00:20:42,140 Can a tanning bed act like a microwave oven? 413 00:20:42,140 --> 00:20:47,140 Will overexposure result in a baked bladder, as well as a golden glow? 414 00:20:47,140 --> 00:20:50,140 How are Adam and Jamie going to test this myth? 415 00:20:50,140 --> 00:20:55,140 The simplest way would be to strip off and submit to the simulated sunlight. 416 00:20:55,140 --> 00:20:58,140 But they don't look like the tanning types. 417 00:20:58,140 --> 00:21:02,140 I think it's really quite obvious that I don't tan, not at all. 418 00:21:02,140 --> 00:21:05,140 That's why I've got to wear these glasses in the sun. 419 00:21:05,140 --> 00:21:10,140 So that explains why these chickens have been plucked from the local deli. 420 00:21:10,140 --> 00:21:17,140 They'll give the birds four straight sessions on the bed and see whether or not the result is lunch. 421 00:21:17,140 --> 00:21:20,140 This is right up there with one of the weirder things that we've had to do. 422 00:21:20,140 --> 00:21:24,140 Trying to put a dead chicken in a tanning booth? 423 00:21:24,140 --> 00:21:26,140 Hello! 424 00:21:30,140 --> 00:21:34,140 Time to see if the chickens goose has been cooked. 425 00:21:34,140 --> 00:21:37,140 So how many sessions did these go through? 426 00:21:37,140 --> 00:21:41,140 Four sessions, a total of 48 minutes on the tanning lights. 427 00:21:41,140 --> 00:21:43,140 So if I'd been in here I'd be pretty badly burned by now. 428 00:21:43,140 --> 00:21:46,140 You would have a severe sunburn at this point. 429 00:21:46,140 --> 00:21:48,140 But would your gizzards be gone or something? 430 00:21:48,140 --> 00:21:52,140 Not at all. Pink and perfect. Not cooked on the inside at all. 431 00:21:52,140 --> 00:21:58,140 Basically, there's no difference between overstaying your welcome on a tanning bed and spending too long in the sun. 432 00:21:58,140 --> 00:22:03,140 Now this story has been told and retold so many times it's a very popular narrative. 433 00:22:03,140 --> 00:22:06,140 Indeed it was published in at least two Dear Abbey columns. 434 00:22:06,140 --> 00:22:09,140 So it's got a lot of veracity, a lot of people believe it. 435 00:22:09,140 --> 00:22:17,140 Also the industry magazine Tanning Trends had to publish an article telling people that 436 00:22:17,140 --> 00:22:22,140 it's not true, don't worry about it, but clearly the narrative is still out there. 437 00:22:22,140 --> 00:22:24,140 Do tanning beds put out microwaves? 438 00:22:24,140 --> 00:22:28,140 They put out nothing of the sort. They put out light waves and that's all there is to it. 439 00:22:28,140 --> 00:22:35,140 Besides, for the myth to work microwaves would have to cook from the inside out and that's easily tested. 440 00:22:35,140 --> 00:22:40,140 Simply throw a roast in a microwave for 20 minutes and carve. 441 00:22:40,140 --> 00:22:45,140 Look at that, I mean it's just, it's totally cold on the inside, it's not heating from the inside out. 442 00:22:45,140 --> 00:22:47,140 It's definitely heating from the outside in. 443 00:22:47,140 --> 00:22:48,140 Yeah. 444 00:22:48,140 --> 00:22:50,140 The myth is totally busted. 445 00:23:15,140 --> 00:23:27,140 The Emana radar range microwave oven is quality. 446 00:23:27,140 --> 00:23:32,140 In the early days it was hailed as a revolutionary kitchen convenience. 447 00:23:32,140 --> 00:23:38,140 A family-sized turkey, 675 watts of cooking power means faster cooking than most other microwave ovens. 448 00:23:38,140 --> 00:23:43,140 Uses 50 to 75% less energy than a conventional electric range. 449 00:23:43,140 --> 00:23:47,140 5 and 30 minute timers with automatic defrost cycle. 450 00:23:47,140 --> 00:23:51,140 This store has been selling microwaves ever since those heady times. 451 00:23:51,140 --> 00:23:55,140 The main thing I'm interested in personally is raw power. 452 00:23:55,140 --> 00:24:02,140 Well the average microwave today is about 1100 watts, but you can go up from there or you can go down from there. 453 00:24:02,140 --> 00:24:05,140 How many people are going to be using the oven? 454 00:24:05,140 --> 00:24:08,140 One very strange television show. 455 00:24:08,140 --> 00:24:09,140 Just one. 456 00:24:09,140 --> 00:24:11,140 Is this the soul of the microwave oven? 457 00:24:11,140 --> 00:24:14,140 More the heart of the microwave. 458 00:24:14,140 --> 00:24:23,140 This is a little radio transmitter and you plug it in and it converts it to DC voltage and out comes the microwave. 459 00:24:23,140 --> 00:24:28,140 And it looks like Jamie's suffering a little microwave madness. 460 00:24:28,140 --> 00:24:29,140 Sorry. 461 00:24:29,140 --> 00:24:31,140 Did you get enough Jamie? 462 00:24:31,140 --> 00:24:35,140 Microwaves are really cool. They're like X-ray guns. 463 00:24:35,140 --> 00:24:42,140 And I think the same thing that makes people afraid of them and makes them generate a lot of myths about them is what's always fascinated me. 464 00:24:42,140 --> 00:24:50,140 I'm going to make this super powerful microwave gun that I can heat things up around in my shop with. 465 00:24:50,140 --> 00:24:53,140 And that for me is a lot of fun. 466 00:24:53,140 --> 00:24:59,140 I think he wants to take apart all these microwaves and make some kind of super microwave. 467 00:24:59,140 --> 00:25:05,140 And I don't know if he's planned on shielding or anything, but I don't necessarily want to be in the building when he does it. 468 00:25:05,140 --> 00:25:10,140 Back at the workshop, it's time to test microwave myth number two. 469 00:25:10,140 --> 00:25:13,140 That microwaving metal makes the oven explode. 470 00:25:13,140 --> 00:25:20,140 You know, I once had a roommate where I accidentally put a spoon in my coffee cup in the microwave and he refused to use it ever again. 471 00:25:20,140 --> 00:25:21,140 Made me buy him a new one. 472 00:25:21,140 --> 00:25:22,140 Wow. 473 00:25:22,140 --> 00:25:26,140 It's just those kind of misconceptions I want to clear up here on MythBusters. 474 00:25:26,140 --> 00:25:27,140 Yeah. 475 00:25:27,140 --> 00:25:28,140 There you go. 476 00:25:28,140 --> 00:25:32,140 Adam and Jamie are going to microwave several metal objects. 477 00:25:32,140 --> 00:25:38,140 Just in case something dramatic does occur, the pair will watch from behind a Lexan shield. 478 00:25:38,140 --> 00:25:43,140 Lexan is a bulletproof material used in the windshields of NASCAR. 479 00:25:43,140 --> 00:25:47,140 It's time for the first metallic test subject. 480 00:25:51,140 --> 00:25:52,140 No? 481 00:25:52,140 --> 00:25:53,140 Nothing happening there. 482 00:25:53,140 --> 00:25:55,140 The spoon's been in there for two minutes. I don't see nothing. 483 00:25:55,140 --> 00:25:56,140 Turn it off. 484 00:25:57,140 --> 00:25:59,140 So, I mean... 485 00:25:59,140 --> 00:26:00,140 I'm guessing it. 486 00:26:00,140 --> 00:26:01,140 Ah! 487 00:26:01,140 --> 00:26:02,140 Woo! 488 00:26:03,140 --> 00:26:05,140 The spoon was really hot. 489 00:26:05,140 --> 00:26:08,140 That spoon was really hot, but it didn't do anything. 490 00:26:08,140 --> 00:26:12,140 I mean, it didn't arc, it didn't like buzz or, you know, all that stuff. 491 00:26:12,140 --> 00:26:15,140 Something else from the silverware drawer, perhaps? 492 00:26:15,140 --> 00:26:17,140 It's forked in the microwave. 493 00:26:19,140 --> 00:26:23,140 Maybe the sharp prongs will cause sparks to fly. 494 00:26:24,140 --> 00:26:25,140 Oh yeah, that's true. 495 00:26:25,140 --> 00:26:26,140 Not a thing. 496 00:26:26,140 --> 00:26:32,140 Adam and Jamie have heard that tin foil scrunched into a ball can have an effect. 497 00:26:32,140 --> 00:26:33,140 Oh, that's cool! 498 00:26:34,140 --> 00:26:36,140 It looks like something got a star trek. 499 00:26:36,140 --> 00:26:38,140 It's beautiful, actually. 500 00:26:38,140 --> 00:26:40,140 Now, that's interesting. 501 00:26:41,140 --> 00:26:45,140 The microwaves are causing an electric charge to build up in the metal. 502 00:26:45,140 --> 00:26:49,140 Scrunching the foil allows the charge to jump the gaps. 503 00:26:49,140 --> 00:26:54,140 Jamie tries again, this time folding the foil into an accordion shape. 504 00:26:54,140 --> 00:26:55,140 Whoa! 505 00:26:56,140 --> 00:26:59,140 The Heinemann with the precognitive technique! 506 00:27:00,140 --> 00:27:01,140 Look at that! 507 00:27:01,140 --> 00:27:02,140 That's the best. 508 00:27:02,140 --> 00:27:04,140 Dude, you are the man! 509 00:27:06,140 --> 00:27:10,140 Spectacular, yes, but explosive? No. 510 00:27:10,140 --> 00:27:12,140 A warning, though. 511 00:27:12,140 --> 00:27:16,140 Microwaving metal might result in magnetron meltdown. 512 00:27:16,140 --> 00:27:19,140 So, metal in a microwave. Is it true or is it false? 513 00:27:20,140 --> 00:27:23,140 Well, that's false with provisions. 514 00:27:23,140 --> 00:27:28,140 Only in the case of an object that is made out of metal that is contacting the sides, 515 00:27:28,140 --> 00:27:33,140 you can create some marking there that would feed back into the magnetron and reduce its lifespan. 516 00:27:34,140 --> 00:27:37,140 That's two minutes done and busted. 517 00:27:37,140 --> 00:27:39,140 Meanwhile, what's Jamie up to? 518 00:27:39,140 --> 00:27:41,140 Does he have a screw loose? 519 00:27:42,140 --> 00:27:45,140 Jamie's harvested the magnetrons from four microwaves. 520 00:27:46,140 --> 00:27:50,140 Looks like he's serious about building that super microwave machine. 521 00:27:50,140 --> 00:27:51,140 Scary stuff. 522 00:27:51,140 --> 00:27:52,140 Microwave oven! 523 00:27:52,140 --> 00:27:56,140 So we know metal won't turn your microwave into a bomb. 524 00:27:56,140 --> 00:28:02,140 It's time now for Adam and Jamie to investigate a microwave myth that is potentially lethal. 525 00:28:06,140 --> 00:28:11,140 If you overheat water in a microwave, you may take the cup out of the bowl 526 00:28:11,140 --> 00:28:16,140 and then the water is going to explode in your face injuring you or burning you in some horrific way. 527 00:28:16,140 --> 00:28:19,140 We're going to time how long it takes to bubble. 528 00:28:19,140 --> 00:28:24,140 After a little research, Adam and Jamie know that the only way water could explode 529 00:28:24,140 --> 00:28:31,140 is if it's been super heated, that is, heated beyond boiling point, without actually boiling. 530 00:28:31,140 --> 00:28:35,140 Tap water always boils because it has impurities. 531 00:28:35,140 --> 00:28:38,140 Distilled water has no impurities. 532 00:28:38,140 --> 00:28:40,140 That means no boiling. 533 00:28:40,140 --> 00:28:45,140 Yeah, the smaller experiments, you know, they generally, they look a lot simpler 534 00:28:45,140 --> 00:28:49,140 because they're tabletop, you know, we have small amount of variables 535 00:28:49,140 --> 00:28:55,140 and really invariably they turn out to be the most complex and difficult ones to get a real result from. 536 00:28:55,140 --> 00:28:58,140 They put two cups of water in the microwave. 537 00:28:58,140 --> 00:29:00,140 One distilled, one tap. 538 00:29:00,140 --> 00:29:06,140 When the tap water boils, they'll know that the distilled water has become super hot. 539 00:29:06,140 --> 00:29:13,140 Just dropping in a sugar cube should make the boiling process happen instantly and violently. 540 00:29:13,140 --> 00:29:17,140 Hey! 541 00:29:17,140 --> 00:29:19,140 Spectacular! 542 00:29:19,140 --> 00:29:20,140 That would suffice. 543 00:29:20,140 --> 00:29:22,140 That was exploding water? 544 00:29:22,140 --> 00:29:24,140 It erupted, it left the container. 545 00:29:24,140 --> 00:29:25,140 Yeah. 546 00:29:25,140 --> 00:29:26,140 Quite a bit of it. 547 00:29:26,140 --> 00:29:31,140 If someone were holding the cup, they would definitely have severe burns. 548 00:29:32,140 --> 00:29:39,140 But if straight tap water can't explode, how likely is it that people will be scalded by exploding beverages? 549 00:29:39,140 --> 00:29:42,140 On your average day in your average house, it's not very likely. 550 00:29:42,140 --> 00:29:47,140 However, with the hundreds of millions of people using microwaves every day to boil water, re-boil water, 551 00:29:47,140 --> 00:29:51,140 I'd say it could happen a few times a year around, you know, around the world. 552 00:29:51,140 --> 00:29:53,140 Uh, myth absolutely true. 553 00:29:54,140 --> 00:29:58,140 Finally, Jamie's finished playing Dr. Frankenstein. 554 00:29:58,140 --> 00:30:01,140 What we have here is a super-duper microwave oven. 555 00:30:01,140 --> 00:30:05,140 I've taken the guts out of four microwaves, the magnetrons, 556 00:30:05,140 --> 00:30:11,140 and I've put them in a box all aiming at a single glass of water. 557 00:30:11,140 --> 00:30:18,140 So, in theory, this should heat up that glass of water about four times as fast as a regular microwave oven. 558 00:30:18,140 --> 00:30:20,140 Maybe it'll just go, pfft, we'll find out. 559 00:30:23,140 --> 00:30:28,140 Jamie, I'm ready to test this infernal machine of yours, but could you wrap me up a little more? 560 00:30:28,140 --> 00:30:30,140 I don't feel quite safe yet. 561 00:30:30,140 --> 00:30:32,140 What are you, a turkey? 562 00:30:37,140 --> 00:30:39,140 I wouldn't say Jamie's an evil genius. 563 00:30:39,140 --> 00:30:41,140 I know, this could be a wonderful mousetrap. 564 00:30:41,140 --> 00:30:42,140 I'm not sure. 565 00:30:42,140 --> 00:30:43,140 I'm not sure. 566 00:30:43,140 --> 00:30:44,140 I'm not sure. 567 00:30:44,140 --> 00:30:45,140 I'm not sure. 568 00:30:45,140 --> 00:30:48,140 We're ready for a mega-microwave test-firing. 569 00:30:48,140 --> 00:30:49,140 What, about 30 seconds? 570 00:30:49,140 --> 00:30:51,140 Jamie flicks the switch. 571 00:30:51,140 --> 00:30:53,140 The room's filled with an angry buzz. 572 00:30:53,140 --> 00:30:55,140 How come my watch is stopped? 573 00:30:55,140 --> 00:30:57,140 I'm gonna give it. 574 00:30:57,140 --> 00:31:00,140 What on earth is happening behind those metal walls? 575 00:31:00,140 --> 00:31:02,140 Let's put the temperature probe in. 576 00:31:06,140 --> 00:31:08,140 Jamie, I'm ready to test this. 577 00:31:08,140 --> 00:31:10,140 I'm ready to test this. 578 00:31:10,140 --> 00:31:12,140 I'm ready to test this. 579 00:31:13,140 --> 00:31:16,140 That doesn't look like it's boiling. 580 00:31:16,140 --> 00:31:19,140 No, in fact, 66 degrees. 581 00:31:19,140 --> 00:31:22,140 You've made a refrigerator. 582 00:31:22,140 --> 00:31:24,140 That's amazing. 583 00:31:24,140 --> 00:31:27,140 For all that humming, you ended up with pupkis. 584 00:31:27,140 --> 00:31:31,140 Looks like that's the evil genius theory out the window. 585 00:31:31,140 --> 00:31:36,140 Time for the final myth, the famous poodle in the microwave. 586 00:31:36,140 --> 00:31:39,140 It's the moment of truth for our guest star, Jazzy, 587 00:31:39,140 --> 00:31:42,140 who's been crimped and preened to perfection. 588 00:31:42,140 --> 00:31:44,140 Or is it? 589 00:31:44,140 --> 00:31:48,140 There's some things that even we, on Mythbusters, can't do. 590 00:31:48,140 --> 00:31:50,140 And I think this is one of them. 591 00:31:50,140 --> 00:31:53,140 There's just no way that we could put a poodle in a microwave. 592 00:31:53,140 --> 00:31:56,140 It might dry her hair, but it killed the dog. 593 00:31:56,140 --> 00:32:00,140 Fortunately for the viewers, this one's just gonna have to remain a legend. 594 00:32:10,140 --> 00:32:14,140 The story that we're looking at is from 1942. 595 00:32:14,140 --> 00:32:18,140 One of the most bizarre urban myths of all comes from wartime USA 596 00:32:18,140 --> 00:32:22,140 and involves America's queen of comedy, Lucille Ball. 597 00:32:22,140 --> 00:32:24,140 I had some dental work to be done. 598 00:32:24,140 --> 00:32:26,140 You know, they put in temporary fillings. 599 00:32:26,140 --> 00:32:32,140 I was just driving along and rode that I'd taken many times. 600 00:32:32,140 --> 00:32:38,140 And all of a sudden, I heard music. 601 00:32:38,140 --> 00:32:42,140 But I mean, with a great beat, you know, 602 00:32:42,140 --> 00:32:45,140 and I looked down to turn off my radio and it was none. 603 00:32:45,140 --> 00:32:48,140 And the music was getting louder and louder and louder. 604 00:32:48,140 --> 00:32:50,140 And I realized it was in my mouth. 605 00:32:50,140 --> 00:32:53,140 And it was bleeding and beating in my ears. 606 00:32:53,140 --> 00:32:55,140 I could hear the tune and everything. 607 00:32:55,140 --> 00:32:57,140 I recognized the tune. 608 00:32:57,140 --> 00:32:59,140 The following morning at work, 609 00:32:59,140 --> 00:33:04,140 comedy legend Buster Keaton offered this explanation for the ghostly tune. 610 00:33:04,140 --> 00:33:06,140 And he said, what street were you on? 611 00:33:06,140 --> 00:33:08,140 Moore Park? And I said, yes. 612 00:33:08,140 --> 00:33:10,140 He said, you went by the radio station. You picked it up. 613 00:33:10,140 --> 00:33:12,140 Were you got any fillings? 614 00:33:12,140 --> 00:33:14,140 I said, yes. 615 00:33:14,140 --> 00:33:16,140 He said, you picked it up in your teeth. 616 00:33:16,140 --> 00:33:19,140 Well, I could hardly wait to go by there again. 617 00:33:24,140 --> 00:33:28,140 Here's a challenge Adam and Jamie can really get their teeth into. 618 00:33:28,140 --> 00:33:33,140 Is it possible to receive radio transmissions through the fillings in your mouth? 619 00:33:33,140 --> 00:33:35,140 We need to get a skull. 620 00:33:35,140 --> 00:33:38,140 Two of the skull's teeth will be given different fillings. 621 00:33:38,140 --> 00:33:40,140 One gold, the other amalgam. 622 00:33:40,140 --> 00:33:44,140 We'll also obviously have to have some sort of a radio transmitter. 623 00:33:44,140 --> 00:33:49,140 That transmitter will pump radio frequencies into the air around the teeth. 624 00:33:49,140 --> 00:33:54,140 A voltmeter will monitor any change in electrical activity across the fillings. 625 00:33:54,140 --> 00:33:55,140 Well, let's do it. 626 00:33:55,140 --> 00:34:00,140 First question, where are you most likely to come across a spare cranium? 627 00:34:00,140 --> 00:34:02,140 The number for the bone room. 628 00:34:02,140 --> 00:34:06,140 The number for UCSF School of Anatomy. 629 00:34:06,140 --> 00:34:09,140 The number for UCSF dental school. 630 00:34:09,140 --> 00:34:11,140 I'm looking for a human skull. 631 00:34:11,140 --> 00:34:13,140 Do you guys have any skulls? 632 00:34:13,140 --> 00:34:14,140 A wrinkle? 633 00:34:14,140 --> 00:34:15,140 Yes. 634 00:34:15,140 --> 00:34:17,140 Finding a skull is hard enough. 635 00:34:17,140 --> 00:34:21,140 Finding one complete with fillings, well, that's another matter. 636 00:34:21,140 --> 00:34:23,140 One with fillings. 637 00:34:23,140 --> 00:34:26,140 Would any of them happen to have fillings in them? 638 00:34:26,140 --> 00:34:28,140 So you don't have any with fillings right now? 639 00:34:28,140 --> 00:34:33,140 There's a dental charity. 640 00:34:33,140 --> 00:34:35,140 Eventually, Adam tracks down a skull. 641 00:34:35,140 --> 00:34:37,140 It's his father's. 642 00:34:37,140 --> 00:34:40,140 Well, his father owns it, that is. 643 00:34:40,140 --> 00:34:42,140 Next step, a little dental work. 644 00:34:42,140 --> 00:34:43,140 Hi, doctor. 645 00:34:43,140 --> 00:34:45,140 That's a grody-looking skull. 646 00:34:45,140 --> 00:34:46,140 Okay. 647 00:34:46,140 --> 00:34:49,140 Do I have a real dead person? 648 00:34:49,140 --> 00:34:50,140 Yes. 649 00:34:50,140 --> 00:34:51,140 You bet. 650 00:34:51,140 --> 00:34:52,140 Not got much teeth left. 651 00:34:52,140 --> 00:34:55,140 He has trouble eating his steak these days. 652 00:34:56,140 --> 00:34:57,140 What? 653 00:34:57,140 --> 00:34:58,140 What's that? 654 00:34:58,140 --> 00:35:00,140 This guy have a name? 655 00:35:00,140 --> 00:35:03,140 He has a very dried-out teeth. 656 00:35:03,140 --> 00:35:06,140 Smells the same as it usually does. 657 00:35:06,140 --> 00:35:07,140 Yeah. 658 00:35:07,140 --> 00:35:09,140 I have 7,000 patients. 659 00:35:09,140 --> 00:35:10,140 I'm practicing dentist. 660 00:35:10,140 --> 00:35:13,140 It's never in my career been a practitioner for 30 years. 661 00:35:13,140 --> 00:35:15,140 Had anybody complained to me. 662 00:35:15,140 --> 00:35:19,140 They were picking up sounds or signals from their fillings. 663 00:35:25,140 --> 00:35:29,140 Lucy, even in her later years, she was always at the dentist. 664 00:35:29,140 --> 00:35:31,140 She was always having some kind of dental work. 665 00:35:31,140 --> 00:35:33,140 I don't think she was blessed with great teeth. 666 00:35:33,140 --> 00:35:37,140 If anyone should know about the state of Lucy LeBal's teeth, 667 00:35:37,140 --> 00:35:39,140 it's Jim Brochoux. 668 00:35:39,140 --> 00:35:42,140 He was her close friend, unofficial biographer, 669 00:35:42,140 --> 00:35:45,140 and one of the last people to see Lucy alive. 670 00:35:45,140 --> 00:35:50,140 I spent every day with Lucy from, I would think, 671 00:35:50,140 --> 00:35:58,140 until April of 1988 until the next year, April of 1989, when she died. 672 00:35:58,140 --> 00:36:00,140 And her name is Lucy LeBal. 673 00:36:00,140 --> 00:36:01,140 Come on! 674 00:36:01,140 --> 00:36:04,140 And although the star mightn't have had great teeth, 675 00:36:04,140 --> 00:36:08,140 Jim's positive she was always of sound mind. 676 00:36:08,140 --> 00:36:11,140 Lucy had no kind of psychosis. 677 00:36:11,140 --> 00:36:13,140 She didn't hear voices. 678 00:36:13,140 --> 00:36:16,140 She didn't put her faith in the supernatural. 679 00:36:16,140 --> 00:36:18,140 Okay, okay, don't be ridiculous. 680 00:36:18,140 --> 00:36:19,140 Well, you just met me. 681 00:36:19,140 --> 00:36:22,140 Hey, listen, a childhound doesn't have to wait for dinner to be hungry, you know. 682 00:36:25,140 --> 00:36:29,140 Phase two, Adam's on the trail of a radio transmitter. 683 00:36:29,140 --> 00:36:32,140 A little bit of equipment, and I was wondering if you had the... 684 00:36:32,140 --> 00:36:35,140 Now, this has to be easier than getting hold of a skull, right? 685 00:36:35,140 --> 00:36:41,140 Two-channel oscilloscope, like a sweep generator with an oscillator and an amplifier. 686 00:36:41,140 --> 00:36:46,140 Roller, seems these radio guys just aren't operating on Adam's wavelength. 687 00:36:46,140 --> 00:36:49,140 He had no idea what a sweep generator even was. 688 00:36:49,140 --> 00:36:51,140 This one had you kind of stressed out, didn't you? 689 00:36:51,140 --> 00:36:54,140 Yeah, this one was a real bear, actually. 690 00:36:54,140 --> 00:36:59,140 It turns out that it's very difficult, number one, to get the equipment 691 00:36:59,140 --> 00:37:02,140 to generate a very powerful AM frequency, 692 00:37:02,140 --> 00:37:06,140 because that's been cracked down a lot, pirate radio stations and such. 693 00:37:06,140 --> 00:37:12,140 Like all great stories, the Lucy legend has plenty of details that lend it credence. 694 00:37:12,140 --> 00:37:16,140 Then there was the radio station, which is a 50,000 watt radio station, 695 00:37:16,140 --> 00:37:20,140 that we understand now that there was some kind of clay in the ground 696 00:37:20,140 --> 00:37:25,140 that aided the transmission, that amplified the 50,000 watt transmission. 697 00:37:25,140 --> 00:37:32,140 So I associate that radio station as where she heard the music coming from that night as she passed by. 698 00:37:33,140 --> 00:37:39,140 Things might be looking up for Adam in his hunt for that elusive radio gear. 699 00:37:39,140 --> 00:37:43,140 The Foothills Swap Meet is a Bay Area institution. 700 00:37:43,140 --> 00:37:47,140 Its stalls are a paradise for electronics enthusiasts. 701 00:37:47,140 --> 00:37:51,140 If he can't find what he needs here, he never will. 702 00:37:55,140 --> 00:37:57,140 Back at the workshop. 703 00:37:58,140 --> 00:38:03,140 This brass screen will shield the skull from outside interference during the tests. 704 00:38:03,140 --> 00:38:07,140 The ferriday cage is like a ground that eliminates any radio waves 705 00:38:07,140 --> 00:38:12,140 from getting to the testing equipment, which makes our test, 706 00:38:12,140 --> 00:38:18,140 makes us know that our test is happening in an experimentally clean space. 707 00:38:20,140 --> 00:38:23,140 Of course, it works better if you can get into it. 708 00:38:24,140 --> 00:38:26,140 I locked the door for me inside. 709 00:38:29,140 --> 00:38:30,140 Alright. 710 00:38:32,140 --> 00:38:34,140 There's my ferriday cage. 711 00:38:36,140 --> 00:38:37,140 Let's see. 712 00:38:38,140 --> 00:38:40,140 No signal on the cell phone. 713 00:38:41,140 --> 00:38:42,140 No signal at all. 714 00:38:42,140 --> 00:38:45,140 One theory is that if Lucy's filling in the air, 715 00:38:45,140 --> 00:38:47,140 she'll be able to get into it. 716 00:38:47,140 --> 00:38:49,140 No signal on the cell phone. 717 00:38:49,140 --> 00:38:51,140 No signal at all. 718 00:38:51,140 --> 00:38:55,140 One theory is that if Lucy's fillings were made from different metals, 719 00:38:55,140 --> 00:38:59,140 then they might just have acted as what's known as a point contact diode. 720 00:38:59,140 --> 00:39:04,140 Point contact diode is the basis of the earliest radio crystal sets. 721 00:39:04,140 --> 00:39:09,140 In fact, in World War II, soldiers in foxholes built what's called a foxhole radio, 722 00:39:09,140 --> 00:39:13,140 which we have a crude model of here in which our point contact diode 723 00:39:13,140 --> 00:39:15,140 is simply a razor blade and a pencil lead. 724 00:39:15,140 --> 00:39:19,140 Two different metals combining to capture a radio frequency. 725 00:39:23,140 --> 00:39:24,140 I hear a buzz. 726 00:39:28,140 --> 00:39:33,140 A pencil and a razor blade and some coil, you know, some common household objects. 727 00:39:33,140 --> 00:39:38,140 It seems unlikely that we could actually hear a radio signal from that, but we can't. 728 00:39:38,140 --> 00:39:40,140 Right now we're hearing a buzz. 729 00:39:40,140 --> 00:39:43,140 Yeah, I mean, we're pulling something out of the air. 730 00:39:43,140 --> 00:39:47,140 The seal ball's fillings fleetingly become a primitive radio, 731 00:39:47,140 --> 00:39:50,140 picking up a signal and broadcasting it into her head. 732 00:39:50,140 --> 00:39:52,140 I recognize the tune and everything. 733 00:39:52,140 --> 00:39:53,140 I recognize the tune. 734 00:39:53,140 --> 00:39:56,140 One tooth already has an amalgam filling. 735 00:39:56,140 --> 00:39:58,140 We need another metal. 736 00:39:58,140 --> 00:40:01,140 And Adam and Jamie are going for gold. 737 00:40:01,140 --> 00:40:03,140 That is real gold foil. 738 00:40:14,140 --> 00:40:17,140 The teeth are placed inside the Faraday cage, 739 00:40:17,140 --> 00:40:22,140 along with a crude antenna made from a cardboard cylinder and insulated copper wire. 740 00:40:22,140 --> 00:40:27,140 Two probes placed on the fillings will register any change in voltage. 741 00:40:27,140 --> 00:40:31,140 So we're going to inject some, have modulated AM radio signal 742 00:40:31,140 --> 00:40:34,140 and see what the teeth generate on this voltmeter. 743 00:40:34,140 --> 00:40:38,140 Frank Hausmann has more than 20 years experience 744 00:40:38,140 --> 00:40:41,140 in electronics and computer network engineering. 745 00:40:41,140 --> 00:40:46,140 He's agreed to become an honorary myth buster just for one day. 746 00:40:46,140 --> 00:40:53,140 The RF field in that chamber, there's no change in the teeth. 747 00:40:53,140 --> 00:40:56,140 Several radio frequencies are channeled into the Faraday cage, 748 00:40:56,140 --> 00:40:59,140 but the voltmeter doesn't flicker. 749 00:40:59,140 --> 00:41:03,140 So if the teeth were acting as a diode, which is one of the theories about how they might pick up radio, 750 00:41:03,140 --> 00:41:06,140 we would see a change in voltage, but we didn't. 751 00:41:06,140 --> 00:41:11,140 So in this test, the fillings did not become a simple radio receiver. 752 00:41:11,140 --> 00:41:17,140 But even if Lucy's did, does it automatically follow that she'd have been able to hear the signal? 753 00:41:17,140 --> 00:41:21,140 Could our nerves transmit the frequency to the brain, 754 00:41:21,140 --> 00:41:23,140 time to get wired for sound? 755 00:41:23,140 --> 00:41:26,140 You should theoretically hear an audio tone. 756 00:41:26,140 --> 00:41:28,140 Just like that. 757 00:41:28,140 --> 00:41:30,140 All in the name of the science. 758 00:41:30,140 --> 00:41:32,140 All right, I'm ready to take the juice. 759 00:41:32,140 --> 00:41:34,140 Are you ready? 760 00:41:34,140 --> 00:41:38,140 It's going to you. You can, you've got .4 milliliters. 761 00:41:38,140 --> 00:41:41,140 Oh, okay. 762 00:41:41,140 --> 00:41:42,140 Are you on there? 763 00:41:42,140 --> 00:41:43,140 Uh-huh. 764 00:41:43,140 --> 00:41:44,140 Do you feel anything? 765 00:41:44,140 --> 00:41:45,140 Uh-uh. 766 00:41:45,140 --> 00:41:46,140 Okay. Take one off. 767 00:41:46,140 --> 00:41:47,140 Okay. 768 00:41:47,140 --> 00:41:52,140 Well, I'm going to turn it up to 300 milliliters. 769 00:41:52,140 --> 00:41:55,140 This is about the highest voltage I'm comfortable putting out into your head. 770 00:41:55,140 --> 00:41:56,140 Of course, you say that. 771 00:41:56,140 --> 00:41:59,140 I'm just going to ask you to bump it up one more. 772 00:41:59,140 --> 00:42:00,140 No, I don't feel anything. 773 00:42:00,140 --> 00:42:05,140 I've just run it across several combinations of all my fillings. 774 00:42:05,140 --> 00:42:08,140 But what if you had metal somewhere else in your head? 775 00:42:08,140 --> 00:42:14,140 In 1981, the Veterans Medical Center in Miami reported a remarkable case. 776 00:42:14,140 --> 00:42:20,140 A Vietnam veteran claimed he was picking up radio through shrapnel embedded in his skull. 777 00:42:20,140 --> 00:42:25,140 He started to hear music, and then he became very frightened, very scared. 778 00:42:25,140 --> 00:42:29,140 He thought that he may be going psychotic with an intolution. 779 00:42:29,140 --> 00:42:33,140 The man was successfully treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. 780 00:42:33,140 --> 00:42:36,140 But still, the band played on. 781 00:42:36,140 --> 00:42:43,140 It's the only case of this kind in the last half-century to be published by a medical journal. 782 00:42:43,140 --> 00:42:49,140 For Lucille Ball, the radio-filling story didn't end when the music stopped. 783 00:42:49,140 --> 00:42:51,140 In fact, it got even zanier. 784 00:42:51,140 --> 00:42:56,140 I was going up another street, almost home. 785 00:42:56,140 --> 00:42:59,140 And I was passing four vacant lots. 786 00:42:59,140 --> 00:43:04,140 And as I went by there, I heard... 787 00:43:04,140 --> 00:43:06,140 I'm picking it up on my teeth. 788 00:43:06,140 --> 00:43:11,140 I stopped the car, and I looked around... 789 00:43:11,140 --> 00:43:14,140 ...in a morse code like. 790 00:43:14,140 --> 00:43:18,140 And I couldn't wait to get back to MGM the next morning and tell the security office. 791 00:43:18,140 --> 00:43:20,140 And they found an underground Japanese... 792 00:43:20,140 --> 00:43:22,140 Transparency radio station. 793 00:43:22,140 --> 00:43:23,140 Radio station. 794 00:43:23,140 --> 00:43:24,140 Honest to God. 795 00:43:24,140 --> 00:43:26,140 Is that a great story? 796 00:43:26,140 --> 00:43:28,140 A great story, without a doubt. 797 00:43:28,140 --> 00:43:32,140 But morse code tapped out through tooth fillings? 798 00:43:32,140 --> 00:43:36,140 One of the theories is that it could be a galvanic reaction. 799 00:43:36,140 --> 00:43:41,140 I.e., let's say you have two dissimilar metals in your fillings. 800 00:43:41,140 --> 00:43:44,140 You have a gold crown and an amalgam filling. 801 00:43:44,140 --> 00:43:50,140 That those in the solution of your saliva might actually be generating a small amount of electric current, like a battery. 802 00:43:50,140 --> 00:43:56,140 In that case, the galvanic reaction would be building up a charge that it was discharging. 803 00:43:56,140 --> 00:43:58,140 Build up and discharge and build up and discharge. 804 00:43:58,140 --> 00:44:00,140 And you might actually think that was morse code. 805 00:44:00,140 --> 00:44:05,140 Jamie and Adam want to recreate what might have happened in Lucy's mouth. 806 00:44:05,140 --> 00:44:08,140 It's been a little while since this mouth saw any saliva. 807 00:44:08,140 --> 00:44:12,140 So Adam and Jamie are going to sit the teeth in vinegar. 808 00:44:12,140 --> 00:44:17,140 Vinegar's level of acidity should make it an excellent conductor. 809 00:44:17,140 --> 00:44:22,140 That ought to be enough for galvanic resistance. 810 00:44:22,140 --> 00:44:29,140 I have the teeth in solution just so that the metal of the teeth is both in the bath of vinegar and slightly above. 811 00:44:29,140 --> 00:44:33,140 Okay, we'll set some probes next. 812 00:44:33,140 --> 00:44:35,140 Alright. 813 00:44:35,140 --> 00:44:38,140 We have positive contact on everything here. 814 00:44:38,140 --> 00:44:41,140 Great. 815 00:44:41,140 --> 00:44:49,140 Adam and Jamie have heard the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor had just forced the United States to join the Second World War. 816 00:44:49,140 --> 00:44:56,140 It was after they had taken the Japanese out of California and unfortunately put them in the camps. 817 00:44:56,140 --> 00:45:03,140 With people fearing a full-scale Japanese invasion, panic and paranoia raged. 818 00:45:03,140 --> 00:45:07,140 Professor Rusty Kapps was with the FBI. 819 00:45:07,140 --> 00:45:11,140 He had now lectures on Japanese espionage during World War II. 820 00:45:11,140 --> 00:45:15,140 There were all kinds of rumors after the attack on Pearl Harbor. 821 00:45:15,140 --> 00:45:25,140 There was one I'm aware of, of a Japanese submarine that fired, and I think the number is 20 or less than 20 rounds, into a petroleum tank farm. 822 00:45:25,140 --> 00:45:34,140 There were also instances of Japanese trying to bomb America with high-altitude balloons that were going to drop incinerates. 823 00:45:34,140 --> 00:45:37,140 You didn't know how to reconcile this fear. 824 00:45:37,140 --> 00:45:41,140 So then suddenly you have Lucy of all people. 825 00:45:41,140 --> 00:45:45,140 Hey, what am I going to get? A kiss or a quarter milk? 826 00:45:45,140 --> 00:45:56,140 If these incompetent Japanese people couldn't even get one over on Lucy, how could they hope to win out over our American military? 827 00:45:56,140 --> 00:45:59,140 So it's really a comforting tale for people of that time period. 828 00:45:59,140 --> 00:46:02,140 It's saying, well, they couldn't possibly win. 829 00:46:02,140 --> 00:46:05,140 All in all, I'm quite pleased. 830 00:46:05,140 --> 00:46:14,140 To test for a galvanic reaction, the probes are once again placed on the fillings. 831 00:46:14,140 --> 00:46:16,140 Now we're seeing seven milivolts. 832 00:46:16,140 --> 00:46:17,140 Okay, let's see. 833 00:46:17,140 --> 00:46:21,140 And if you lift the probe off, lifting, it should go to zero. 834 00:46:21,140 --> 00:46:22,140 There it is. 835 00:46:22,140 --> 00:46:27,140 The fillings, reacting with the acid in the vinegar, are generating their own tiny current. 836 00:46:27,140 --> 00:46:36,140 This voltage would probably be similar to what would be if someone had a meal and their pH of their mouth was around this vinegar, around four and a half, five. 837 00:46:36,140 --> 00:46:37,140 That's right. 838 00:46:37,140 --> 00:46:38,140 This might exist in their mouth. 839 00:46:38,140 --> 00:46:39,140 That's right. 840 00:46:39,140 --> 00:46:40,140 That's right. 841 00:46:41,140 --> 00:46:48,140 Was Lucy's spy message nothing more sinister than a reaction between her fillings and her saliva? 842 00:46:48,140 --> 00:46:56,140 So it's possible someone could mistake that voltage discharge if they had a nerve close to a filling for something like Morse code. 843 00:46:56,140 --> 00:46:59,140 But that discharge would be an oscillation and they would feel it. 844 00:46:59,140 --> 00:47:01,140 And it wouldn't be pleasant, actually. 845 00:47:01,140 --> 00:47:04,140 A galvanic reaction can only occur in new fillings. 846 00:47:04,140 --> 00:47:11,140 Before the metal starts to corrode, Lucy's fillings were only a week old when the Morse code began to transmit. 847 00:47:11,140 --> 00:47:16,140 It would be more helpful if she actually knew Morse code and was able to translate the message. 848 00:47:16,140 --> 00:47:24,140 In 1994, five years after her death, Lucille Ball's FBI file was released to the public. 849 00:47:24,140 --> 00:47:29,140 All 142 pages refer to her involvement in the Communist Party. 850 00:47:29,140 --> 00:47:33,140 There's no mention of her role in foiling a Japanese spy network. 851 00:47:33,140 --> 00:47:38,140 If it had been true, I can think of no reason why it wouldn't have been widely published. 852 00:47:38,140 --> 00:47:46,140 The FBI, you have to remember, like all law enforcement and counterintelligence services has one basic rule. 853 00:47:46,140 --> 00:47:48,140 If it ain't on paper, it didn't happen. 854 00:47:48,140 --> 00:47:52,140 And one of the things that she's thinking about, I'm sure, as she comes forward is, 855 00:47:52,140 --> 00:47:54,140 well, how about my career? 856 00:47:54,140 --> 00:48:00,140 You know, I'm an actress, but if I'm also a war hero, if I'm also able to help the war effort in this way, 857 00:48:00,140 --> 00:48:03,140 I mean, it's going to raise my stock dramatically. 858 00:48:03,140 --> 00:48:07,140 I don't know how much publicity this story actually got when it happened. 859 00:48:07,140 --> 00:48:13,140 I know eventually there was a Broadway show called Something for the Boys with her friend Ethel Merman in it. 860 00:48:13,140 --> 00:48:22,140 And that one part of Lucille's story about picking up the radio signals in her fillings was translated to this musical. 861 00:48:22,140 --> 00:48:25,140 I don't think Lucille had a reason to make up a story. 862 00:48:25,140 --> 00:48:32,140 I mean, she had a very rich, full life, full of wonderful stories that, you know, she wouldn't have to make one up about herself. 863 00:48:32,140 --> 00:48:35,140 Adam, is the myth true or false? 864 00:48:35,140 --> 00:48:41,140 I think definitively we've shown that two different types of fillings do not act as a rudimentary radio crystal. 865 00:48:41,140 --> 00:48:47,140 And that there is some potential voltage or battery action occurring if you've eaten a lot of acidic food 866 00:48:47,140 --> 00:48:49,140 and you do have different types of metals in your mouth. 867 00:48:49,140 --> 00:48:50,140 It's busted. 868 00:48:50,140 --> 00:48:52,140 Okay, we'll call it busted. 869 00:48:52,140 --> 00:48:53,140 Alright. 870 00:48:53,140 --> 00:48:56,140 Thank you, Lucille, for talking about this.