1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,440 On this special episode of Mythbusters, 2 00:00:03,440 --> 00:00:07,760 testing the voltage on electrified urban legends. 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,080 Flat of recharging. 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,520 Answering nature's call. 5 00:00:12,520 --> 00:00:14,240 Oh, man. 6 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:15,120 Warm. 7 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:17,880 On an electrified third rail. 8 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:19,280 You've got the lights almost full. 9 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:20,680 It's total disaster. 10 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:22,520 Then struck by lightning. 11 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:23,320 Where's your tongue? 12 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,400 Let's see. 13 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,280 The Mythbusters tempt fate. 14 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:29,320 This won't hurt you at all. 15 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:32,200 Feels like I got a barbell stuck in my tongue. 16 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:35,880 And microwave myths put to the test. 17 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:37,000 Totally f***ing me. 18 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,080 We finally get a reasonable experiment here. 19 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:40,200 And he's like, uh-oh. 20 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,200 And troubles brewing. 21 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,560 I would say that the rig is not safe at all. 22 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,440 Who are the Mythbusters? 23 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,280 Am I missing an eyebrow? 24 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:51,480 Adam Savage. 25 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:54,360 I always enjoyed seeing Adam in pain. 26 00:00:54,360 --> 00:00:55,000 Oh! 27 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:56,680 And Jamie Heineman. 28 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,280 Jamie wants a big bone. 29 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,800 More than 30 years special effects experience. 30 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:04,000 Feel kind of sexy. 31 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,880 They don't just tell the myths. 32 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:08,640 They put them to the test. 33 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:16,800 It's late. 34 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:18,960 You've had a few drinks. 35 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:21,280 There's no train expected. 36 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:23,360 Nature's calling. 37 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:25,680 What could possibly go wrong? 38 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:38,800 Where are we? 39 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,160 We're here at the Golden Gate Railway Museum in San Francisco. 40 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,440 And we're testing the myth about peeing on the third rail. 41 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,160 This is the one guy found himself late at night in a train yard peed on the third rail. 42 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,400 The electrified rail got electrocuted and died. 43 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,400 That's the one. 44 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:59,840 Some subway systems are powered by an electrified rail on the track. 45 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:09,520 A steel paddle slides along the top of that third rail, arcing as it draws current. 46 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:17,280 There's enough power in the New York subway to light the whole state of Vermont. 47 00:02:17,280 --> 00:02:21,080 Rob Lobenstein is the superintendent of that system. 48 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:22,920 He's well aware of this myth. 49 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:27,000 My first day on the job, they give you all the safety tips and warnings. 50 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:30,280 And that's the very first thing they tell you not to do. 51 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:35,680 After 34 years, Rob still has a healthy caution about electricity jumping up urine streams. 52 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:38,960 Do you want to pee on that, Jamie? 53 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,960 I don't want to pee on that. 54 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,800 Come on, do you feel lucky? 55 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:50,200 To test this myth, they'll need to make a stunt dummy with the same electrical properties 56 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:51,200 as a human body. 57 00:02:51,200 --> 00:03:01,360 They'll have to come up with a system to make it pee, electrify a track, and finally, test 58 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:05,040 urine's ability to conduct a challenge. 59 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:09,040 So the boys need a dummy that can answer nature's call. 60 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,720 They'll start with a skeleton. 61 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:17,360 Okay, this is actually a nice one. 62 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,720 Did it come with a body bag? 63 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,720 Oh, dang! 64 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,720 Stop! 65 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:30,000 I'll always miss my old skeleton. 66 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,760 It's too bad. 67 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:38,000 He got his head blown off with a Mannlicher-Carcano rifle. 68 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:42,600 In the past, they've encased a skeleton in a product called Ballistics Gel, which is 69 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,160 used to test bullets. 70 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,960 The guys think it might work well here, too. 71 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:53,280 It has nearly exactly the same electrical resistance as the human body. 72 00:03:53,280 --> 00:04:00,040 They just need to mold it into shape. 73 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,480 We use the vacuum for all sorts of things. 74 00:04:02,480 --> 00:04:04,400 We use it all the time here in the shop. 75 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,720 Let's carry this over and cut it out. 76 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:11,120 We use it for toy prototypes when we're inventing something. 77 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:13,920 The same plastic is used in soda bottles. 78 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:18,200 They'll mold the dummies front and back and join the shells together. 79 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:22,440 Normally, they'd use glue to do that. 80 00:04:22,440 --> 00:04:25,240 But Adam's made an executive decision. 81 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:31,840 He thinks it'll be quicker just to use tape. 82 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:32,840 He's looking pretty healthy. 83 00:04:32,840 --> 00:04:36,200 I've always wanted my own full-sized, visible human. 84 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:43,360 The same speed that Adam has when he goes through and does a job will elicit an occasional 85 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,600 mistake because he doesn't think before he does something. 86 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:52,480 The next step is to fill the legs with gel, crucial for the experiment that will give 87 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:56,160 them the same electrical properties as humans. 88 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:01,320 They make this stuff out of boiled-down animal products like cow hooves. 89 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:06,120 It's really foul. 90 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,360 Stop. 91 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,600 Stop. 92 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,960 Adam's tape is not holding. 93 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,760 Damn it. 94 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:24,120 It's sticking from everywhere. 95 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,440 We didn't glue that at all, huh? 96 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:29,440 No, I didn't. 97 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:30,440 Adam. 98 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:31,440 Yep. 99 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:32,440 Oh, stop playing. 100 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:33,440 Let's do this. 101 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,440 That's such a good sound. 102 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,440 There we go. 103 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,440 Hey, look at that. 104 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:43,440 It's filling up. 105 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:45,440 Not for long. 106 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:47,440 Now both feet are leaking. 107 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:48,440 Come on. 108 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:49,440 Come on. 109 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:50,440 Oh, it's slanted. 110 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:51,440 Oh. 111 00:05:51,440 --> 00:06:04,440 If we get lots of ice in here really fast, we'll be okay. 112 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:07,400 Ballistics gel sets solid when cooled. 113 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,400 They only have four bags of ice. 114 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,400 I kind of think it's... 115 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,400 There we go. 116 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:23,400 That's fast enough. 117 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:29,400 One thing that keeps bothering me about this is that urine itself is probably not going 118 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:30,400 to conduct all that much. 119 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,960 I mean, we don't really know, but I can't imagine that you're going to be able to conduct 120 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:37,280 current like you would with a wire. 121 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:39,280 Even so, the dirty work begins. 122 00:06:39,280 --> 00:06:43,680 Oh, it's warm. 123 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:48,120 What this boils down to is how much current can we actually carry through about a quarter-inch 124 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:50,640 diameter stream of urine? 125 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:52,800 And is it enough to kill you? 126 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:57,320 The guys know it's not just the number of volts in a shock that hurts you, but rather 127 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:02,680 the amount of electricity that actually flows through you, called the current. 128 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,960 They can work out how much current will zap a third rail victim if they know two other 129 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:07,960 facts. 130 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:12,720 They need to find out the electrical resistance of urine. 131 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:17,640 So it's about 10,000 ohms, which is just what we expected. 132 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:22,840 And they know a subway train runs on about 650 volts. 133 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,960 Your home sockets are 110. 134 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,840 They'll match the subway with a transformer from a fluorescent light. 135 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:35,520 If you had a rather robust stream of urine and you were able to spray it up on the ceiling 136 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:40,200 into a fluorescent lamp, you would probably receive the same effect as peeing on the third 137 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:41,200 rail. 138 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:47,520 A famous electrical formula called Ohm's Law says the current equals voltage divided by 139 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:48,520 resistance. 140 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:55,120 So 650 volts passing through urine at 10,000 ohms resistance means there'll be a current 141 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,600 of 65 milliamps. 142 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:01,840 30 milliamps is enough to paralyze your breathing. 143 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,120 65 can give you a heart attack. 144 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:07,600 So that part of the myth is true. 145 00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:10,760 Urine can carry a shock big enough to kill you. 146 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:16,480 In this dry run, they'll try to pass that current through a tube of donated urine, through 147 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:21,320 ballistics gel and into a relay switch triggered at 65 milliamps. 148 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,120 We'll be cooking with gas. 149 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:29,960 And I think we should hear the thing click if it's going to work, if I plug it in right 150 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:30,960 now. 151 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,560 There you go. 152 00:08:35,560 --> 00:08:36,960 That's fantastic. 153 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:41,120 Something actually worked for a change. 154 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:46,960 So they've got the body built, tested the urine, now for the bionic bladder. 155 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:52,600 Well, here on MythBusters it seems we'll do just about anything for science. 156 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,320 Got 250 milliliters there. 157 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:58,280 It took about 18 and a half seconds. 158 00:08:58,280 --> 00:09:01,400 And that's what we're going to try and replicate with our rail rig. 159 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:02,400 Here I go. 160 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,400 Start in now. 161 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:19,400 A lot of seconds. 162 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:25,400 19 seconds, that's perfect. 163 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:27,920 That's a relief. 164 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:31,080 But Adam's still got bladder problems. 165 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,200 So the question is pressure, I think. 166 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,600 Personally, I don't let gravity do my trick. 167 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:41,200 You know, there's some pressure involved. 168 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:46,200 So the question is, how to add pressure to the system? 169 00:09:49,400 --> 00:09:54,200 What better way to pressurize a fake bladder than with a whoopee cushion? 170 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:57,200 Yeah, that's holding pressure. 171 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:02,200 Better still, it fits perfectly. 172 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:08,520 But of course that's only half the equipment. 173 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:12,880 If you make the stream really small and narrow, the surface tension is going to tend to make 174 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,400 it go into a spray or a droplet. 175 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,200 Yeah, I've gone as close as I can to the real thing. 176 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:22,000 You gotta fill it up? 177 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:23,000 Yeah. 178 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:25,000 Are you ready? 179 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:26,000 Ready. 180 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:27,000 Commencing. 181 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:28,000 Wee-wee. 182 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,000 Looks like a pretty convincing stream to me. 183 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:36,000 Yeah. 184 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,000 Getting urine everywhere. 185 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:43,000 It looks okay, but how close to real is it? 186 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,000 What they need is a comparison. 187 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,000 Volunteers. 188 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,000 Anyone? 189 00:10:54,000 --> 00:10:59,000 Once more, Adam is forced to offer his bladder and dignity to science. 190 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:04,000 Here on MythBusters, we're prepared to put our pants on the floor for you. 191 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,000 The moment to remember will be captured on high-speed camera. 192 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,000 I think I got 100 mils. 193 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:11,000 Are you ready? 194 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,000 All right, here we go. 195 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,000 This is not our ballistic dummy that we're looking at here, right? 196 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,000 It's a real live dummy. 197 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,000 This is what it is. 198 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,000 All right. 199 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,000 We have a match. 200 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,000 Finally, Adam has a leak he's happy with. 201 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:32,000 You know, the science is good. 202 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,000 We know why things are working and why they're not working, 203 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,000 and we're getting some really good results. 204 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:37,000 I'm having a great time. 205 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,000 As dirty as the work is. 206 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:45,000 The MythBusters are ready to ride the third ramp. 207 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:47,000 Where's the wee bottle I have to go? 208 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:50,000 I guess I can hold it until we're down there. 209 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:52,000 Oh, man. 210 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:59,000 Will urinating on the third rail have shocking results? 211 00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:02,000 Do I get a lollipop this is done? 212 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,000 But up next, Adam donates part of his body to science 213 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:10,000 as the MythBusters try to bust a lightning legend. 214 00:12:10,000 --> 00:12:12,000 Now I'm talking all funny. 215 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,000 Come on, will you please help me out? 216 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,000 Yes, we'll carry you. 217 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,000 Hold on. 218 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:21,000 I got struck by lightning? 219 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:22,000 Yes. 220 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:24,000 How the f**k did that happen? 221 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:25,000 It's not. 222 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:29,000 In August 2003, Matt Thompson was hit by lightning 223 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,000 in the hills outside Keystone, Colorado. 224 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,000 A bolt of lightning taken straight in the chest. 225 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,000 It just came out of nowhere. 226 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:42,000 The direct hit traveled all the way through Matt's body. 227 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,000 I had no clue what happened. 228 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,000 Matt's story was big news. 229 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,000 On websites worldwide, the issue was raging. 230 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,000 Matt, you almost died. 231 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:54,000 Was Matt's metal tongue stud the reason he was struck? 232 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,000 So my tongue ring. 233 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:58,000 Oh, no, dude, you might have swallowed it. 234 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,000 Where's your tongue? Let's see. 235 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,000 Oh, it's broken off in there, it looks like. 236 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,000 Body jewelry attracting lightning strikes? 237 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:09,000 This looks like a job for the Mythbusters. 238 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:19,000 The myth is that wearing a tongue stud increases your chances of being struck by lightning. 239 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,000 So what kind of cockamamie theory is this? 240 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:28,000 Well, this cockamamie theory says that the lightning bolt is being attracted directly to it. 241 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:29,000 Like a lightning rod? 242 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:31,000 Yeah, exactly. 243 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:33,000 It sounds kind of silly. 244 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:36,000 Being loaded into an ambulance with a fried tongue, 245 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,000 you can bet Matt Thompson didn't think it was a silly myth. 246 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:42,000 Still, the boys are skeptical. 247 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,000 It's obvious that jewelry does affect your body if you get struck by lightning, 248 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:48,000 but the question still remains. 249 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,000 Does it increase your chances of being struck by lightning? 250 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,000 For the tongue stud lightning test, 251 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:57,000 two heads made from ballistics gel will be mounted near a lightning generator. 252 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:01,000 One of the heads will be pierced with metal studs. 253 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:05,000 Adam and Jamie want to know which head the charge jumps to. 254 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:06,000 That'll be fun. 255 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:08,000 Well, that's definitely why we're doing this. 256 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,000 The first job is to build a rig that will attract lightning. 257 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:15,000 They need something big, metal, and round. 258 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:16,000 Here we are. 259 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:17,000 That's them. 260 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:18,000 What, these? 261 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:19,000 Yeah. 262 00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,000 Oh, okay. 263 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:24,000 Well, we're using walks because the round surface of a walk is a perfect thing to test 264 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:29,000 in an electrical field around because it doesn't have any point that can gather the electricity to a single point. 265 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Seven, eight. 266 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,000 It's like they knew we were coming. 267 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,000 I can imagine that. 268 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:41,000 Oh, hell, I don't like to get those out of there. 269 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,000 Back at the workshop, while Jamie grapples with removing the walk handles, 270 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,000 Adam is going into reproduction mode. 271 00:14:48,000 --> 00:14:54,000 I am going to take this casting of my head, and it is me, I swear, 272 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:59,000 and I'm going to fill it with some rigid foam so I can cut it in half 273 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:03,000 and turn it into a vacuform mold to make a bunch of ballistic gel heads. 274 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,000 This is where things start to happen kind of fast. 275 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,000 There's a point at which it gets clear again. 276 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:13,000 There, see? 277 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Now it turns dark. 278 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:15,000 That's just about to bubble. 279 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,000 That's the trick. 280 00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:20,000 If you look in here, we can watch it. 281 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,000 It's going to blow all the way up. 282 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:23,000 Isn't that amazing? 283 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,000 Oh, look at this. Here it comes. 284 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:30,000 All right, so I mixed too much. 285 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,000 Jamie, ahead of schedule, has found time for art. 286 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,000 I don't know what it is, but it's pretty. 287 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:38,000 It's like a big steel tulip. 288 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,000 Adam, meanwhile, has a solid base for his mold. 289 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:47,000 There is something strangely satisfying about that. 290 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:51,000 But getting the plastic shell to form is proving to be a headache. 291 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,000 No, no, come on. 292 00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:58,000 Adam's really hard on my tools. 293 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,000 He'll tend to plow through things without thinking. 294 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:09,000 I hate this frame. 295 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:11,000 It's ripping my fingers to shreds. 296 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:14,000 A little more comfort in your design. 297 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,000 That's all I want. 298 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,000 It'll toughen your fingers up. It's good for you. 299 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,000 You, my fingers don't need toughening. 300 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,000 Let's see if it still fits. 301 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:27,000 No, that doesn't fit. 302 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:30,000 My head's gotten fatter in the intervening years. 303 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:32,000 As if nobody knew that. 304 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,000 All right, let's go do another nine. 305 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:44,000 Jamie is attaching inverted walks to the tops of metal rods. 306 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:50,000 A non-conductive plexiglass spike will protrude above each watt to hold the dummy's head. 307 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:54,000 Adam has finally created ten head molds. 308 00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:59,000 They need more than two in case the high-voltage strike blows them apart. 309 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:05,000 They'll be filled with ballistic gel and will mimic the electrical conductivity of the human head. 310 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,000 Smart work. 311 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,000 But Adam's about to do something not so bright. 312 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:21,000 To get into the spirit of this myth, he's volunteered to get his own tongue pierced. 313 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:22,000 Hi, are you Joey? 314 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:23,000 Yeah, hi. 315 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,000 I'm Adam. 316 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:25,000 Nice to meet you, Adam. 317 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:26,000 Jamie. 318 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:27,000 Hey, Jamie, how you doing? 319 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:28,000 Good. 320 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:29,000 I'm here to get a tongue piercing. 321 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:30,000 Let's see your tongue. 322 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,000 Yeah, we can put some jewelry in there for you. 323 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:37,000 All right, have you ever heard any myths about tongue piercings? 324 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,000 No, I've heard some realities about tongue piercings. 325 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:41,000 I don't know about any myths. 326 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:42,000 What do you have in mind? 327 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:47,000 Well, there's a story going around about a woman in Britain who apparently was struck by lightning. 328 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:50,000 And she said it was because she had a tongue piercing. 329 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:51,000 Never heard that one. 330 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:52,000 You never heard that one? 331 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:53,000 Never heard that one. 332 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,000 You ever had any complaints of anyone struck by lightning? 333 00:17:55,000 --> 00:17:58,000 None of my clients have ever been struck by lightning. 334 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:03,000 So these are some of the basic beads that I have for you to choose from. 335 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:07,000 Probably the most comfortable size to start with is this one right here. 336 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:12,000 If you want to go with something a little fancier, it's possible to wear gemstones for it as well. 337 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,000 So if you want to get really flash, you can wear something like that. 338 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,000 What do you think, Jamie? 339 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:18,000 Should I go flash or plain? 340 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:22,000 I think you should go for maximum conductivity, actually. 341 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:24,000 Yeah, I suppose you're right. 342 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:27,000 Do you have anything shaped like a little lightning rod? 343 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,000 No lightning rods, and we don't have any copper. 344 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,000 I think you're going to have to go with the stainless steel. 345 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,000 All right, the stainless steel ball about the size is exactly what I was thinking about. 346 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:36,000 Okay, that should be great. 347 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,000 So why don't you come on in here. 348 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,000 Have a seat on the dinosaur chair there. 349 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:44,000 Do I get a lollipop when this is done? 350 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:48,000 You do get a lollipop when this is done, but only if you earn it. 351 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:51,000 He's just seen the needle. 352 00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,000 For once, atoms have a loss for words. 353 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:02,000 All right, so you ready? 354 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:05,000 It's very, very quick and very, very easy. 355 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,000 You can set your glasses right there. 356 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,000 What I want you to do is swallow one last time. 357 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,000 Breathe easy. 358 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:13,000 Give me your tongue. 359 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,000 There you go. 360 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:16,000 This won't hurt you at all. 361 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,000 I'm not going to pull on you. 362 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:21,000 I just want to make sure I got you right where I need you. 363 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:23,000 Piercing is real quick. 364 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,000 I'm just getting lined up. 365 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:26,000 Here you go. 366 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,000 Give me a breath in and out. 367 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:29,000 You're done. 368 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,000 Jewelry's in. 369 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,000 I'm going to take the clamp off and screw the bead on the bottom, 370 00:19:34,000 --> 00:19:35,000 but it won't hurt you. 371 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:36,000 You're absolutely done. 372 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,000 Let me just make sure the beads are tight. 373 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,000 You can have your tongue back. 374 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:41,000 There you go. 375 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:42,000 You're done. 376 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:46,000 I'm all right. 377 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:49,000 That was not so bad. 378 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:51,000 But now I'm talking all funny. 379 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:55,000 Feels like I got a barbell stuck in my tongue, man. 380 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,000 Ah, ah, how about that? 381 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:03,000 She sells seashells by the sea shore. 382 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:10,000 Coming up, two heads are better than one when it comes to testing this myth. 383 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,000 It just goes to show, you know, don't put any really big bolts in your mouth 384 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,000 during the thunderstorm. 385 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:28,000 In August 2003, Matt Thompson was struck by lightning in Colorado. 386 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:29,000 It's my tongue ring. 387 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:30,000 It's my nose. 388 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:31,000 I don't know, dude. 389 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:34,000 Once the lightning attracted to his metal tongue piercing. 390 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,000 Oh, it's broken off in there, it looks like. 391 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,000 To test the myth that body jewelry increases your chance of being struck, 392 00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:45,000 Adam and Jamie have enlisted the help of Delta Star West. 393 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:49,000 They manufacture industrial grade electrical machinery. 394 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,000 They still feel nice and cool. 395 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:56,000 Adam's freshly made gelatin heads are the focal points. 396 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,000 He has to suffer as much as I have. 397 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:03,000 A metal stud expertly fitted to one dummy's lower lip. 398 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:06,000 He should have been a surgeon. 399 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:10,000 All right, let's see how it does. 400 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:15,000 We have this gigantic bank of capacitors, which creates over a million volts at 401 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,000 something like a thousand amps. 402 00:21:17,000 --> 00:21:22,000 And it's sending electricity across this wire through this electrode. 403 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:29,000 And these heads, which are grounded, will complete the circuit. 404 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:33,000 Real lightning can be over a hundred million volts. 405 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,000 It kills about 100 Americans a year. 406 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:41,000 This million volt jolt would still turn you into toast. 407 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,000 Everyone's keeping a safe distance. 408 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,000 We're good. 409 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,000 The lightning will discharge into one of the heads. 410 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:53,000 It takes just a fraction of a second. 411 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,000 It's hit the head on the right. 412 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,000 You can see it in freeze frame. 413 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,000 Here it is again on high speed camera. 414 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:08,000 Well, it went to the one without the barbell in it. 415 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:10,000 It did. 416 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:13,000 We learned a couple of really important things from the first test. 417 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:18,000 And the first thing was that the lightning bolt went to the top of the head 418 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:24,000 and no place else on the electrode, which tells us that our rig is nicely set up. 419 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,000 It's pretty neutral. 420 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:31,000 And we are getting current to go through the head itself and not through the steel. 421 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:33,000 But the testing has just started. 422 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:39,000 In the interests of accuracy, they move each head to the opposite spike. 423 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:42,000 We're just doing a control by swapping the heads on the rig 424 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:47,000 and making sure that the rig doesn't prefer one direction or the other. 425 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:54,000 This time it hit the stud head. 426 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:59,000 Well, you know, one, I think really important thing that I just saw was, 427 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,000 I guess I was focusing in the right place at the right time. 428 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:08,000 I saw the lightning bolt travel down like this and it went right along this pathway. 429 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:10,000 It did not go to that. 430 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:15,000 So even in the head, if this wasn't a track then, you know, thing for the lightning bolt, 431 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:19,000 it would have gone there and down or something like that. 432 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:23,000 It didn't. I clearly saw it take a pathway right down to the top of this. 433 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:25,000 We're good to go in another shot. 434 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:29,000 So the lightning hit the head, but not the stud. 435 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,000 Same thing. 436 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,000 Yeah, I saw that too. 437 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:39,000 Interesting that it really doesn't do anything to the gelatin that we can see. 438 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:41,000 Truly. 439 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,000 So that's two strikes to the pierced head, one to the control head. 440 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,000 Will swapping them back make a difference? 441 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:58,000 It's the pierced head again, but a confusing pattern is emerging. 442 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:03,000 The charge often goes to the piercing side, but it never seems to touch the metal. 443 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:09,000 The mythbusters won't be satisfied until they can see the lightning hit the stud directly. 444 00:24:09,000 --> 00:24:12,000 You know, we've now run this a dozen times or more. 445 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:15,000 The heads are working perfectly. The rig is working great. 446 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,000 We're getting consistent strikes always to the top of the head. 447 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,000 Not once has the lightning gone right for the stud. 448 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:26,000 Yeah, you know, I mean, all we've got left to do is put a bunch of studs in there. 449 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,000 Some really big ones maybe. See what happens. See if we can get something to react to them. 450 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:32,000 Let's fire it up. 451 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,000 It went to the head with the studs in it. 452 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:45,000 Still didn't touch the studs. Went right down through the metal. 453 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:50,000 Maybe even more metal. 454 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:56,000 Of course, if your tongue piercing is this big, lightning is the least of your worries. 455 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:05,000 I'd say I'd go into the top of the head and go out to the bolt and back in. 456 00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:10,000 It just goes to show you don't put any really big bolts in your mouth during the thunderstorm. 457 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:16,000 Finally, a test for the mother of all studs. 458 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:18,000 Oh, cheek piercing there. 459 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:24,000 It's unlikely to catch on at many nightclubs, though it might just help you get in the door. 460 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:29,000 Will it attract lightning? 461 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:35,000 At last, a direct hit. 462 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,000 Well, that knocked a doorknob right out of his face. 463 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:46,000 The mythbusters are unconvinced that studs attract lightning. 464 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:50,000 While the zap did seem to prefer the head with the piercing, 465 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:56,000 a lack of consistent direct hits suggests some other unknown factor was involved. 466 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:03,000 We could have done this a thousand times and still not gotten that same result. 467 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:06,000 Lightning is just really unpredictable. 468 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:10,000 That might be the case, Jimmy, but we do know that metal does have an effect, 469 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:14,000 depending on how much of it there is and where it is on the body. 470 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:19,000 And we did get a strike right to the doorknob, but come on, who wears a doorknob? 471 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:25,000 The only thing this myth has shown the guys for sure is that Adam's wild days are over. 472 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:35,000 Oh, that happened. 473 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,000 Oh, God, that was horrible. 474 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:43,000 Ah, there we go, my tongue is free. 475 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:48,000 Coming up next on Mythbusters, we put those pesky microwave legends to the test. 476 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:50,000 Every last one of them. 477 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,000 Is your cookie in here? Get your cookies. 478 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,000 Is it down here or is your cookie? 479 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:02,000 The humble microwave oven. 480 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:08,000 Is it a handy cooking device or mysterious machine with dark and frightening powers? 481 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,000 Microwaves just seem to be magnets for urban legends, 482 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,000 so we're going to put some of the main ones to the test. 483 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:22,000 Whoa! You are the man. 484 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:26,000 Of all the myths surrounding the microwave oven, 485 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:29,000 none is more famous than the story of the poodle 486 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,000 sent for a spin in a microwave to dry its fur. 487 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,000 The result? One hot dog. 488 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:39,000 Well, meet Jazzy, a two-year-old show poodle. 489 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:43,000 Jazzy's being groomed for her Mythbusters guest appearance, 490 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,000 so we'll come back later to check how she's doing. 491 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:49,000 Apart from testing these new microwave ovens, 492 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:53,000 Jamie also wants to build the microwave oven from hell. 493 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,000 Let's take a moment to find out how microwaves actually work. 494 00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:00,000 A microwave oven uses radio waves to cook food. 495 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,000 A device called a magnetron 496 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,000 bombards the inside of the oven with radio waves, 497 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,000 which react with water molecules in the food, 498 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,000 causing them to vibrate at enormous speed. 499 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:16,000 That friction creates heat, which is a very important element of the microwave oven. 500 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,000 In the early days, it was hailed as a revolutionary kitchen convenience. 501 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,000 It's a family-sized turkey. 502 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,000 675 watts of cooking power means faster cooking 503 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,000 than most other microwave ovens. 504 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:31,000 This store has been selling microwaves ever since those heady times. 505 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,000 The main thing I'm interested in personally is raw power. 506 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:38,000 Well, the average microwave today is about 1,100 watts. 507 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:41,000 The average microwave is about 1,000 watts. 508 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,000 The average microwave is about 1,000 watts. 509 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,000 The average microwave today is about 1,100 watts. 510 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:50,000 But you can go up from there or you can go down from there. 511 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,000 How many people are going to be using the oven? 512 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,000 One very strange television show. 513 00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:58,000 Just one. 514 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,000 Is this the soul of the microwave oven? 515 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,000 Or the heart of the microwave. 516 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,000 This is a little radio transmitter, 517 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,000 and you plug it in and it converts it to DC voltage 518 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,000 and out comes the microwave. 519 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,000 It looks like Jamie's suffering a little microwave madness. 520 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,000 Sorry. 521 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,000 Did you get enough, Jamie? 522 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:23,000 Microwaves are really cool. They're like X-ray guns. 523 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,000 And I think the same thing that makes people afraid of them 524 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:28,000 and makes them generate a lot of myths about them 525 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,000 is what's always fascinated me. 526 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:34,000 I'm going to make this super powerful microwave gun 527 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:37,000 that I can heat things up or roll around in my shop with. 528 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,000 And that for me is a lot of fun. 529 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,000 I think he wants to take apart all these microwaves 530 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:46,000 and make some kind of super microwave. 531 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,000 And I don't know if he's planned on shielding or anything, 532 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,000 but I don't necessarily want to be in the building when he does it. 533 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:56,000 Back at the workshop, it's time to test microwave myth number two. 534 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,000 That microwaving metal makes the oven explode. 535 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,000 Adam and Jamie are going to microwave several metal objects. 536 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,000 Just in case something dramatic does occur, 537 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:10,000 we'll watch from behind a Lexan shield. 538 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,000 Lexan is a bulletproof material 539 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,000 used in the windshields of NASCAR. 540 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:18,000 It's time for the first metallic test subject. 541 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,000 Now, nothing happening there. 542 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,000 Spoon's been in there for two minutes. I don't see nothing. 543 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,000 Turn it off. 544 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,000 So, I mean... 545 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,000 I'm guessing it. 546 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,000 The spoon was really hot. 547 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,000 That spoon was really hot, but I didn't do anything. 548 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,000 I mean, didn't arc, it didn't like, buzz or, you know, all that stuff. 549 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:46,000 Something else from the silverware drawer, perhaps? 550 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,000 It's working the microwave. 551 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:54,000 Maybe the sharp prongs will cause sparks to fly. 552 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,000 Oh, yeah, that's true. 553 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,000 Not a thing. 554 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:02,000 Adam and Jamie have heard that tinfoil scrunched into a ball can have an effect. 555 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:04,000 Oh, that's cool! 556 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,000 It looks like something got a star trek. 557 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:08,000 It's beautiful, actually. 558 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,000 Now, that's interesting. 559 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,000 The microwaves are causing an electric charge to build up in the metal. 560 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:19,000 Scrunching the foil allows the charge to jump the gaps. 561 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:24,000 Jamie tries again, this time folding the foil into an accordion shape. 562 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,000 Whoa! 563 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,000 The Heinemann with the precognitive technique. 564 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:31,000 Look at that! 565 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:32,000 That's the best. 566 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,000 Dude, you are the man! 567 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:36,000 It's just going... 568 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:38,000 Spectacular, yes. 569 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,000 But explosive? No. 570 00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:42,000 A warning, though. 571 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:46,000 Microwaving metal might result in magnetron meltdown. 572 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,000 So, metal in a microwave. Is it true or is it false? 573 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:52,000 Well, that's false with provisions. 574 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:58,000 Only in the case of an object that is made out of metal that is contacting the sides, 575 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:03,000 it creates marking there that would feed back into the magnetron and reduce its lifespan. 576 00:32:03,000 --> 00:32:05,000 Busted. 577 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:08,000 What's Jamie up to? 578 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:10,000 Does he have a screw loose? 579 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:14,000 Jamie's harvested the magnetrons from four microwaves. 580 00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:21,000 Looks like he's serious about building that super microwave machine. 581 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,000 Scary stuff. 582 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:24,000 Microwave oven! 583 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:30,000 It's time now for Adam and Jamie to investigate a microwave myth that is potentially lethal. 584 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:40,000 If you overheat water in a microwave, you may take the cup out of the bowl and then the water is going to explode in your face, 585 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,000 injuring you or burning you in some horrific way. 586 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,000 We're going to time how long it takes to bubble. 587 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:52,000 After a little research, Adam and Jamie know that the only way water could explode is if it's being super heated. 588 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:57,000 That is, heated beyond boiling point, without actually boiling. 589 00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:01,000 Tap water always boils because it has impurities. 590 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,000 Distilled water has no impurities. 591 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:06,000 That means no boiling. 592 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,000 They put two cups of water in the microwave, one distilled, one tap. 593 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:16,000 When the tap water boils, they'll know that the distilled water has become super heated. 594 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:23,000 Just dropping in a sugar cube should make the boiling process happen instantly and violently. 595 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:32,000 Spectacular! 596 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:33,000 That would suffice. 597 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:35,000 That was exploding water? 598 00:33:35,000 --> 00:33:37,000 It erupted, it left the container. 599 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:38,000 Yeah? 600 00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:39,000 Quite a bit of it. 601 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:43,000 If someone were holding the cup, they would definitely have severe burns. 602 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:51,000 But if straight tap water can't explode, how likely is it that people will be scalded by exploding beverages? 603 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,000 On your average day in your average house, it's not very likely. 604 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:59,000 However, with the hundreds of millions of people using microwaves every day to boil water, re-boil water, 605 00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:02,000 I'd say it could happen a few times a year around the world. 606 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,000 Uh, miss absolutely true. 607 00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:12,000 Finally, Jamie's finished playing Dr. Frankenstein. 608 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,000 What we have here is a super-duper microwave oven. 609 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:21,000 I've taken the guts out of four microwaves, the magnetrons, and I've put them in a box, 610 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,000 all aiming at a single glass of water. 611 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:30,000 So, in theory, this should heat up that glass of water about four times as fast as a regular microwave would. 612 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,000 Maybe it'll just go, pfft, we'll find out. 613 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:40,000 Jamie, I'm ready to test this infernal machine of yours, but could you wrap me up a little more? 614 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,000 I don't feel quite safe yet. 615 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,000 What are you, a turkey? 616 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:51,000 I wouldn't say Jamie's an evil genius. 617 00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:53,000 I know, this could be a wonderful mousetrap. 618 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:57,000 I'm not sure he's evil and I'm not sure he's a genius, but uh... 619 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:01,000 We're ready for a mega-microwave test-firing. 620 00:35:01,000 --> 00:35:02,000 About 30 seconds. 621 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,000 Jamie flicks the switch. 622 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,000 The room's filled with an angry buzz. 623 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,000 How come my watch has stopped? 624 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:10,000 I'm gonna give it. 625 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,000 What on earth is happening behind those metal walls? 626 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:15,000 Let's put the temperature probe in. 627 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:22,000 That doesn't look like it's boiling. 628 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,000 No, in fact, 66 degrees. 629 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:28,000 You've... you've made a refrigerator. 630 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:29,000 That's amazing. 631 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,000 For all that humming, you ended up with bupkus. 632 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,000 Looks like that's the evil genius theory out the window. 633 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,000 Time for the final myth, the famous poodle in the microwave. 634 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,000 It's the moment of truth for our guest star, Jazzy, 635 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,000 who's been crimped and preened to perfection. 636 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,000 Or is it? 637 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,000 There's some things that even we on Mythbusters can't do, 638 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,000 and I think this is one of them. 639 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,000 There's just no way that we could put a poodle in a microwave. 640 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,000 It might dry our hair, but it killed the dog. 641 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:03,000 Fortunately for the viewers, this one's just gonna have to remain a legend. 642 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:13,000 Coming up is O'Malley, phasing a certain shocking end. 643 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:17,000 And three, two, one. 644 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:29,000 Jamie and Adam have rolled into the Golden Gate Railway Museum 645 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,000 to test the myth about the guy who died the nastiest of deaths, 646 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:36,000 relieving himself on an electrified third rail. 647 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:39,000 Usually when you hear the narrative, the guy has a name. 648 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:43,000 It's Joseph Patrick O'Malley, a more Irish name you couldn't get. 649 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:46,000 O'Malley is in for a rough time. 650 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:51,000 He's been built with the same electrical properties as the human body. 651 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:54,000 The plan is to wire him up so that if the myth is true, 652 00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:58,000 current will run from the third rail up his urine stream 653 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,000 and trigger an electric release switch, 654 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,000 knocking him over backwards. 655 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:06,000 The current by then will be exiting his feet. 656 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:10,000 There's no third rail here, so they'll build their own, 657 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:16,000 attaching a section of track to a 650-volt transformer. 658 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:22,000 And once in position, there's the delicate, but most important issue. 659 00:37:22,000 --> 00:37:23,000 Perfect. 660 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:26,000 Adam, is your bladder ready to do the real thing? 661 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:29,000 Yeah, we've got it set up basically the way we think it would be set up in real life, 662 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:31,000 the way someone would actually happen across the situation. 663 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:37,000 It's a dry day, the ground is dry, our subject is wearing normal rubber-soled shoes. 664 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:41,000 He's having a wee on the rail, there's no wires around him. 665 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:45,000 We'll electrify the rail and we'll see what happens to him. 666 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:49,000 The guys will stand on a rubber mat to insulate them. 667 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:54,000 O'Malley, well, he probably wishes he'd had that drink. 668 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,000 The electric release is like a human heart. 669 00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:00,000 If it's triggered, he's a dead man. 670 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:06,000 Let's make this set hot. 671 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:07,000 Hot set. 672 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:10,000 Three, two, one. 673 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:23,000 Nothing. 674 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:25,000 The release wasn't triggered. 675 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:28,000 O'Malley lives another day. 676 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:30,000 Adam's putting on a brave face. 677 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,000 That's exactly what I expected. 678 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:39,000 He's got rubber-soled shoes, he's on dry ground, there's no way a mere 600 volts is going to arc through his shoes. 679 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:44,000 But there's life in this myth yet. 680 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:47,000 Maybe it was a rainy night, the guys' shoes were wet. 681 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:51,000 That would help complete the circuit with the ground. 682 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,000 Battery charging. 683 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:56,000 We're electrified, here we go. 684 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,000 Nothing. 685 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,000 Not a thing. 686 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:07,000 Damn. 687 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,000 I can feel he needs to see a doctor. 688 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:11,000 Set is cool. 689 00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:16,000 Jamie, dry shoes didn't work, wet shoes, wet ground didn't work, what's next? 690 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:20,000 Well, I guess the only thing left is to take his shoes off and we'll assume he's barefoot. 691 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:22,000 Okay. 692 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,000 Okay, there's two. 693 00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:31,000 Stumbling around the train yard late at night looking for a place to pee barefoot. 694 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:33,000 All right, are we good? 695 00:39:33,000 --> 00:39:35,000 Hot set. 696 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,000 Here we go. 697 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:42,000 Nope, there's no connection going. 698 00:39:42,000 --> 00:39:47,000 The guys are starting to suspect the problem isn't in the feet, but the urine stream. 699 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:50,000 Perhaps it's not carrying the current. 700 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:54,000 Yeah, it looks like those are not performing a solid stream. 701 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:56,000 Yeah. 702 00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:02,000 Sure enough, by the time the urine reaches the rail, it's broken into separate drops. 703 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,000 It needs to be solid to carry a current. 704 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:08,000 The guys might have a solution for that. 705 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:11,000 The only thing we have left is to try a larger stream of urine. 706 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:17,000 You know, maybe that'll be more likely to create a continuous connection there with the ground. 707 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:21,000 That's what we started out with, and that's where we're going. 708 00:40:21,000 --> 00:40:25,000 This could be the best day in O'Malley's life. 709 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:27,000 Or the worst. 710 00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:31,000 The guys are hoping their luck will change. 711 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:37,000 This is their last chance to prove the third rail myth is possible. 712 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:42,000 We've gone with a more, perhaps, equestrian stream of urine. 713 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:45,000 Hecadermian. 714 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,000 I hope we get a continuous stream. 715 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,000 I'd like to see this thing work. 716 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:52,000 I'd like to watch it fall over. 717 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:55,000 To be honest, I still don't think it's quite going to work. 718 00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:59,000 The ground is dried enough to safely try again. 719 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:04,000 The larger and atomically dubious stream will stay solid longer. 720 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:08,000 And they decided to give the myth another helping hand. 721 00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:10,000 Moving the rail closer. 722 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:14,000 I always like to hold on tight to whatever I'm f***ing on. 723 00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,000 The bladder is full. The rail is set. 724 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:24,000 The electrics are good. We're good for the close-up test. 725 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,000 Powering up. 726 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:27,000 Powering up. 727 00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:32,000 If this setup doesn't complete the circuit, trigger the release, and kill O'Malley, 728 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:35,000 it will certainly kill the myth. 729 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:40,000 Alright. And three, two, one. 730 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:48,000 It worked. 731 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:51,000 Yeah, man. Six inches away from the rail. 732 00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:57,000 It just goes to show, do not grab the third rail with both hands and f*** on it from three inches away. 733 00:41:57,000 --> 00:42:02,000 Oh, man. Wait a second. I've got to take a leak. 734 00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:08,000 I'd never make it in the show. 735 00:42:12,000 --> 00:42:16,000 It was tricky, but they've successfully jumped a current from the third rail 736 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:20,000 up a stream of urine with lethal results. 737 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:28,000 So after all the testing we did, Jamie, do you think it's possible to electrocute yourself by peeing on the third rail? 738 00:42:28,000 --> 00:42:32,000 Maybe given the right circumstances, it's raining, it's the ground's wet, 739 00:42:32,000 --> 00:42:37,000 it's shoes are wet, or maybe he's not wearing shoes. Could happen. 740 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:44,000 In fact, there are no recorded cases of O'Malley or anyone else dying like this in the New York subway. 741 00:42:44,000 --> 00:42:48,000 Watching it break up in every stream that we've photographed 742 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:51,000 just doesn't look like you could make a solid connection. 743 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:53,000 I'd say that's a myth busted. 744 00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:56,000 Not that I'd be peeing on the third rail anytime soon.