1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 Please, don't try anything that you're about to see us do at home. Ever. 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,000 In this episode of MythBusters... 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:13,000 It's science! 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:17,000 ...the build team minds a myth from ancient China... 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:21,000 as Carrie keeps an ear out for an invading army. 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,000 I couldn't hear anything. 7 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,000 And are we being fooled by the five-second rule? 8 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,000 Oh, I picked it up after like three seconds. Would you eat it? 9 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:34,000 Adam takes precautions in this bacteria bonanza. 10 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:35,000 No French kissing. 11 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:36,000 Adam. 12 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:37,000 I don't eat my own food. 13 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Who are the MythBusters? 14 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,000 Adam Savage. 15 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,000 I reject your reality and substitute my own. 16 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:46,000 And Jamie Heineman. 17 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:48,000 We're either gonna die or we're gonna fly. 18 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,000 Between them more than 30 years special effects experience. 19 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:54,000 That was intense. 20 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,000 They don't just tell the myths... 21 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,000 they put them to the test. 22 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,000 So, what's the myth? What do we got? 23 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,000 This is Chinese invasion alarm. 24 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,000 We got it from a high school science class which posts on our website. 25 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,000 Apparently the Chinese had an early warning detection system for approaching armies... 26 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:25,000 that involved stretching a leather membrane over the mouth of an 80-liter pottery jar. 27 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,000 Then what they would do is strategically drill holes around the town... 28 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,000 and lower these drums deep into these shafts. 29 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,000 Men with the best hearing were stationed around these shafts... 30 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:37,000 and they could listen to the vibrations. 31 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,000 They could not only tell how far away the armies were... 32 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,000 but from what direction they were coming from. 33 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:46,000 Wow, it's kind of like an ancient rudimentary transducer, some kind. 34 00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:50,000 And it also sounds like something that we're all familiar with in old westerns. 35 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:56,000 Keeping an ear to the ground perhaps refers to the fact that terra firma transmits sound waves. 36 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:01,000 According to Hollywood at least, these can be detected by the highly-tuned ear. 37 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:06,000 A French scouting party like it's not. 38 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,000 With the gratuitous goat play behind them, they stumble into the pottery section... 39 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,000 where, spoiled for choice, they take pot luck. 40 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:44,000 How old are these? Could they be considered ancient? 41 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,000 This one is almost 100 years old. 42 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,000 100 years? Is this 100 years old? 43 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,000 Yeah, that's antique. 44 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:53,000 Oh, wow. 45 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:55,000 Stickers newer though. 46 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,000 That face itself could be 100 years old. 47 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,000 That's a good start. What are these made out of? 48 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,000 They're made by, you know, clay or ceramic. 49 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:03,000 Ceramic, okay. 50 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,000 It's a very good one. 51 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,000 This is the bit where they ask the shop owner if she's heard of the myth... 52 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:15,000 that they used to use these pots, they would bury them in the ground and cover them with leather skins. 53 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,000 And this is the bit where the shopkeeper says... 54 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,000 No, I didn't hear about that. 55 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,000 Do you think it would work? 56 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,000 I have no idea because I haven't tried it before. 57 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,000 Can't say fairer than that. 58 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,000 Armed with a variety of pots, they head for home. 59 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,000 Taxi! 60 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:38,000 Back at M5, Grant and Carrie join forces to turn their pots into drums. 61 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,000 Jammin'. 62 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,000 The number of drums they've made between them amounts to less than one. 63 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,000 So they decide to pool their ignorance. 64 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Apologies to everyone who actually makes their own drums. 65 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,000 We have no idea what we're doing. 66 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:58,000 Meanwhile, Tauri's marching to his own beat... 67 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:02,000 by building mechanical boots to simulate an advancing army. 68 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,000 I think that's gonna work pretty good. 69 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,000 Grant and Carrie have slipped into a workman-like rhythm... 70 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,000 and the first drum looks relatively professional. 71 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,000 Tauri's impressed. 72 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:15,000 Look at our little drum, Tauri. 73 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:16,000 Doesn't this look cool? 74 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,000 Wow, you guys are like regular drum makers. 75 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,000 How'd you learn how to make the... 76 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,000 ...fake it, just like everything we do. 77 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:25,000 Everything's running smoothly. 78 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,000 The build team is operating like a well-oiled machine. 79 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,000 What could possibly go wrong? 80 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:33,000 After the break... 81 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,000 I love having bacteriological tests done. 82 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,000 Adam and Jamie count colonies in their bacterial empire. 83 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:42,000 Oh, I got something in my eye. 84 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:46,000 And Carrie gets to shave a goat for science. 85 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:49,000 You know, my people come from a long line of goat shavers. 86 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,000 Well, I believe you're about to tell us... 87 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,000 a classic American old wives tale. 88 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,000 Absolutely. Having kids, I'm really familiar with this. 89 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,000 It's the five-second rule. 90 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,000 And the rule is, if you drop a piece of food on the floor... 91 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,000 and retrieve it within five seconds... 92 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,000 it won't have actually gathered any bacteria... 93 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:11,000 or viruses from the floor, and it's okay to eat it. 94 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,000 And really, it's a very good thing. 95 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:16,000 I think it's a good thing. 96 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:18,000 I think it's a good thing. 97 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:22,000 And really, it's almost always... 98 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,000 you have to say, five-second rule, 99 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,000 before you pop that cookie in your mouth. 100 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,000 Or that toast. 101 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,000 In an earlier myth, the team was testing whether toast... 102 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,000 really does drop butterside down. 103 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,000 Yes. You're gonna eat those. 104 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 A hungry Scotty invoked the five-second rule. 105 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:42,000 What's that rule? 106 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,000 That if you drop something on the floor... 107 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,000 and it's within five seconds that you pick it up, 108 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,000 you can still eat it. 109 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:50,000 Some viewers may wish to look away... 110 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,000 as Scotty eats toast that's been on the sidewalk. 111 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:54,000 Yes! 112 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,000 Okay, I'm gonna say, oh, I want... 113 00:05:57,000 --> 00:05:59,000 well, I guess I won't say that. 114 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:01,000 So was Scotty safe to snack? 115 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,000 Or did she ingest a battalion of bacteria? 116 00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Oh, I picked it up after like three seconds. 117 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Would you eat it? 118 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:11,000 But I wouldn't eat it just because you've handled it. 119 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,000 To make things easier, we've gotten some contact plates... 120 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:17,000 which have a growth medium inside them... 121 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,000 that can grow either bacteria or fungi... 122 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,000 which can produce really harmful toxins. 123 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,000 And the first thing we're gonna do is take those... 124 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:27,000 and see what the distribution of fungi and bacteria is... 125 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:28,000 on your kitchen floor. 126 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:30,000 Before they drop the food, 127 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,000 they need to know the bacteria distribution on Jamie's floor. 128 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,000 So is M5 as neat and clean as a new pin? 129 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,000 Or is it a filth-ridden bucket of scum? 130 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,000 Adam and Jeremy don't want to contaminate their samples. 131 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,000 So they don gloves and masks. 132 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:48,000 In line with the myth, 133 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,000 each contact plate will get five seconds exposure... 134 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,000 to different sections of floor. 135 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,000 So I'm gonna grab one of these plates here. 136 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,000 And in here, we're gonna test in front of the sink... 137 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:01,000 and in front of the fridge. 138 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:02,000 Okay. 139 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:05,000 The contact plates contain a tryptic soy medium... 140 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,000 which may sound like a vegan psychic... 141 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:12,000 but is actually a substance that encourages the growth of bacteria. 142 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,000 Can you tell me when to go? 143 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:15,000 Go. 144 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:17,000 If the floor is contaminated, 145 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:19,000 the contact plates will show it. 146 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,000 Four... five. Four... five. 147 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,000 Once they've swabbed the kitchen's decks, 148 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,000 they head for the Mythbusters mess hall. 149 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:28,000 Okay, ready. 150 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,000 Then it's downstairs to the shop floor. 151 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,000 You know, now we get to find out definitively... 152 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,000 just how clean your shop is. 153 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:39,000 It's a shop. What do you want? 154 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,000 I want to be able to eat off the damn floor. 155 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,000 What's my immune system for anyway? 156 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,000 Four... five. 157 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,000 Right. Bathroom. 158 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:51,000 Over the years, the Mythbusters bathroom has played host... 159 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,000 to some less-than-hygienic hijinks. 160 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,000 It's housed ducks and skunks... 161 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:03,000 and been rubbed down with engine grease. 162 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,000 This place looks a little dingy, Jimmy. 163 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,000 Yeah, this may well be the dirtiest part of the shop, huh? 164 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:13,000 I just want to do one brush for my own personal edification... 165 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,000 right on the toilet seat, 166 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,000 because I've heard a myth that the toilet seat's actually the cleanest place... 167 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,000 in any given house. 168 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,000 Good. Four... five. 169 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:26,000 That's why I love this job. 170 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,000 All right, you ready to incubate these guys? 171 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:29,000 All right. 172 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:34,000 They'll incubate the plates for 24 hours at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. 173 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,000 Otherwise known as body temperature. 174 00:08:37,000 --> 00:08:39,000 Shop floor. 175 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,000 Lunch table. Kitchen sink. 176 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,000 And my personal favorite, the toilet seat. 177 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:53,000 Early indications suggest that M5 may be a little workshop of horrors. 178 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:00,000 The build team is testing the myth that ancient Chinese cities... 179 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:04,000 used pottery drums to listen out for approaching armies. 180 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,000 Tari's been working on a marching machine, 181 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:11,000 while Kari and Grant have been having a bash at making drums. 182 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:15,000 Everything's been going smoothly, which is a pity, 183 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:18,000 as they learn that they've been barking up the wrong myth. 184 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,000 We just received some new information about this story... 185 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,000 that's going to radically change the direction that we're going to have to take. 186 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:29,000 And, you know, what happened was the publishers of the textbook... 187 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,000 that was the source of the original story, 188 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,000 have sent us their fact-checking sheets. 189 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,000 Their source for this story comes from a book, Mount Zu, 190 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,000 which is about four-century BC. 191 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:42,000 The shafts were five paces apart. 192 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,000 They were 15 feet below the base of the city wall. 193 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:49,000 We found out the size of the pottery jars were 40 toe, 194 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:51,000 which is equivalent to 200 liters. 195 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:53,000 I mean, that's a little bigger than we had thought before. 196 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,000 The most significant thing of all is the fact that this was to detect... 197 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,000 the tunneling and mining of a besieging army... 198 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,000 and not an approaching marching one. 199 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:07,000 The history of warfare is shot through with examples of military tunnels, 200 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:11,000 as this documentary film from the First World War shows. 201 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:16,000 Below the ground, the tunnelers are at work on mines under the enemy positions. 202 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:20,000 Listening for their sapping suggests that enemy countermining is close. 203 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,000 Borrowing armies monitored each other's movements... 204 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,000 by listening out for the sounds of nearby digging. 205 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,000 When this is confirmed, work must be hurried. 206 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:38,000 Galleries beneath the enemy positions were packed with explosives, 207 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:40,000 then detonated. 208 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:48,000 According to the myth, the ancient Chinese also used military tunnels. 209 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,000 Ah, well, that makes so much more sense. 210 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:57,000 I was trying to wrap my head around why you could use these embedded drums in shafts 211 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,000 to detect an oncoming army when you could use watchtowers and signal fires 212 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,000 to do it at the speed of light instead of the speed of sound. 213 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,000 That sounds like it makes our experiment a lot easier. 214 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,000 The new research reveals that the myth originated with Mo Tzu, 215 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,000 a philosopher who was writing about 400 BC. 216 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:20,000 He described an early warning system designed to protect walled cities against tunneling invaders. 217 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,000 It comprised a system of sunken drums, 218 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,000 which could pick up vibrations from underground digging. 219 00:11:28,000 --> 00:11:31,000 By comparing the intensity of the sound at different locations, 220 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:36,000 centuries could determine the direction of an incoming tunnel and intercept it. 221 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,000 To get this myth back on track, 222 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:48,000 Carrie and Tori take another pot shot at another pot shop to find a 200-liter vessel. 223 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,000 Ooh, God, this one's pretty. Look at that glaze. 224 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,000 Oh, I love these. They're so cute. 225 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:56,000 I'm so happy. Look at that. 226 00:11:56,000 --> 00:12:01,000 Tori leaves the browsing to Carrie and gets down to the business at hand. 227 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:05,000 Okay, what do you got for height? 228 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:07,000 58 inches. 229 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:09,000 504. That's about... 230 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:11,000 That's too much. 41 inches. 231 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,000 41? Exactly 200 liters. 232 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:17,000 I think we found our pot. 233 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:21,000 They've got their pot, so it's back to M5 to shave a goat. 234 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,000 No kidding. Really. 235 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:28,000 You know, my people come from a long line of goat shavers, so I feel it's in my blood. 236 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:32,000 Apparently, goat skins for the fuller drum only come covered in hair, 237 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:36,000 which presents Carrie with yet another opportunity for growth. 238 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,000 I can't say I'm necessarily looking forward to shaving the goat, 239 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:41,000 but I am looking forward to calling my parents tonight and be like, 240 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:44,000 Guess what I did today? 241 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,000 Carrie's never shaved a goat, but she's incredibly well connected, 242 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:52,000 proving that it's not what you know, it's who you know. 243 00:12:52,000 --> 00:12:54,000 We talked to Akbar the goat shaver, 244 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,000 and what he recommended is to first take clippers, 245 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:00,000 then stretch it after it's been soaked for half an hour, 246 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:06,000 and then take one of those little disposable razors so that you can get the fine stubble. 247 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:10,000 In the world of goat shaving, Akbar is king. 248 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,000 Carrie follows his instructions to the letter with royal results. 249 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,000 Excellent job shaving your goat. 250 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:21,000 The skin is soaked in water so that it's ready for stretching. 251 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:25,000 Then placed over the mouth of the 200-liter pot. 252 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,000 With a morning's practice under their belts, 253 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:31,000 Carrie and Grant make light work of stringing the drum. 254 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:35,000 When the skin is taught, they give it one final shave. 255 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,000 Shaving the drum skin. 256 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,000 Coming up, Mythbusters takes microbiology 101. 257 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:48,000 Would only a fool use the five-second rule? 258 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,000 Don't try this at home. 259 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:55,000 And the built-in goes underground in Chinese invasion alarm. 260 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,000 Let's do some exploring. 261 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:11,000 According to the five-second rule, food that has been on the floor for five seconds or less will be uncontaminated. 262 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:12,000 Good. 263 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:20,000 To test the myth, Adam and Jamie have placed bacteria contact plates on different parts of M5's floor for five seconds of peats. 264 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:26,000 The plates have been incubating for 24 hours at body temperature 265 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,000 to see just how much bacteria they've picked up. 266 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:31,000 Let's scoop them up. 267 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,000 Ooh. 268 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:34,000 They're all kind of yummy, aren't they? 269 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:37,000 Oh man, this stuff is rigged. 270 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Yep. 271 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:44,000 To discover M5's level of hygiene, the guys count the number of bacteria colonies on each sample. 272 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,000 The bathroom of the two looks like a bloody horror shot. 273 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,000 I think I dropped it right in someone's drop of whee or something. 274 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,000 Shop floor number two, 132. 275 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,000 Lunch table number two? 276 00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:57,000 Yeah. 277 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:58,000 26 colonies. 278 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,000 Adam's like a kid with a new chemistry set. 279 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:04,000 I love having bacteriological tests done. 280 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:08,000 Come to think of it, Adam is a kid with a new chemistry set. 281 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:15,000 Later on, I want to lick one of these and get a dog to lick one and see if my mouth is cleaner than a dog's mouth. 282 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,000 How are you going to feel if it turns out your mouth is dirtier than a dog's? 283 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:20,000 That's fine. 284 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:22,000 It's served me just fine until now. 285 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:23,000 There's no reason to freak out. 286 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:29,000 Adam's busting to check the results of the toilet seat myth, and it's a Eureka moment. 287 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:30,000 Whoa! 288 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,000 There is no, almost no bacteria on the toilet seat. 289 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,000 That is so cool. 290 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:40,000 We have proven a myth. 291 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:49,000 Looking at our samples just briefly from all over MythBusters, your toilet seat seems to be the most bacteria free. 292 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:55,000 Well, you know, that doesn't really surprise me a whole lot because we're testing the floor, you know? 293 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,000 But people don't rub their bare bottoms on your floor all the time. 294 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:07,000 I mean, you know, I'm thinking, this is everyone in the company, but has sat where I put this peature dish. 295 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:13,000 If cleanliness is next to godliness, then heaven is on MythBusters' toilet seat. 296 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:16,000 Toilet humor aside, what did the floor test show? 297 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:23,000 On all of these figures, there's sometimes a very wide variability between two spots we chose that were side by side. 298 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:30,000 I mean, we might not end up testing the five-second rule here, we might end up testing where you happen to drop the piece of food. 299 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:43,000 What we need to do is to start with a sterile surface and evenly contaminate it so that we have an even playing field and that will boil it down to the time, not the actual surface or what's on it. 300 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:47,000 Right, so cleanly bacterial... 301 00:16:47,000 --> 00:16:50,000 Right, that sounds great. 302 00:16:51,000 --> 00:17:00,000 In the myth of the five-second rule, Adam and Jamie have decided to make a uniformly filthy piece of floor. 303 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:05,000 That way, when they drop food on it, they should get consistent contamination. 304 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,000 I see some pans. 305 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,000 We have some tiles. 306 00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:11,000 We have floor tiles. 307 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,000 We have beef broth. 308 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,000 And we have some pans. 309 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:20,000 For some reason, whenever I see the pans, I have the desire to smash them on my head. 310 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:21,000 You ready? 311 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:22,000 Yeah. 312 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:23,000 See if I can get a perfect face print. 313 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,000 So with that out of the way, what's the plan? 314 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:33,000 So the plan is that once we get these trimmed down to fit in the pans, we're going to pour beef broth. 315 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:35,000 What's beef broth? 316 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:37,000 Is it beef broth? 317 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:48,000 They leave the floor tiles to rot in the big boy and Adam turns his attention to another mini myth. 318 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:54,000 I've always heard that a dog's mouth is supposedly cleaner than a human's mouth. 319 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,000 So this has got nothing to do with the five-second rule. 320 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,000 We're just comparing your hygiene to a dog's, right? 321 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:01,000 Not my hygiene. 322 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,000 A human's hygiene in their mouth to a dog's hygiene. 323 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:11,000 I guess empirically what we will be testing is my hygiene against Linda's dog, but... 324 00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:15,000 Just do it. Just look at the darn thing. 325 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,000 All right. Here we go. First science. 326 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:19,000 Ew! 327 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,000 Doesn't taste like anything. 328 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:24,000 Where's the dog? 329 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,000 Bring on the dog! 330 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,000 Want to lick the sterile agar plate? 331 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:34,000 Oh, Lou, that's perfect. Thank you. Good girl. 332 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:39,000 Is it just me or does Lulu look quietly confident? Time will tell. 333 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:44,000 Back at the myth of the five-second rule, the floor tiles are fully festered. 334 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:45,000 What, five days now? 335 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,000 They smell really, really bad. 336 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:53,000 Yeah, I know. Let's get them out, hang them up and dry them off and see if we can use them today. 337 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:02,000 Jamie punches out plastic templates which will ensure sample sizes are consistent. 338 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:07,000 While they're sterilizing in the microwave, Adam gloves up. 339 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,000 Coming up, MythBusters takes microbiology 101. 340 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:17,000 Adam has to behave like this. It's in his contract. 341 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,000 But whatever you do, don't do this at home. 342 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:28,000 To test the five-second rule, they'll use a wet food, a dry food, and an evenly contaminated floor tile. 343 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:29,000 So? 344 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:30,000 It's science! 345 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:36,000 Samples of wet pastrami and dry crackers are exposed for two seconds and six seconds. 346 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,000 In other words, for less than and more than five seconds. 347 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:47,000 They also do a control on samples that don't touch the floor at all, in case they are already coated with bacteria. 348 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:49,000 Control number two. 349 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:54,000 I know I love building big things and blowing stuff up, but this is also super, super fun. 350 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,000 Okay, fishing out a new one? 351 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:57,000 He doesn't care. 352 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:58,000 And go. 353 00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:10,000 And the bulk of our MythBusters bacteriologic test is done. 354 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:11,000 Cool. 355 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:22,000 Can't wait to find out what happens. 356 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:34,000 In the myth of the Chinese invasion alarm, Carrie takes a step back in time 357 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:39,000 to abandon 19th century gold diggings in the hills beyond San Francisco. 358 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:44,000 Frank Jacobi leads Carrie through the dark passageways of the Priest Mine, 359 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:47,000 one of the oldest hard rock mines in California. 360 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,000 The walls are etched with history. 361 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:56,000 Like the mythical tunnels of the Chinese invasion alarm, the Priest Mine was dug by hand. 362 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,000 One of the things that is a surprise in here is what you're leaning against. 363 00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:01,000 Take a good close look at the walls there. 364 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,000 And what do you see on those walls? 365 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:04,000 Looks like Freddy Krueger was in here. 366 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:09,000 What those are, those are the miners' tool marks that they used to carve out this tunnel. 367 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:13,000 Those are the chisel and pick marks from 150-plus years ago. 368 00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:20,000 This is as close as they're going to get to an ancient Chinese military tunnel in modern California. 369 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:25,000 Now they have to find a location where they can simulate the sound of an underground army. 370 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:32,000 And then up here is the air shaft going up to the surface about 55 feet to the top, to the wooden roof up there. 371 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:38,000 This place is beautiful. I'm thinking for our criteria, we need two things. 372 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:44,000 We need very specifically a 15-foot shaft that has a floor at the bottom and an open mine. 373 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:48,000 The Priest Mine perfectly fulfills one criteria. 374 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:54,000 So they resurface to look for a nearby spot where they can sink their early warning hole. 375 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,000 I think this might be where we need to dig the hole. 376 00:21:56,000 --> 00:22:01,000 If we can get a backhoe up here and we're this close to a mine, I don't think we're going to get anything more ideal. 377 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:03,000 Okay, after the break. 378 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,000 This is insane. 379 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:06,000 They got it, they got it. 380 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:11,000 The build team avoids backache in the myth of the Chinese invasion alert. 381 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:18,000 If Carrie, Grant and I were to try to dig this hole, I don't know how long it would take, maybe a week. 382 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:33,000 In the myth of the Chinese invasion alarm, the build team has been laying the foundations for a foray into the world of ancient underground warfare. 383 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:38,000 The tightest tap, I think is going to work great. 384 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:45,000 They're investigating the myth that ancient Chinese cities had a detection system for tunneling invaders. 385 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:49,000 It's all about seismology. 386 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:57,000 Rocks, as hard as they seem, are elastic and deform when impacted by force, like in an earthquake. 387 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:05,000 Today, scientists can pick up seismic waves from even the smallest underground tremors using geophones. 388 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:11,000 Replace tremors with a tunneling army and the geophones with drums and you've got yourself a myth. 389 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:23,000 The build team has borrowed some geophones from the U.S. Geological Survey, which they plan to use as controls during their experiment. 390 00:23:23,000 --> 00:23:28,000 But, as ever, Grant tests them out in the lot of M5. 391 00:23:28,000 --> 00:23:29,000 Go get them, boy. 392 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:35,000 He's aided by his very own homemade robot, which comes equipped with a handy pickaxe. 393 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:40,000 The tiny seismic waves are detected by the geophone and displayed on a monitor. 394 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:50,000 Meanwhile, Tari is constructing a metal and ply gantry, which they'll place over their shaft for safety. 395 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:53,000 The plan's simple. 396 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,000 Sink a 15-foot shaft and lower in the drum. 397 00:23:56,000 --> 00:24:04,000 30 feet away, in the priest's mind's air shaft, they'll swing their pick and see if the vibrations are detectable. 398 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:05,000 They're good to go. 399 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:10,000 Time to load up the Mythbusters mule and head for them their hills. 400 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:18,000 On second thoughts, they dump the mule and the shovels and bring in a digger. 401 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:21,000 Ever heard of taking a hammer to crack a nut? 402 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,000 This is insane. 403 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,000 I got it, I got it. 404 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:38,000 While the build team supervises the city's defenses, Adam and Jamie head below to the mine, which will represent the besieging tunnel. 405 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:40,000 I don't think I've ever been in the mine before. 406 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,000 Well, then you're just about to have a real neat experience. 407 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:48,000 Jamie actually used to do silver mining back in the 30s in South America, didn't you? 408 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:54,000 Well, I noticed this picky has on his shoulder here. I'm watching out for him. 409 00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:56,000 Shall we go on in? 410 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:01,000 To test the myth, they're looking for three locations where their invading army can go to work. 411 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,000 They couldn't have hoped for anything more authentic. 412 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:09,000 You can pretty much match up the same pick you have to what you'll see on the wall here. 413 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:14,000 This was all pretty much dug by hand. It's the same kind of idea. 414 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,000 Wow. 415 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:21,000 Now imagine doing that 12 hours a day, day in and day out, seven days a week. No days off. 416 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,000 A lot of work. 417 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:24,000 Good exercise. 418 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:25,000 You betcha. 419 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:32,000 Having seen the mine firsthand, the guys take a look at a map to determine exactly where Jamie will launch his assault. 420 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,000 So this is the map that you were talking about? 421 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,000 Yeah, this kind of lays it all out for you. 422 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:39,000 And what are we right here? 423 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,000 That's correct. That's the entrance to the priest mine. 424 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,000 So that's that little offside room that was one of our sites, right? 425 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:46,000 That's right. 426 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,000 And that's the shaft where the other site was. 427 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:50,000 That's right. 428 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:52,000 So this goes up to the surface right about here. 429 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:57,000 Our holes probably, our alarm hole is probably right here. 430 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:06,000 I'd say we look at three sites. I'd say it's that one, this one, and then this one would be the last site that we'd try if neither of these worked. 431 00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:11,000 Sure. Meanwhile, 50 feet above, the chain gang has never had it so good. 432 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:16,000 Now I'm excited. I can't believe how easy it was to do all this. 433 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,000 Or have somebody else do all this. 434 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:19,000 Yeah. 435 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:24,000 Busting ancient myths with modern equipment sits just fine with Tarry. 436 00:26:24,000 --> 00:26:28,000 I mean, this is taking maybe like an hour to dig this hole. 437 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:34,000 If Carrie, Grant, and I were to try to dig this hole, I don't know how long it would take. Maybe a week. 438 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:39,000 In no time at all, the digger's done digging, and the built-in checks the depth. 439 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:40,000 At 16 feet. 440 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:42,000 All right. We made it. 441 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:43,000 Yay! 442 00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:44,000 Nice job. 443 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:45,000 Awesome. 444 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:46,000 Woo! 445 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:47,000 So far so good. 446 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:48,000 Awesome. 447 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:51,000 Then Grant spots a possible spanner in the earthworks. 448 00:26:51,000 --> 00:27:02,000 It's a wet spot on the side of the hole, and that could mean that come tomorrow morning when we come back out here, the hole will be filled with water. 449 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:08,000 The build team wraps up the day by installing Tarry's homemade safety gantry. 450 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,000 Well, watch yourself, Carrie. 451 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:11,000 Yeah. 452 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,000 You are almost lost, Carrie. 453 00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:19,000 Tomorrow we'll tell if they have an alarm hole or a bore hole on their hands. 454 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:29,000 After the break, is Adam's mouth dirtier than a dog's? 455 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,000 I don't eat my own poo. 456 00:27:31,000 --> 00:27:34,000 And will the five-second rule bite the dust? 457 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:41,000 In another 24 hours, we're going to know the answer to the age-old question of the five-second rule. 458 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:53,000 At the M5 laboratory, Adam and Jamie are testing the five-second rule on food samples. 459 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:58,000 While they wait for their samples to incubate, they check out a related myth. 460 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:00,000 Let's see the dogs move along. 461 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,000 Well, that's clear enough. 462 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,000 That looks pretty definitive. That's my mouth. 463 00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:17,000 I can see tons of little bacteria and colonies growing in exactly the shape of my tongue. 464 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:22,000 And here, where Lulu licked, I see a much smaller concentration. 465 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,000 So no French kissing dogs, I think, is our conclusion here. 466 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,000 I would be more inclined to say no French kissing Adam. 467 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:33,000 And you know, my mouth isn't representative of sample. I don't eat my own poo. 468 00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,000 Let's take that as rare. 469 00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:41,000 Nonetheless, if bacteria count as your benchmark, you've got to smooch the punch. 470 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:45,000 Bacteria myths are being busted by the bucket full. 471 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,000 But how about the big one? 472 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,000 The meat and cracker samples are fully incubated and ready to be counted. 473 00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:55,000 So this is supposed to be our definitive test of the five-second rule. 474 00:28:55,000 --> 00:28:57,000 What do you think is actually going to happen? 475 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,000 I don't think there's going to be any significant difference. 476 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:04,000 I tend to agree with you that there's not going to be a significant difference between two seconds and six seconds. 477 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,000 But shall we start counting? 478 00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:12,000 The results show that all the food did pick up bacteria from the floor top. 479 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,000 21 for cracker, two seconds. 480 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:19,000 But the wet pastrami picked up more than the dry crackers. 481 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,000 322 for meat, six seconds. 482 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:26,000 On the crucial question of time, the results were less than definitive, 483 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:31,000 with no conclusive distinctions between the two-second and the six-second samples. 484 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:37,000 So does that mean that it's better to eat crackers that have been dropped on the floor than pastrami that's been dropped on the floor? 485 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:44,000 Well, not exactly, but it does mean that if there is something harmful there on the floor, the odds are the pastrami is more likely to pick it up. 486 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:46,000 But what about the five-second rule? 487 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:50,000 Was there a difference between the samples dropped for two seconds and the samples dropped for six seconds? 488 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,000 Well, I don't think the results were all that conclusive. 489 00:29:53,000 --> 00:30:03,000 But as far as I can tell, time didn't seem to be a factor because all the samples seemed to show about the same amount of contamination no matter how long they sat on the floor. 490 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,000 But I'm not ready to put this one to rest just yet. 491 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:09,000 I think we have one more test to do. 492 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,000 It's not really about the food and it's not really about the floor. 493 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:13,000 It's about the time. 494 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:21,000 And I'd like to eliminate the food and try applying our contact plates directly to our inoculated floor surface for the correct periods of time. 495 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:26,000 Two seconds, six seconds, and see if there's any difference in how much bacteria they pick up. 496 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,000 I think that makes sense. It's removing all the other variables. 497 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:36,000 The five-second rule has been around a long time and it's not giving up without a fight. 498 00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:44,000 By leaving out the food in this final test, they eliminate every variable except the crucial one, time. 499 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:49,000 Well, in another 24 hours we're going to know the answer to the age-old question. 500 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,000 Of the five-second rule. 501 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:54,000 Load me up. 502 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,000 24 hours later, it's time to count the colonies. 503 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:05,000 If there's any truth to the five-second rule, the two-second plates should have far less bacteria than the six-second ones. 504 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:07,000 Wow, that's a... 505 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:08,000 Dude. 506 00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:10,000 Two-second exposure is huge. 507 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:17,000 The colony count is so massive as to be uncountable, but it looks identical for both. 508 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:23,000 There's no discernible difference between the samples, regardless of how long they spent on the floor. 509 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,000 This is really the definitive test for this myth. 510 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:32,000 We could test a million different foods and get a million different results, but right here, eliminating all other factors purely on time. 511 00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,000 A two-second exposure is supposed to a six-second exposure. There's no difference. 512 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:39,000 They're almost identical, or they are identical. 513 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:41,000 Yeah, so that's an excellent result. 514 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:46,000 The final bell has told, and this myth looks out for the count. 515 00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:48,000 Five-second rule. What's the verdict? 516 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:53,000 Well, I think we were both pretty clear on what the results would be, and it took a little while, but we got it. 517 00:31:53,000 --> 00:32:00,000 There's absolutely no correlation between how much bacteria food picks up and how much time it has spent on the floor. 518 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,000 In fact, it seemed like it was all about everything else but the time. 519 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:15,000 It was how moist the food was, the surface geometry of the food, what was on the floor and how contaminated it was, and all those kinds of things, but it wasn't about the time. 520 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:19,000 I had to figure out a bunch of other cool stuff, like the toilet seats, the cleanest place in your shop. 521 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:25,000 And your mouse dirtier than a dog's. And speaking of which, are you going to let your kids eat off the floor? 522 00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:32,000 Well, I'm raising them off of your life story that you told me. I figure if they eat off the floor until they're eight or ten, they'll have a super-hardy constitution. 523 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,000 Yeah, right. Well, the myth is busted one way or another. 524 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,000 It's totally busted. 525 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:38,000 Bada-bing, bada-boom. 526 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,000 There you go. Beauty. 527 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:51,000 Or is the ancient early warning system a mute myth? 528 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,000 Morning has broken at the walled city of ancient China. 529 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,000 What? Look out for the tree! 530 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,000 The day is dry and clear, but what about the alarm hole? 531 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:14,000 The build team is praying that it hasn't turned into a pond overnight. 532 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,000 Moment of truth. I'm nervous. 533 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,000 Not bad. Not bad at all. 534 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,000 I see. I mean, there is some mud on this side. 535 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:28,000 So... 536 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:30,000 That side's gross. 537 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:31,000 Yeah. You know what? 538 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,000 This is good. I think this is going to be perfect. 539 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:35,000 Phew! 540 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:38,000 I didn't sleep so good last night. 541 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:47,000 Before they lower the drum, Grant wants to test the geophone to make sure that it can detect the tunneling army. 542 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,000 Okay, and contact. 543 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:55,000 And ready. 544 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:00,000 I got something very faint. I think I might be able to pick it out. 545 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:02,000 Carrie, did you hear anything? 546 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,000 I can't hear anything with my naked ear. 547 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,000 The experiment set up is spot on. 548 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:14,000 Jamie's digging is out of ear shot, but the geophone can detect faint tremors through the earth. 549 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:20,000 Now they'll see if the drum can pick up the vibrations with enough resonance to be heard. 550 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:23,000 The ancient amplifier is lowered slowly into its earthy socket. 551 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,000 Okay. 552 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:26,000 There we go. 553 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:27,000 Let's aim it. 554 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:29,000 There you go. 555 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:30,000 Beauty. 556 00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:38,000 So for the first time in more than half a century, this mine will ring to the sound of a swinging pick. 557 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,000 But will the talking drum warn at the end of the day? 558 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:43,000 I'm not sure. 559 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:44,000 I'm not sure. 560 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:45,000 I'm not sure. 561 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,000 I'm not sure. 562 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:47,000 I'm not sure. 563 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:48,000 I'm not sure. 564 00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:53,000 But will the talking drum warn Adam and Carrie that invaders are on their way? 565 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:57,000 So Jamie, if we find gold, are you going to share it with me? 566 00:34:57,000 --> 00:35:02,000 50 feet away, Jamie and Tori are going to play the part of the tunneling Chinese army. 567 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:06,000 Strike, two, three, and one. 568 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:11,000 They swing quickly into rhythm, aiming hefty blows at the hard rock. 569 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:15,000 Four, five, six. 570 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:20,000 The mine shaft is might so Grant can clearly hear the pick's percussion. 571 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:25,000 He'll keep an eye on Adam and Carrie, who will signal if they hear a drum beat. 572 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:32,000 According to the myth, citizens with extraordinary hearing were selected to man these listening posts. 573 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,000 Begging the question, why deaf is a post-Adam is on the job? 574 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:38,000 Ten. 575 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,000 Eleven. 576 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:45,000 The drum's in an auditory black hole, but Carrie seems to be picking up something. 577 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:47,000 Eighteen. 578 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:49,000 Nineteen. 579 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:51,000 Twenty. 580 00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:52,000 That's twenty. 581 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,000 Stand by for playback. 582 00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:58,000 The geophone did record the sound, but only just. 583 00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:01,000 So faint. 584 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,000 So how about the drum? 585 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:08,000 It sounded like a really low hum, and then every time you hit it, it would go, 586 00:36:08,000 --> 00:36:12,000 as if somebody had just barely just going on the drum. 587 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,000 I can't believe that it worked. 588 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,000 It's just, that's incredible. 589 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:17,000 I can't believe it either. 590 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,000 I'm just, I'm amazed. 591 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:22,000 It's quite a result. 592 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:27,000 There seems no doubt that Carrie really was hearing the blows as they happened. 593 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:30,000 I believe that the noise was definitely coming up the shaft. 594 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,000 I believe the shaft was giving me a little bit of an echo. 595 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:37,000 There was a lot of ambient noise around above me, birds and shuffling, 596 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,000 but it was very, very different. 597 00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:40,000 I didn't hear it from this year. 598 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:42,000 I only heard it from this year. 599 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,000 So I firmly believe that the sound was coming from the drum, 600 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:50,000 and it wasn't as much of a tap as it was a little beat. 601 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:53,000 We brought out all of this fancy instrumentation. 602 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:55,000 I mean, look at Grant. 603 00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:58,000 He's completely wired up, earphones, geophones, all that, microphones. 604 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:01,000 The Chinese invasion alarm seemed to work better. 605 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:03,000 This is the most exciting part about this job, 606 00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:07,000 is when you walk in with all of these preconceived notions of failure, 607 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:08,000 like, ah, it's not going to work. 608 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:09,000 No, there's no way. 609 00:37:09,000 --> 00:37:12,000 I don't think one of us thought this was definitely going to work. 610 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:13,000 And then it does. 611 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:16,000 Okay, here is position number two. 612 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,000 Alright, maybe I can finally hear it. 613 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:21,000 We're in a new location. 614 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,000 We're underneath the drum. 615 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,000 Jamie's going to strike the wall 20 times. 616 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:26,000 You ready, Jamie? 617 00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:27,000 Okay. 618 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:28,000 Everybody ready? 619 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:29,000 We are ready. 620 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:30,000 We are ready. 621 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:35,000 Adam's hoping that the hearing trumpet will help overcome his limitations in the listening department. 622 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:36,000 Striking. 623 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:41,000 But past experience on Mythbusters suggests it may not be big enough. 624 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,000 Watch that. 625 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,000 You see, sonny? 626 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:46,000 I can't hear you. 627 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:51,000 One, two, three. 628 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:56,000 Grant listens into the tunnel mic and counts off each blow of the pickaxe. 629 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:07,000 Ten, nine, ten, 630 00:38:12,000 --> 00:38:17,000 sixteen, seventeen, eighteen. 631 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:22,000 Okay, that's 20. 632 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:24,000 Did you hear anything? 633 00:38:24,000 --> 00:38:26,000 No, I don't think I did either. 634 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:31,000 We won't know until we go up there whether it made any difference. 635 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:35,000 I'm not hearing quite so much reverberation here. 636 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:37,000 Did you guys hear anything? 637 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:38,000 Not that time. 638 00:38:38,000 --> 00:38:46,000 No, there were a couple of times when there was something that might have been it, but really, I started looking at your hands when you were counting off the hits. 639 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:48,000 And I wasn't hearing anything. 640 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:50,000 Alright, I didn't get much on the geophone either. 641 00:38:50,000 --> 00:38:57,000 So the invasion alarm seems to have a blind spot or rather, deaf spot, directly below it. 642 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:04,000 For test number three, Jamie and Tari move to a new location 50 feet deep and over 100 feet away. 643 00:39:05,000 --> 00:39:06,000 Okay, I can hear them. 644 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:07,000 The mic's set. 645 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,000 So this is position three, chapel dugout. 646 00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:13,000 Ready? 647 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:14,000 We're ready. 648 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:16,000 Ten, one. 649 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,000 Busting this myth can be backbreaking work. 650 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:31,000 Nine, ten, eleven, twelve, 651 00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:40,000 sixty, seventeen. 652 00:39:43,000 --> 00:39:45,000 Okay, that's 20. 653 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:47,000 Nothing. 654 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:54,000 I think at that rate, we'll be inside the city walls in two months. 655 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,000 I was watching your finger. 656 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,000 Yeah, nothing. I didn't hear anything on that one. 657 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,000 I was watching her finger. 658 00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:03,000 I did. 659 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:04,000 You did? 660 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:05,000 She did. 661 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:07,000 The only time I couldn't hear it was when your jacket chuffled a little bit. 662 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:08,000 Really? 663 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:09,000 Yeah. 664 00:40:09,000 --> 00:40:10,000 Wow. 665 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:12,000 I had my thumb like this and every time I heard it, I would... 666 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:13,000 Yeah. 667 00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:14,000 And you were nailing it? 668 00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:15,000 Oh yeah, she was nailing it. 669 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:16,000 She was nailing it. 670 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,000 I was watching her. 671 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:18,000 Wow. 672 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:19,000 That's far. 673 00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,000 That is far. 674 00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:24,000 That's farther than test number two by actually a not insignificant distance. 675 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:26,000 I can't believe we heard it. 676 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:27,000 I mean, that's amazing. 677 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:32,000 No army's going to tunnel 100 feet down before they start coming towards the city wall. 678 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:37,000 So I'm thinking this scenario is a lot more likely that they'd just be that far out, 679 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:39,000 but that's really far to hear it. 680 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:40,000 Nice experiment. 681 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:41,000 Nice design. 682 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:42,000 Good rig. 683 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,000 I'm just blown away. 684 00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:48,500 It's been a long day at the coal phase and the besieging army resurfaces to learn its 685 00:40:48,500 --> 00:40:49,500 fate. 686 00:40:49,500 --> 00:40:52,000 Well, what'd you guys find? 687 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:56,000 We totally, totally heard it. 688 00:40:56,000 --> 00:40:57,000 It worked. 689 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:58,000 Absolutely. 690 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:02,000 It worked from there and it worked from position one and it worked from position three. 691 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:04,000 It did not work from position two. 692 00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:10,920 Second location was a softer strata on the number one and the number three. 693 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:15,920 We had good hard quarts and we could get a good throw at it. 694 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:16,920 Yeah. 695 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:18,920 The other one, I was hitting the roof with soft stuff. 696 00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:21,920 When you were hitting the quarts on that first test, Carrie heard it crystal clear. 697 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:22,920 That is cool. 698 00:41:22,920 --> 00:41:23,920 Isn't that amazing? 699 00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:24,920 Yeah. 700 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:26,800 I thought this thing would pick up anything. 701 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:33,580 I couldn't hear a good thing, but Carrie's up here with a cone and Grant is counting off 702 00:41:33,580 --> 00:41:37,920 the hits and Carrie's not looking at him and she's matching him perfectly. 703 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:38,920 It was beautiful. 704 00:41:38,920 --> 00:41:41,920 A lot of it when a plan comes together. 705 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:47,920 Now the crazy thing is, we couldn't necessarily detect it on all of the equipment when we 706 00:41:47,920 --> 00:41:48,920 first did it. 707 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:52,920 That this was so the drone was sensitive than the equipment that we bought. 708 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:59,920 I got a little bit on the G-A-Bone, but the really expensive audio frequency mic didn't 709 00:41:59,920 --> 00:42:00,920 get anything. 710 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:04,420 In a strange way, it makes sense because it's such a large surface area. 711 00:42:04,420 --> 00:42:10,180 So a small instrument, however sophisticated, might not work quite as well as just a great 712 00:42:10,180 --> 00:42:12,920 big diaphragm that is there receiving the sound waves. 713 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:15,420 Well, are you guys ready to fill in a hole? 714 00:42:15,420 --> 00:42:16,420 Oh, man. 715 00:42:16,420 --> 00:42:18,420 I've been waiting for that all day. 716 00:42:18,420 --> 00:42:20,420 This should take us about... 717 00:42:20,420 --> 00:42:22,420 Jamie and I are going to see you back at the shop. 718 00:42:22,420 --> 00:42:23,420 You guys have to tell me. 719 00:42:23,420 --> 00:42:24,420 Really? 720 00:42:24,420 --> 00:42:25,420 I'm surprised. 721 00:42:25,420 --> 00:42:26,420 Shocking. 722 00:42:26,420 --> 00:42:30,420 Ladies and gentlemen. 723 00:42:30,420 --> 00:42:45,420 I can't believe that worked. 724 00:42:45,420 --> 00:42:46,920 So what do we think? 725 00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:50,420 Is it busted, plausible, or confirmed? 726 00:42:50,420 --> 00:42:54,660 Well, we know that it was written about in an ancient Chinese text, but we couldn't find 727 00:42:54,660 --> 00:42:57,420 any evidence physically that it ever existed. 728 00:42:57,420 --> 00:43:03,660 Yeah, but it is a fairly complex and esoteric system to write about if it wasn't used at 729 00:43:03,660 --> 00:43:05,420 some point successfully. 730 00:43:05,420 --> 00:43:07,420 So what do we call this, plausible? 731 00:43:07,420 --> 00:43:10,420 I'd say that meets the definition of plausible. 732 00:43:10,420 --> 00:43:11,420 Absolutely plausible. 733 00:43:11,420 --> 00:43:12,420 We agree. 734 00:43:12,420 --> 00:43:13,420 Amazing.