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Give us a break.

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Don't try anything you're about to see us do at home.

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On this episode of MythBusters, let's go.

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Adam and Jamie light up a festive myth that's TRE-MEN-NOS.

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All I know is this is going to make some little child really happy.

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Can lights on a tree cause it to burst into flame?

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It looks so cheery now.

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When Carrie Grant and Tori make light work of a heavy concept?

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When does the time, space, fabric start to weave around this?

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When they investigate the possibility that you can flick a switch and turn off gravity.

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It works!

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And if that wasn't enough, Carrie takes one for the team.

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I didn't know what I was getting myself into here.

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To find out if vodka can cure the sting of a jellyfish.

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Okay, now we can start treatment.

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Who are the MythBusters? Adam Savage.

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I'm making a rocket out of meat.

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And Jamie Heineman.

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I'm so excited!

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Between them more than 30 years of special effects experience.

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That's what I'm talking about!

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Joining them, Carrie Byron.

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I'm a piñata!

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Grant Imahara.

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Don't say anything.

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And Tori Bellegi.

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Oh yeah, not Tori.

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They don't just tell the Myths.

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They put them to the test.

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What do you got?

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Well, this one has been flooding my inbox.

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It is a very popular seasonal myth.

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But I can't wait until Christmas to test it.

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Okay, well what is it?

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During Christmas season you will have your tree festooned with lights.

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The myth is if you leave that tree on overnight,

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the lights can cause the tree to heat up, burst into flames,

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burn your house to the ground.

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Well, Christmas tree fires do happen every year.

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Right, but is it because of the heat from the lights,

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or from some other reason?

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So we need to dial in on exactly what's going on there.

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Precisely.

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It's the epitome of the festive season.

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A tree dressed with colored lights.

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But is it dressed to kill?

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Tree fires are no laughing matter.

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But is this nightmare before Christmas

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really caused by simply leaving the tree lights on?

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Well, the mythbusters are getting fired up to find an answer.

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What's the plan on this one?

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Well, we get a regular tree and a normal amount of lights,

53
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put it on it, and fire it up, see what happens.

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You know, it occurs to me that we should test several different types of lights,

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because if there's one that gets hotter than the others,

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that should be our test platform.

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Okay, and then if none of the normal quantities of lights

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of whatever type set that tree on fire,

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then we need to really ramp it up and put a bunch of them on there.

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Right, but if your ridiculous number of lights fails to ignite that tree,

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we're going to have to resort to something other than the heat of the lights.

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You mean like a short.

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Exactly.

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But before all that, the first step in turning the spotlight on this myth

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is to get some lights, and the boys know just the place.

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We've come to a place called Fantastico in downtown San Francisco,

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and when you want really weird esoteric strange things,

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and you want a lot of them, and you want them cheap,

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this is where I have been coming for well over a decade.

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Let's see if store manager Mike can shed some light on the story.

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Now the question for us is, are the cases of the trees being set on fire

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a function of the lights themselves,

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or of the operator putting up too many of them at once?

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These lights nowadays have a safety fuse and a plug.

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In the old days, you know, on the box, it would say,

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don't put more than three sets, and a guy'd have, you know,

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20 sets strung out, so it would overload your circuit and cause the house to burn.

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But now these actually have a safety fuse in the socket.

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These are the screw-in ones.

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It's like my grandma used to have, and these are the little tiny, blinky ones.

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Adam and Jamie buy dozens of boxes of the two most commonly used indoor tree lights,

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C7s and C9s.

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From this Aladdin's cave, it's back to Jamie's to get this myth up and running.

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These two types both have a three amp fuse in them.

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This one has a five amp fuse, and even just kind of holding my hands over here,

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I can feel a lot more heat coming off of this one.

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So that one right there is the one to keep an eye on.

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To test just how sizzling each variety can get,

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before loading up a tree, Adam first makes hot boxes.

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Look at that.

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So I'm going to take one of each of our sample strands and put them in these metal containers

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to foil over the top, leave them overnight, come back and measure them in the morning

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and see what the actual temperature I get to.

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Is that temperature hot enough to set fire to anything?

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With the boxes warming up, the guys plant a pine forest for their next test.

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The question is, will the heat from the bulbs ignite a forest fire?

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Second test is going to be to wrap the maximum amount that the manufacturer will allow around some trees.

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And the maximum allowable amount is dictated by the fuses that are built right into these lights.

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They have a few, so if you hook up four strands of light just fine,

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I think between four and five strands, those fuses will start to fail.

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So we're going to get to that point, wrap them around some trees and leave those overnight.

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Alright, Christmas spirit in three, two, one, go!

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I feel like in such a good mood for some reason.

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Doesn't it just warm your heart?

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To recreate a typical in-home situation, the lights are going to be left on all night,

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and it's Jess's job to watch over them.

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Some of these might actually blow after a short period of time,

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and in that case you would remove just one strand and let the remaining strands glow all night.

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And we'll be back tomorrow morning to find out what happened.

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Here's hoping that for Jess's night, all is calm and all is bright.

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See you tomorrow morning.

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Alright, thanks guys.

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Sure. Thank you.

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See you tomorrow. I'll be here.

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In the past, the mythbusters have tested and busted crazy concepts such as pyramid power.

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I'm reading your thoughts right now.

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Free energy.

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You might as well just go get a battery.

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And mind control.

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Now I'm ready to make him take his bra out.

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But Carrie Grant and Tori are determined to get this frontier technology off the ground.

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Okay guys, got the next big myth.

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Have you ever thought it would be cool to control gravity?

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Yes.

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Woo! Great!

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I can't wait.

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Another one of these.

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Yeah.

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Okay look, there's a lot of credible research going on all around the world.

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There's a Russian scientist doing a lot of cool stuff with superconductors.

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NASA, the European Space Agency are all interesting.

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Yeah, that just pretty much proves that there's nuts,

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jobs and fruit cakes all the way to the top.

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Anti-gravity is the mythical holy grail of science.

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But can it actually be done?

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Can you flick a switch and turn off gravity?

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Is anti-gravity science or science fiction?

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It's these questions our Intrepid Trio will try to answer.

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And guess where they're going to start?

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As with all these fringe technologies,

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we have the magic of the internet to help us find information.

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The patent office has issued numerous anti-gravity patents.

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They don't have to test if they work,

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but they do have to issue the patent.

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Okay, you know, some of these have nothing to do with any sort of terrestrial technology.

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And most of these have nothing to do with any sort of reality.

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Alright, well then why don't we just get a cross-section and then,

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I guess start testing these.

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Before the testing begins, let's talk about gravity,

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a force that Tari is familiar with.

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But in case you're not, let's get back to basics.

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And a clever fella called Newton.

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I'm okay?

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In 1687, Sir Isaac explained that gravity is the tendency of objects with mass

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to accelerate toward each other.

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And because that really big thing beneath our feet,

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planet Earth, has some serious pulling power,

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what goes up must come down.

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But the concept of anti-gravity doesn't just mean avoiding the downs.

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So an airplane or a helicopter or anything with wings

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is not an example of gravity modification.

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Yes, they generate lift, which is an opposition to gravity,

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but they are not modifying the gravitational field.

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So the team is going to be testing devices that claim to alter gravity.

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Sounds simple. Where do we start?

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The anti-gravity device that I'm working on is basically,

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it's just sort of a floating spinning top.

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Okay, but how does a spinning top make gravity disappear?

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I don't know, but I think it takes batteries.

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Well, according to the instructions,

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the trick is to get the top spinning above the base plate,

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which should hold it in an anti-gravity field.

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This is how it says to start out.

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It also says for ages eight and up.

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A quick read of the manual and a change of venue later,

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and it looks like Carrie has turned off gravity.

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The future is here.

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Later, will the festive fur get fired?

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I bet this is what Christmas is like in heaven.

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And the team get a shock when their lifter lifts.

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Ah!

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Twas the night of the fairy lights test,

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and all through M5, not a creature was stirring, not even a...

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To test a seasonal story,

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Jamie and Adam strung three strings of lights on some trees

186
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and left them on all night to see if the heat generated

187
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would cause the trees to ignite.

188
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Mythtern Jazz was left to stand guard.

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Good morning!

190
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Morning, guys.

191
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How'd you do?

192
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Um, it was pretty uneventful. No fires.

193
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There were no flames, but it wasn't exactly a silent night.

194
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Nothing more than this shop is pretty scary at night.

195
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There's a lot of weird noises that go on.

196
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Have you ever spent the night in your own shop?

197
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No.

198
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Adam checks the temperature of the lights in the hot boxes.

199
00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:11,360
The three-amp C7s show no signs of damage,

200
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but at 350 degrees, the five-amp C9s have started to melt.

201
00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,360
Why is a Christmas tree light sickle?

202
00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:23,360
The C9s got hot enough to start melting the plastic and rubber

203
00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:26,360
encasing the bulbs and the wires,

204
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and that is totally significant to our testing here

205
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because that could lead to a wire short.

206
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A wire short very easily means fire.

207
00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:39,360
So, normal amount of lights on a normal tree, we get nothing.

208
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Let's ramp it up.

209
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I agree. I think this time we should go for 500 of the C9 bulbs.

210
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And while we're at it, why don't we get a thermal imaging camera

211
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and see what the heat distribution looks like?

212
00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,360
I totally agree. That is an excellent idea.

213
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Unlike last time, for this upping the anti-test,

214
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Jamie and Adam are not following the instructions on the back of the box.

215
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I want to bypass the safety measures implemented on the C9 lights

216
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and put as many of them as a person could put on a normal household circuit.

217
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Getting into the festive spirit, they load up the tree with 500 lights.

218
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All right. Yeah, actually, I think we could stop there.

219
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That's the lights.

220
00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:33,360
Here's the thermal camera and the action is about to heat up.

221
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This is going to make this so much fun.

222
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Adam, the heat seeking cameraman, is ready.

223
00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:44,360
So you might want to put on your shades for this one.

224
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All right. In three, two, one.

225
00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:49,360
Hey, everything went on.

226
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I can definitely feel the heat coming off of here.

227
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Now we wait.

228
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It's just going to be a while.

229
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What we're going to be looking for here is either the tree auto-igniting

230
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because of the general level of heat being created or some sort of a short.

231
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,360
It's been three hours and we're still pretty much leveled off, aren't we?

232
00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:15,360
Yeah, I'm getting up close to 225 thereabouts.

233
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It's gotten a little higher.

234
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I am noticing it's getting extremely dry right in the middle around the lights.

235
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These needles are just like they fall off the branches over here.

236
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This is like an oven.

237
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Five more hours on, the tree is baked in the middle but not flambé.

238
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I don't know, Adam.

239
00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:36,360
I think we need another five or six thousand lights.

240
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We took 500 lights and let them sit on this tree for eight solid hours.

241
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And although it got hot, you'll notice the tree is not a charred husk of a tree.

242
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We did not get fire.

243
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Gravity.

244
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It's one of the four fundamental forces of nature.

245
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So is it possible to just turn it off?

246
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Grant, Tori and Carrie are surfing the net and testing a number of devices to find out.

247
00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:13,360
Carrie has a spinning top that appears to be defying gravity.

248
00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,360
But really, it's just being held up with a magnetic field.

249
00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,360
The stability is created by the spinning.

250
00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:25,360
So if it's not spinning fast enough, it wiles out and runs away.

251
00:14:25,360 --> 00:14:28,360
Fun but hardly anti-gravity.

252
00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:30,360
Maybe Grant has something better.

253
00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:35,360
Well, the first thing that we've found is the anti-gravity lifter kit.

254
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:42,360
And this is basically a triangular device that makes use of an electromagnetic field

255
00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:46,360
without any moving parts to produce some sort of lift.

256
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:51,360
As fanciful as this may sound, there's actually some support behind the idea.

257
00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:53,360
There's interest from NASA.

258
00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,360
There's a lot of documentation on the internet.

259
00:14:55,360 --> 00:15:02,360
But we have yet to find out whether this is actually gravity modification by our definition.

260
00:15:02,360 --> 00:15:09,360
The theory, known as the by-field-brown effect, is that by forcing 30,000 volts through this wire,

261
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:13,360
a new gravitational field is established.

262
00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:17,360
And the lifter is freed from conventional gravity.

263
00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:23,360
But despite being a bright spark, Grant and his new device are grounded.

264
00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,360
Does it say anything about buzzing?

265
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:36,360
Could this build be a bust for a big-brained Grant?

266
00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,360
Several hours later, Tori and Carrie check in for a progress report.

267
00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,360
Anti-gravity machine is a little anticlimactic.

268
00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:46,360
Hey, just do way.

269
00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:50,360
When this thing's hovering off the table, you're going to be eating those words.

270
00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,360
But progress is in short supply.

271
00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,360
I don't know what this is supposed to do, but so far it looks pretty cool.

272
00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:03,360
Grant, in an admission of defeat, calls the manufacturer for some advice.

273
00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:08,360
It's jumping across P1 to where R7-C connects.

274
00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:13,360
And just a few modifications later, the team is finally ready for lift-off.

275
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,360
AHHHHHHHHHHH!

276
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:17,360
Okay.

277
00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:21,360
I'm falling!

278
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,360
It's starting to fall towards me.

279
00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:27,360
Man, would you shut it off when it flies towards us?

280
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:32,360
It's a myth-busters first, an internet-bought device that actually works.

281
00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:35,360
You could say the team is shocked.

282
00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:37,360
I'm so impressed.

283
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:39,360
Even Jamie is impressed.

284
00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,360
Well, it's neat that it actually worked.

285
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:44,360
Most of these things that we run across are just total nonsense.

286
00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,360
But that's real.

287
00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:50,360
It's definitely getting up off the table, and there's no fans, there's no rockets,

288
00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:55,360
there's no magnets, there's nothing but electricity going into it.

289
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,360
So, Pat's on the back all right.

290
00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:03,360
But has the myth of anti-gravity been confirmed, or is there something else going on?

291
00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:07,360
Our team of super-sloots get testing to find out.

292
00:17:07,360 --> 00:17:08,360
Whoa!

293
00:17:08,360 --> 00:17:10,360
Oh, it just totally just...

294
00:17:10,360 --> 00:17:11,360
Wacking it out!

295
00:17:11,360 --> 00:17:12,360
Gleeter.

296
00:17:12,360 --> 00:17:16,360
Okay, so we know there's a large electrical field around this, which, you know,

297
00:17:16,360 --> 00:17:19,360
just by nature of the device, we kind of figured.

298
00:17:19,360 --> 00:17:22,360
But that doesn't mean that that's necessarily anti-gravity.

299
00:17:22,360 --> 00:17:29,360
So, next we should do thrust, and that'll tell us whether it's actually some mechanical form of lifting.

300
00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:35,360
And it's bad news for anti-gravity believers, because there is some air movement.

301
00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:40,360
We are getting 1.6 miles per hour of wind, so there is thrust.

302
00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:45,360
Yep, that is a thrust effect, not a gravity modification effect.

303
00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:51,360
So, it's like a fixed-wing aircraft, you know, pushing air out of the way to overcome gravity.

304
00:17:51,360 --> 00:17:58,360
So, 30,000 volts is forced down the wire, and that ionizes the air around it.

305
00:17:58,360 --> 00:18:04,360
These ions are attracted to the foil below, and the flow of air thrusts the lifter off the ground.

306
00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:08,360
And if Grant is right, it won't work in a vacuum.

307
00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:15,360
My suspicion about what's going on here is that the large DC voltage is ionizing the air around the lifter.

308
00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:20,360
It's creating a flow of ions, which is bringing air along with it, creating thrust.

309
00:18:20,360 --> 00:18:25,360
Now, what you can do to prove this, or disprove it, is to remove all of the air.

310
00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:29,360
If that's the case, then there should be no thrust.

311
00:18:29,360 --> 00:18:35,360
And sure enough, when they perform the test in a vacuum, the lifter is grounded.

312
00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:37,360
And it's not flying.

313
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,360
It's not flying!

314
00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:43,360
It worked beforehand, put it in the vacuum, no flight.

315
00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:49,360
No flight, no air, no thrust, no anti-gravity.

316
00:18:49,360 --> 00:18:51,360
Can't say any better than that.

317
00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:54,360
Coming up, Adam blows a festive fuse.

318
00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:56,360
Oh!

319
00:18:56,360 --> 00:19:02,360
And then Carrie, Grant and Tori bring in the big boys with the big toys.

320
00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:08,360
When does the vortex open up, and like the time, space, fabric starts to weave around it?

321
00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:16,360
Can leaving tree lights on overnight cause a Christmas catastrophe?

322
00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:19,360
Well, not if the mythbusters are anything to go by.

323
00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:22,360
They put 500 lights on a regular tree.

324
00:19:22,360 --> 00:19:25,360
But there was no fire in the hole.

325
00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:27,360
Yeah, I'm starting to think that we're going about this all wrong.

326
00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,360
That what we really should be looking for is an electrical spark.

327
00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:34,360
Well, all the lights are fees protected, though. They're not going to generate a spark.

328
00:19:34,360 --> 00:19:39,360
That's true about the lights, but you could still plug too many lights into a standard house outlet

329
00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:42,360
by using those three outlet adapters.

330
00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:46,360
If you tree enough of those on each other, you could overload the house circuit.

331
00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:52,360
I think I could do a bench test that will demonstrate whether or not we can get a spark from that kind of arrangement.

332
00:19:52,360 --> 00:19:53,360
Okay.

333
00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:57,360
Okay, let's get cooking with Adam.

334
00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:02,360
Now the critical ingredients in creating a spark fire from Christmas lights are my old favorites,

335
00:20:02,360 --> 00:20:07,360
the old grandma eight-foot extension cord, a team gauge, a nice clamp-on ammeter

336
00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:11,360
for monitoring the amount of power being consumed by the Christmas lights.

337
00:20:11,360 --> 00:20:13,360
And...

338
00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:19,360
Aw, more Christmas lights than you could possibly imagine.

339
00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:21,360
Okay, maybe slightly less.

340
00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:28,360
The preparation is so easy. Just take some plain cubed sockets and put them one on top of the other.

341
00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:33,360
Does this look familiar? If it does, I'm not coming over to your house for Christmas.

342
00:20:33,360 --> 00:20:36,360
Plug them into an old-style extension cord.

343
00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:43,360
Modern extension cords are a little thicker, but this is very likely to be found in just about any house.

344
00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:45,360
And a generous amount of tree lights.

345
00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:51,360
With ten strands, I am now exceeding the underwriters' laboratories recommendations by 50%.

346
00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:54,360
And bake for about 15 minutes.

347
00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:57,360
280 degrees.

348
00:20:57,360 --> 00:21:00,360
Crazy. Come on, I want some failure.

349
00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:04,360
It's probably best that you don't try this at home.

350
00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:07,360
I'm running double the rated power through it.

351
00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:09,360
Well, that right there is kind of scary.

352
00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:14,360
Isn't it? I mean, if you put too much into an extension cord, just plugged into your house...

353
00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:16,360
Whoa!

354
00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:18,360
That's what I was talking about.

355
00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:20,360
That's what's gonna happen.

356
00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:31,360
The insulation on the wiring melted, and that made two of the wires touch together,

357
00:21:31,360 --> 00:21:36,360
and that caused arcing across those wires and a large spark.

358
00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:41,360
Unfortunately, in your home, this is a recipe for disaster.

359
00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:49,360
We're demonstrating a totally viable method for too many lights causing a failure and that failure causing a spark.

360
00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:53,360
People get really, really enthusiastic about their Christmas decorations,

361
00:21:53,360 --> 00:21:57,360
and I'll wager that a few of you have done this.

362
00:21:57,360 --> 00:21:59,360
Now do you see the danger?

363
00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:08,360
Like commuting by jetpack and miracle time-saving kitchens,

364
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:14,360
the control of gravity is a mythical technology that has been promised but not delivered.

365
00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:16,360
Or has it?

366
00:22:16,360 --> 00:22:18,360
Ah!

367
00:22:18,360 --> 00:22:20,360
I'm fucking...

368
00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:23,360
I'm fucking...

369
00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:26,360
I'm starting to flogging towards me.

370
00:22:26,360 --> 00:22:30,360
Okay, guys, the lifter, super cool, but no gravity modification.

371
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:32,360
I think it's some sort of thrust.

372
00:22:32,360 --> 00:22:35,360
You know, this whole gravity thing is really tricky.

373
00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:37,360
Maybe we should bring in some experts.

374
00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:41,360
Yeah, there's gotta be some sort of instrumentation that measures gravity accurately.

375
00:22:41,360 --> 00:22:44,360
I bet if we looked hard enough, we could find something.

376
00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:48,360
Well, let's get both, because we never know how to use the instruments.

377
00:22:48,360 --> 00:22:51,360
Actually, they get three men in a machine.

378
00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:58,360
Micro-G LaCoste physicists Tim and Derek bring a box full of ultra-sensitive gravity meter.

379
00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:02,360
And there's Dr. Bob Jacobson, who's a professor of physics.

380
00:23:02,360 --> 00:23:04,360
So pay attention at the back there.

381
00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:06,360
Okay, let's get down to basics.

382
00:23:06,360 --> 00:23:11,360
What's the difference between anti-gravity and gravity modification?

383
00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:15,360
747s fly by countering gravity with another force.

384
00:23:15,360 --> 00:23:20,360
You can fight gravity by having some other force that acts against it.

385
00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:25,360
Anti-gravity is canceling it, it's making it go away so that it doesn't act on a particular object.

386
00:23:25,360 --> 00:23:30,360
Instead of lifting something, you make its weight disappear so that it just floats.

387
00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:31,360
So that's the theory.

388
00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:36,360
And for confirmation that the anti-gravity devices don't actually cancel gravity,

389
00:23:36,360 --> 00:23:39,360
it's time to fire up the gravity meter.

390
00:23:39,360 --> 00:23:45,360
When does the vortex open up and like the time, space, fabric start to weave around this?

391
00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,360
23 minutes.

392
00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:51,360
Okay, Grant has successfully released his inner geek.

393
00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:54,360
So why don't we find out how the gravity meter works?

394
00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:56,360
So this is a vacuum.

395
00:23:56,360 --> 00:23:57,360
So there's no air, no nothing in there.

396
00:23:57,360 --> 00:23:59,360
Well, that's what we're actually trying to get right now.

397
00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:00,360
This is helping establish that.

398
00:24:00,360 --> 00:24:01,360
Okay.

399
00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:05,360
So there's a little mirror in here, a little motor that lifts that mirror to the top,

400
00:24:05,360 --> 00:24:07,360
and then releases it, it free-falls.

401
00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:11,360
There's the vacuum, there's nothing to slow it down, so it falls purely under gravity.

402
00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:17,360
This black box here has a laser coming into it, just like a cops radar gun.

403
00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:23,360
It balances the laser off this falling mirror and tracks it extremely precisely.

404
00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:28,360
And then there's a bunch of electronics that will hook up that read out the tracking information to that laptop

405
00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:32,360
and it'll tell us what the acceleration of gravity is.

406
00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:34,360
Which sounds ideal for the myth.

407
00:24:34,360 --> 00:24:39,360
If there is any change in gravity, this awesome piece of equipment will detect it,

408
00:24:39,360 --> 00:24:42,360
right down to one part per billion.

409
00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:48,360
To perfect the vacuum that's so crucial to its accuracy, it has to warm up overnight.

410
00:24:48,360 --> 00:24:53,360
And when they come back in the morning, the guys get an idea of just how impressive it really is.

411
00:24:53,360 --> 00:25:00,360
Apparently there was an earthquake this morning, and I think that correlates to some of the noise we saw this morning.

412
00:25:00,360 --> 00:25:05,360
The meter not only mapped the effect of local earthquake activity on gravity,

413
00:25:05,360 --> 00:25:09,360
it detected tidal fluctuations caused by the passage of the moon.

414
00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:14,360
So it should be able to detect an actual anti-gravity field.

415
00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:17,360
Okay, there is no effect on the gravity meter.

416
00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:25,360
Hey, Bob! You've witnessed the top levitate, but we've recorded absolutely no modification of gravity.

417
00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:29,360
That's because the gravity detector is not sensitive to magnetism,

418
00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:31,360
and it's magnetism that's holding up your top.

419
00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:33,360
That's one device down.

420
00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:36,360
Up next for Judgment Day is the lifter.

421
00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:40,360
Coming up, the guys grapple with their final anti-gravity device.

422
00:25:40,360 --> 00:25:42,360
It works!

423
00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:44,360
Look at that!

424
00:25:44,360 --> 00:25:46,360
It's just like, it's just sitting there.

425
00:25:48,360 --> 00:25:56,360
Carrie Grant and Tori and a trio of top physicists have busted the spinning top as an anti-gravity device.

426
00:25:56,360 --> 00:25:59,360
Okay, there is no effect on the gravity meter.

427
00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:03,360
Now it's time to get the final word on the lifter.

428
00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:10,360
Okay, now you can smell the ozone, and you can feel...

429
00:26:10,360 --> 00:26:11,360
Be careful though, because it's...

430
00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:15,360
Yeah, don't get too close, but you can feel the wind coming off.

431
00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:18,360
So, it's definitely thrust.

432
00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:25,360
That's the theory, but with the lifter levitating right below the meter, the gravity graph is unmoved.

433
00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:30,360
The number this morning was 979-982-924.

434
00:26:30,360 --> 00:26:31,360
Yes.

435
00:26:31,360 --> 00:26:35,360
979-982-912.

436
00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:41,360
So it's 12 parts per billion, and that's within the noise of us all walking around.

437
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:44,360
That's a pretty normal noise level.

438
00:26:44,360 --> 00:26:47,360
So basically, the lifter is grounded.

439
00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:49,360
That gravitometer was amazing.

440
00:26:49,360 --> 00:26:53,360
It was pretty mind-blowing how accurate that device was.

441
00:26:53,360 --> 00:26:56,360
It busted the lifter, but where do we go from here?

442
00:26:56,360 --> 00:27:01,360
I do have one more device that I found, but you can't really test it with traditional science.

443
00:27:01,360 --> 00:27:04,360
It's the Hamel Generator, and apparently this guy was abducted by aliens.

444
00:27:04,360 --> 00:27:10,360
They showed him around their ship, and from seeing that, he came up with the designs for this generator.

445
00:27:10,360 --> 00:27:15,360
Well, if anybody's already solved anti-gravity, it's definitely the aliens.

446
00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:20,360
Okay, well the Mythbusters have tested crazy claims before.

447
00:27:20,360 --> 00:27:22,360
Merry Christmas to us all.

448
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:26,360
And they've come across stranger ingredient lists in their time.

449
00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:27,360
Three jade balls.

450
00:27:27,360 --> 00:27:29,360
A roll of aluminum and a thousand magnets.

451
00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:30,360
Yep.

452
00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:33,360
But why are they taking this one seriously?

453
00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:36,360
The reason why we're taking this seriously is because he has very specific designs.

454
00:27:36,360 --> 00:27:40,360
Designs are good. So how does this alien technology work?

455
00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:46,360
Supposedly, the perfectly balanced cones wobble within the constraints of a magnetic field.

456
00:27:46,360 --> 00:27:52,360
And it's this dynamic equilibrium that generates an electro-gravitational field,

457
00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:56,360
and that causes the alien ship to lose its connection with gravity.

458
00:27:56,360 --> 00:28:00,360
I would really wish the aliens were here to show me how to build this thing.

459
00:28:00,360 --> 00:28:04,360
With aliens in short supply, Grant and Carrie will have to do.

460
00:28:04,360 --> 00:28:09,360
And Grant gets the all-important bearings rigged at practically light speed.

461
00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:13,360
This is the bearing, and it's supposed to wobble.

462
00:28:13,360 --> 00:28:16,360
And it's a little something like this.

463
00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:20,360
It's not bad actually.

464
00:28:20,360 --> 00:28:24,360
And while Carrie lines the rim of three bike wheels with the magnets,

465
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:28,360
Tori has made three cones from the roll of aluminum.

466
00:28:29,360 --> 00:28:30,360
Dish!

467
00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:38,360
Once Tori and Grant finish fighting with foil, they finish the assembly.

468
00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:43,360
It works!

469
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:45,360
Look at that!

470
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:48,360
It's just like, it's just sitting there.

471
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:52,360
The cone is just perfectly centered inside the ring.

472
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:54,360
It's just hovering there.

473
00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:55,360
It's just, yeah.

474
00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:56,360
It's looking good.

475
00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,360
The magnets and cones are perfectly balanced.

476
00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,360
But it's when the third cone goes in that things will get interesting.

477
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:09,360
The generator should take off and start floating in an anti-gravity field.

478
00:29:09,360 --> 00:29:11,360
See it now it's going.

479
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:12,360
See that?

480
00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:13,360
See it oscillating?

481
00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:15,360
Oscillating, yes.

482
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:17,360
Levitating, no.

483
00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:21,360
But just to be sure, the guys prepare for the ultimate test.

484
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,360
It's been started.

485
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:25,360
It's started as a generator.

486
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:26,360
Get out of the business.

487
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:27,360
Let's get out.

488
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:32,360
Remember, the super sensitive gravity meter can detect even the tiniest fluctuation in local gravity.

489
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:38,360
Our world-class physicists stand by anticipating a major scientific breakthrough.

490
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:43,360
But really, no one is surprised when the Hamilton generator flat lies.

491
00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:48,360
Are you sure you're not tampering with these results because you don't want there to be anti-gravity out there?

492
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,360
Because it is all a conspiracy and you are part of the man?

493
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:54,360
No comment.

494
00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,360
You see that hole in the ceiling where it took off?

495
00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:58,360
No.

496
00:29:58,360 --> 00:29:59,360
You neither.

497
00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:04,360
You would have been better building something designed by Mark Hamill.

498
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:12,360
Well, the Hamilton, the Hamilton aside, how did all our other devices do?

499
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,360
Okay, the lifter, very cool piece of technology.

500
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,360
It works great, but in the end, it's not anti-gravity.

501
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:20,360
It's all thrust.

502
00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,360
So anti-gravity is busted?

503
00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,360
Yeah, it's busted.

504
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:28,360
I don't know if we can bust anti-gravity and we can bust our devices.

505
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:29,360
All right, revised.

506
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:32,360
Anti-gravity busted for now.

507
00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:55,360
Now for something completely different.

508
00:30:55,360 --> 00:30:57,360
Vodka.

509
00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:06,360
Most people choose to drink it, but our team of alcohol aficionados have busted it as a bee killer and poison oak cure.

510
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:13,360
They've also used it to kill off bad breath and cheesy feet.

511
00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:16,360
But that's not enough for Cary and Tori.

512
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,360
This time, something fishy is going on.

513
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,360
We're here at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

514
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,360
We're going to pick up a jellyfish and find out if you can use vodka to treat a jellyfish sting.

515
00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:31,360
It's an old fish-wise tale, and if it's jelly sure after, you can't do better than this aquarium,

516
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,360
which has one of the finest collections in the country.

517
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:39,360
So it's off into the aquarium's belly to find a jelly.

518
00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:40,360
What type of jellyfish is this?

519
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,360
These are Pacific sea nettles, Chrysora fusescens.

520
00:31:43,360 --> 00:31:47,360
One of the big local jellies you'll find out in the Pacific Northeast Ocean.

521
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:52,360
This won't kill you or injure you, but you know, it'll be uncomfortable for a week.

522
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:57,360
How reassuring, but you know what they say, no pain, no gain.

523
00:31:57,360 --> 00:31:58,360
See one that looks good?

524
00:31:58,360 --> 00:32:02,360
Oh, there's a good one.

525
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:09,360
Jelly catcher away, one little tentacle, no problem at all.

526
00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:11,360
Wow.

527
00:32:11,360 --> 00:32:13,360
Bag of jelly.

528
00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:15,360
I can't believe I get to take this guy home.

529
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:16,360
That's fun.

530
00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:21,360
Back at M5, despite the vodka at the ready, Kari's had second thoughts,

531
00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:24,360
not to mention thirds and fourths.

532
00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:25,360
I think I'm a little anxious.

533
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:27,360
I'm a little bit nervous.

534
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:33,360
I thought I was going to be perfectly fine, but now that it's come down to it, I find my heart going...

535
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,360
I really want to do this.

536
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:40,360
It's not like I want to do it.

537
00:32:40,360 --> 00:32:42,360
I'm doing this for the show.

538
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:49,360
You're going to grab him by the head, Jenny, and underwater run him across my arm

539
00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:54,360
so the little tentacles will slide across, stinging me with thousands of little stingers,

540
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:57,360
releasing neurotoxins into my body.

541
00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,360
That should be fun.

542
00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:03,360
While the jelly limbers up, Dr. Tori explains the procedure.

543
00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,360
All right, Kari, so once you get stung, the process is going to be this.

544
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:08,360
We're going to do the traditional treatment.

545
00:33:08,360 --> 00:33:09,360
That's warm water.

546
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:11,360
I'm going to be scrubbing your arm with the brush.

547
00:33:11,360 --> 00:33:15,360
We're going to put traditional anti-histamine gel on it.

548
00:33:15,360 --> 00:33:20,360
With the other arm, we're going to take the vodka and pour that on it and scrub with the brush.

549
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,360
We'll see which one works better.

550
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:25,360
You ready? You psyched up? Give me some hits.

551
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,360
Cue the winds.

552
00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:32,360
Did we get enough on this one?

553
00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:33,360
Yeah, I feel some right there, too.

554
00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:34,360
All right, let's go.

555
00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:39,360
Okay, so it's definitely started to sting more and more, and it's tingling in different places.

556
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:46,360
And what's basically happening from what I understand is that each of the little spikes is letting off slowly neurotoxins.

557
00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:49,360
Okay, now we can start treatment.

558
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:54,360
Kari could swear that when she took this job, nobody mentioned neurotoxins.

559
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:56,360
So we're going to do the traditional treatment first.

560
00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:57,360
Okay.

561
00:33:57,360 --> 00:33:59,360
Warm water. Ready? Here we go.

562
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,360
Okay, in the brush.

563
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:05,360
Scrub this. Now we've got to scrub the stingers out, but I haven't released yet.

564
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,360
A little lower on the arm right there.

565
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:08,360
Okay.

566
00:34:08,360 --> 00:34:12,360
Now, pain's a subjective thing, but how does that feel, Kari?

567
00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,360
It's not like petting puppies or anything.

568
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:20,360
Team player Tori works fast, finishing the traditional treatment lickety-split.

569
00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:23,360
Vodka treatment. You ready?

570
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,360
And before you can say...

571
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:27,360
How you doing?

572
00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,360
It's all right.

573
00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:31,360
He's also applied the alcoholic antidote.

574
00:34:31,360 --> 00:34:33,360
All right, so that's it for the vodka treatment, right?

575
00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:35,360
That's it for the vodka treatment.

576
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:38,360
At all things considered, Kari's in good spirits.

577
00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,360
Maybe she's been drinking the vodka.

578
00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,360
I was expecting some sort of sci-fi kind of pain.

579
00:34:44,360 --> 00:34:46,360
I really was.

580
00:34:46,360 --> 00:34:51,360
So I was preparing for like, jagged spikes, and I was gritting my teeth really, really hard.

581
00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:53,360
It wasn't as bad as I thought.

582
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:55,360
Well, you are a brave individual, I have to say that.

583
00:34:55,360 --> 00:35:00,360
The jellyfish may not have had a ferocious kick, but did the vodka help at all?

584
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:05,360
So between the vodka and the traditional treatment for jellyfish sting, which one do you think works better?

585
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:07,360
Both treatments were extremely effective.

586
00:35:07,360 --> 00:35:09,360
I really didn't develop a rash.

587
00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:12,360
After about an hour and a half, I wouldn't have even known the jelly was dying me at all.

588
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:15,360
So vodka as a treatment for jelly sting?

589
00:35:15,360 --> 00:35:16,360
Confirmed?

590
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:20,360
I'm completely surprised, but I definitely have to say that the myth was confirmed.

591
00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:25,360
I think the vodka deactivated the nematocyst in my arm and left me without an itchy sting.

592
00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:26,360
Sweet.

593
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,360
Now it's time to take a little Titus out to the bay and set him free.

594
00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,360
You don't want to eat him?

595
00:35:56,360 --> 00:35:57,360
Had a result.

596
00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,360
If you put too much into an extension cord, just plugged into your house.

597
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:02,360
Oh!

598
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:04,360
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!

599
00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:06,360
Alright, we got a spark.

600
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:08,360
Now it's time to get a fire.

601
00:36:08,360 --> 00:36:11,360
Okay, well a dry tree is going to be easier to burn.

602
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:16,360
I agree, so we should dry the heck out of this tree we're going to use and wrap the heck out of it.

603
00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:20,360
I want five times as many Christmas lights on it as we did in the shop.

604
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:25,360
Okay, and just in case that doesn't do it, we should also put in a remote ignition rig as well.

605
00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,360
And just to replicate the spark I got in the bench test, perfect.

606
00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:30,360
One way that we're going to burn this thing.

607
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,360
Sound the sirens? Did someone say fire?

608
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:42,360
To try to ignite a tree once and for all, Jamie and Adam have come to the City of Pleasanton Fire Center.

609
00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:44,360
This is it.

610
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:47,360
Hi Captain.

611
00:36:47,360 --> 00:36:48,360
Hi General.

612
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:53,360
And Captain Dickey has no doubt that Christmas tree fires are frightening.

613
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:55,360
Well, what do you think about what we're doing here?

614
00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:58,360
Have you dealt with this kind of situation before in a house fire?

615
00:36:58,360 --> 00:37:00,360
Yes, we go to Christmas tree fires every year.

616
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:06,360
We had a house burn up in December 26th of 1997 where a child turned the lights onto the Christmas tree

617
00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:11,360
and the tree immediately ignited and burned up the house and caused a lot of damage.

618
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:13,360
Alright, well you ready to go?

619
00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:14,360
I'm ready.

620
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,360
In this last test, the guys are going for broke.

621
00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:20,360
They've rigged the tree with hundreds of lights plugged into dozens of sockets.

622
00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:24,360
And further up the fire factor, the pine is totally parched.

623
00:37:24,360 --> 00:37:27,360
What we have here is a kiln dried tree.

624
00:37:27,360 --> 00:37:32,360
This was dried at a place that dries flowers, so it's dry as a bone.

625
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:34,360
We've gone way over the top with these lights.

626
00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:41,360
We've got 2500 lights, it's a couple hundred amps worth of electrical power and heat going into this tree.

627
00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:46,360
72 strands of lights, 1800 bulbs.

628
00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,360
I bet this is what Christmas is like in heaven.

629
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:51,360
I'm going to turn them off.

630
00:37:51,360 --> 00:37:53,360
I can't even gaze upon it.

631
00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:55,360
So bright is the light it gives off.

632
00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,360
It's as bright as the sun, but there's something missing.

633
00:37:59,360 --> 00:38:01,360
That's right, tacky ornaments.

634
00:38:01,360 --> 00:38:03,360
A decorative garland.

635
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:06,360
As if we needed this thing to be any more flammable.

636
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,360
And some brightly colored baubles.

637
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:12,360
Are these not glass?

638
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:13,360
Oh, they are.

639
00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:20,360
With 2500 lights, this is the ultimate test in the hot ball makes fire theory.

640
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:25,360
But in case that still doesn't work, Jamie's also added a sparker for good measure.

641
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:35,360
The neon transformer takes 110, just normal line voltage and kicks it up to, I think in this case, it's around 5,000, 6,000 volts, something like that.

642
00:38:35,360 --> 00:38:39,360
This is a straightforward, always works way of getting a fire.

643
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:41,360
Doesn't the tree look lovely, children?

644
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:43,360
Now to set it on fire.

645
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,360
Do not try this test at home.

646
00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:51,360
Without the fire department on hand, more than the turkey will be overcooked.

647
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,360
Okay, Linda, give us power.

648
00:38:53,360 --> 00:38:55,360
Coming at you, press the green button.

649
00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:56,360
Over.

650
00:38:58,360 --> 00:38:59,360
And there it is.

651
00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:01,360
It looks so cheery now.

652
00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:08,360
With all 2500 lights on, the guys monitor the tree from a safe distance.

653
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:12,360
Those light bulbs require more power than most people have in their house.

654
00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,360
Not just on a single circuit, in their whole house.

655
00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:22,360
The temperature rises rapidly and soon the tree gets hot enough to make Jamie's whiskers bristle with anticipation.

656
00:39:22,360 --> 00:39:25,360
Chris, what's the temperature, the maximum?

657
00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:27,360
The top now is at 240.

658
00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:29,360
240 on the scale, that's the highest?

659
00:39:29,360 --> 00:39:34,360
240 degrees and it's been 21 minutes.

660
00:39:34,360 --> 00:39:37,360
Soon there's a hopeful sign.

661
00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,360
Yeah, it's smoking and you can see it through the windows here.

662
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:43,360
Dude, we're gonna get ignition.

663
00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:47,360
But 40 minutes later, the bulbs still haven't gone ballistic.

664
00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:52,360
And if 2500 bulbs can't heat a tree to ignition, then no amount will.

665
00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:55,360
Well, lots of smoke, no fire.

666
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,360
I think we're gonna set the spark off.

667
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:58,360
Sounds good.

668
00:39:58,360 --> 00:39:59,360
You guys ready?

669
00:39:59,360 --> 00:40:01,360
We'll mask up and be prepared to go in.

670
00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:02,360
Okay.

671
00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:07,360
We're going to light this thing up with old sparky so stand by for our signal to cut the power over.

672
00:40:07,360 --> 00:40:10,360
Copy that, I'm getting by.

673
00:40:10,360 --> 00:40:12,360
It's the final test in this story.

674
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,360
Can a spark cause the fur to fire?

675
00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:17,360
Okay, let's try it.

676
00:40:17,360 --> 00:40:23,360
Ignition in three, two, one.

677
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:25,360
Bingo, we have ignition.

678
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:26,360
There you go.

679
00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:28,360
That's it.

680
00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:31,360
That's beautiful.

681
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:33,360
So fast.

682
00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:37,360
The fire department springs into action.

683
00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:47,360
Firemen have the best boys ever.

684
00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:51,360
Our Christmas trees branches aren't so lovely anymore.

685
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:54,360
Well, I thought it was an ugly Christmas tree before.

686
00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,360
There's your problem.

687
00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:02,360
The short circuit did the job and the boys are shocked at how fast the fire spread.

688
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:07,360
That wasn't an explosion, but it was so fast that it'd be out of control.

689
00:41:07,360 --> 00:41:11,360
If it went up, you wouldn't be able to do anything unless you were standing right there with the fire extinguisher.

690
00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:12,360
Exactly.

691
00:41:12,360 --> 00:41:20,360
At the moment we saw the fire, you're already pretty much too late to get it under control with anything but a bunch of firemen.

692
00:41:20,360 --> 00:41:23,360
I was amazed how fast it got out of control.

693
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:24,360
Right.

694
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:27,360
It grows quickly and there's no other fuel in that room, so it would burn itself out.

695
00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:32,360
But imagine if you had drapes and furniture inside, it would continue to grow rapidly.

696
00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:39,360
And with that kind of fire, even if you had a, like, a standard household fire extinguisher, you probably wouldn't be able to deal with it, right?

697
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:43,360
No, a fire like this would grow out of control before you can even go out and get your fire extinguisher.

698
00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:46,360
The best thing to do is leave the house immediately.

699
00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:48,360
All it would take is one little spark.

700
00:41:48,360 --> 00:41:53,360
You know, whether it's an older set of lights, whether somebody's messed with the fuse.

701
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:58,360
You can get a short and if you do, you can set a tree on fire.

702
00:41:58,360 --> 00:41:59,360
This is no myth.

703
00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:18,360
In fact, this is more like a public service announcement because the figures we have says that on December 24th, 25th, and 26th in the U.S., there's over 10,000 fires that cause 40 deaths and over $80 million in damage every single year from Christmas trees burning down from various reasons.

704
00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:21,360
I think this one is totally busted.

705
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:28,360
And we put 2,500 bulbs on that tree and it was not enough to create the heat necessary to auto ignite.

706
00:42:28,360 --> 00:42:30,360
I agree. It's myth busted.

707
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:40,360
But, you know, that doesn't mean that people should let their guards down because we did prove that it is possible to overload something like an extension cord with so many lights that you create a short and you could start a tree fire.

708
00:42:40,360 --> 00:42:44,360
Yeah, you know, this myth really, I am amazed.

709
00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:46,360
Woke up my holiday spirit.

710
00:42:46,360 --> 00:42:49,360
I think that we should do a Christmas special.

711
00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:50,360
It's one for the future.

712
00:42:50,360 --> 00:42:52,360
It is.