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I find the defendants guilty.

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In 2002, a crack science duo was sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit.

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These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the San Francisco Underground.

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To date, masked with their new identities, they survive as soldiers of science.

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If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them,

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maybe you can hire the Mythbusters.

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You ready for the A-Team special?

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I was born ready, fool.

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Outstanding.

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Jamie, did you ever watch that show of the A-Team?

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Sure.

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Which character from the A-Team do you think I'm most close to resemble?

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Which one was that guy that keeps ending up in the mental institution?

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Murdoch. That's Murdoch.

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That's the one.

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Alright.

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Well, we have an entire episode devoted to the 80s cult classic The A-Team.

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What's on the docket?

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Well, later we will be trying to disable a car with a manhole courtesy of a sewer explosion.

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But first up, we have what is really a classic A-Team trope.

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See, in almost every episode, the guys are stranded somewhere,

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and they have to build a weapon with only the materials they have at their disposal, right?

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Right.

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Okay, so in this one, the A-Team is stranded in a lumber yard.

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The bad guys are on their way back, and the A-Team builds a cannon out of a log

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that shoots two by fours with a controlled propane explosion to defeat the enemy.

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What's the bad guys?

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Sounds dubious.

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Well, I think we should test it out if it doesn't work.

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Maybe you and I could do better.

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Maybe.

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Shaw.

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Don't touch me.

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Okay.

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Ah, Shaw, shall we gather all the materials we saw in the clip?

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Are you going to keep that thing in your mouth the whole time?

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As long as I can stand it.

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Alright.

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So, solenoids, it looks almost exactly the same.

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In the show, the A-Team guys built their wood cannon in a general-purpose shop

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that was attached to a lumber yard.

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Now, they had a log, and they drilled a hole down in the middle of it to make a cannon barrel.

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Beautiful.

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They're using half two by fours as ammo, and we did see a tank of propane.

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So, that appears to be the propellant.

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That's what we've got to work with, so we're going to use that equipment to build our wood cannon.

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Shaw.

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Having gross reference to the clip, the guys collate all of the A-Team's cannon components.

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Ammo for bad guys.

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Before Adam rolls out the barrel, literally.

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There I am.

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Now, in the clip, they drill the hole in the log using a drill bit like this called an auger bit.

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It's going to take a while.

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But frankly, we could not find one in the size that we needed.

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We're using a different kind of drill bit called a Forster bit.

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One of my single favorite drill bits of all time.

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Adam uses the Forstner.

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I feel like the villain in some kind of movie.

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But even so, it's a tough task.

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I know, it seems strange to me to keep having to sharpen this bit when all I'm doing is drilling into wood.

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But the fact is that the molecules that make up wood are incredibly dulling to metal blades.

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You've got to sharpen it all the time.

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In fact, it takes 40 minutes of hard labor before Adam's barrel is fully bored.

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There I go.

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Now that's a hole.

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So next, it's over to Jamie, who inserts a hose to fill the barrel with propane.

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Look at that. Perfect fit.

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Before prepping the cannon's ignition system.

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So how are we going to ignite the propane in our cannon?

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Well, the easiest way is with a spark.

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And the easiest way for us to get one of those is just to plug a couple of wires into the wall socket.

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But that's only going to make a small spark and we need a big one for reliable ignition of the propane.

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For that, we're going to use our favorite device for generating large sparks and that's the Neon Transformer.

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And there it is.

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And once wired in, their cannon is the perfect copycat.

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It's got a 40 inch long log barrel, propane as fuel, a sparking ignition system and planks as projectiles.

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Plus, the whole thing's mounted on a forklift, just like the AT.

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But the question is, will it work?

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All right. Loading the device. There we go.

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Okay. Device is loaded.

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For test one.

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One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand.

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They're giving it some gas. Five seconds worth of propane.

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Ignition in. Three, two, one, go.

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Nothing.

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Give it another five seconds.

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What a cigar. It just makes everything you say sound a little more authoritative.

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Get those trucks out of there.

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Move those people over there.

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I'll put those oranges in my summer house.

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Stuff like that.

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Three, two, one.

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Nothing.

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Nothing? Well, that's weird.

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I would expect at least something.

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Figuring the sparker may have failed, Adam goes in for a closer look.

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Okay. Sparking now.

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Whoa!

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That actually blew my hand.

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So there was enough residual gas.

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That tells me we need very, very, very little gas.

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Okay.

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All right. We started up by adding way, way, way too much propane to this.

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Now, you might think, oh, the more propane the better.

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But it's not that way.

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Propane isn't flammable in and of itself.

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It's flammable when it's mixed with air or oxygen.

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And you have to get the correct mix or stoichiometry in order to get that ignition or that pop

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that's actually going to send this out towards the bad guys.

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So for test two, the guys use just one second of gas.

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And three, two, one. Fire.

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Hey! That was a pop.

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It was.

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Ammo did not move even the tiniest bit, not even remotely.

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Well, there was fire in the hole.

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But so far, a viable weapon this ain't.

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I gotta say, it's not looking so good.

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We've replicated everything that we saw in the clip and we are getting ignition.

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It's just not as energetic as it showed in the clip.

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We're going to have to do something else.

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The guy's stumped.

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Hmm.

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This A team is going to need a plan B.

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So Forklift Fire is all about improvised weaponry taking out the bad guys.

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But the A team were also very adept at making their escape.

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And that is the next thing we're going to tackle.

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Go on.

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In one of my favorite escapes, they take a bundle of dynamite and put it in a sewer just under a manhole cover.

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Then they wait until the bad guys driving over that manhole cover, they detonate the dynamite.

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Boom! The manhole cover takes the car completely out.

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So the car is a write-off, but the dudes inside are okay.

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Exactly. No one ever gets hurt by the A team.

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Well, explosive escapes. I like it.

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The myth is that by placing the dynamite just inside the drain, the A team could evade the villains without injuring them.

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But is that really possible?

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That is perfect.

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So there's a plan, right?

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Of course there's a plan.

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For some reason, urban areas don't like it when you use explosives in their sewers.

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So in lieu of that, we've come to our favorite place in California where we can blow large things up and even dig holes in the ground.

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I own California.

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Thanks to its remote location, I own is the perfect place for some manhole mayhem.

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But the digging will come later.

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Now obviously, since the A team placed their sticks of dynamite inside a sewer, we are going to do the exact same thing.

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Perfect!

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Nice ride.

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But it raises the question, why would they go through the trouble?

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I mean, what's the difference between it on the ground and in the sewer?

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And this leads to the A team's MO, which is they don't ever want to kill the bad guys.

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They just want to neutralize them as a threat.

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So in order to test whether or not their method is truly non-lethal, we're going to need a control.

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That is, 9-6 of dynamite, just like the clip, placed on the ground with this car placed right on top of it.

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Find out what happens to the driver of the car when we blow that up.

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My prediction, it's not going to be pretty.

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So with the car from the clip, the guys are green-lighting a control test.

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What's next?

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Buster.

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We'll let dynamite detonation outside a sewer, cause casualties where an internal one would not.

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We want to find out whether our driver would have survived this blast,

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and if so, whether he was injured or not, and how badly.

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To do that, we're going to be putting sensors on his head, on his waist and near his feet.

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And these sensors can record events down to the microsecond, which will tell us exactly what went on.

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Buster may be wired in the hot seat.

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Just remember, little buddy, this is going to hurt you a lot more than it hurts me.

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But he's not the only data device.

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Now, another reason the A team might have placed their explosives inside the manhole cover

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is to protect any innocent bystanders standing around.

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It's a reasonable assumption that we would like to test, and that's what these figures are for.

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We've placed these two half-inch plywood cutouts at 15 feet and 10 feet from the blast

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to see how much damage they sustain in the control versus the actual experiment.

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And of course, on MythBusters, innocent bystanders, just another term for shrapnel catcher.

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With the plan coming together.

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It's okay, little buddy.

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Next up is the explosive.

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For accuracy, we're using nine sticks of nitroglycerin-based dynamite,

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because that's what they used on the A team.

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Now, this is the first time we've used it because it's relatively unstable.

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It's shock-sensitive, and that's bad.

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So we're going to take every precaution, and we're going to be safe.

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And speaking of being safe, that cigar, it's fake.

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Yes, made of chocolate.

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The guys are going that extra mile to make sure that everything matches the clip.

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Stop with two exceptions.

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First, the control test has no sewer.

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And second...

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Also in the clip, the car is moving, and we are not doing that for two very good reasons.

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Number one, it doesn't make any difference to the physics,

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but two, and most importantly, we want to be able to compare our control blast against the blast

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when we dig the sewer and put the dynamite in there.

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And in order to compare those two exactly, we need the dynamite in the same spot on both blasts.

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And in order to guarantee that, well, we're just not moving the car.

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That is our plan.

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All right, sir. You ready?

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I'm ready.

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Okay.

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What if I take the first plunge?

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Knock yourself out.

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All right, here we go.

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This is 18, dynamite test, the control.

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My voice is only to do this.

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In three, two, one.

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In the Mythbusters A-Team Special...

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This thing tastes terrible.

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The guys were wired up to a countdown...

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In three, two, one.

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That just got cut.

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What happened to our countdown?

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We'll get right back to it. I promise.

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I just wanted to remind everybody that what we are testing is how lethal nine sticks of dynamite

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are that are detonated on the ground under a car or to both the driver of that car

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and the innocent bystanders on the street.

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That is our control test.

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Now, back to our regularly scheduled countdown.

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This is 18, dynamite test, the control.

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In three, two, one.

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I'm no munitions expert.

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But I don't think that car is going to be there when the smoke clears.

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When the dust eventually settles, the car hasn't disappeared.

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But it's not exactly in one piece.

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How you doing there, little buddy?

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Oh, man.

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He actually looks almost completely intact.

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Oh, wait a second. Hey, Adam, check this out.

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Oh.

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That's a whole clean through to the underside of the car.

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I am now going to go out on a limb and predict that Buster didn't survive that,

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but only the numbers will tell us for sure.

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It didn't look good for Buster.

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But what does the data say?

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It looks pretty bad in here, huh?

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Like hell on Earth.

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But get this.

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Buster actually survived that blast.

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I know. Don't get me wrong. He is not walking away from this blast.

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No, no, no. He's legless below the knees.

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He has permanent hearing damage, if not almost total hearing loss.

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And permanent lung damage.

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He's not walking away, but he's not dead either.

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Although Buster may live to see another day,

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his injuries are way too awful for the A-Team, and he's not alone.

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Upon careful looking again and again at this high speed,

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I'm noticing that the blast pressure wave,

243
00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:15,000
which normally would be coming upward and outward in the symmetrical bubble,

244
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,000
is not doing that instead.

245
00:15:18,000 --> 00:15:24,000
It's starting out as two bubbles that are coming out underneath and to the side of the car,

246
00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,000
spreading out the energy coming off of this blast to the side.

247
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:33,000
That energy to the side spells bad news for the bystanders.

248
00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:36,000
At this point, you might be wondering how our bystanders have been holding up,

249
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:42,000
and I can tell you, our bystanders withstood a pressure wave of 90 psi, 90.

250
00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:44,000
That's lethal. They were dead.

251
00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:51,000
With death and destruction from shockwave and shrapnel, the control blast was catastrophic.

252
00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:59,000
But will going underground, as per the A-Team's technique, really make a difference?

253
00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:09,000
Back at the shop, Adam and Jamie's A-Team cannon...

254
00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:12,000
Three, two, one.

255
00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:15,000
...as so far, flunked.

256
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:18,000
But Adam knows why.

257
00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:24,000
What makes something leave something, like ammo leaving a barrel, is pressure behind the ammo.

258
00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:28,000
What we've got is ammo where pressure can't build up

259
00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,000
because there's almost as much space around the ammo as there is ammo.

260
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:34,000
That means the gas can get right by it.

261
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:39,000
This is the correct size hole from the clip and the correct size ammo for the clip.

262
00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,000
But I don't think we're going to get anything out of this.

263
00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:48,000
I think we need to build a little bit of a barrier behind this to create some corked pressure in there.

264
00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:52,000
So, Adam's altering the A-Team's design...

265
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:54,000
There we go.

266
00:16:54,000 --> 00:16:56,000
...to up the pressure.

267
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:57,000
Now, see that?

268
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:01,000
Much less space.

269
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:05,000
But will this now type fitting torpedo go ballistic?

270
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,000
Fire in three, two, one.

271
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,000
Yeah!

272
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,000
Boy, I'm glad I wasn't standing in front of that thing.

273
00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,000
It's another flat-out failure that bears no resemblance to the clip.

274
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,000
So to give the myth another lifeline, here's Jamie.

275
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:36,000
Along with propane, they had a tank of oxygen, just like this one here.

276
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:44,000
Now, oxygen is an aggressive oxidizer that I'm betting would make a far more energetic sort of a burn.

277
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:51,000
So, while we didn't see them use it, just for due diligence, we're going to try it.

278
00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:56,000
Like Adam before him, Jamie's going off-script.

279
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,000
Smells like oxygen.

280
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,000
No, it doesn't. It doesn't smell like anything.

281
00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:04,000
As this time, he adds pure oxygen to his propane party.

282
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:05,000
No.

283
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,000
And back goes the fuel line.

284
00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,000
Three, two, one.

285
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:22,000
And now, we're going to try it.

286
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:27,000
Oops.

287
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:35,000
Wow, well, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

288
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:41,000
I mean, I knew the introduction of pure oxygen in there would make a more energetic reaction,

289
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:45,000
but I didn't think it was going to blow up the whole barrel.

290
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,000
I mean, it was kind of scary.

291
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:52,000
But it does make me think that if I dial back the oxygen to just the right amount,

292
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:58,000
I should be able to find a sweet spot that shoots that wooden ammo out as pretty as you please.

293
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:04,000
So, with some running repairs on their log, better than new,

294
00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:09,000
and some better late than never safety shields, there we go.

295
00:19:09,000 --> 00:19:11,000
That makes me feel safer.

296
00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:16,000
It's all systems go to find out if there is a propane and oxygen mixture

297
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:20,000
that will fire their projectile but won't destroy their cannon.

298
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,000
Okay, I'm fueling.

299
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,000
Three, two, one.

300
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,000
Hey, that moved about a foot.

301
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:29,000
For each test.

302
00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:31,000
So, going to four seconds.

303
00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:35,000
The guys are altering the relative amounts of the two gases.

304
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:40,000
One thousand. Firing in three, two, one.

305
00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:43,000
We got it out! Woohoo!

306
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,000
Give me high five.

307
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:48,000
But after some early encouragement.

308
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,000
Three, two, one.

309
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,000
It's not long before a familiar pattern emerges.

310
00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,000
This one's for the money.

311
00:19:56,000 --> 00:20:00,000
Firing in three, two, one.

312
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:07,000
That was by far the most vigorous bang yet, and our projectile didn't move at all.

313
00:20:07,000 --> 00:20:14,000
Indeed, after two dozen concentration combinations, including a repeat of Jamie's Big Bang.

314
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,000
Three, two, one.

315
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:23,000
It's clear that no gas mixture has the pushing power to weaponize their wood.

316
00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,000
Our plan was good. Great even.

317
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:30,000
We methodically experimented with different air-fuel mixtures of propane and air,

318
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,000
and then we added pure oxygen.

319
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,000
We added a barrel block to the back of our projectiles.

320
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:39,000
We got breached cannons. We got loud cracks. We got bangs. We got fire.

321
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:46,000
Still, one thing we did not get was any projectiles leaving the barrel and traveling towards their opponents.

322
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:53,000
We have scientifically busted this device completely.

323
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:59,000
But here's the thing. I have to imagine that if you put Jamie and I in an abandoned lumber yard,

324
00:20:59,000 --> 00:21:02,000
that we would be able to come up with something that was effective.

325
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:03,000
Let's call it.

326
00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:04,000
Yeah.

327
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,000
Let's figure out another way to hurl wood at our opponents.

328
00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:29,000
Welcome back. Here's the scene. The A-team is stranded in a lumber yard.

329
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,000
The bad guys have gone away, but they'll be back in an hour.

330
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:39,000
Now, instead of wanting to escape or run away, the A-team builds an elaborate device to punish the bad guys when they return.

331
00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:44,000
Now, Jamie and I have already tested the method that they used in the show.

332
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,000
Three, two, one.

333
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,000
It totally didn't work.

334
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:58,000
But we've stranded ourselves in a lumber yard, and we are going to attempt to build our own device to punish the bad guys when they return.

335
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:00,000
So it'll be a pretty good show.

336
00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:07,000
The goal is simple. With one hour on the clock, can Adam and Jamie, using only the stuff they find,

337
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:13,000
build a weapon that can take out the bad guys by firing planks as projectiles?

338
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,000
Well, first up, they need a plan.

339
00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,000
So, shooting these is ammo.

340
00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:24,000
Yeah, I had some thoughts about an easier and more reliable way of doing this.

341
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:29,000
I'm thinking something like a pitching machine, where we get wheels spinning,

342
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:34,000
and we just feed our ammo into the wheel, and it kicks it out.

343
00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:36,000
We've got one on the...

344
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,000
There's a trailer over there.

345
00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:39,000
The trailer is beautiful.

346
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:41,000
And so somehow we spin that up, right?

347
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:43,000
That's going to be terrifying.

348
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:48,000
If we get that up to a nice speed, what do you think should we use a motor off of the compressor?

349
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:51,000
Well, I saw this wrench over here.

350
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,000
Dude.

351
00:22:56,000 --> 00:23:02,000
I think these suckers go like 5,000 RPM or something scary, which, you know...

352
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:06,000
When you smile, it makes me nervous.

353
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:12,000
Alright, so I guess the first thing is to make sure that that thing can actually power that wheel at a speed we like.

354
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:17,000
Then we'll figure out a way to make that structure amable and suitable.

355
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:18,000
Yeah.

356
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,000
Alright, I love this plan. Let's do it.

357
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:26,000
It's a promising plan that gets better when the torque wrench does fit the wheel hub.

358
00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,000
But will it spin it up to speed?

359
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:30,000
Okay, you ready?

360
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,000
I'm ready. Go for it.

361
00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:41,000
And that's just the start they were hoping for.

362
00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:45,000
I don't know how fast that was going, but...

363
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:48,000
That seems... I'm going to call that fast enough.

364
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:54,000
Being able to spin their wheel of misfortune fast is vital to launching their lumber.

365
00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,000
But will the rest of the plan come together so smoothly?

366
00:24:01,000 --> 00:24:03,000
In theory, this is like a pitching machine.

367
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,000
But remember, we're doing this with lumber.

368
00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:10,000
We're using various tools that were not made for this kind of thing.

369
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,000
And there are a lot of moving parts here.

370
00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:16,000
That's a lot of stuff that we have to integrate if it's going to actually work smoothly,

371
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,000
which is the whole point of this.

372
00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:21,000
While Jamie gets on with integrating the flywheel...

373
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:23,000
Alright, do it.

374
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,000
Adam's taking aim at the ammoth.

375
00:24:28,000 --> 00:24:33,000
Where he's trying to outgun the A-team by going semi-auto.

376
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:37,000
This is going to be awesome.

377
00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,000
I absolutely love an adore working like this.

378
00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:45,000
Seat of the pants on the fly, figuring stuff out with what's in front of you.

379
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,000
The solutions that come up with are weirdly elegant in those conditions of rise.

380
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:52,000
Yeah, baby!

381
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:54,000
Want to know how this works?

382
00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:01,000
The wheel sits right about here spinning very crazy fast in that direction.

383
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,000
This ammo box sits right about here.

384
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:11,000
When Jamie pulls the trigger, that's this lever, it feeds a piece of wood out.

385
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,000
Until that piece of wood contacts the spinning wheel.

386
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:21,000
The moment it does, the wheel grabs that piece of wood and hurls it at one of our bad guys.

387
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,000
Then Jamie pulls this back.

388
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:26,000
You see all the ammo drops down and he's ready for another one.

389
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:27,000
Bang!

390
00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:32,000
I think we could fire like 15 shots in maybe five or six seconds with this thing.

391
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,000
Alright, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.

392
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:43,000
Like Adam Hannibal Savage, howling mad Heinemann is also making progress.

393
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:44,000
There we go.

394
00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:47,000
He's aligned the wheel with the torque wrench.

395
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,000
And added some safety shielding.

396
00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:56,000
Angular momentum is enough at certain speeds to actually make this tire explode.

397
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,000
That's why I built this structure this way.

398
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:04,000
So as I'm behind it, firing it, I'll be protected by stuff in the event this actually takes up a lot of space.

399
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:06,000
This is going to work killer.

400
00:26:06,000 --> 00:26:07,000
I hope so.

401
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,000
With the bad guys less than 20 minutes away, there's no rest for the wicked.

402
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:18,000
After building the firing mechanism, the next task for me is to build the aiming mechanism.

403
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:23,000
And this is non-trivial because it's quite easy just to take a spinning disc and feed a piece of wood into it.

404
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:28,000
It's another thing entirely to be able to aim that both side to side and up and down.

405
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:29,000
That's great.

406
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:39,000
I kind of have to build essentially a wooden swing with a pivot in the middle of it to hold this entire like 60, 70 pound device that we're building.

407
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:41,000
This should work beautifully.

408
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:47,000
As a side note, I'd like to point out that we're putting all this together with some really quite basic tools.

409
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,000
Love making stuff like this.

410
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:53,000
You know, wood saws, some drills and screws and glue.

411
00:26:54,000 --> 00:27:00,000
Basically, we're using far less than what they showed in the actual A-Team episode.

412
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:04,000
With time running out.

413
00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,000
That's it.

414
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:06,000
Okay.

415
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:09,000
The mythbusters attach the wheel to the aimer.

416
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:10,000
Look, I'm pretty good.

417
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,000
Then the magazine to the wheel.

418
00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:15,000
Dude, it's almost perfectly balanced.

419
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:18,000
Almost like we knew what we were doing.

420
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,000
Almost like we knew what we were doing.

421
00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:24,000
And before the bad guys arrive, they could fire off one quick test.

422
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,000
That's terrifying to stand here.

423
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:33,000
Fire!

424
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:35,000
Three, two, one!

425
00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:42,000
That's what I'm talking about.

426
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,000
Hey!

427
00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,000
I hit the camera.

428
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:52,000
That is awesome.

429
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,000
Our machine is working beautifully.

430
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,000
It's a wonder to behold.

431
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,000
It is terrifying to be behind.

432
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:02,000
When it starts out, the wheel is slightly unbalanced.

433
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,000
It's kind of like...

434
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:07,000
And it settles in.

435
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:12,000
And then you pull the lever and bang, the piece of wood shoots out like 60 feet.

436
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,000
I hit the camera.

437
00:28:14,000 --> 00:28:15,000
It was beautiful.

438
00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:17,000
Three, two, one!

439
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:19,000
Shooting at over 50 miles an hour.

440
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:21,000
That is awesome.

441
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,000
Their forklift fire is the real deal.

442
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,000
But next, the ultimate test.

443
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:32,000
Will it take down the bad guys before it's too late?

444
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:43,000
Adam and Jamie escape from a maximum security stockade to an abandoned quarry.

445
00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:44,000
It is perfect.

446
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:48,000
Where their above ground control caused carnage.

447
00:28:51,000 --> 00:28:53,000
He's legless below the knees.

448
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:57,000
And if he didn't get help soon, he could even drown in his own blood.

449
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:02,000
All it's left for us to do now is to dig a sewer and try it again.

450
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:08,000
Yep, to put the A-teams' ammo to the test.

451
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,000
Next, the guys need a city sewer.

452
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:13,000
Nothing like digging a good trench.

453
00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:17,000
To see if the same blast, but just barely underground,

454
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:20,000
will be injury free for all.

455
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:23,000
Next, we put trench plates across here.

456
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,000
Yeah, you're spot on.

457
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:31,000
And we'll completely cover this except for where our manhole is going to be.

458
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,000
And boom, you got a sewer.

459
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:41,000
Believe it or not, this is actually the first time that we've ever used a trench plate for a trench.

460
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:45,000
This kind of operation, it looks like fun and it is.

461
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,000
It is also incredibly dangerous.

462
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:53,000
Any one of these plates could shift just a half inch and take off one of Jamie's fingers without even noticing.

463
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:54,000
Built up.

464
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,000
That's it.

465
00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:01,000
And it is this kind of operation that the two of us excel at in working with each other.

466
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,000
Because in order to do it safely, you not only have to move carefully,

467
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:08,000
but you really, it's best if the two people are on the same side.

468
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:10,000
Like a well oiled machine.

469
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:13,000
And frankly, when Jamie and I are doing something like this,

470
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:18,000
our brains are running on totally parallel tracks and it's a sheer pleasure to do it.

471
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,000
That looks beautiful.

472
00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,000
Yeah.

473
00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:26,000
I love it when a plan comes together.

474
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,000
Oh, shut up.

475
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:32,000
With the trench plates in place, the guys next,

476
00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:36,000
and our manhole, are going to be in the middle of the trench.

477
00:30:36,000 --> 00:30:39,000
In the middle of the trench, the guys next,

478
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:41,000
and up their manhole.

479
00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:43,000
Hello.

480
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,000
And after a quick sewer survey.

481
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,000
Oh, yeah.

482
00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,000
Looks great down here, man.

483
00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:51,000
Like a real sewer.

484
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,000
And it's nice and cool.

485
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:55,000
We should have lunch down there.

486
00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:57,000
That's a fabulous idea.

487
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:59,000
The great backfill can begin.

488
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,000
Not right there.

489
00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:03,000
That's your man in the shower.

490
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:07,000
And I'm going to be the first to know what you think of all of their sewer system.

491
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,000
At this point in the episode, you've probably entertained a few thoughts.

492
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:11,000
Among them things.

493
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:12,000
Wow.

494
00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,000
Jamie's pretty good with the excavator.

495
00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,000
I wonder if he had help.

496
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:20,000
But among your comments might be why are you guys leaving one whole end of your sewer system open?

497
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,000
And it involves replicating the circumstances of the myth.

498
00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:26,000
See, we're testing an explosion of dynamite in a sewer system.

499
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,000
Keyword, system.

500
00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,000
Sewers are part of a long set of catacombs running underneath the city.

501
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:36,000
And that's why we're leaving ours open.

502
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:41,000
With one end open, one end closed, and the top soon to be sealed shut.

503
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,000
Do it.

504
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,000
Their drain in a day is done.

505
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:53,000
That just leaves the rest of the experiment, starting with driver and car.

506
00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,000
Who drives with their legs crossed?

507
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:57,000
Only Buster.

508
00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:00,000
Next come the all-important PCB sensors.

509
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:04,000
We're using these sensors to determine whether or not Buster lives or dies in these explosive tests.

510
00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:08,000
But it's worth talking a little bit about how they work because it's pretty cool.

511
00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,000
Inside this sensor is a type of crystal called piezo.

512
00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:16,000
When you flex it or press on it, it generates a tiny amount of electricity that is very consistent.

513
00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,000
You can expose it to a blast pressure wave.

514
00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:24,000
It will generate a little amount of electricity that we can equate to the amount of pressure it receives.

515
00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:28,000
That directly tells us whether or not Buster could live or die.

516
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:29,000
Excuse me, Buster.

517
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,000
Pardon me. Excuse me. Thank you.

518
00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:33,000
Pardon me. Thank you, sir.

519
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:37,000
Thanks for the ride.

520
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:40,000
I'll call you when it's time to pick me up.

521
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:48,000
After that comes the dynamite, positioned millimeters below the manhole at the very uppermost point of their drain.

522
00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:52,000
So this is exactly what we see them do in the clip.

523
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:58,000
Nine sticks of dynamite off to the side a bit with the manhole cover on top of it.

524
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:00,000
There we go.

525
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,000
Three, two, one.

526
00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:09,000
The final piece of the puzzle is to position the car exactly as it was in the control test.

527
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,000
Keep coming and a little more.

528
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,000
Perfect.

529
00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,000
All that leaves is a prediction.

530
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:23,000
Now my impression is that the sewer is going to allow some of the blast pressure to escape down into that cavity.

531
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:32,000
But then on the other hand, we have that manhole cover, which is most likely going to turn into fragments because it's cast iron and that's brittle.

532
00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:38,000
And that may well hold on to the energy somewhat and direct it upward into the car.

533
00:33:38,000 --> 00:33:43,000
Where that puts Buster, it's anybody's guess. That's what we're going to find out.

534
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:48,000
Are you ready?

535
00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:49,000
Yeah.

536
00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,000
All right, I want to hook it up.

537
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,000
There's one. There's two.

538
00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:58,000
Counter-attempt.

539
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,000
All right.

540
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,000
Explosives in the manhole cover.

541
00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,000
In three, two, one.

542
00:34:10,000 --> 00:34:11,000
That did it.

543
00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:12,000
Wow.

544
00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:14,000
That was awesome.

545
00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:24,000
When the dust settles this time, it's clear that the car hasn't been torn apart.

546
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:31,000
We have yet to crunch the data. We have yet to look at high speed, but on the face of what I witnessed and what I can see here.

547
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:36,000
That held together better than I thought it would. That's for sure.

548
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:41,000
I feel like that was a fantastic comparative set of explosions.

549
00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:47,000
Second explosion. The dynamite in the sewer just as we saw in the A-Team,

550
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:50,000
dented the oil pan of this car but did not break through.

551
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,000
It looks like it didn't actually penetrate though.

552
00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:53,000
Wow.

553
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:59,000
My prediction, post-explosion, pre-datacrunch, is that our dude is totally fine.

554
00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:02,000
But we've got to check all that stuff out first.

555
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:05,000
Yep.

556
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:08,000
While initial impressions are good, it's all down to the data.

557
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:18,000
I've analyzed the data from the sewer-based explosion, and it's pretty interesting because the prior blast exposed Buster to 26 PSI.

558
00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:25,000
This time, with the sewer, he only experienced 9 PSI. That's less than half.

559
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:32,000
And that means that as opposed to ending up in the hospital with some serious injuries, this time he would have walked away.

560
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:36,000
A little unhappy and with some bruises, but he would have walked away.

561
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:42,000
So, Buster's only bruised. How about the bystanders?

562
00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:47,000
Last time, a lethal 90 PSI. This time, 11 PSI.

563
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:49,000
That's right! Isn't that cool?

564
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:55,000
Not only is the blast survivable for the guy inside the car, it's also for the bystanders by the side of the road.

565
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:58,000
I don't know, Doctor, but you might want to have that shoulder looked at.

566
00:35:58,000 --> 00:35:59,000
It looks kind of weird.

567
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:03,000
It's an astounding result.

568
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:13,000
Simply by placing the dynamite millimeters below their manhole, the shockwave takes out the car and the car alone.

569
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,000
This is really cool.

570
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:21,000
95% of the time, what you see in movies and television has no bearing on actual physics.

571
00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:31,000
So it is very funny to me to delve into a cheesy 1980s action show that I totally grew up on and find that their physics are sound.

572
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:39,000
That is, putting dynamite inside a manhole is a fine way of making a non-lethal explosion that will take out a car.

573
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:41,000
So how do you want to call this one?

574
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:44,000
Well, I think the A-team's plan was an excellent plan.

575
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:49,000
The difference between the above ground blast and the sewer blast is patently obvious.

576
00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:55,000
That is a survivable explosion. This one, less so. I'd say it's plausible.

577
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,000
Isn't that thing kind of getting disgusting by now?

578
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:03,000
It's totally disgusting. It's like chewing on a little tobacco soap sock. It's gross.

579
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:16,000
Alright, let's get out of here.

580
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:17,000
Where to, Colonel?

581
00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:19,000
Back to the lumberyard.

582
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:24,000
Yeah!

583
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:34,000
5, 3, 2, 1!

584
00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:43,000
Now, if Jamie and I are going to embark on building our own log shooter, we should really test it against some bad guys, don't you think?

585
00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:44,000
That's enough.

586
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:50,000
So I want to make a bad guy that pops up like one of those ducks at the amusement park.

587
00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:53,000
And I'm going to cut it out of this foam board.

588
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:54,000
Absolutely badass.

589
00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,000
That guy is going to be our first bad guy.

590
00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:58,000
Let's try it out. That's a stable state.

591
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:00,000
I think that'll work.

592
00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:18,000
In an abandoned lumberyard, it's time to play ball.

593
00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:25,000
Because the Mythbusters air-powered pitching machine is a great tool for the game.

594
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:32,000
The Mythbusters air-powered pitching machine is firing on all cylinders.

595
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:36,000
That is awesome, isn't it?

596
00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:42,000
Well, our cannon is ready.

597
00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:49,000
And by our best estimates, this thing ought to fire these chunks of wood at something between 50 and 75 miles per hour.

598
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,000
That is significant and dangerous.

599
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:57,000
And I want to point out that this is a purely improvised build by B and Jamie.

600
00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:00,000
So all of this design was here on site.

601
00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,000
A sheer pleasure is a classic Mythbusters build.

602
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:09,000
Like the A-Team, the guys improvised their weapon in just one hour.

603
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,000
But will it be able to hurt the henchmen?

604
00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:14,000
Last one.

605
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:16,000
Locked and loaded.

606
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,000
Time to find out.

607
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:20,000
What exactly are we testing?

608
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:26,000
Well, in the clip, the guys spend about one minute and ten seconds firing their wood weapon at the bad guys to drive them off.

609
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:27,000
Hit it!

610
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:29,000
Yep. Let's do it.

611
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:38,000
For us, given that we've busted the tree cannon approach entirely, we intend to test out our own firing mechanism.

612
00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:43,000
Both in terms of accuracy, quickness to fire, and the time it takes to take out the bad guys.

613
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:48,000
Outside the double doors, there are seven bad guys.

614
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:52,000
Each ready to pop up just where they did in the A-Team scene.

615
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:54,000
It's showtime!

616
00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:00,000
But can Jamie take them down in just 70 seconds?

617
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,000
It's a perfect start.

618
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:13,000
As Jamie takes out pop-ups one and two with shots straight to the head.

619
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:15,000
Yeah!

620
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:20,000
And from there, well, let's roll an A-Team montage.

621
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:25,000
Yeah!

622
00:40:28,000 --> 00:40:30,000
Oh! No blood!

623
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:32,000
Oh!

624
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:39,000
Yes! One more! Here's another one! Last one!

625
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:46,000
Yeah!

626
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:59,000
One minute, five seconds! That was awesome! I love when a plan comes together!

627
00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:07,000
We had our targets rigged so that when I hit one, another one would pop up in its place.

628
00:41:07,000 --> 00:41:12,000
I was able to get them one after the other until I had to get the farthest guy out.

629
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:18,000
The thing is, the further the range, the more that these sticks start to tumble and do unpredictable things.

630
00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,000
But even though I took every stick of ammo I had...

631
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:24,000
Yeah!

632
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:29,000
In the end, I got every single guy. The rig worked like a charm.

633
00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:31,000
Yeah!

634
00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:34,000
Our task was pretty straightforward.

635
00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:38,000
Replicate a clip from the A-Team to Mythbusters style.

636
00:41:38,000 --> 00:41:41,000
Same ammo, completely new construction.

637
00:41:41,000 --> 00:41:44,000
We used a spinning wheel this time and an air wrench.

638
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:45,000
Yeah!

639
00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:48,000
And guess what? It worked magnificently.

640
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,000
It worked exactly like you saw in the clip. It was awesome.

641
00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:59,000
Firing at 60 miles an hour with near perfect pitch, their rig was the real deal.

642
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:04,000
And having scratch-built it in under an hour using junk lying around the lumber yard,

643
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:09,000
you might say that the Mythbusters have out-18'd the A-Team.

644
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:13,000
Hey A-Team, if you need our help again, you know where to find us.