21 myths debunked by the MythBusters

Mythbusters is an American non-fiction television show on the Discovery Channel. The show is hosted by visual effects specialists Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, who use their skills and experience to experimentally test a variety of tales, rumors, urban legends and other creations of popular culture.

(Total 21 photos)

1 Sharks Are Evolutionary Killing Machines

MythBusters has tested a huge number of shark-related myths. For example, that they can turn the boat over and make a hole in the bottom of the vessel (not confirmed), that they can smell one drop of blood in the whole pool (only true if it is a fish, not a person), that if you pretend to be dead, the shark will not become attack (sometimes works), and that sharks have reached the pinnacle of evolutionary development and have remained unchanged for 400 million years (actually, about 100 million years).

2. It is impossible to swallow a whole spoonful of ground cinnamon.

The Mythbusters did this experiment, and it was a success. But just in case you want to repeat it, keep in mind that it's still unsafe. And why?

3. Echo does not respond to duck quacks

Answers, although it is difficult to hear. The echo of a quacking duck is very similar to the original sound. Therefore, it is difficult for a person to determine when the quacking itself ends and the echo from it begins.

4. It is possible to fool the alcohol-respiratory tube by chewing onions or swallowing mouthwashes.

The destroyers tried many folk remedies to trick the machine that detects the presence of alcohol vapor in the driver's breath, and all of them were ineffective. In addition, do not forget that there is also a blood test.

5. You can survive falling from a great height into the water, if you throw a hammer in front of you - it will “break” the surface tension

Checked. It will not work.

6. You can kill a person by throwing a one cent coin from the roof of the Empire State Building (102 floors, 381 m)

Nothing like this. The coin is too small and its density is not enough for a lethal outcome. The Destroyers even tried shooting the coin upwards with the rifle, and it still didn't fall fast enough to kill anyone.

7. A tooth with a filling can receive radio signals

Pure myth.

8. Using a mobile phone while refueling a car can cause an explosion.

An explosion during refueling can occur due to the large amount of combustible vapors in the air and electrostatic charge - but the phone has nothing to do with it. Static discharge can occur when you get into or out of a car.

9. If a playing card is thrown fast enough, it can cut through human skin.

The most skilled playing card thrower on the MythBusters team was able to achieve a flight speed of 40 km/h. Such a card did not cause any damage to the skin. Then they invented a machine that ejected cards at a speed of 250 km/h, but this speed was also not enough to cut through human skin.

10. Quicksand sucks a person in until he is completely inside and dies.

This myth was born thanks to cinema and our imagination. The density of real quicksand is higher than the density of water. And the higher the density, the easier it is to stay on the surface. So you will just "float" on the surface and that's it.

11. If you open an umbrella while falling from a great height, the fall will slow down and the chances of survival will increase.

Only in cartoons, unfortunately. The rate of fall, if reduced, is not significant at all.

12. You can survive an elevator crash by jumping just before it hits the ground.

It seems logical, but in reality it is almost impossible to choose the right moment. But even if you succeeded, the speed of the elevator falling is so high that you would immediately crash on the roof of the car.

13. A firefighting helicopter can suck up a scuba diver while collecting water from a body of water and dump him at the scene of a fire.

Complete nonsense.

14. You can disable a car by pouring sugar into the gas tank.

Not true. During the experiment, the Destroyer's car drove even better than before from the addition of sugar.

15. Of all the spiders, the centipede spiders have the strongest poison. They are harmless to humans only because they cannot bite through human skin.

urban legend

16. If you keep your toothbrush in a cup by the sink, then germs from the toilet will settle on it - they rise into the air and fly through the bathroom every time you press the flush.

This claim has not been fully refuted. And that it was confirmed, too, can not be said.

The fact is that in all the tested samples, including the control ones, fecal bacteria were indeed found. However, their number in all cases was too small to be dangerous. Experts have confirmed that it is almost impossible to completely get rid of such bacteria.

17. Goldfish are unable to remember anything for more than three seconds.

It's not true, during the experiment, the Destroyers team trained the fish to bypass the obstacle under water, and even a month later the fish remembered it.

18. Food that has fallen on the floor can be eaten if you pick it up within five seconds.

In fact, it doesn't matter if the food has been on the floor for five seconds or five minutes - the amount of filth on the food in both cases will be the same.

19. There was no moon landing

Those who believe that Neil Armstrong has never been to the moon make a number of arguments that have been refuted by the Ravagers: that one of Armstrong's photographs should not be visible (not true, the lighting on the Moon is not the same as on Earth), that the flag in airless space cannot float (maybe), that an astronaut's footprint would not be left on the surface (not true), and that a video could be made on Earth by simply asking an astronaut to jump and spinning the film in slow motion (funny, but not true).

20. When leaving a room for a short time, it is more economical to leave the light on than to turn it off and then on again

The destroyers managed to install the following:

It takes as much energy to turn on the light as it burns out in less than a second when the light is on (except for fluorescent lamps, which take enough energy to turn on the light to burn for 23 seconds). Moreover: turning the light on and off has almost no effect on the life of the light bulb itself. So it's much more economical to turn off the lights, even if you leave the room for a few minutes.

21. You can stay underwater long enough by breathing air from a sunken car tire.

Only in movies. During the experiment, the tester failed to extract enough air from the punctured tire.