discovery channel

Discovery Channel crashes 727 to, um, see what happens

It is always a little frightening to see a plane plummet towards Earth, especially if you're often forced to travel in one.

What might it have looked like for those who, last Friday, watched a 727 crashing in the Mexican desert -- with the full knowledge and co-operation of the pilot?

I am grateful to the Daily Mail for making my Monday so much more exciting with this information.

According to a Discovery Channel press release, this was done in the service of "an unprecedented international television documentary for Discovery Channel, Channel 4 in the UK, plus Pro … Read more

With 'Unchained Reaction,' the MythBusters go Rube Goldberg

For years, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman were known for one thing: being the "MythBusters."

But now, the two have launched a new show, Discovery Channel's "Unchained Reaction," "a new six-part series that pits two teams of varying backgrounds against each other to build an elaborate chain-reaction contraption."

Think giant Rube Goldberg machines--balls falling and knocking things into other things. Seesaws going up and throwing things into the air, each step in the process impacting the next, with each team vying to build the most impressive contraption in five tension-packed days. The … Read more

The 404 875: Where we jump the Shark Week (podcast)

It's Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, so The 404 wants to remind everyone to stay safe when you're playing in open waters. Joey returns as a substitute for Jeff, and today we're chatting about a kid who changed his name to Emperor Spiderman Gandalf Wolverine Skywalker Optimus Prime Goku Sonic Xavier Ryu Cloud Superman HeMan Batman Thrash.

In other news, Boston schools are testing a class on Facebook breakup etiquette, GQ's list of the worst-dressed nerds, a pregnancy status addition to Facebook, and a bite counter that has a lot in common with the Shake Weight.

The 404 Digest for Episode 875

Dynamic duo take superhero names. Boston-area schools teach 200 teenagers Facebook breakup etiquette. Bite Counter helps you lose weight by keeping track of every bite you take. Mark Zuckerberg beats Steve Jobs for worst-dressed geek. Facebook adds pregnancy status.

Episode 875 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The 'MythBusters' discuss their top 25 moments

On June 17, 1985, a media entrepreneur named John Hendricks took a chance on his dream, and launched what has become the largest nonfiction media company in the world, the Discovery Channel.

Amazingly, that means that the channel will turn 25 years old on Thursday, and several of the network's shows are celebrating the anniversary by running special episodes.

For "MythBusters," one of the network's top-rated shows, that meant the chance to put together an episode touting its five hosts' top 25 favorite moments. Since its debut, there have been 191 "MythBusters" episodes featuring … Read more

Tale of two versions of 'Life' on Blu-ray

In case you missed it, the new four-disc Blu-ray of the BBC's "Life" series hit stores on June 1. Home theater aficionados have been fans of BBC's earlier nature documentary, "Planet Earth," and the "Life" series quickly climbed the charts at Amazon. The only problem is that there are two versions of the Blu-ray edition out there--one narrated by British naturalist David Attenborough, the other by Oprah Winfrey--and a lot of people don't think that's cool.

The Attenborough version is the original as it first appeared on the BBC, while the Winfrey version aired on the Discovery Channel. For some reason--and we're not sure why--the resolution of the Winfrey Blu-ray is 1080i, while the Attenborough version is 1080p.

While the Winfrey version has a few extras that the Attenborough version doesn't have, video sticklers are naturally going to gravitate toward the 1080p version, and "Life" purists clearly prefer the original narration by Attenborough, which costs two bucks more.

In fact, Oprah's getting a rather rough ride in the Amazon user reviews section, where the vast majority of reviewers have doled out one-star ratings. (The 1080i vs. 1080p issue isn't mentioned much.)

"This version is a COMPLETE waste of time and an utter ripoff," writes REAL Alaskan. "What will Discovery think of next? Hiring 'Shoot Em From Choppers! Drill Baby Drill!' Sarah Palin to do a documentary about the natural wonders of Alaska? UNBELIEVABLY POOR MARKETING!"

Another commenter notes: "Do not buy this version. That's it plain and simple. Go get the original David Attenborough-narrated version. Oprah makes this 'Americanized' version totally unwatchable."

… Read more

'MythBusters' ready to storm fall TV season

SAN FRANCISCO--For some of the nearly 100,000 followers of "MythBusters" star Adam Savage's Twitter feed, communicating with him has proven to be more than just your average back-and-forth. For some, it's been a way to submit ideas that he and his Discovery Channel show costars have used for actual episodes.

On October 7, Discovery will begin airing its fall collection of new "MythBusters" episodes, and Savage said that he and costar Jamie Hyneman have taken at least four ideas that have come directly from Twitter users and implemented them on the show.

Among … Read more

Discovery's 'Prototype This' preps for debut

If you're a fan of things like MythBusters, Make magazine, Burning Man, the do-it-yourself movement and the like, you are probably going to love Prototype This

The new TV show, which debuts tonight at 10 p.m. on Discovery Channel, is a celebration of what intelligent, creative, and slightly crazy people can make when given freedom, expert help, and a bit of a budget.

The basic theme of Prototype This is that the four hosts, Terry Sandin, Zoz Brooks, Mike North, and Joe Grand take their combined skills and use each episode to conceive of and craft some entirely … Read more

'MythBusters' co-host backpedals on RFID kerfuffle

This post was updated at 1:50 p.m. PDT to correct the spelling of Tory Belleci's name.

MythBusters co-host Adam Savage is stepping back from public comments suggesting that legal counsel from several credit card companies led the Discovery Channel to pull the plug on an episode dedicated to security holes in RFID.

At the Last HOPE conference in New York in July, Savage told a crowd of several thousand people that his theory on why MythBusters had not gone forward with a planned episode on RFID (radio frequency identification) hackability was that on a conference call to … Read more

Did corporate lawyers put kibosh on 'Mythbusters' RFID episode?

Update (Wednesday, 10:58 a.m.): This story now has a link to a new post on this with a statement from MythBusters co-host Adam Savage.

One of the great things about the Discovery Channel show, Mythbusters is that it confronts the realities behind some of the most interesting phenomenons and technologies around.

That's why, reported the Consumerist blog, at a recent conference--it's not clear which one--Mythbusters co-host Adam Savage was asked why the show hasn't tackled the technology behind the security limitations of RFID.

His eyes lighting up at the chance to talk about something that … Read more