mythbusters

'Don't try this at home:' MythBusters take their act on tour

CUPERTINO, Calif.--As Adam Savage walked onto the stage alongside a battered old water heater, the crowd of several thousand people erupted in a loud ovation. They weren't cheering for the famous co-host of "MythBusters."

"Only at a MythBusters show will a busted water heater get a round of applause," Savage said, grinning.

If you're reading this, there's a good chance you know why the audience was revved up by the appearance of something as prosaic as a water heater. But for the uninitiated, during a 2007 episode of Discovery Channel's hit … Read more

The 'Mythbusters' cannonball run as seen on a map

While some were still dazed by the news that a cannonball could still endanger life in this era of Kalashnikovs and stealth bombers, others were re-plotting its course.

Should have spent the last 24 hours hiding from errant missiles, you might have missed that a cannonball fired in the name of science by the folks from "Mythbusters," mythed its target and flew into a suburban house and then a minivan.

No one was hurt. But Matt Pressnall, a tech consultant from Seattle, decided to dramatize the course of the cannonball in order get a sense of perspective.

So, … Read more

The 404 961: Where we've got a Twitch in our eye (podcast)

There's plenty of live video broadcasting platforms to choose on the Web these days, but today we're chatting with one of the pioneers.

Justin Kan is one of the co-founders of Justin.TV, and he drops by our studio today for a full episode about the origins of life streaming and how the site paved the road to Justin's new project for live video gaming, TwitchTV.

We'll also talk to Justin about his participation in Y Combinator, a start-up incubator that helps green entrepreneurs through the first three months of genesis.

The boot camp gives founders the seed funding they need for general living expenses, allowing them to focus on the business idea. YC also guides them through the media pitching process and how to grab the attention of venture capitalists and seed investors.

Some of the headline-grabbing companies to grow from Y Combinator include Scribd, Loopt, Grubwithus, and Justin.TV itself.

Tune in to hear about how TwitchTV is bringing competitive gaming to a much larger audience, not to mention a few tips on what it takes to earn a spot in the next Y Combinator batch!… Read more

'Mythbusters' cannonball busts through house

I wonder which member of the "Mythbusters" production team was told to go to a nice suburban California house and ask: "Can we have our cannonball back, please?"

You see, it seems as if there was a slight miscalculation on the part of the science-meets-stunts show when it fired a cannonball on a bomb disposal range in Dublin, Calif., yesterday.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the projectile was supposed to hit some rather large trash cans filled with water before piercing a wall.

Strangely, it missed the trash cans, tore through a cinder-block wall, bounced … Read more

Mythbuster developing vehicle armor for military

You're one-half the brains behind a hit TV show, you've developed special effects for Hollywood for years, and you appear on T-shirts and are known as a positive nerd role model. Great, but what do you do with your spare time?

If you're Jamie Hyneman of the show "Mythbusters," you put your formidable brain power to use helping the U.S. military come up with next-generation lightweight vehicle armor, that's what.

And he's doing just that, reportedly coordinating with the Office of Naval Research to help develop the armor to be used on vehicles in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hyneman's task is to come up with an ultra-lightweight armor that won't encumber vehicles, but can still withstand shrapnel and blast damage from improvised explosive devices while protecting those inside the vehicle. … Read more

Mythbusters' Savage: I got past TSA with razor blades

Many of you will be flying today. You will be going to see those to whom you feel closest, or, indeed, most indifferent, in order to give thanks for your feelings.

You will also have to enjoy the watchful eyes, hands and smiles of the TSA inspectorate.

You may not find it entirely comfortable. However, like "Mythbusters" presenter Adam Savage, in the rush to leave the house, you may have forgotten that you have a couple of 12-inch razor blades secreted about your person.

Savage, in the highly entertaining monologue that I have embedded, describes how earlier this … Read more

No myth: Obama appearing on 'Mythbusters'

He won't be wearing a beret or a T-shirt that says "I know, I know, Jamie is always right," but President Obama will be making a guest appearance on the hit Discovery Channel show "Mythbusters."

In a release today, the Discovery Channel touted the segment--which the president and "Mythbusters" hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage taped on July 27--that will air during the December 8 episode of the show. The episode is called "Archimedes Solar Ray," and during his segment, the president challenged Hyneman and Savage "to revisit an ancient … Read more

The 404 554: Where Justin and Wilson take a trip to the Jersey Shore (podcast)

Look for me and Wilson at an Ed Hardy store near you! We might just pop up on your television set too, if all goes well with a casting call in L.A. asking for Asian-Americans to audition for a reality show based on "Jersey Shore" and "The Hills."

It's rumored to be set in Koreatown, and we're not putting much faith in the series based on the fact that Jin and this guy are the only two Asians on TV right now. That being said, an Asian-American reality television show would be a real gag...maybe their first order of business will be to help Snookie and the Situation get that elusive GED.

Artist Jack White of The White Stripes has a few words of advice for aspiring musicians, not the least of which is to put down the plastic guitars and drums and learn how to play a real instrument.

While we completely agree with Mr. White that the fad has turned living rooms across the country into nurseries, there's still an element of self-appointed stardom that goes along with the Guitar Heroes and Rock Bands of the world, and it doesn't look like it's going away any time soon.

That being said, real musicians have an opportunity to show off their recording skills in our ongoing The Audiophillie Music Awards for Excellence in Recorded Sound, so get going and you could win a set of either Monster Turbine Pro Gold ($299) or Pro Copper ($399) headphones.

We're excited about a new pilot for a show called "Immersion" that tests video game concepts out in the real world. One real-world scenario is the idea of a third person steering like you'd see in a driving game. To put it to the test, the crew mounted a camera on a long arm behind a car and put a monitor in front of the driver. To make things more "video game realistic," they also blacked out all the windows in the car. It's a hilarious and creative premise, and we're looking forward to an episode where they compare GTA to real life.

The second half of the show is all about a list of the eight most irritating types of gadget owners. Characters like "The Bluetooth Warrior" and the "Super Tech Spec Guy" are universal, but we really spend the whole time complaining about our own personal tech pet peeves, like our friends who are "too cool" to get on Facebook or refuse to own a cell phone in order to "reduce their carbon footprint."

And don't think we've forgotten about the main perpetrators of tech-induced fury: our PARENTS! Share in the horror of showing your father how to import a CD in iTunes, teaching a grandparent to cut and paste, and forcing your mother to use a Roomba.

EPISODE 554 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Have mythbusters proven the Turin Shroud is fake?

If you were brought up a Catholic, as a child, you were taught about the power of mysteries.

One mystery that I used to always find perplexing was how the face of Jesus Christ was superimposed on the Turin Shroud, a burial cloth that measures 14 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 7 inches.

Somehow, the face looked a little too much like the Jesus in all the religious pictures. It all seemed a little too perfect. And, as one grew up, one began to learn that nothing was quite that perfect. Not even priests.

Now an Italian scientist and … 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