Mythbusters 2016 - FINAL SEASON!

[Christopher]

Something with a fridge.

Good one. Now, that would've been a hell of a way for Buster to go out...

Rather than being held back to advertise the Science Channel reruns, I suspect that the Duct Tape episode was held back because Discovery was only willing to pay for the initially contracted episodes. It was that or the Reunion Special, and they chose the Reunion Special.

But there were only 12 episodes including the duct tape one. Would Discovery have picked up only 11 episodes? That seems a bit of an odd number, in both senses.

On my DVR it looks to me like the Science Channel reunion special is the same one that aired on Discovery yesterday.

My DVR schedule and the Zap2It schedule list it as the "Science Channel Reunion" as opposed to just "Reunion." Maybe it's the same thing but edited a little differently (for one thing, leaving out the promo for the duct tape episode).

Except it's not really moving, it's been there for at least a couple of years.

Well, sure, TSC has been running the show for quite a few years, but what they touted last night was that the entire series back catalog was "moving" to TSC. Maybe that just means Discovery won't have it anymore, but maybe there were some seasons that TSC didn't have yet.

 

[publiusr]

I know they've done it three times, but I half expected (read: hoped) they'd attempt the JATO/RATO car myth one last time, this time finally replicating the results described in the myth and "bookending" the series.Sincerely,

Bill

Leave that for the folks on aircraft carriers--and a citroen

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Ooh, ooh, I have one -- The common TV/movie myth that you can protect computers and electronics from EMP just by turning them off. In fact, the EMP itself induces a current in conductive materials, so they'll still be burned out even if they're powered down. You need electronics that are properly hardened (shielded) against EMP.

As far as nukes are concerned--they might travel back to the DPRK with Rodman

I think a simple faraday cage would protect some electronics. Yet some modern cars are fried by lightning strikes. It isn't the rubber tires, the the body of the car. As we move to composites--that may be problematic. I have seen a facility that zaps cars and small planes with artificial lightning. I have also seen wreckage of light planes torn apart by storms.

But it isn't something they can build on their own--which seemed key. I think they still need to do a special once and awhile still.

Lastly--we did see a little science on last night after all, Chris.

You remember how they supermanned Buster into the wall. Notice he had a gelatin fist.

I think they might have been trying to experiment with sonoluminescence.

If you will remember--there was a flash of light as that fist hit the wall. I don't think it was possible that that was a spark.

Perhaps Mechanoluminescence:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanoluminescence

 

[Christopher]

As far as nukes are concerned--they might travel back to the DPRK with Rodman

I don't know what that means. I know DPRK is North Korea, but I don't know who Rodman is in this context.

But it isn't something they can build on their own--which seemed key.

No, they often went to pre-existing facilities -- NASA wind tunnels and vacuum chambers, that nifty lightning-generator place they used a couple of times, hospital MRIs and other machines, supersonic jets they got to ride in, etc.

I think they still need to do a special once and awhile still.

That would be nice.

Lastly--we did see a little science on last night after all, Chris.

You remember how they supermanned Buster into the wall. Notice he had a gelatin fist.

I think they might have been trying to experiment with sonoluminescence.

If you will remember--there was a flash of light as that fist hit the wall. I don't think it was possible that that was a spark.

Doesn't count as science if they don't convey it to the audience.

Also, look closely at the high speed: Buster's gelatin fist fell off before he reached the wall. There's just the stump of his wrist there. The fist probably tore loose from the initial acceleration of the rockets. So it had no bearing on the flash of light we saw.

Anyway, what happened to Buster was the same thing that happened to that car some years back when they used the rocket sled to slam a wall into it -- they both just disintegrated. At those velocities, the kinetic energy of impact was so much greater than the interatomic bonding energy holding their particles together that the bonds effectively didn't count, and they just behaved like loose clouds of molecules. They just splashed apart on impact. They were pulverized and/or vaporized. And with all that impact energy, there was no doubt a lot of heat generated as well. And heat plus a cloud of dust/vapor often equals explosion, like in a grain silo explosion or the infamous creamer cannon experiment that scared Kari, Grant, and Tory so much. That was probably the source of the flash.

 

[Christopher]

The duct tape special on The Science Channel tonight was a more effective sendoff for the series than the sound and fury of the "Grand Finale." Duct tape as a theme was a good note to end on because of its long history with the series and the way it -- heh heh -- ties it all together. And they actually did interesting things with it, things that had some science and engineering behind them. It was nice to see another tow-rope car crash test -- I don't think we've seen one of those for a while. And finishing off with Buster (or an incarnation of him) actually functioning as a crash test dummy was a nice way to wrap that up too.

Speaking of wrapping up, it's an intriguing result that the full-on taping to the seat actually backfired because it was too rigid and transmitted too much force to Buster. Nice bit of physics there, an illustration of the way seatbelts and airbags work by having enough give to decelerate you safely. I would've liked to see them try duct-tape airbags, though. Anyway, I think this is one of the few times that they've busted a duct-tape myth rather than finding it plausible or confirmed.

The trebuchet build was good too. Trebuchets are always fun. And it was nice to watch Adam and Jamie's engineering minds at work and the way they handled the physics and engineering of the build. It's impressive how well the trebuchet worked for something lashed together with tape. Although it seems its range wasn't more than a couple of hundred feet.

The reunion special on TSC does look like it's the same as the one from last night, so I'm skipping it.

 

[Push The Button]

I've run hot and cold on MB over the years, but I am going to miss it. Fortunately, perhaps, there are many many episodes that I have never seen, so those will essentially be new for me when I do catch them on TSC someday.

 

[Forbin]

I agree that the grand finale was nothing but a collection of spectacular stunts. Fun to watch, but the only scientific value at all was being able to study a blast at 50,000 fps.

I guess I'll miss the "lost episode" duct tape special, since I didn't realize it was on yesterday.

 

[Redfern]

I know it doesn't tie into this series in any way, but I keep "hearing" the closing theme, "The Lonely Man" from the TV version of "The incredible Hulk" in my head.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Captain Crow]

I thought it was a decent way to go out.

I'm a little curious about those complaining about them not doing proper experiments. Are you folks not familiar with symbolism? Everything they did was symbolic and can be linked to a saying. Jamie even points out one of the things they're doing is symbolic.

Blowing up the RV for the super high speed camera. (Starting with a bang)
Buster on the rocket sled. (Saying goodbye to an old friend)
Driving the truck wedge though some of their old experiment props. (Taking a trip through memory lane)
Blowing up the cement truck. (Ending with a bang)

 

[Christopher]

I'm a little curious about those complaining about them not doing proper experiments. Are you folks not familiar with symbolism? Everything they did was symbolic and can be linked to a saying. Jamie even points out one of the things they're doing is symbolic.

There's no need to be insulting. Of course I understand that they chose a symbolic ending -- but I disagree with that choice, because I would've preferred something more substantial, something that celebrated the substance of Mythbusters rather than superficial spectacle and symbolism.

 

[Forbin]

Looks like the duct tape show is on demand. We'll watch one last new Mythbusters tonight!
This kinda reminds me of the last DVD in the Kung Fu boxed set, which is apparently in air-date order. There was actually a 3-episode finale story filmed, where Cane gets closure on his quest for his brother. In the last moment, he gives a final, respectful bow. Aaaand then there are a couple more random episodes. :/

 

[intrinsical]

Frankly, I can think of no myth that would be worthy enough for a grand finale. So I for one thought it was a fitting grand finale despite no myths being tested. It was a good send-off.

 

[Forbin]

Caught the lost duct-tape episode. Actual science!
Okay, all done now. No more.

 

[publiusr]

Now I don't have any scheduling conflicts with MeTV saturday night--since there is nothing on the Discovery Channel worth watching that night.

 

[Forbin]

There's nothing on Discovery worth watching at all now.

 

[Christopher]

Now that Mythbusters is gone, there's nothing worth watching on Discovery, period. It has now lost its last semblance of the educational channel it once was.

 

[Push The Button]

Now that Mythbusters is gone, there's nothing worth watching on Discovery, period. It has now lost its last semblance of the educational channel it once was.

Discovery's downhill slide began with shows like Monster Garage and American Chopper. Not that there was anything wrong with those shows, I used to watch them myself, but they really didn't seem to fit with Discovery's original mission.

 

[Christopher]

The problem with educational channels on commercial TV is that they have to be profitable just like any other show, so they end up pandering more and more to majority tastes, which generally means getting dumbed down and more sensational. If BS pseudoscience about UFOs and Bigfoot gets you better ratings than honest, accurate educational programming, if staged and fraudulent "reality"-TV docudramas draw in more viewers than honest reporting, then education and truth get tossed out the window in the name of profit. Which is why we need public television so badly. (And it's not just science programming. PBS and NPR are the only places left where you can get competent, trustworthy broadcast journalism in the US.)

Even Mythbusters suffered from this. I've lamented before how the attention to the experimental detail and scientific content has diminished over the years in favor of constant explosions and spectacle, and how they've had to do crossover specials with other Discovery shows -- which wasn't so bad when it was something like Shark Week or even that storm-chasing thing, since there was some legitimate science to be done there, but reached its nadir when they did that crossover with the sleazy and fraudulent Moonshiners show. Going along with a scam like that show -- its pretense that it was documenting actual events, even though it's obvious that actual lawbreakers would not allow themselves to be shown committing crimes on camera and would quickly be shut down if they were -- was anathema to everything Mythbusters was supposed to stand for. In some ways, I'm glad the show has ended, since it no longer has to suffer from being on Discovery.

 

[Nomad]

This story appeared on April 1, but apparently it's real, since there's an application on the science channel website. So, why cancel the show just to bring it back with a new cast?

 

[Christopher]

This story appeared on April 1, but apparently it's real, since there's an application on the science channel website. So, why cancel the show just to bring it back with a new cast?

Well, for one thing, the original show was on Discovery while this is on The Science Channel. There have been other cases where one network has canceled a show and another has revived it.

 

[intrinsical]

This begs the question of who now owns the Mythbusters brand? Looks like its gone to The Science Channel, which is a pity because I was hoping Adam could still bust some small myths on his youtube channel.