From Wikipedia:
The hurricane window myth sounds interesting.
The rest: Feh. Could be interesting though.
The hurricane window myth sounds interesting.
The rest: Feh. Could be interesting though.
Mythbusters - "Hurricane Windows"
- Thread starter Trekker4747
- Start date
Cool -- another week without the overused Mythbusters tropes of high explosives, automobiles, or alcohol, yet with plenty of potential for destruction.
I like it that they're testing the trope of liquid nitrogen = instant shattering. It's been done in countless movies and shows, and I'm interested to see what really happens. I very much doubt five seconds will be sufficient to freeze an entire head. (Except I'm afraid they'll probably use a pig head or something, and that's rather icky.)
I like it that they're testing the trope of liquid nitrogen = instant shattering. It's been done in countless movies and shows, and I'm interested to see what really happens. I very much doubt five seconds will be sufficient to freeze an entire head. (Except I'm afraid they'll probably use a pig head or something, and that's rather icky.)
The UK had this one a few weeks ago, but don't worry I won't spoil it!
I can't see how opening your windows during a hurricane could possibly do any LESS damage than keeping them closed. You'd be letting in not only wind, but water and debris, it'd be an horrendous mess. A better solution might be for people to stop building wooden or otherwise relatively light and fragile houses in flood/storm prone areas.
Hurricane Windows: As a Midwesterner, I learned this myth as something you should do in the event of a tornado rather than a hurricane, and I was taught that it was not so much about wind per se as about equalizing the interior and exterior pressure, so that when the outside pressure underwent a massive decrease, the inside pressure would be able to escape rather than bursting the house or something. I think I eventually learned that was a myth too.
That Medusa gizmo is rather striking. I didn't know such a thing existed. I guess there are wind tunnels that can produce more powerful winds, but this one's outdoors and portable.
Frozen Head: I called it -- they used pig heads. Fortunately, though, they left it to the end and didn't show it too graphically.
Though I found the use of real human skulls in the ballistics-gel heads almost as creepy. I mean, those used to be parts of people. Smashing them like that seems disrespectful.
The silicone head mold was interesting, though it was rough on poor Kari. I'm a bit surprised she went through with it. I mean, what if her water had broken while she had this thing covering her head and couldn't talk and could barely breathe?
And didn't they already make a mold of her head a season or two ago? I think it was in the episode of bull myths? Maybe the mold didn't survive?
I'm not surprised at the results. Five seconds was way too short, and even with the full freeze, it's not like the body turns completely to ice the way it's depicted in fiction; the connective tissues are still there. And of course the bones are too.
Frozen Tree: Oh, I should've known the Build Team would find an excuse to use explosives after all. At least it was a small explosion, and the tree held up to it surprisingly well.
The whole thing seems like kind of a cheat, though; I mean, if they had an arborist right there on hand, then they must've talked to her beforehand and should've already known that pine trees are adapted to freeze without serious damage. And I'm surprised that, given that fact, they didn't repeat the experiment with a tree from more tropical climes, something that isn't evolved to be freeze-proof.
So pretty much a clean sweep this week -- every myth was busted.
That Medusa gizmo is rather striking. I didn't know such a thing existed. I guess there are wind tunnels that can produce more powerful winds, but this one's outdoors and portable.
Frozen Head: I called it -- they used pig heads. Fortunately, though, they left it to the end and didn't show it too graphically.
Though I found the use of real human skulls in the ballistics-gel heads almost as creepy. I mean, those used to be parts of people. Smashing them like that seems disrespectful.
The silicone head mold was interesting, though it was rough on poor Kari. I'm a bit surprised she went through with it. I mean, what if her water had broken while she had this thing covering her head and couldn't talk and could barely breathe?
And didn't they already make a mold of her head a season or two ago? I think it was in the episode of bull myths? Maybe the mold didn't survive?
I'm not surprised at the results. Five seconds was way too short, and even with the full freeze, it's not like the body turns completely to ice the way it's depicted in fiction; the connective tissues are still there. And of course the bones are too.
Frozen Tree: Oh, I should've known the Build Team would find an excuse to use explosives after all. At least it was a small explosion, and the tree held up to it surprisingly well.
The whole thing seems like kind of a cheat, though; I mean, if they had an arborist right there on hand, then they must've talked to her beforehand and should've already known that pine trees are adapted to freeze without serious damage. And I'm surprised that, given that fact, they didn't repeat the experiment with a tree from more tropical climes, something that isn't evolved to be freeze-proof.
So pretty much a clean sweep this week -- every myth was busted.
I would suspect the skulls were donated for scientific purposes from their, er, "owners" so after whatever medical things were done to them the alternative is cremation or possibly being turned into some crazy organics and plasticized-rubber concotion and shipped around the country as a museum exhibit.
^It's still creepy.
The human skull thing didn't freak me out at all; I thought it was rather interesting the way they put that together. I didn't watch the pig's head, though. Just did not want to see that.
Also I would not want anyone making a mold over my head. I'd freak out way too much.
Also I would not want anyone making a mold over my head. I'd freak out way too much.
I would suspect the skulls were donated for scientific purposes from their, er, "owners" so after whatever medical things were done to them the alternative is cremation or possibly being turned into some crazy organics and plasticized-rubber concotion and shipped around the country as a museum exhibit.
I wonder how long before fans start leaving their skulls to the show...
My DVR said this episode was a repeat, but I watched it anyway cause I hadn't seen it before, I liked it. Good testing IMO, not what I expected, but makes sense with their explanations. Plus I would think the Windows would be among the first things to break anyway if not boarded up.
I'm originally from Texas, so like the poster above I had heard about leaving windows open for Tornadoes, so your house doesn't implode. That would be good to test.
I'm originally from Texas, so like the poster above I had heard about leaving windows open for Tornadoes, so your house doesn't implode. That would be good to test.
I live in the midewest too and had always heard this "myth" related to pressures in the tornados, I had always heard in hurricanes to board-up windows.
I have some issue with the "house" they used. It looked like one of those garden play-houses and not one they built from scratch. As a result it seemed to me that the roof was built on it as part of the overall structure of the house rather than mostly being sitting and tied on there. How many hurricane and tornado videos have we seen where the roof of a house just peels/poops off and blows away? They said at the end that the house was "built to code" but I wonder.
The freezing myths didn't surprise me any. To put it simply, freezing doesn't work that way.
I have some issue with the "house" they used. It looked like one of those garden play-houses and not one they built from scratch. As a result it seemed to me that the roof was built on it as part of the overall structure of the house rather than mostly being sitting and tied on there. How many hurricane and tornado videos have we seen where the roof of a house just peels/poops off and blows away? They said at the end that the house was "built to code" but I wonder.
The freezing myths didn't surprise me any. To put it simply, freezing doesn't work that way.
Hurricane myth?
Heck, that was something they taught us to do when I was in grade school during tornado drills -- back in the 1970's and early 1980's.*EDIT* Saw fellow Midwesterer's responses. Yes, it was thought that by opening windows the inside pressure of the building would equalize with the outside pressure and prevent the structure from exploding.
Does anyone find Karry distractingly annoying as I do when she gets all squeamish when they use dead animals parts for myths?
Get over it and stop being sooooo dramatic... we get it, you are a vegetarian, enough already.
Yeah, as much as I love Kari her getting squeamish over the pig heads was dumb -but she was totally cool with simulating crushing real human skulls filled with simulated brains.
Discovery also should be reminded that they're a cable channel and can sho whatever they please so they didn't need to not show us the results of one of the pig-head tests or the Jason footage for our benifit.
I believe we were shown a quick montage of the Mythbusters building the house themselves. It looked like a play house because of its size and color scheme. The size was dictated by the test rig, and maybe they chose to make it resemble a dollhouse because of the size, as a sort of joke.
Does anyone find Karry distractingly annoying as I do when she gets all squeamish when they use dead animals parts for myths?
Not at all, because I share her squeamishness.
Discovery also should be reminded that they're a cable channel and can sho whatever they please so they didn't need to not show us the results of one of the pig-head tests or the Jason footage for our benifit.
What? Not all cable is HBO or Showtime. On premium cable like that, you can show whatever you want, but this is basic cable, available to a wider and less restricted audience, so for the most part, basic cable networks choose to self-regulate their content and keep it within normal broadcast-TV limits. Which really shouldn't come as news, since it's been the case for about as long as cable television has been around.
Besides, Mythbusters is a show that's very popular with children. So obviously they're choosing to limit their content for the benefit of younger viewers, just as they've been doing for most of the series' run.
And I for one am glad that they didn't show us such graphic footage. That's not something I would've wanted to see.
wouldn't building it to code mean that actual methods and materials used rather than the size? After all I doubt the budget and schedule would allow them to build a full size house.
Though they have destroyed existing houses before (the fleabomb episode).
I've seen play-houses very much like that, they even have a large door on one side for adults to enter through and many of them are kits where you build it yourself.
Infact...
BOOM
My issue with the "play house" wasn't so much the size, I see the need to scale things down. But just that, I believe, the construction of play houses and the construction of full-sized houses are different. In full-sized houses the roof is hardly attached. For the most part it's sitting there waiting for a good, strong, gust of wind to blow it off. It's not really part of the overall structure of the house, at least not firmly. In that playhouse it seemed the roofy was rigidly part of its structure.
I would suspect the skulls were donated for scientific purposes from their, er, "owners" so after whatever medical things were done to them the alternative is cremation or possibly being turned into some crazy organics and plasticized-rubber concotion and shipped around the country as a museum exhibit.
When you donate your body (or Grandma's to avoid funeral costs because your cheap) to scientific research that does not automatically mean the local medical college at State U.
It doesn't even mean the body stays in one piece. A leg might go to a med student; the other to a research study on decomposition. Then the arms are sent for plastic surgeons to practice on. Meanwhile the military reseachers gets your head and torso to see what it's latest gizmo might do to human flesh.
There is a fascinating book about this subject, well worth reading if you have the interest --
"Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" by Mary Roach
The liquid nitrogen thing is a very pervasive myth. When you first do university chemical practicals with the guy who taught me, you have to immerse your hand in liquid nitrogen, it's a way of getting over people's movie-born fear of it. You can certainly do it for 5 seconds with no lasting ill effects at all - your hand definitely wouldn't shatter. I spent the next 4 years pouring it over myself repeatedly, largely by accident and suffered no lasting effects.
and suffered no lasting effects.