I'm jamie hyneman, and
you're watching "mythbusters."
Narrator: coming up --
Can you get stuck
to an airline toilet?
Exposed butt cheeks.
There we go.
Building a biscuit bazooka.
h*-h*, no!
Wow!
That just went everywhere.
The leaping lawyer --
fact or fantasy?
Scottie, I need power!
More!
Here on "mythbusters,"
We're not just going
to retell the legends.
We're gonna put 'em to the test.
We're prepared
to put our bodies on the line.
Why should you trust these guys?
Well, jamie and adam
Have over 30 years
in model building,
Animatronics,
and toy prototyping.
They can build
just about anything
And probably have.
This is m5,
my special-effects shop.
Come on in
and have a look around.
If we can't find
what we need here,
There's always
adam's junk collection.
My cigarette dispenser.
The guys are backed by experts
in folklore, crime,
Medicine, and engineering.
Aah! Ow!
And they'll need
every trick in the book.
So, where do we begin?
What do we got? Let's go.
This story involves a large
woman, an obese woman.
Flying on an s.a.s. Flight
from europe.
And as she was going along,
she had to use the restroom.
She flushed it while she was
still sitting on the toilet.
And it suctioned her down
a little bit,
And she was stuck.
And they had to land the plane
with her on the toilet.
Where the air-flight crews
Had to come
and assist her to get off.
What exactly
are we gonna need to test this?
We have a vacuum pump
that is pretty powerful.
We have to create
a large female prosterior --
Posterior --
is that how we...
Posterior, yes.
A big a*s.
And we got to hang it
over the toilet.
Did you go to art school,
jamie?
[ Chuckles ]
I build real stuff.
I don't know how to draw it.
You know what's what, huh?
I do. It could also be
a big leg of lamb
Cooking over a barbecue, though,
with a gas feed.
That sounds kind of good.
We got to rig
a means of measuring
How much pulldown
there is.
To me, that means
a big fish scale.
We'll use a forklift.
We'll hoist this big a*s
over the toilet,
Hanging off the fish scale.
We lower it on there,
and then we turn the pump on.
And then we raise
the forklift
And see how much suck
the thing has
Before it lets go,
Via the fish scale.
And we're gonna
have to invent one
Because that's
a pretty big fish.
This woman was, like --
I guess could have been
a 300-pounder.
Pondelick:
in the aircraft market,
We have approximately
In operation
on a daily basis.
Narrator: the toilet story
broke in early 2001.
First thoughts we had was
that this wasn't possible.
Narrator:
after initial confirmation
by scandinavian airlines,
Reuters and the bbc ran the
story worldwide on wire and web.
We were quite surprised
how much press it did get.
We're at interface aviation
in hollister, california.
Oh, my god!
Interface aviation is
a aircraft recycling company
That acquires aircraft parts
from all over the world,
And they end up here.
I like this. This must be
the stairway from a...
Man: 747.
Adam: oh, yeah.
They've got 3 1/2 acres
of used aircraft interiors.
Adam:
all the paneling, the bathrooms,
all the food preparation.
Good lord!
Jamie: and the toilets.
They've got every kind of toilet
that's ever been made
For any kind of aircraft,
or so it would seem to me.
Well, wayne, you heard of
this legend before this, right?
Dyer: oh,
everybody's heard of that.
Adam: do you remember
what airline you heard
it happened on?
No. No.
You guys...
Um, I know my toilets,
but I don't know my legends.
Okay. [ Chuckles ]
Fair enough.
Narrator: interface carries
two completely different
Human-waste-disposal units.
Dyer:
here's the old style.
That's filled up
with blue water.
You can use
your own imagination
What that water's made of
after a while.
The average pressure here
is exactly zero
Because you're just recycling
out of a common tank.
Right.
Narrator:
the pressure should be zero,
But if something --
say, a hairbrush --
Gets caught
in the outlet valves
While the aircraft
is at altitude...
Jamie:
now we're talking.
Okay, do you see
where I'm going here?
She could generate
a differential in pressure.
Yeah, the greater pressure
inside would actually
Be trying to push her
through the hole.
[ Laughs ]
That's a scenario
I hadn't even thought about.
But, yes, it could.
Yeah, well, let's see.
It doesn't have the lid
on it, but...
Yeah,
what's the cheek spread here?
Let's see.
Narrator:
that theory of toilet terror
has one problem --
It could only happen
at altitude.
Jamie: according to the legend
and the information we have,
They said that the woman
Actually stayed on the toilet
until they were on the ground.
Adam:
that would rule out
The pressure-differential
theory, wouldn't it?
Exactly, exactly.
Narrator:
that leaves this vacuum unit.
It has pressure at altitude
and on the ground.
So, given the pressure
down here,
Do you think you could get
a lock between this
And someone could actually
get sucked down in there?
I really wouldn't even
want to venture a guess.
But there is a suction.
And if you cap that thing,
there will be a lot.
Yeah.
You know,
that's just the way it works.
Yeah.
Looks like there is
some air space right here, too.
And you said the
average pressure there
is only a 3 psi?
Pondelick:
the vacuum toilet operates
at two different pressures.
On the ground, it operates
At approximately
And at altitude,
we operate at 8 psi
Negative pressure.
That pressure is produced
by the differential
Between the inside cabin air
And the outside
of the aircraft.
Narrator: this is the one,
But at 9 grand,
it doesn't come cheap.
Ladies and gentlemen, please
move in an orderly fashion
Toward the door of plane,
Cross your hands over
your chest,
And slide down the inflatable
slide towards the sharks.
Thank you for flying.
We hope you'll come back soon.
Remember, most of our passengers
get there alive.
One of the biggest problems
that I see
Is that we've got to mimic
a woman's butt really well.
It has to be nice
and fleshy and soft,
So we've got to decide
on what kind of --
It's gonna be
a rubber of some sort.
I've thought of using
this rubber
That's used
in a lot of sex toys,
Because it's very fleshy --
it's called hot-melt vinyl.
I'd like to see a sample
of the hot-melt vinyl you have.
Is this hot melt?
Yeah, that's the one
that's really sticky.
That's the one that I like.
This is the one that I want.
We are casting up
a really large bottom,
And we're
going to stick it
To an airline toilet seat
that we have,
So this
is actually perfect.
This is definitely
the stuff.
[ Smack ]
yeah. That sounds right.
I might want to buy
as much as 10 gallons.
So, that comes
in flesh or clear.
Flesh, of course.
Of course, yeah.
[ Growling ]
Can I try on
that butthead?
You'd like to try
the butthead?
I would like to try
the butthead, absolutely.
There you are, sir.
Do I have to pull out
the, uh...
All right.
And now the transformation
is complete.
I come from
the planet butthead.
[ Laughs ]
So, how did you
have this done?
That's actually
kari's butt.
No. Really?
Except that we let her
modify herself.
Okay, I'm gonna
take a shot.
Try to hold as still
as possible from now on.
We scanned her butt.
And that's probably
the best shot
That you'll ever see
of your own butt.
[ Kari laughs ]
Oh, yeah, right.
And then we took it
up to the computer
And used the free-form tool
to enlarge it
And put a lot of cottage-cheese
thighs in there,
The whole thing.
Adam:
it really looks great.
It's a really,
really nice --
It really looks great?
You like that?
I'm looking forward
to spanking it.
I don't like this stuff
Because the melting
temperature on it
Is real close to
its flash point.
Narrator: a 300-pound butt
Requires some significant
reinforcing.
Adam: there's a science
to making butts.
Think of all the twinkies
That go into the actual
production
Of something like this.
We're doing in one night
What most people
spend a lifetime avoiding.
Narrator: we'll have to leave
the butt to cool for 24 hours.
[ Sighs ]
I hope it works.
Narrator:
we're trying to work out
Just how much suction
an airline toilet really has.
Adam: how are you building
the strain gauge?
Jamie:
this is what I had in mind.
If we have our forklift here
and we hook a line onto it.
We go down
to a pivot point,
And we have a bar
that is on the pivot point.
[ Clattering ]
And the bar is longer
on this side than the other.
We put barbell weights
over here.
We have
another pivot point here
That goes down
to the butt.
And there
is our strain gauge.
Narrator:
jamie's brilliantly improvised
One of the oldest
measuring devices on earth,
A set of scales.
Adam:
do you feel pretty clever?
[ Laughs ]
The other thing is --
And this is actually
not insignificant.
You know,
we've made an agreement
Not to damage
this toilet,
So we want to mount it
in a way that it doesn't --
Yeah, it's got mount points --
good strong ones.
We might want to also
come up on the sides,
Or somehow
do some other stuff to it
To make sure
that it doesn't strain here.
This is definitely
welded stainless.
Well, that's why
these things cost so much,
Is that it's all done
to high specifications.
Look at the welds
on these things.
It's a perfect little --
Oh, my god.
That's beautiful.
Narrator:
when we've finished admiring it,
We better get on with finding
something to make it suck.
I've got
one of those things
That I believe pushes pneumatics
around in the stores
When you want to get change
in a big department store --
Oh, you got one of those?
The vacuum -- oh, that's cool.
Our pump generates just 3 psi --
that's 3 pounds per square inch
Of exposed butt.
What is this?
This is about
So...150 times...
What did we say?
So if we had
a perfect seal on this
With a rubber gasket
and everything,
It would take 450 pounds
to remove it
Just from a 3 psi.
And you could see how a woman
wouldn't be able to get off --
Absolutely. Yeah.
She'd have
one big hickey.
[ Chuckles ]
big butt hickey.
That's gonna be
hard to explain.
Things are
coming together at last.
Kari: that's ugly.
I think it actually
came out pretty nice.
Yeah, I'm not displeased.
Narrator:
before the experiment can begin,
We have to balance the butt.
Jamie's using
a four-to-one ratio --
Balanced against 75
on the pivot arm.
Jamie: okay, guys, we got some
serious weight going on here,
So never stand
under anything at all.
Keep your eye
on what's going on.
We don't know how much weight
it's gonna take before it rips.
So we're gonna
turn on the pump.
We're gonna lower
the butt into place.
We'll see if we get
any pressure on this.
We'll let it
take weight,
And then we'll slowly
start to raise
And see how much poundage
it takes
To remove bertha
from the toilet.
Narrator:
sounds like a plan.
Contact.
If the butt creates a seal,
We should see a jump
in vacuum pressure.
Jamie: okay, should I
bring it up?
We're still measuring
around 3 psi.
The toilet seat is preventing us
from making a seal.
Adam: I think
it's much more plausible
That she sat down
without putting that seat down.
Narrator:
okay, that's easy to test.
That's better.
That's a seal, but it's
not taking that much pressure.
We'll, uh, pull the plug
And see if we can rethink this.
Well, we're getting
a significant amount of suction
Out of the toilet,
And the needle was bouncing more
without the toilet seat on.
And checking all the way around,
we had a reasonable seal.
But that air gap
between the shroud and the bowl
Just prevented
any real suction from occurring.
This myth's starting
to look decidedly shaky.
These two lugs under the shroud
Have been preventing
an air lock from forming.
I believe, myself,
That the toilets are designed
to not seal.
Adam: right.
Adam can sniff a conspiracy.
Do you think they
put that in after the myth,
Like, as a response?
No.
Personally, I think
We might want to try it
without the shroud
Just to see if there's
actually enough suction
If there was a seal.
Okay, contact.
Down we come.
All right,
bring it on down.
However unlikely,
we want to cover the possibility
That the victim's butt
was so large
It reached down
and made contact with the bowl.
[ Laughing ]
That's as good
a seal as we get.
Okay, kari,
lower the weight.
Time to measure
the suction.
All right, here we go.
Go!
Keep going, all the way up.
There was a -- this whole
butt cheek right here --
This whole butt cheek
was distended
About another
three inches down.
The whole butt was deformed.
She's got a hell of a hickey.
We got a really good seal on
the butt crack in that last one.
There was
a little bit of --
It didn't want to give
at first when you lifted,
But it didn't take
very much.
Yeah, I saw what the --
I was watching what
the measurement on this was...
The toilet was generating
But the scale shows
it would take
A fraction of that
to break the seal.
About 75 pounds.
Yeah.
So...well,
that tells us --
And that's lifting
straight up.
I'd say a woman this large --
she'd be able to pull a cheek
Or move herself around
a little bit
And release the gap.
If someone
really couldn't do that,
We're talking someone
maybe even twice this large.
I'm not even sure they
could fit in an airplane toilet.
Yeah, I would agree.
What's more,
a properly functioning toilet
Creates suction
for just two seconds.
If something
were to go inside the bowl
And get stuck inside of there,
the pressure is probably
About twice as much
as a normal shop vac
That you would have
at your home.
As you can see, there's
no damage to a person's hand
If they do put it in.
And really,
all you do is get wet.
Narrator: myth busted,
And we're prepared to stake...
Adam's butt on it.
Jamie: contact!
All right.
Here we go!
Aah!
[ Laughs ]
Whoa!
All right.
That's actually comfortable.
I mean,
it's a nice cool breeze.
Are you ready to try it,
you know, the real deal?
Sure.
All right.
Now, what if you, like --
if you're hurt?
Like, what if this
starts to feel uncomfortable?
I'll take it gradually.
If I feel things moving around
that shouldn't be moving,
I'll disconnect.
'Cause I can't hear you
when I turn this on --
You'll hear
high-pitched squealing.
[ Laughs ]
All right, contact.
All right.
Expose butt cheeks.
Here we go.
[ Machinery whirs ]
Whoa!
[ Farting sounds ]
Whoa! [ Laughing ]
All right!
Holy sh--
All right,
that's significant.
I -- [ laughs ]
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, wow.
That was really significant.
That was -- that was...
All right.
That was impressively
significant
Amount of [bleep] suction.
The whole thing
was vibrating with the pressure.
We got up to 5 psi.
Yeah, it was --
that was significant.
Um...
I mean, I had my...
[ Laughter ]
I'm trying to talk
scientifically.
I was able to use my arms,
but if I didn't have arms,
I would not probably
have been able to free myself.
I'm not sure
what was proved here,
But at least
it's good television.
Another one bites the dust.
Good work.
Jamie:
this next legend involves --
It's called the biscuit b*llet,
and it's actually pretty funny.
The way I heard it -- the sister
of a friend of a friend
Went to the supermarket.
And it was
on a very hot day,
And she hears
this loud expl*si*n behind her.
And when she heard the pop
and felt this sticky mass
In the back of her head --
she thought she'd been shot.
And so she'd better
just kind of hold still
And try and hold her brains
from falling out of her head,
Until the paramedics
get there.
And when the paramedics pry
the woman's fingers
Off the back of her head,
they find that she's hanging
Onto this mass
of raw biscuit dough.
So, what you think we're
gonna need for this experiment?
Well, we're gonna need
some biscuit dough
Of a bunch of different --
A bunch of these canisters
of different sizes,
Or different
types and brands.
So, we've got to get
a car.
We can use my car
to do this.
I would think
that we'd want to duplicate
The car's
interior temperature
By, say, pointing heaters
in to the windows.
Can we build a fire
under your car? Do you mind?
[ Laughs ]
Yeah, absolutely.
That's no problem at all.
We'd want to get the temperature
stable in the car,
And then move
the biscuits right in
And start the timer and see how
long it takes them to go off.
All right, so, you want to
go to the grocery store
And pick up
a selection of these?
I'll pull in my car
and the heaters
And start preparing stuff.
Sure.
Narrator:
step one in our recipe --
Getting the dough.
Jamie: I'm guessing
that the different mixes,
Like, you've got
your flaky biscuits,
And you got your super-duper
buttermilk whatevers.
You know, there are gonna be
Some differences
in those things.
Adam:
it may be that there's
A certain amount of baking soda
in one as opposed to another
That would make it more prone
to building that high pressure.
Narrator: the tins
are meant to be refrigerated,
So we'll keep 'em in a cooler
until the experiment begins.
I had an idea that
It's not only
the car's temperature,
But potentially
the freshness of the biscuits
That might have contributed
to their exploding.
To that end, we've had
this one out for 10 days.
And we'll put that in
as one of our control groups
To see
if it explodes faster.
Step two --
mounting the tins in the car.
Adam: I was thinking,
just in terms of being able
To get a reasonable spread,
maybe a rack of six?
Maybe for fun, we should make
a thing like a holster,
Like, shotgun shells,
like you're in a --
Nobody moves,
nobody gets hurt!
Right, wearing it
under your vest
For going through
airport security.
Narrator: step three --
Determining
the right baking temperature.
So, it's a rare sunny day
in san francisco.
The skies look really clear,
and it's 9:00 on the nose.
We're gonna place
a thermometer in my car.
We're gonna check back
in a couple of hours
And see where we can get
the temperature to.
Narrator: it's no coincidence
that the biscuit b*llet story
First started making the rounds
in the summer of '95,
One of the hottest summers
on record.
Adam: so, it's about 3:00.
The car's been sitting
out here all day
With the thermometer in it.
The temperature's hovering
right around 140 degrees.
Narrator: to ensure
a consistent baking temperature,
We're gonna bring the car inside
and heat it artificially.
Jamie: so, adam,
let's load this thing.
Okay.
I'm hoping we see a pretty
significant change in the heat
Kind of fast.
Well, it ought to.
These are radiant heaters,
so, you know, it's...
This is like the pure form
of what the sun gives
As far as just
what actually heats it up.
Adam: so, do you have
the thermometer?
I'll get the timer.
We're up to 105.8.
It's looking good.
Maybe another
It's gonna be hot
in there.
I don't know
if you want to sit in the car,
Wait for the biscuit dough,
Or if I sit in the car,
maybe we take turns.
[ Chuckles ] all right.
I think from about a foot away,
it's totally safe for us
To be able to be
the subjects in the car.
I wouldn't load my shorts full
of these things in a hot car.
[ Chuckles ]
that's a scary thought.
[ Chuckles ]
Narrator: remember that one
about cds melting in the heat?
They might still work.
It's not a myth.
It's starting to smell
really strong of, like,
Almost burning plastic
in there,
So I don't think either of us
should sit in there.
I just made up a rack
we'll just put the head in.
All right?
You mean, you don't want to
get hot, is what you're saying?
You can go climb in there,
but it's -- you could suffocate.
Time to get baking.
Are you ready?
Yeah.
Okay.
Leading brand, flaky.
Leading brand,
buttermilk.
Competitor, flaky.
Competitor, buttermilk.
Unrefrigerated.
Small tin.
All right.
And the clock
is ticking.
I'll say
within 8 minutes.
Really?
Yeah.
[ Chuckles ]
So...
Do I lose if I go over,
or if it's closer
To 8 minutes
than 2 hours?
So we're saying
Yeah.
All right. I'll put
a dollar down on that.
Put it on the car.
All right.
Now we wait?
Now we wait.
All right.
Do we see
any physical change in them?
No, I don't see
any change in them.
Your dashboard's
starting to melt, though.
I've been working
in this area for about 30 years.
I've never heard of
this type of thing happening,
But as you think about it,
you've got the potential there
Because if you have enough heat,
The pressure
that's created by the gas inside
Can cause that container to pop.
Do you think the flakys
are gonna go first or
the buttermilks?
The small one's gonna go first
because it has less mass.
It's gonna take at least
probably a half an hour
For the interior
of those things
To show hardly
any change in temperature --
Mmm, you're right.
They need to work through.
Yeah. I mean,
it's too much mass.
It's still gonna be
way less than 120 minutes.
We'll find out.
Dr. Caporaso: the leavening
agent is sodium bicarbonate,
And it is reacting
with an acid to produce
Carbon dioxide -- co2.
If it is not released,
You're going to create
pressure in that container,
To the point where --
as the reaction continues --
That container can burst.
Whoa!
[ Laughs ]
Jamie.
[ Chuckles ]
Do you know what happened?
What?
It jumped out of the rack.
That's the small can
that was in the rack.
It jumped out of the rack
and into my cup holder.
I'll be darned.
And so, where was our clock?
Where were we at?
We were at, like,
So you won the bet then.
Ah, yeah.
In fact I did.
I'd like to remove
that one
Before it bakes dough
into my cup holder.
Although I was right about
which one was gonna go first.
You were
absolutely right.
Whoa!
[ Chuckles ]
That was kind of
spectacular.
We're missing a whole tin --
I don't even see it in there.
Adam, which tin was it?
That was the unrefrigerated.
That was the unrefrigerated
flaky dough.
Well, now,
there you go --
I mean, it blew the top
right off of that thing.
That was the unrefrigerated
leading brand.
I mean,
this is stupefyingly boring,
But things are blowing up
in my car.
What could be better?
I can wait for that.
I just want to see one.
I don't want to have to
review the videotape.
I want to
actually see one blow.
Whoa!
It's 137 degrees
right now.
Well, that seems to be
the butter zone --
Everything's happened
above 133 degrees.
That was the competitor's dough.
It's not proving to be
Any more or less expl*sive
than the leading brand.
Adam: [ laughs ]
We should do this
in vegas, and then we can say,
"I went to vegas,
and I blew some dough."
[ Laughter ]
Oh, that's
a spectacular one.
Whoa, ugh.
Oh, man.
I definitely
could understand
How you'd mistake this
for brains -- here.
No, come on, come on.
I'm not gonna
do anything with it.
Well, no. Feel it, feel it.
Agree with me.
Yeah,
it's definitely brains.
Whoa!
What,
did another one go?
I saw that.
No.
Yeah.
Yeah, that one spewed.
That one spewed
pretty good.
That tin is just,
like, decimated.
No, that one -- that one
was pretty energetic.
I saw what -- it, like,
Ricocheted off
the back of your seat.
Really?
And you can see bits of it --
see that little speck --
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Totally.
Yeah.
That might be
our smoking g*n.
Narrator: the guys thought
there might be a difference
Between flaky and buttermilk.
Seems they're wrong again.
That's cool.
At 140.5 degrees.
h*-h*, no!
Wow! That just
went everywhere.
I mean, I just saw it vaporize.
Look. It's in the front seat.
Yeah, the whole can
landed in the front seat.
The whole can landed
in the front seat,
Which means it had to come
across this way,
Easily hitting the head.
Dr. Caporaso:
yes, there can be accidents,
But I've never heard
of an accident like this.
I wouldn't worry
about being hurt.
I may have a premature
bursting of my container,
But I wouldn't worry
about wounds from shrapnel
From my dough.
Of course, I don't leave
my groceries in a car
At a 140 degrees fahrenheit
or higher anyway,
'Cause there are
other problems we can run into
With food products
and microorganisms.
There you go.
I mean, I think
we've definitively proved
That this is entirely --
Not only plausible
but possible
Under
the right circumstances.
We've seen projectiles
come out like,
You know, actual biscuits.
Yeah. That one fired
almost three feet.
Yeah.
This one's kind of like
a biscuit cannon,
Like a mortar.
Exactly.
I think, without a doubt,
a can of biscuit dough
Has exploded
in somebody's car.
In a hot car, a can
of biscuit dough will go off
Within 3 hours, 3½ hours.
Narrator: this is something
of a first for "mythbusters" --
We can show the myth
is physically possible,
But there's no hard evidence
that it ever happened.
I tried to track it down.
I tried to find
the friend of the friend.
I couldn't do it.
I tried to find the location
Where it actually happened --
I couldn't.
I looked for police reports.
There were none.
And the truth is,
this didn't happen.
There was no woman so stupid
That she thought she was
holding raw dough on her head,
And that's kind of nice to know.
Jamie: all right, ready?
Ready.
Okay.
You're watching "mythbusters"
on the discovery channel.
So, the falling lawyer.
What's the story?
Well,
the story goes that
There was a lawyer on
the 24th floor of a high-rise.
He was showing off,
Showing off his masculinity
and his bravery
In front of some kind of class.
He'd bounced up against
this plate-glass window,
Maybe trying to have some fun.
And he did it repeatedly
and had no problem.
And then he did it again,
And this time,
he simply went through.
And down this guy goes,
Falling 24 floors
from his office to the ground,
And he promptly dies.
Our task is to prove
whether this is possible or not.
So, what are the elements we're
gonna need to replicate this?
We'll, we're gonna need
a pane of glass,
We've got to build
a mock-up body.
We have to create
some sort of a track,
And a means of loading
this dummy body.
We'll probably use
some, um --
I've got a bunch
of surgical rubber tubing
That we can make
a big slingshot.
And we'll have to also rig
various ways of measuring
So we're consistent
about it --
How much force
we're putting on him.
The figure
we want to come up with is
Whether or not it's possible
For a person running
at a reasonable clip
Into the window has enough
pounds of force behind him
To actually
break the window.
The first reaction
is complete disbelief.
And then the second reaction is,
"Well, I heard that happened
in new york or moscow
Or hong kong,
or something like that."
It's just one of those stories
That seems to have
kind of gone around the world.
With stories like that,
You never really know
if they're true.
You never know if kernel
at the core is real or not.
First we need to decide
what kind of track it is,
Whether we want -- I'm thinking
that we should roll it
Along the ground
kind of track --
You've got that --
you got the great --
The dolly truck
with the skateboard wheels.
That's got
a really low friction.
I've only broken
one bone in my body...
...my neck.
Narrator:
so, how to build a lawyer.
We're going to assume
that this guy wasn't a fat cat.
We'll make him,
say, 160 pounds.
They're gonna be about --
call 'em 20 pounds apiece.
So it's gonna be 8.
[ Sighs ]
Now I'm about to weld
a steel frame
That'll hold up the sand bags,
To distribute their mass
roughly like a person's body.
Narrator: these wooden blocks
will stop our lawyer
From falling backwards
when he accelerates,
But he'll be free to fall
When the cart stops
at the end of the track.
On to the next task --
finding the right pane of glass,
Something that would be suitable
For the 24th floor
of a skyscraper.
It's normally a thickness
which is greater
Than the thickness
that you see in house glass.
You're talking about
Narrator: at 3/4 of an inch,
this 4-foot-by-8-foot pane
Seems to be the standard size.
So, we successfully have
a piece of glass
For the falling lawyer --
thanks.
I think I'll build the frame
out of just plywood,
And we'll seal it up
with some caulk,
Just like you would
an aquarium.
And we may want to --
We'll put the tempered glass
on the front.
Look at that.
Ready?
Yeah, okay.
Could have counted
"three."
Glass comes in sealed units,
and they're set
Into recesses in frames,
So that they're supported around
The total perimeter, usually.
Narrator: our frame
won't just support the glass --
It'll also allow us to reproduce
Some of the forces at work
inside tall buildings.
And then we also have
to think of things
Like, if there's
pressure in the building
That would either tend to
make things different.
Narrator: unfortunately,
The myth doesn't describe the
weather on the day in question.
So, we're going to assume
that it was calm.
But even then,
air pressure is at work.
Inside of a building, there's
a lot of things happening.
There's mechanical equipment
which is
Exhausting air,
and there's mechanical equipment
Which is pushing air
into the building.
And if you don't get
the same amount of air going out
As you're pushing in,
Then you start to build up
pressures within the building.
Narrator: this stack effect
Is just 1.47
pounds per square inch,
But we think
that's going to be crucial.
Because the glass has --
it's like 4,600 square inches.
The amount of force --
there's not much of a...
Yeah, well,
you wouldn't think so,
But it's a funny thing
about pressures like that.
When you're thinking
in terms of psis,
And so on, it adds up.
Even a very small fraction
of a psi times 4,600
Starts to get into
Oh, right across
the whole face of the glass,
So it could have played
a significant factor
In the window's breaking
on that particular day.
Is definitely something
we want to factor in.
So that means
that our frame
That the window's going in
actually has to --
Pressure chamber.
Right, we'll seal it off
in the back,
And we'll hook a vacuum
or a pressure pump up to it.
Jamie doesn't have
a pump large enough
To increase
the air pressure in the shop.
Instead, he'll reproduce
the stack effect
By sucking air
out of the chamber.
What I think we should do
with this thing is,
Because there is
so much pressure here
And we don't know
kind of what we're doing --
We don't want to
explode the glass.
I figure we'll just roll it
over the orifice, you know?
Oh.
And just kind of watch
the needle.
And we can either mess with the
valve or not.
But that way, you know,
if we seal it off
And we turn this thing on,
even if we have the valve --
It's just gonna
bust the whole thing.
Yeah.
So, this way, we'll be
leaving ourselves an opening.
Go ahead.
[ Pump whirs ]
I can see
the plex bowing.
This pump is too powerful.
It's threatening to rip
The plexiglas
out of the chamber.
Ah.
And our vacuum gauge
isn't sensitive enough.
You know,
what I think we should do
Is that we should just
rig our own gauge
In terms
of inches of water.
I believe inches of water
is gonna be a lot more sensitive
Than inches of mercury
because it's a lot lighter
Than what mercury is.
I mean, it's literally --
we can put a tube in there,
Like, a u-shaped tube.
It's just like a barometer.
And that's the kind of scale
that we're dealing with,
Is like barometric pressure.
It'll be an interesting thing
for us to know.
With a tube of water, we'll get
all the sensitivity we want.
All right.
So, it should be
about 4 inches of water
For the minimum --
Adam: no, no, no. Oh, point --
oh, yeah, you're right.
You're right.
That's magnificent.
We've rigged
this leaf blower to suck.
Hooked up to a variable switch,
It should also be
easier on the plexiglas.
There we go.
All right.
You want -- okay.
I'll tell you when we're --
let's see here.
Jamie: oh, look at that.
Oh, that's beautiful --
we've got sensitivity, baby.
Keep going.
Little more,
little more, little more.
Scottie, I need power!
You want more?
More!
Jamie: more?
More!
Yes! Little more!
Oh, that's it!
Is that it?
That's it --
.145 negative psi.
Narrator:
we've proved the principle.
Now, with the addition
of some glass tube,
A scale, and food dye,
We have a working gauge.
Mr. Savage,
if I could suggest
That you put a drop
of the coloring in there first.
No, I was thinking
I'd put it in after,
And then I'd go --
and, like, mix it up.
I thought
that would be kind of cool.
Ahh, okay.
With the stack-effect
problem solved,
It's time to rig the slingshot.
Blech!
I won't let go.
Oh, man.
This is like --
So, you know,
it'll develop some velocity.
[ Both chuckle ]
That's really satisfying
and kind of dangerous.
Jamie: we'll rig our slingshot
somehow on --
We can tie
to the side of the shop
Or something like that.
So I was thinking for --
to figure out his velocity,
To figure out
how fast he's traveling --
We don't have a radar g*n
or anything like that --
I was thinking
we could take some flats
And actually grid them,
And then sh**t from the side
with one of the cameras,
Which give us
And then we can
slo-mo through the tape.
We can frame-by-frame
through the tape
And see exactly how fast
that he's traveling.
Narrator: finally,
everything's in place.
There we go.
I'll guess that
it's gonna go 5 yards.
This would be cool
if I could see.
[ Leaf blower whirs ]
There we go.
All right.
First run, from 1 yard.
Nothing. 3 Yards.
Here's my 5 bucks
going to hell.
Penalty, 5 yards.
Narrator: 160 pounds
at 3 miles per hour --
Our lawyer just
isn't cutting the mustard.
We got one more yard.
I think we're gonna
end up going to two bands --
I think we're gonna
end up going to two bands, too.
We're ready?
Ready. All right.
Go.
Go.
Even with two elastic bands,
Our lawyer is still
coming off second best.
This is contacting here,
And all of this
is bowing backwards
As this comes in
for a second,
So it really isn't --
All these things
aren't really making contact.
There we go.
Oh!
All right.
There.
Are you ready?
Two, three, go.
It is possible
that it's not possible
For a person to throw
himself through the window.
Entirely plausible, but --
We will make it
through this window.
I want to make it
through the glass.
But it may not be possible for
a human to do that by himself.
I'm bruce demara, I'm a reporter
at the toronto star,
And you're watching
"mythbusters."
Narrator: so far, we haven't had
much success
Getting our lawyer friend
to smash the glass,
But jamie's working on a hunch.
I'd be inclined
to put all the steel bags --
All the sand bags
up high.
Yeah, exactly.
Starting here.
Two, four, six, eight.
Redistributing
the weight up high
Will concentrate the impact.
Meanwhile,
our structural engineer
Is working
on a different theory.
Glass is
an unpredictable material.
And although we use it
And we see it
performing very well
In thousands of cases,
There are certain things
which will cause it
To act in a way we don't expect.
All right,
so this is 1 yard.
Two, three, go.
Just getting a hammer.
If there's nicks in glass,
It tends to cause
what are called stress raisers,
And so you can break the glass
with less force
Than you would a piece of glass
that isn't nicked.
One, two, three, go.
That seems better.
It's feeling
pretty sturdy.
Yeah.
Probably a thousand times,
nothing will happen,
But you're dealing
with a very brittle material.
And it doesn't
give you any warning.
It doesn't bend like steel,
it doesn't bow like wood.
It just goes kapump, and then
you're out on the street.
Ready?
Two, three, go.
Yeah!
That was spectacular!
It worked.
It did --
from 3 yards.
I won myself 5 bucks.
[ Chuckles ]
[ Sighs ] wow.
Yeah, the distribution of mass
made a huge difference.
Yeah.
[ Glass crackling ]
Listen to it --
it's like rice krispies.
[ Crackling ]
That speed seems,
you know --
We'll have to look at it
on camera,
But that didn't look
too fast to run at all.
Yeah, that wasn't
excessive.
Very reasonable.
Into a window
with negative pressure.
Nice.
Yep, that's not that far
at all.
Narrator: our lawyer covered
Which works out
at 5.7 miles per hour.
[ Chuckles ]
You jumped like a bat
landed in your hairdo.
Even if it's double
the 7 miles per hour,
It's well within
a human's ability to run.
And it seems
totally possible
With that pressure that
he could have broken the window.
I'd agree.
It looked like what --
Probably the kind of speed
I'd get up to
If I was launching
at the wall, you know.
Yeah, especially with only
It's only 9 feet, and you
can't really get up that fast.
I think the final thing
Was that redistribution
of the mass up top.
I think that made
all the difference.
Yeah.
I think the other rig
was flexing way too much.
This is absolutely a true story.
It happened at this location,
at this office tower behind us.
The coroner
who investigated the incident
Decided not to hold an inquest
Because it was
such a freak accident
And it would be extremely rare
To imagine someone else doing
the same thing purposefully.
That was fun.
Yeah, that was fun.
[ Chuckles ]
I like breaking things.
Yeah.
Breaking things is cool.
Yeah!
Yeah!
[ Chuckles ]
Welcome to our World! Where we serve you cookies to ensure you get the best viewing experience on our site.
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
Did you know that you can remove censorship board-wide, use our advanced search functions, be notified when new content is posted, join our memberships, set episodes to show in any order you want & more if you are logged into your account?
Register or sign in here: ucp.php?mode=register
01x02 - Pilot 2: Vacuum Toilet/Biscuit Bazooka/Leaping Lawyer
Watch/Buy Amazon
A weekly documentary in which two Hollywood special effects experts attempt to debunk urban legends by directly testing them.
A weekly documentary in which two Hollywood special effects experts attempt to debunk urban legends by directly testing them.