07x23 - Mini Myth Mayhem

[bunniefuu]

Do not try what you're about
to see at home.

We consult with experts,
we take every precaution,

and we have years of experience
in dangerous situations.

Narrator: On this episode
of "Mythbusters"...

[g*nsh*t]

...we've got a classic
collection of iconic conundrums.

I think we k*lled
Captain Kirk!

First, Jamie and Adam answer
the age-old western question...

can you light a match
with a b*llet?

Punch in!

Then, can you really
safely dip your digits

into searing hot molten metal?

Is this the first Terminator
you've ever cooked?

And in a camp prank classic...

Got my jammies.
I'm ready to go to work.

...will a wet hand
lead to a bed-wetting?

I don't think he's involuntarily
urinating yet.

Narrator:
Then Grant, Jessi, and Tory...

Holy crap!

...tackle the nauseating
tall tale of the earwax candle.

Let's burn it.

And finally...

Yes, yes!

...can you blow away
a "Star Trek" baddie

with a bamboo bazooka?

Whoo-hoo!

Who are the Mythbusters?

Adam Savage...

That is science.

Narrator:
...and Jamie Hyneman.

Things are gonna start to get
a little crazy in here.

Between them, more than 30 years
of special-effects experience.

Joining them...
Kari Byron...

Grant Imahara...

It's lethal, people.

...Tory Belleci...

Aah! Aah!

...and featuring Jessi Combs.

That was awesome!

Narrator: They don't just
tell the myths.

- Are you ready?
- I'm ready.

They put them to the test.

So, you're trying to tell me
you're nuts, right?

No.

Simply that this coconut
is the perfect symbol

for what this episode
is all about.
- How so?

In a nutshell,
we get a lot of myths

that are too small to test.

- We call them
mini-myths, right?
- Yep.

Until now, those myths have been
a tough nut to crack,

but I think that
we've nutted out a solution,

and that is to throw
as many mini-myths

into a single episode
as possible,

specifically
this episode.

- How many?
- Six.

And I figured
we'd begin with a classic...

can you mail a coconut
without any packaging?

I thought we'd start out

by putting a stamp
and our address on it,

see if it comes back to
the shop by the end of the show.

And you know?

There's one I've always
wanted to try, which is...

can you light a strike-anywhere
match with a b*llet?

Well, let's get started.

It's a match made in
mini-myth fan-request heaven.

A single testable question

that could be answered
in one glorious afternoon

down at the g*n range.

Through the magic of editing,
allow me to demonstrate

exactly what we hope
to achieve today.

Okay, I'm ready.

Okay, don't move.

I won't.

[g*nsh*t]

[Laughs]

[Blows]

That's what this story's
all about.

Jamie:
Can a b*llet light a match?

Well, when you get right down
to it, it's all about friction.

Adam: If this myth is true,

we're going to be able
to light this with this

while this is traveling
at nearly 800 feet per second.

Jamie: The question is

whether that b*llet
is able to cause enough friction

when it grazes that match
to actually ignite it

without blowing
the head of the match off.

Adam: I'll tell you...
I'm not sure it's gonna work,

and it's not about
the precision.

That I feel that we can solve.

I think it's about
the length of time

this b*llet will be in contact
with this match,

and whether that length of time
is long enough

to set the lighting chemical...
Conflagration in motion.

Narrator:
So, the guys are ready.

g*n is going hot.

They have their .45-caliber g*n

with its large,
slow moving slug,

perfect for this experiment,

aimed by a laser
at the tip of the match.

Firing in three...

Surely this won't take long.

...one.

Maybe it will.

Not lit. Not even gone.

Apparently it's too low.

Despite Adam's pleasure

at the quality
of the high-speed shot...

[chuckles]
That is so pretty.

It's so crisp.

You can see the reflection
of the match head in the b*llet.

Even with
laser-guided precision,

they completely missed.

So, they're reverting
to a more utilitarian method

of marking the b*llet's
trajectory...

Let's do it.

...cardboard
and trial and error.

Three, two, one.

Plenty of error...

That's crazy high.

Well, you shot the head
right off.

...and plenty of trial.

Oh, it missed it!

So, close,
but it's not touching it.

Adam:
Well, we're a few shots in,

and we have not gotten
the match to light yet,

but we're in the thick of it.

So close!

We knocked
most of the red off the match

without destroying it,
so we're really, really close.

We're trying to get
this grazing action,

without destroying
the match head,

which we've already done.

Jamie: Too high.

We want to just graze
the very tip of it.

I don't know. To get
one to light may take
another few shots...

[g*nsh*t]

...may take another few hours.

Adam:
What do you think?

I don't see no fire.

Narrator: No lit match.

But a quick look
at the high-speed

confirms they are on target.

Adam: Oh, perfect!

It's just knocking off
a little bit of the white there.

Just barely touched it.

That's what's required.

The b*llet grazed
the match head,

but it didn't kick start
the chain of events

that end in a lit match.

Jamie:
This is how matches work.

In the head of a match,
you've got a fuel

which is a sulfur-based product.

You've got an oxidizer,

which is usually
potassium chlorate,

and you've got glass powders,

all held together in a binder
on the head of the match.

The striker has glass powder,

but it also has a small amount
of red phosphorus,

and when you strike the match
on the striker,

that glass-on-glass friction
generates enough heat

to convert the red phosphorus
into white phosphorus,

which happens to burst into
flames when it's exposed to air.

Now, in a strike-anywhere match
like this one,

all those same ingredients
are on the head of the match,

and so you can strike it
on any abrasive surface,

same reaction occurs...

generates heat,
generates white phosphorus...

you've got a lit match.

Narrator:
And back on the range,

despite feeling like they've got
a busted myth on their hands,

the guys lock and load
for one last shot.

Firing
in three, two, one.

[g*nsh*t]

Yeah!

Nice! Punch in.

You asked for it,
and we made it happen.

Well, that's fully burnt.
We did it.

But keep in mind that it took us
nine tries to make this happen.

We had precision equipment

and the accuracy required
was down to, you know,



That's great.

That is so cool.

Yeah!

Well, I was wrong again.

This was fully able
to light this

when they were only in contact
for 1/12,000 of a second.

That's mighty short,
but it's mighty confirmed.

[g*nf*re]

All right, quick-hit myths
from the fan site.

What do we have?

Well, the first one
comes from the movie "Shrek."

- "Can donkeys talk?"
- No. That's confirmed.

Can we hear
the real one?

Okay, well, in the movie,

Shrek uses his own
earwax to make a candle.

Ugh, that's disgusting.

I'm interested.
Please go on.

Okay, well,
first we need to find out

if earwax is flammable.

And finally we need to collect
lots and lots of it.

I always wondered
what was in my ears.

You might want to get this
checked out.

Narrator: It's a classic scene
from the, uh, green screen.

Shrek pulls enough wax
from his ears

to form a fully functional,
flammable candle.

And to find out if this simple
and nauseating concept

is even possible,

the team has brought in
an expert.

- You ready to go for it?
- Oh, let's start digging.

Digging?
I thought we were cleaning.

Well, that, too.

First up, Dr. Lustig
is digging up a sample

for a proof-of-concept
flammability test.

Holy crap.

What'd you get?

We got a little bit there.
Not too bad.

With the sample secured,
the team gathers,

ready to burn the evidence.

So, what do you guys think
of the earwax?

- That came out of your ear?
- Yeah, pretty gross, huh?

Let's burn it.

Hang on a second there,
pyromaniac.

Now,
since this is about candles,

I have some commercial
candle wax to compare,

as well
as some beeswax.

All right, this'll be good.

We'll see which one
is more flammable.

Grant: So, the whole point
of today's experiment

is to find out
if human earwax

is, in fact, flammable.

But not only that...

to be able
to compare it visually

to the types of waxes

that are found
in commercial-grade candles,

namely paraffin or beeswax.

- Cool.
- All right.

- Okay.
- Should we move on
to the earwax?

Ooh, it's sparking!
[Laughs]

Dude,
that was in your ear!

Grant: The paraffin
and the beeswax burnt normally,

as I would have expected.

The really astounding thing

is how well
the human earwax burned.

And it's not, like, a slow burn,

like the paraffin
or the beeswax...

sort of a more aggressive burn
with a crackling.

It was a
[imitates crackling]

Which... I'm not exactly sure
what that is.

Maybe it's skin cells
or little hairs.

But very surprising
that it burnt well.

I think this looks good
for our myth.

Narrator: And that means
they can move on to stage two...

collecting enough earwax
to make a candle.

But what's immediately clear is
it's gonna take a while.

You have clean ear canals.

We're gonna have to call
in a lot of people, huh?

We're gonna need
a lot of people.

All right, everybody,
come on in!

Cue the usual suspects...

the Mythbusters team
in all its waxy...

Victory!

...oily...
Woman: Wow!

...hairy...

- Got it!
- All right then.
Happy to help.

...and greasy-eared glory.

[Coughing]

- Can I take these off?
- Oh, yes.

Otherwise it'll be
really hard.

After plumbing
the "ear-y" depths

of the last few team members,
family members, and passers-by,

Dr. Lustig is finished,

and the ear-wax candle making
can begin.

Next up
is an actual prank.

Let me start
with a question...

have you ever gone
to sleep-away camp?

I was a camp counselor
for years.

Okay, did you ever play pranks
on the kids in your charge?

Of course. In fact,
that was a job requirement.

Ever take
a sleeping person's hand

and dip it in a bowl
of warm water

to see
if they'd wet themselves?

Actually, no, but I have always
wondered about that one.

You're not gonna
have to wonder much longer,

'cause we're gonna put it
to the test.

Well, all right then.

Narrator: Aside from our
sleeping human guinea pigs,

the only piece of equipment
the team requires for this test

is this moisture-activated
voice alarm.

So, how is it that these shiny
strips of metal

are able to detect liquid?

Well, when water crosses over
two of these strips,

it'll allow a minute amount
of electrical current

to pass through it,

and this alarm right here is
sensitive enough to detect that

and start yelling at me...

Jamie: Oh, my God!
What the hell are you doing?

...when it does.

[Elevator dings]

Next, the guys need a place
to sleep.

Got my jammies.
I'm ready to go to work.

And, here,
at the California Sleep Lab,

in this bedroom with a view,

they've got state-of-the-art
monitoring equipment.

Adam:
This is a camp prank...

a staple of camp pranks
the world over

for generations, I swear.

And it is simply that if you
take a sleeping person's hand

and place it in a bowl
of warm water,

that person will involuntarily
wet themselves in their bed.

Jamie: Oh, my God!
What the hell are you doing?

[Chuckles]

Yeah!
And that's where we come in.

- All right, so we're gonna
start your hook-up now.
- Okay.

We have come to the California
Center for Sleep Disorders,

and Jamie and I

are each going to take turns
being the test subject.

One of us will fall asleep
in this bed,

and when we reach
the correct phase of sleep,

the other one will sneak
in with a bowl of water

and see if this is,
in fact, true.

[Switch clicks]

Jamie:
Do I think this is gonna work?

Well, in my case, not so much.

As it happens,
I'm a very light sleeper,

and my suspicion is that...

if somebody comes in
in the middle of the night

and tries to mess
with my hand...

the other one's gonna hit them
square in the face.

Narrator:
And that is surely the key
stumbling block for this myth.

Is he sucking his thumb?

Narrator: Unless they are
absolutely out for the count,

getting the sleeper's hand
into the water

without waking them up
will be tough.

But that's where
clinical director Michael Salemi

comes in.

His eyes are closed,
but he's definitely not asleep.

With all the electrodes
on Jamie's head,

what are we
looking at there?

These are his eyes
right here,

and we're looking at eye
movements, and this is his EEG.

So, we're looking
at his brain wave patterns here,

to see
if there's any changes

that would indicate that
he's actually fallen asleep.

Basically, by monitoring
the brain's electrical activity,

we can tell how deep
is Jamie's sleep.

Stages one and two
are light, transitional stages

that won't be ideal
for this test.

Stage three,
also called slow-wave sleep,

is the goal.

Here, brain activity
is significantly reduced,

and the sleeper
is less easily woken.

But Jamie's playing hard to get.

He's not sleeping.
He's waiting.

Narrator: And Adam...

geared up
with night-vision goggles...

loses patience and goes in.

Oh,
you're totally awake.

You've had, like,
two hours man.

Sorry. Nice getup.

Thank you.

I think your time is up.
I think it's my turn.

So, I was right about Jamie
not sleeping.

He was waiting,
and he waited us out.

He waited so long, we had to
throw him out as a test subject.

I've always wanted
the cyber hair extensions.

And now... it's my turn.

[Switch clicks]

Narrator: As soon
as Adam's down, he's out...

[snores]

...and, finally,
things are looking up.

Or are they?

Although Adam dropped to sleep
really quickly,

he may not be a good candidate
for this, either,

because Adam has sleep apnea,

which means that he's struggling
for air from time to time,

and it's waking him up.

[Snoring]

So, he may not be able to get
down into that deep sleep

that we need him to be at
to do this trick.

Narrator: But before the team
runs out of patience,

Adam finally descends
into stage-three sleep.

However,
there's another complication.

Both of his hands
are under his head,

so I don't know
what to do other than try it.

If he doesn't wake up,
maybe we'll get what we need.

[Snoring]

Narrator:
With Adam twisted awkwardly,

Jamie manages to get
Adam's hand over the bowl.

But the best he can do

is gently pour water
over the hand until...

[moans]

...our camp-prank victim awakes.

[Laughs]

All right, then.

So, Adam, I noticed
that your hand is wet.

Is there anything else
that's wet?

Nope. It's all dry.

Darn it!

It's definitely not looking
very good for this myth

at this point.

Well, I mean, it's obvious
we don't have enough earwax

to melt it down into a big vat
and dip the wick in

like you would normally
make candles.

So, why don't we try
and melt that,

lay it out and roll it
around a wick,

kind of like you do with those
beeswax type of candles?

Yeah,
that might work.

Grant:
I'm not really sure how this
is gonna work as a candle.

Yeah, it's flammable,

but it's not quite the same
as regular wax.

- All right, well,
are you ready to melt?
- Yes.

The bigger question for me

is actually getting it
into candle form.

They look more like boogers
than earwax, don't they?

Yeah.

Narrator:
Those with sensitive...

[groaning]

Are you gonna throw up?

...not-so-steely stomachs...

[gags]

[Laughs]

...might want to avert your eyes
around about now.

[Gags]

Why are we making
this candle?

[Bleep]
I almost threw up!

Well, maybe if you just
keep breathing it,
you get used to it.

Probably not.

All right,
it looks pretty soft.

Do you want to like
smash out a big...

[gagging]

[Laughs]

That sucked!

[Laughter]

All right.
Here's your wick.

Tory:
Making a candle was a lot harder
than I thought it was gonna be.

Cool. It's like
a little ear-wax taco.

It's not like
it's a prepackaged material

that you pull out and form
into a shape of a candle.

I mean, this is earwax
you're talking about.

It's actually working,
kind of.

There's hair in there,
there's skin cells,

and to get it melted down
into the shape of a candle

was hard enough.

Look at that!
We got a candle!

Narrator: Well, almost.

The final proof
is in the lighting.

Okay, so for our side-by-side
comparison, we have...

Oh, are you're gonna stick it
on that cupcake?

A regular
birthday candle.

Be careful it doesn't
fall apart.

Ugh.

[Laughs]

With the earwax all together
and the wick in it,

personally, I don't think it's
gonna melt like a normal candle

because, when we tested it,
it sparkled.

Go! Okay.

So, it's either
gonna be like 4th of July,

or it's gonna go
completely out.

It's lit like a candle,
but we'll see if it lasts.

Look how it's bubbling up,
right around...

oh, that's going down.

Yep, it's burning up, just like
in our little sample test.

It burns up,
and then that's it.

It's done.

I don't think
it's gonna last.

Nope.

- Oh.
- It's going out.
It's going out.

[Stopwatch beeps]

Okay.


Not much of a candle
at all.

Mnh-mnh.

Narrator:
Nope, and that's down to
the composition of candle wax,

as opposed to earwax.

The long-chain hydrocarbons
in paraffin or beeswax melt

and, in liquid form,
get pulled up the wick

where they burn in a slow,
controlled fashion.

Earwax,
full of dead skin cells,

hair, fatty acids, and
cholesterol may be flammable,

but, critically, it doesn't melt
or burn consistently.

All right.
Looks like this one's busted.

- Busted.
- Totally busted.

- Happy birthday!
- Happy birthday!

[Fire extinguisher hisses]

So we've got one last chance,

and, for that, we're gonna
induct Matt, our runner,

and we'll see whether we can
get him to wet his bed.

Let's make mama proud.

Sweet dreams.

[Switch clicking]

Narrator: And mere minutes after
lights-out, sweet dreams it is.

Jamie: There we go.
They're starting to spread out.

All right, let's get a bucket
of water ready.

Let this be a lesson
to you kids,

lest you think
working for "Mythbusters"

is all fun and games,
even the runners are not above

getting humiliated
on national television.

This is perfect.
Matt's hand is in the bowl.

It's the ideal illustration
of this myth.

I don't hear the alarm,

so I don't think he's
involuntarily urinating yet.

Narrator: Not yet,

but after five minutes of hand
and wrist immersion,

this happens...

Jamie: Oh, my God!
What the hell are you doing?

Oh, my God!

With the alarm going nuts
and bedlam in the bedroom,

it's not until the lights
are switched on

that the offending puddle
can be examined.

Dude, did you think
you peed yourself?

I don't think I did.

Roll over.
Let's see what's going on here.

Looks like it could be
a spill.

Yeah, it's not from the source,
unfortunately.

How did it get
that separate puddle over there?

Adam: If Matt says
it's not from the source,

I'm gonna go with him.

Yeah. Looks like it is
just on the side.

I don't see wet pants overall.
[Laughs]

Well, if that is the case,
then it didn't work,

'cause his hand was full-on
in that water for...

- What was it?
Five minutes or better?
- Yeah.

Did you even feel it?

No.

That's awesome.

I really thought that
we'd hit pay dirt with this myth

when I heard this
start screaming, but, no.

It's late in the middle
of the night,

and after Matt's hand was in
that bowl for five minutes,

some of the water sloshed out
and caused our alarm to go off.

With all of this, I can't see
that we can call this myth

anything but busted.

Narrator:
It's not quite a mini-myth,

but this trekkie tall tale
is too good to resist.

I tell you what.

I cannot believe how popular
this next myth is.

Yeah, fans have been
requesting it for years,

and when I announced that we
were doing this on the Internet,

the reaction was massive.

You're talking about
the Gorn episode of "Star Trek"!

This is the episode from
the classic "Star Trek" series

where Captain Kirk
battles a reptilian
creature called the Gorn.

Yeah, and right when you
think Captain Kirk is
about to get defeated,

he devises a weapon
using nothing but the things

he finds
on this alien planet.

Doesn't he make
his own gunpowder, as well?

Heck, yeah.
He's Captain Kirk!

Let's get this going.

[Communicator beeps]

Enterprise,
three to beam up.

You getting reception?

Yeah, mine's real.

Narrator: In a memorable
"Star Trek" moment,

a marooned Captain Kirk
channels MacGyver

and makes a bamboo bazooka.

Yes, yes.

What?
What is it, Spock?

An invention,
yeoman.

Narrator:
After scavenging the three basic
ingredients of gunpowder

and diamonds for ammunition...

They would make
formidable projectiles.

Oh, here comes the Gorn.

...Kirk goes to work
mixing his materials

and constructing the cannon.

Can he do it?

If he has the time,
yeoman.

If he has the time.

Of course he has the time.
He's Kirk!

But what about reality?

Can you really
make your own gunpowder,

and can you really
make a bazooka out of bamboo?

Now, gunpowder's composed
of three things...

potassium nitrate...

Charcoal...

And sulfur.

Now, on their own, each of these
three things is nonexplosive.

But the question is whether you
can combine them together

without further refinement

to create gunpowder

capable of firing a projectile
out of a cannon.

So, what we're gonna do

is we're gonna make
Captain Kirk black powder.

We're gonna take these elements,

mix them up just like he does
in the TV clip,

and compare it
to regular black powder.

Now, the next big question
of this myth

is whether or not we can build
a cannon out of bamboo

that will withstand
the expl*si*n of gunpowder.

So, I'm gonna have a stab
at this,

while I leave the boys
to their pyrotechnics.

Narrator:
And our pair of pyromaniacs
begin Pyrotechnics 101,

with the assumption
that Kirk knew the correct ratio

of the three key ingredients.

And, also, like their hero...

Okay, dude,
Kirk or Picard?

Are you kidding?
Kirk.

...they're not using any tools

to grind and mix
the black powder,

just some rocks
from the floor of the set.

- Mr. Spock or Lieutenant
Commander Data?
- Spock.

- Did Han sh**t first?
- Yes, he did.

Grant: So, we've been at this
for a good 15 minutes or so...

It's starting to look like
black powder.

...no longer than Kirk
might have had

while down on the planet.

And now it's time to test
our black-powder formulas.

First, what we're gonna do is
let off some real black powder,

just to see
what it's supposed to look like.

[Laughs]

Good!

Then we're each gonna try
our own recipes,

and see what we've got.

Narrator: So, that's what
the guys are aiming for.

That's the kind of reaction
Kirk achieved

by hand-mixing his gunpowder.

And we're about to find out
if that's possible.

- Hey!
- Hey!

It's kind of
doing something.

It's a little
something something.

- Yeah.
- It's weird.

Kind of burning like...

It's like those snakes
that you get at 4th of July.

Grant: So, no,
we didn't get the big poof

like black powder
on our first test,

but I'm actually
pleasantly surprised,

because I fully expected
nothing to happen...

no ignition.

Wow, look at that.

That's a little better.

But we did get ignition,

and it smelled
like black powder,

and, furthermore,
we got these sparks.

- Hey.
- Whoa.

So, that actually means
that we're on the right track.

I think it's just
a matter of time

till we find the right ratio.

Narrator: While our budding
kitchen chemists

mix things up
with a few new recipes,

Jessi cooks up a bamboo cannon.

So, Captain Kirk was put on
this barren wasteland.

He was very lucky to find
a broken-off piece of bamboo...

one that is approximately
the size that we've chosen here,

which is a 6-inch
inside diameter.

Well, the problem
that we're having here

is that his piece of bamboo
didn't have these inner walls

where it blocks off
all of these sections.

So, what I have to do is get rid
of those inner walls.

Narrator: The heat is on

to find the perfect, hand-mixed,
black-powder formula.

Now, in this one, I added
more charcoal and more sulfur.

After working their way through
over 30 different formulations,

the guys decide they've found
the best possible combination

that could be made by hand.

- Hey!
- Hey.

You know what?
That's not too bad.

I mean, I don't know
if you'd be able to make it

in 30 minutes
during the heat of the battle,

but, I mean,
so far, it's looking good.

You look like you're thinking
of something pretty good.

I am.

There's a myth going around

that you can stick your hand
into molten lead

and not get hurt.

[Beeps]

Adam: Molten metal...

it's pretty nasty stuff.

Just look at these shots
of a foundry.

It would seem

that, if you touched any
of that stuff with your hands,

you'd be horribly,
horribly burned.

But maybe not so.

See, there's a myth going around

that if you take pure lead
and you melt it,

that you can dip your hand in it

and not be burnt
or horribly injured.

I know.

The trick is supposed to be

that you wet your hand
before doing it,

and it exploits what's known
as the Leidenfrost effect.

Narrator:
The Leidenfrost effect?

Well, seeing as it's the
scientific basis for the myth,

Adam, with his hot, steel ball
and fish tank

is on demonstration duty.

Adam: [laughing] Wow!

Look at that.

You can see a clear
skin of...

I guess it's steam
around the whole thing.

Jamie: What you're seeing
in this demonstration

is known as
the Leidenfrost effect.

It's like
an atmosphere.

It's interesting
because the steam that's created

when you expose a hot surface
to water

is actually insulating
that surface.

And it makes sense,
because steam being a gas,

conducts heat less rapidly
than the water itself does.

Narrator: And that's the key.

When cool water is exposed
to an extremely hot surface,

a layer of water vapor,

which is a relatively poor
heat conductor,

provides a thin
protective barrier.

So, it's time to get cooking
for this hair-raising stunt...

Is this me?

...with the one and only
ingredient... lead.

Is this the first Terminator
you've ever cooked?

No, I've done this
a lot before, actually...

every time I get a robot
that's misbehaving.

The problem is
you've got to keep them cooking,

otherwise they reformulate
and try and k*ll you.

It's about 725 degrees.

Well, that's about 100 degrees
more than melting temperature.

I think
that's about right.

Let's do it.

Narrator:
Cue the stand-in digits.

Jamie: This meat is raw,
and if it actually gets too hot,

it's gonna change color
because it's cooking.

Narrator: If these finger-sized
sausages sizzle,

then Adam and Jamie won't be
going anywhere near the hot pot.

Well, now, that seems to be
a problem, doesn't it?

A very slight
change of color.

But, also,
lead stuck to...

- I wouldn't want that
to happen to my finger.
- No.

Narrator:
While not burnt by the standards
of any backyard barbecue,

the sausage is being cooked.

But they're not giving up yet.

A hair's breadth
over 800.

In order to avoid
burning their stand-in digits,

they're going to raise
the temperature and try again.

That worked pretty well.

Yeah.
Where's Tory?

Gosh dang it!

This is the fourth time
this week!

- He needs to get
a new service provider.
- Right?

Narrator: Our intrepid trio
of trekkies

are tackling the tall tale
of the Gorn cannon.

They want to know...
can you hand-mix black powder?

Can you really build a bazooka
out of bamboo?

And can the cannon fire
with enough force

to take down the Gorn?

We're working
with different elements here,

so the chances of everything
working together...

I'm thinking slim to none.

The gunpowder looks promising.

The bamboo, I think,
is gonna completely fail.

And then the Gorn actually
being hit by diamonds?

Um, not so much.

Hey, nice vine
you got there.

Yeah, you know,
it's amazing

how it grows in three cords
here on this planet.

In the episode,
Captain Kirk takes the vine

and wraps it around
the bamboo bazooka

at the combustion chamber.

I guess that's to strengthen it
or something.

All right.
I think that's tight enough.

Grant: All right, now it's time
for the secret sauce.

Our own formulation
of black powder.

After 33 formulations,
this is the most potent.

And just to remind you...

this is using only the chemicals
that Kirk had on the planet,

which were potassium nitrate,
sulfur, and charcoal.

And speaking of
James Tiberius Kirk,

here he is...
- All right, buddy,
it's time.

...or at least
his stunt double.

- You know why he's wearing
the red shirt, don't you?
- Why?

Every "Star Trek" fan
knows,

if you beam down to a planet
in a red shirt,

you're not coming back.

- Perfect.
- Yes.

Tory: We are about to test
our bamboo bazooka.

Is it gonna be strong enough
to withstand an expl*si*n

from our homemade
black powder?

Beforehand, I measured out
an amount... two handfuls...

which Kirk put in,
and that's what this cup is.

And is this expl*si*n
gonna be strong enough

to launch our projectiles
into the Gorn to take him down?

Tory:
Load it up with the diamonds.

Or is this whole thing just
gonna explode into splinters?

I will be highly impressed
if this actually works.

Tory:
We are about to find out.

All right, this is Gorn cannon,
just like in the episode.

Here we go!

Kiss your butt goodbye, Gorn!

[Laughter]

Narrator:
It's quite endearing, really.

Grant and Tory's beaming faces
full of anticipation,

childhood dreams
about to be realized.

That was interesting.

But unfortunately, all that hope
has gone up in smoke.

I was hoping for, like,
a [imitates expl*si*n]

This is so
underwhelming.

I'm sorry, guys.

Narrator: It appears
the homemade black powder

doesn't burn fast
or aggressively enough.

The energy
is simply dissipating

rather than exploding.

Grant: I'm not gonna lie.
I'm a little disappointed.

All our cannon did
was smoke profusely.

But I don't think, necessarily,
that it was the gunpowder.

Maybe we lost containment.
I don't know.

All I know is that

people have been making
gunpowder this way for centuries

with the exact same recipe.

Jessi: Careful.
It might still be hot.

Maybe we should try this
in the real cannon and
see if it even works.

- I agree.
- All right.

Narrator: So, our trekkie trio
isn't giving up yet.

To confirm it's Kirk's gunpowder
recipe that's failing

and not the bamboo cannon,

the team is switching in some
hardware that they know works.

So, we're giving it
another shot,

put it in a proper cannon,
and see how well that does.

Look at him.
He's laughing at us.

Here's that finger,
bucket of water...

Whoo... shake it off,
into the lead.

And it looks pretty much
perfect, and it's still cold.

Yeah.

Narrator: So, 850 degrees
Fahrenheit is the magic number.

The sausage
comes through unscathed,

which leaves just one question.

I'm game.
Are you game?

I picture people
yelling at their TV...

"Go on, do it!

Go on, try it! Ha!"

Aren't you?
Yeah. All right.

Adam:
We're about to go for it.

We're about to dip our hands
into molten metal,

and we've got plenty of evidence
saying that this is safe.

It's clear
from our experimentation

that the conditions
to do it safely

are actually pretty precise.

I think we've got them.

And I think it's gonna be okay.

And this little piggy
burned clean off.

[Chuckles]

Narrator: Despite
the sausage-based evidence...

clearly a sentence
never before used...

there is still
a healthy amount of trepidation.

Remember, the lead is at around


which puts this stunt firmly in
the don't-try-at-home category.

Nothing.

Now, I just went
about that deep.

Yeah. Do you want to go
a little deeper?

My little finger
is just fine.

Of course I only went in
about that deep.

I was being a little careful.

I didn't feel a thing.

It felt kind of warm
and pleasant, actually.

Go for it.

Narrator: And a repeat
performance with an index finger

yields the same result.

Now, that one went in
pretty good, and no problem.

No problem?

No problem.

I guess it's my turn.

Adam has had the luxury of using
Jamie as a human guinea pig,

so, naturally,
he has to up the ante.

He's going for four fingers.

Here we go,
ladies and gentlemen.

One human hand in molten metal.

[Laughs]

That's freaky.

You can feel the water
boiling against your fingers.

You can feel that
[imitates boiling] right there.

And that pretty much
puts this lead mini-myth to bed.

So, Jamie and I just
successfully dipped our hands

into a pot of molten metal.

No lie. The Leidenfrost effect
is no myth. It protected us.

Well, I'm unharmed.
You?

I'm fine.

That's all we needed.
That's a myth confirmed.

Yep.

So, I got the cannon out.

This way we can test
our homemade black powder

to see whether or not
it's even working.

Tory: We've used this cannon
a lot. We know it works.

I mean, we used it
on Prison Escape,

and we used it
on Cheese Cannon.

It punched a hole right through
the sail! [laughs]

So, we know the cannon works.

What we're trying
to find out is...

does our homemade
gunpowder work?

Narrator:
So, this test is focusing on
the homemade black powder.

And, once again, the team use
the same amount as Captain Kirk.

You know,
if two handfuls of gunpowder

don't set this cannonball off...

If two... if two...

[laughs]

Narrator: Let's try that again
from a safe distance.

You know, if two handfuls
of homemade gunpowder

doesn't launch
this ball out,

we might have to switch
to normal gunpowder.

Grant: All right,
fuse is going in.

[Laughter]

- Whoo!
- Whoo!

Look at that.

The cannonball actually
ended up behind the cannon.

Yep, and it clearly
demonstrates that,

although, you can hand-mix the
raw ingredients of black powder

to get an energetic product,

you won't get
an expl*sive result

without more accurate refinement
and measurement techniques.

Look, even as a hard-core
"Star Trek" fan,

I think I'm gonna
have to concede

that black powder
made in two hours

on the surface
of a planet with no tools

just doesn't cut it.

All right, but we still
have to test this bamboo cannon,

so I say let's pretend
like he was able to make

commercial-grade
black powder.

Let's take the same amount,
load up our cannon,

and see what happens.

This is getting good now!

Easy.
Don't go too hard.

Narrator: But even in this
impossible, best-case scenario,

Tory has his doubts
the bamboo cannon can.

Now, I think the weakest link
in our bamboo bazooka

is the fact that we're using the
natural membrane of the bamboo

as the backing of our cannon.

I mean, that is gonna be taking

the full force
of the black powder.

I just don't think it's strong
enough to withstand that force.

Aah! [laughs]

Run! Run!

[Laughter]

I think we k*lled Captain Kirk,
not the Gorn.

Yeah, the Gorn
is still standing.

Jessi: It totally blew out
the back of the cannon.

Tory: How cool was that?

But, look, it's obvious
the bamboo was not strong enough

to withstand the expl*si*n
of the black powder.

Blew right out the back.
Cracked it all the way up.

Yeah, but it looks like it did
in the episode.

Yeah, but, I mean,
look at Captain Kirk.

He does not look like
he did in the episode.

This guy probably
would have died.

Narrator: And the Gorn escaped
without a scratch.

Or did he?

He looks pretty healthy
from this angle.

Yeah, he's still standing.

But wait a minute.
Look at that.

That looks like a hit.

- No.
- Yeah, look at this.

Dude, it's everywhere.
Yeah!

We actually
got crystals to fire back.

Yeah! [laughs]

You know what?

I mean, this one's
still looking busted,

'cause it's like...
the person sh**ting the cannon

is gonna sustain
way more damage

than the person
getting shot at.

Well, how can we
make it better, though?

I don't know. We could always
replicate the results.

All right. But so far
as this goes, this one's busted.

- Busted.
- Totally busted.

Narrator: Okay, so the mythical
Gorn cannon is busted,

in more ways than one.

But is there any way

Kirk could have made a cannon
out of bamboo?

The weak link was the membrane
in the bamboo itself,

so what we've done
is we've taken 3/4-inch plywood,

plugged it,
put a steel rod across,

and then we're gonna put some
polyurethane sealer in there

to help fill all those cracks,

and, hopefully,
the expl*si*n is gonna go out

the front end of the cannon

and sh**t all those crystals at
the Gorn, the way we want it to.

Tory: You know what?

I don't care if Captain Kirk

wasn't able to make homemade
black powder on the planet.

I don't care
if this myth is busted.

We're re-enacting the
Gorn episode, and you know what?

I'm happy.

I probably should
get out of here now.

- Oh!
- Oh!
- Oh!

Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Hey, that was good!

I think we took out
both the Gorn and Captain Kirk!

[Laughter]

Narrator:
Finally, the team gets its Gorn
and hits the bull's-eye.

Shot to the head, the chest,
the stomach.

And to the groin!

Yeah.

Narrator: But despite this brief
moment of satisfaction...

and Kirk's cult hero status...

there really was only one result
for this myth.

Tory: As sad as I am to say,

since this is my favorite
episode of "Star Trek,"

this one is busted.

I mean, you cannot make
homemade black powder

strong enough
to launch the projectiles.

Even if you could,

the bamboo would not be strong
enough to contain the expl*si*n.

I mean, giving
it the best possible chances,

using the commercial-grade
black powder,

and reinforcing the bamboo,

our bamboo bazooka still
exploded, k*lling Captain Kirk.

I mean, any way you look at it,
this is a bad idea.

I mean, you're better off
giving it to the Gorn

and letting him sh**t you.

You guys want to walk?
I don't want to walk.

Scottie,
beam us out of here.

You know what? You might
want to use yours, Grant.

I'm not getting a signal.

[Communicator beeps]

Enterprise,
four to beam up.

Has anyone seen Jamie?

Here I am.
Got the mail.

Bill, bill, bill...

Coconut.

Coconut!

Dude, our coconut
came back!

- Do you know
what this means?
- What?

This means
myth confirmed.

It also means we're gonna get
a lot of coconuts in the mail.

Oh, you're right.
Nuts!