MythBusters (2013 season)


The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk urban legends, old wives' tales, and the like. This is a list of the various myths tested on the show as well as the results of the experiments. The 2013 season premiered on May 1, 2013, returning to its Wednesday time slot.

Episode overview


No. in seriesNo. in seasonTitleOriginal air dateOverall episode No.

Episode 197 – "JATO Rocket Car: Mission Accomplished?"

This was the first of two "10th Anniversary" episodes.

JATO 3: Mission Accomplished?

Episode 198 – "''Deadliest Catch'' Crabtastic Special"

This episode aired out of order on Discovery Channel in the United States, as the small-scale test for "Killer Loop" briefly referenced the small-scale test for "Crash Cushion".
For all three myths, Adam, Jamie, Tory, Kari and Grant were joined by two Deadliest Catch captains - Time Bandit captain Johnathan Hillstrand and Seabrooke captain Scott "Junior" Campbell.

Killer Loop

Crab Napping

Inspired by Bering Sea crab boat shifts lasting as long as 30 hours, which leads to some captains swearing by this myth.
MythStatusNotes
Working a 30-hour shift with a 20-minute nap every six hours results in double the performance of not getting any sleep.ConfirmedKari and Tory went onto an anchored ship and set up an obstacle course featuring tasks that a Bering Sea crab boat deckhand could expect to face, including throwing a hook, sorting crab, dodging mock versions of crab pots, answering navigation questions, and a steady hand test with a total 100 possible points. Kari and Tory both got perfect scores for their control and then ran two tests after 30 hours awake, with the difference being that the second included the 20-minute crab naps. Without the crab naps, Kari scored 27 and Tory scored 34, but after adding in the naps, Kari and Tory successfully doubled their scores in the re-test with scores of 64 and 81.

Indestructible Pot

Episode 199 – "Down and Dirty/Earthquake Survival"

Stall Number 1

Earthquake Emergency

Episode 200 – "Indy Car Special"

Manhole Mishap

Sweaty Speed

Episode 201 – "Battle of the Sexes: Round 2"

Multi-Tasking Talent

Ask for Directions

Parking Power

Observation Skills

This segment was cut from the episode when it aired in the United States.
MythStatusNotes
Women are better at observation than men.PlausibleIn a replication of the Simons-Chabris invisible gorilla test designed to measure general inattentional blindness, ten men and ten women were shown a video of two three-man teams passing basketballs and were told to count the number of times a white team member passed a basketball, while the true aim was to see if the subjects could spot a zombie walking amongst the action. Only one man and two women were able to do so successfully, leading the Build Team to call the myth plausible due to the marginal results.

Episode 202 – "Motorcycle Water Ski"

Homemade Parachute

Episode 203 – "Hypermiling/Crash Cushions"

Hypermiling

Episode 204 – "Duct Tape Canyon"

The Build Team does not appear in this episode.

Duct Tape Canyon Special

In this spiritual successor to Duct Tape Island, Adam and Jamie are stranded in a barren wasteland near Desolation Canyon, Utah with only duct tape, bubble wrap and a few other basic staples, and must depend on these limited resources to cross the canyon and reach civilization. Features a cameo appearance by Nik Wallenda to promote the Discovery Channel special Skywire Live, which aired the weekend following the original airing of this episode.
Adam and Jamie's goals were to...
MythStatusNotes
...find the canyon.ConfirmedTo survive the temperature, Adam and Jamie wrapped themselves in ponchos made from bubble wrap and held together with duct tape. They then found a nearby mesa from which to survey the turf and locate the canyon.
...make shelter and a fire.ConfirmedJamie used duct tape to forge a low-hanging tent to sleep in while lying on a mattress of bubble pack, while Adam slept in the car they used to get stranded. Adam was also able to use sparks from the car's battery to make a fire, after making duct tape handles for the battery's wires which tended to get hot.
...carry their supplies across the desert.ConfirmedJamie used large branches and duct tape to construct a travois to haul most of the supplies, while Adam made a bag and several yards of rope out of duct tape. Along the way to the canyon, they modified their shoes for further comfort while hiking by cutting out the toes and wrapping them in duct tape.
...descend safely into the canyon.ConfirmedThe MythBusters tied several of the ropes together and used them to slowly climb down one of the walls of the canyon, taking advantage of a few ledges and footholds along the way. They descended a total distance of.
...paddle along rapids to the end of the canyon.Partly ConfirmedBefore building any boats to use, Adam was first wrapped in a thick suit of bubble wrap and duct tape, intending for it to be insulated and waterproof; however, cold water started to seep in after a short time and Adam soon lost his ability to control himself due to the added buoyancy of the bubble wrap.
So to brave the rapids, they built two separate crafts out of bubble wrap pontoons held together by duct tape: Jamie made a large raft that resembled an inflatable pool sofa, and Adam constructed a long kayak. They each took their boats out onto the river and paddled downstream, where they repeatedly faced rapids of increasing difficulty, until they eventually reached a Class 5 rapid. Adam rode first, but his boat soon flipped and he fell out, forcing him to ride the rest of the rapids outside of the boat. He managed to survive, and found a large rock afterwards on which to rest and reenter the boat. Jamie handled the rapids by using the rocks to stand on as he carried his boat through narrow gaps, then rode the rest of the way without any problems.
They discovered a waterfall soon after, and decided to bypass it on land instead of attempting to ride down. They used some more rope to climb down a cliff past the waterfall, after which they paddled their boats out of the canyon and headed for civilization.

Episode 205 – "Painting With Explosives/Bifurcated Boat"

This was the second of two "10th Anniversary" episodes.

Painting with Explosives

Adam and Jamie decided to revisit the myth of Painting with Explosives, based on the episode "Do-It-Yourself Mr. Bean" of the British comedy series Mr. Bean starring Rowan Atkinson. They tested to find out if a small room could be painted with explosives using...
MythStatusNotes
...Adam's snowflake frame.No resultAfter some preliminary tests at the bomb range attempting to use C4 to spread paint onto a canvas, Adam found the most effective method was using detasheet spread behind a bag of paint. He then built a large, six-directional frame and placed canvases on the six ends. When the explosive detonated, each of the canvases ended up almost entirely covered in paint. Though successful, it was not actually an attempt to paint a room, and thus it was not given a Busted, Plausible or Confirmed rating.
...Jamie's steel sphere.Busted
Jamie first experimented with various nozzle shapes until he found one that created a large, rectangular spread of paint. He also conducted preliminary tests at the bomb range, using a scuba tank filled with explosives with the nozzle attached, but it failed to paint the wall in a better spread than a scuba tank without the nozzle. Jamie surmised that the energy from the explosive wasn't properly spraying the paint out through the nozzle in the intended fashion because the scuba tank was cylindrical, so he built a large, heavy-duty spherical tank out of specially cut steel circles with nozzles in four directions. He then placed his tank within a small room with four walls, with the nozzles facing the walls, and placed dynamite and paint inside the tank. When the dynamite went off, the paint sprayed to cover hardly any of the area of the walls.

Bifurcated Boat

Episode 206 – "''Breaking Bad'' Special"

This episode features myths drawn from the AMC drama series Breaking Bad, which had been teased since it was reported as early as the year before by Entertainment Weekly. Guesting in this episode are show creator/producer Vince Gilligan and co-starring actor Aaron Paul.
The episode had already been aired in several international markets before making its US debut on August 12, 2013. The late US airing was timed to coincide with Breaking Bad's final season premiere the night before.
MythStatusNotes
Concentrated hydrofluoric acid in a bathtub can completely destroy a human body and eat a hole through the tub and the bathroom floor below it. From the season 1 episode "Cat's in the Bag...".Busted
At UC-Berkeley, Adam and Jamie observed as 100-mL portions of the acid were poured onto samples of seven materials that would have been present in the bathroom: steel, wood, linoleum, drywall, ceramic-coated cast iron, ceramic alone, and pig flesh. After 8 hours of soaking, the materials had deteriorated to various degrees, but none had been completely destroyed. Adam noted that although fluorine is the most reactive of the halogens, it forms the weakest acid of the group when it combines with hydrogen.
Jamie brought in a load of concentrated sulfuric acid, along with a second chemical that he referred to as "special sauce" to increase its corrosive ability. He and Adam built a bathroom set at a sanitary landfill, with a catch tank to contain any spills, and filled its cast-iron tub with of pig carcass parts and of the acid/"sauce" mixture. This liquid volume was three times the amount used in the actual scene. The tub contents eventually began to bubble, smoke, and give off large amounts of heat; however, some solid material remained after 20 minutes and neither the tub nor the floor leaked.
Acting on suggestions from Vince and Aaron, Adam and Jamie decided to use a larger quantity of acid/"sauce" and a tub made from a more susceptible material. Fiberglass degraded quickly when exposed to the acid, so the two set up a full-scale test using it for their tub. Once the mixture was added, the reaction was so vigorous that the entire set was briefly hidden under thick clouds of smoke. After 5 minutes, Adam and Jamie found only a black organic sludge in the tub; although large amounts of liquid had boiled over the side, neither the tub nor the floor had been eaten through. Since they were unable to replicate the scene, they declared the myth busted.
Although the "sauce" was never explicitly identified, Jamie mentioned that the "sauce" had a lot of hydrogen and oxygen, and Adam said the concentration was 30%. Based on this description, the chemical being referred to was likely hydrogen peroxide, thus creating a solution commonly known as piranha solution. Jamie noted that what he and Adam saw in the aftermath in the tub matched in contents with what fell through the ceiling after the reaction in the episode.

Crazy Handful

As a postscript, in the 2015 episode Blow It Out of the Water, Adam and Jamie – with Gilligan present – also tested the viability of Walter's jury-rigged car trunk machine gun trap in Felina, the Breaking Bad series finale, and found it plausible.

Episode 207 – "Zombie Special"

This special episode was timed to air in the US immediately following the Discovery Channel special Apocalypse Preppers and in the same week as the season 4 premiere of The Walking Dead. Features a special guest appearance by Michael Rooker, who portrayed Merle Dixon in seasons 1–3 of The Walking Dead.

Axe vs. Gun

Dead Heat

Power of the Push