History JustForFun / TropesExaminedByTheMythBusters

* ''Film/JonahHex'': Jonah uses a customized crossbow pistol that [[AbnormalAmmo fires dynamite sticks]] - Busted. There was a malfunction during the second test-fire that ignited the dynamite, so the weapon was ruled to be too dangerous to its user.

* ElevatorFailure: More specifically, the possibility that you can avert death by jumping up as the elevator free-falls. ''Way'' too many G's are being pulled for that to work. Even if you tried it, you'd more likely end up in a million pieces like Buster, even if you ''can'' jump really high (or happen to have a large spring up your ass.) If it ever ''does'' happen, you'd actually want to lie face-down on the floor. (It also helps that elevators are intentionally designed to a) not fall and b) protect people in the unlikely event of this occurrence.)

* WallCrawl: Adam's suction-cups-and-vacuum-pumps rig got him partway up the wall of a skyscraper, though he lacked the stamina to get much further. Jamie's attempt, while it worked, was also [[WithCatlikeTread ridiculously loud]], killing any sort of stealth he might have had.

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Several myths about the almost supernatural superiority of the katana, especially against modern weapons, were shown to be completely false. In particular, tales of katana-weilding Japanese soldiers cutting through gun barrels in World War II. They used a Thompson submachine gun barrel, being the best-case target (a relatively thin barrel, and the gun having a high rate of fire that could weaken the barrel through {{Overheating}}). They couldn't get a cut, even when the barrel was heated to glowing red-hot in a forge. After, they tried several rapid heatings and coolings, giving up on a "cut" and going for a "break" by making the barrel harder but more brittle. Still nothing.

* DelayedExplosion: {{Subverted|Trope}} in an episode dedicated to myths that didn't make it to air. Specifically, they read a fan letter that asked if they ever tested a myth that worked on the get-go, with no proof of concept or planning whatsoever. Cary, Tory, and Grant replay a clip where they tested the myth that a guy who was driving a van with several tanks full of volatile gases suddenly blew up after one of the tanks developed a leak. The team got a van, put a leaky tank inside, and rigged it to match the scenario. They discussed how after they switched on the detonating mechanism, it would take either a long time for the gas to mix properly with the air, and either burn or possibly explode, or they would have to wait until the tank emptied, and have to wait even more to reset. They flipped the switch, and the van immediately disintegrated in a massive explosion.

* ExplosiveDecompression: The Build Team in 2009 tested if a deep-sea diver in older dive suits with brass helmets would experience some form of explosive decompression if the line providing air and pressure to the suit was ever broken. Old brass helmets relied on external air to be pumped continuously, and a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-return_valve non-return valve]] to prevent loss of pressure. On the premise that a valve degraded due to poor maintenance, the meat-and-gelatin fascimile was stuffed into a pressurized suit and lowered to 300 feet (91.44 meters). Once they [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU2PSHeFSlA cut the pump]] and there was no more air in the suit, all that pressure had crushed the "internal organs" right into the helmet, as well crushing the helmet itself, Confirming the myth.

* "Go over like a lead balloon" (i.e. not well at all): Busted. It is possible to make a balloon out of lead, fill it with helium, and have it become buoyant. You just need to use really thin foil and the care and patience of a saint. [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome And they actually made it happen]]. No speculation on [[Music/LedZeppelin Jimmy Page's reaction.]]

* BlindDriving: A blind man can drive competently when a navigator is beside him giving directions. It works best when the blind driver has ''always'' been blind and doesn't have to adjust from normal sighted driving. And, of course, the navigator should be sober too. Even so, DontTryThisAtHome.

* BarehandedBladeBlock: You'd lose a chunk of your hand at best and probably your head, too. Possible if done by a trained martial artist using proper hand protection-- i.e., metal, which defeats the purpose since it's not "bare-handed". And, as with the arrow-catch, anyone who has the reflexes to block a blade barehanded also has the reflexes to simply dodge the blade.

** Another example would be the claim that a binary explosive used in special effects work can be set off in a car wreck. (Busted, it's far too stable to be set off that way ... and ''that'' assumes anyone's dumb enough to transport the stuff already mixed.) [[index]]

* HollywoodMagnetism: The ''[=MythBusters=]'' proved that magnets can't deflect a bullet, as in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''. Or rather, they can, but only with a large number of super-magnets, nothing like the wristwatch-sized magnet in the movie. And even then it only caused the bullet to ricochet off the magnets, continuing its general direction.

** They also busted the claim that wearing steel-toed boots is more dangerous than plain leather boots because the steel will cut your toes off if something is dropped on your feet. They couldn't get a toe slice without going to extremes. And, in any situation where the steel toe cap would fail, a foot in a plain (no toe-area reinforcement) boot would become foot pudding.

** Jamie and Adam took on several "free energy" devices in one episode. All of them failed. At least one (a wheel with empty propane tanks on the spokes over a kiddie pool filled with water, sun heats the water, water heats the air in the tank, warm air rises and the wheel turns to generate electricity) is in reality just a ''really'' inefficient solar collector, meaning the energy is not, in the strictest scientific sense, free. And as noted, this solar energy collector design is so inefficient it doesn't even work.

** When they tested a scene from ''Series/BurnNotice'', they found that there's too much stuff on the underside of a car to count on a bullet finding its way through ... and that shooting the tires gave them a flat within half a mile.

* UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg: They debunked the idea that the Hindenburg's paint job was what caused the explosion and fire, rather than the hydrogen contained inside. To test this myth, they built 1/50th scale Hindenburg models. The model that contained hydrogen gas burned twice as quickly as the model without hydrogen. While the painted skin did also burn vigorously, they concluded it was not what caused the Hindenburg to burn as quickly as it did. However, the theory that the paint on the zeppelin could have burned like thermite (a self-oxidizing combustible material) actually had some basis in fact; there were some brief thermite reactions as the first two zeppelin models burned. (This "busts" a common counter-argument, that the paint could not have been at fault because it could not have burned like thermite.) In fact, the model with the correct paint job AND hydrogen burned almost exactly like the real one.
* JetPack: They couldn't build one from plans purchased off the internet and limited funds. And as Jamie points out, they're not very safe anyway because they offer almost no protection if you crash while using one.

* MindControlDevice: They tested a number of them. Most of them were busted, though a couple were deemed plausible, but just barely. A rotating magnet seemed to have an effect on the test subject's brainwaves, but it might have actually been having an effect on the EEG machine they were using. And a remote hypnosis machine seemed to show a minor effect. In either case, neither would allow direct control of a person's mind.

* ''Film/BodyOfLies'': A squad of cars circle their target to kick up dust and hide their activities from a spy drone - Busted. While you kick up enough dust to obscure vision at ground level, it doesn't really help regarding the overhead view. And even if it did, most drones are equipped with thermal cameras.

** Walt throws mercury fulminate to detonate it as a grenade - Busted. A human-force throw failed to detonate the amount of mercury fulminate the show cites. When it was set off remotely, the blast would have injured everyone in the room, including Walt ... and would have poisoned them as well, because the windows didn't break and therefore the fumes were trapped inside.

** Improvising an ultralight aircraft in four hours with bamboo, trash bags, and an engine from a cement mixer - Busted. For one thing, the Build Team needed four ''days'' to build the thing, not four hours. And even when it was done, it crashed instead of getting airborne.
** Blowing out a lock by taking powder from six bullets, stuffing it in the lock followed by a cartridge cap, and setting it off with the butt of a gun - Busted. This fails on multiple points; you can't open bullets with your bare hands, you can't set off bullets with something as broad as a gun butt, and even when successfully set off the door wouldn't open. And as the team confirmed as the very first thing they did, it's a lot easier and more effective to ''just ShootOutTheLock''.

* HairTriggerAvalanche: Yodeling, cracking a whip, and firing as many as ''two'' assault rifles near an unstable snowpack all failed to set one off. They did mention (but did not test) that it could be set off by a skier, though.

* BladeBrake: …or at least the ship sail version. The blade catches on the seams in the sail and bounces out, while a one-piece sail with no seams doesn't provide enough resistance to slow you down or hold your blade in it. They hypothesized, though, that maybe an ideal butter zone between the two could be possible.

* "Bull in a china shop" (mindless destruction): Busted. The bulls actively avoided the china, to the [=MythBusters=]' surprise, and it turned out they're agile enough to ''trot'' through a china shop.

* BrownNote: Specifically, the TropeNamer. There is no sonic frequency that will cause involuntary bowel movements. However, other sounds and sights that cause other bad physical effects, or bad psychological effects, were not tested.

* RampJump: Tested in multiple variations, with different versions yielding different results. Using examples based on movies (see folder below), the jumps from ''Speed'' and ''Wanted'' were failures, but ''Live and Let Die''[='s=] jump was Plausible, and the stunt from ''Cannonball Run 3'' only worked once the team got ''rid'' of the ramp.

* DeliciousDistraction: You can distract an AngryGuardDog with a steak. Kari was able to walk in an enclosure, open a safe, take what was inside, and probably would have made it out if Tory didn't throw the steak inside (or if Tory had had another steak ready when the dog came back to him). They did advise against [[DontTryThisAtHome viewers repeating the stunt]] shortly afterward as dogs can be trained to ignore this sort of thing.

* PepperSneeze: Adam tested this out to try forcing a sneeze (at the same time he was trying to prove/bust the myth about sneezing with your eyes open). He said that while it is ''indeed'' confirmed, you're also as likely to cough if you inhale pepper.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'': Making a functional candle out of earwax - Busted. It takes dozens of people worth of earwax to produce something remotely resembling a candle, and ear wax lacks the properties that allow candle wax to melt and be drawn up a wick, so it quickly fizzles out rather than creating a steadily burning flame. [[NauseaFuel You wouldn't want to eat a cake attached to it, either.]] That said, team can't know and thus can't replicate whatever kind of wax Shrek's [[BizarreAlienBiology bizarre ogre ears]] produce.

* "Like taking candy from a baby" (easy): Busted. It takes a surprising amount of force to take candy from a baby and the baby will ''cry'', making you feel horribly guilty [[KickTheDog just making the attempt.]]

* UsefulNotes/TheHindenburg: They debunked the idea that the Hindenburg's paint job was what caused the explosion and fire, rather than the hydrogen contained inside. They "built 1/50th scale Hindenburg models to test this myth. The model that contained hydrogen gas burned twice as quickly as the model without hydrogen. While the painted skin did burn vigorously, it is not what caused the Hindenburg to burn as quickly as it did." However, the theory that the paint on the zeppelin could have burned like thermite (a self-oxidizing combustible material) actually had some basis in fact; there were some brief thermite reactions as the first two zeppelin models burned. (This "busts" a common counter-argument, that the paint could not have been at fault because it could not have burned like thermite.) In fact, the model with the correct paint job AND hydrogen burned almost exactly like the real one.

* MegaMaelstron: No real-life whirlpool could actually suck down a large ship. Based on their scale models and calculations, they determined that in order to pull down a battleship, a whirlpool would have to be about a mile wide and spinning faster than the speed of sound.

* KatanasAreJustBetter: Several myths about the almost supernatural superiority of the katana, especially against modern weapons, were shown to be completely false. In particular, tales of katana-weilding Japanese soldiers cutting through gun barrels in World War II. They used a Thompson submachine gun barrel, being the best-case target (a relatively thin barrel, and the gun having a high rate of fire that could weaken the barrel through {{Overheating}}). They couldn't get a cut, even when the barrel was heated to glowing red-hot in a forge. After, they tried several rapid heatings and coolings, giving up on a "cut" and going for a "break" by making tye barrel harder but more brittle. Still nothing.

* HangoverSensitivity: Used as a method for testing the myth that drinking both beer and liquor will give you a worse hangover than drinking only beer. Not only was the myth busted, it was shown to be ''completely inverse'' from reality (that myth was busted; while Tory had a splitting headache he didn't with the beer alone, the other hangover symptoms were not as pronounced, and Grant was ''far'' better off).

* SilverBullet: Silver warps as it cools, so bullets made of it don't fly straight.

** Jamie and Adam took on several "free energy" devices in one episode. All of them failed.