Mythbusters Saves Another Life

December 31, 2007 10:34 AM

Mythbusters Saves! "Recalling an episode of a reality TV show he recently watched, the driver waited for the cab to fill with water before lowering a window and swimming out, Mora said." (Mythbusters has been in the blue before, saving those lives through reality television). Hi, Adam!
posted by thanotopsis (93 comments total)

That's really, really cool.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:38 AM on December 31, 2007

Nice one!

Funnily enought my thoughts on watching that episode were "Well, now I know what to do. "
posted by Artw at 10:40 AM on December 31, 2007

Great story, but what is a guy who is prone to blackouts doing working as a driver?
posted by desjardins at 10:40 AM on December 31, 2007

The story never mentioned he was prone to blackouts desjardins, just that he had one. That could be the result of a variety of things to which he is no more prone than you are.
posted by abulafa at 10:44 AM on December 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

No one ever credited the Cosby Show with life-saving advice. This is evidence of something, but I'm not quite sure what.
posted by Plutor at 10:46 AM on December 31, 2007

That Mythbusters is awesome and a force for good, while The Cosby show was a force for bland?
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:49 AM on December 31, 2007

But what if you were on a plane on a conveyor belt and you needed to either take off or jump out? We still don't know what we should do if THAT happens!
posted by clevershark at 10:50 AM on December 31, 2007 [2 favorites]

Wow, so cool! I also remember this episode vividly, and since I've seen it, this scenario has figured into my variegated & fevered imaginings pretty prominently. It's cool that it actually affected someone's um... real life.
posted by synaesthetichaze at 10:51 AM on December 31, 2007

His friend explained in the comments that he had an undiagnosed electrical problem with his heart and went home with a pacemaker. It happens. I knew a guy who crapped out behind the wheel and then several more times at the hospital while they were trying to sort out the mess. He drove himself home from the hospital.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 10:51 AM on December 31, 2007

One life saved does not make up for rickrolling us on the conveyor belt show.
posted by found missing at 10:51 AM on December 31, 2007 [4 favorites]

Then he blew up the truck.
posted by dirigibleman at 10:54 AM on December 31, 2007 [5 favorites]

Anyone else notice the reporter's name?
posted by mmahaffie at 10:54 AM on December 31, 2007

I don't like when they say a Myth is "busted" meaning that it's confirmed a myth. The show should be called "Myth Confirmers". Also, most of the myths they do these days aren't even myths, they're just things, so the show should really be called "Thing Confirmers".
posted by notmydesk at 10:55 AM on December 31, 2007 [6 favorites]

I'm not getting the thing about the reporter's name..
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 10:57 AM on December 31, 2007

Mythbustersfilter?

Is there a link to this particular thing about being submerged? Or, is the assumption that everyone here know whats you're talking about?
posted by vacapinta at 11:00 AM on December 31, 2007

unfortunately according to the comments by a friend of the truck driver, it wasn't Mythbusters he saw, it was an Allstate commercial.
posted by inthe80s at 11:01 AM on December 31, 2007

Unfortunately, in another incident, a pilot was recently killed when trying to flee an erupting volcano. Somehow his plane had become stuck on a conveyor belt, but instead of escaping by other means, he wasted valuable time attempting to taxi down the conveyor convinced that he would gain enough lift to take off. If only he watched the episode where Mythbusters tried that, he would be alive today.
posted by horsemuth at 11:02 AM on December 31, 2007 [3 favorites]

How do we know it was Mythbusters he watched? His friend says it was an Allstate ad.
posted by katillathehun at 11:03 AM on December 31, 2007

Uh oh...Top Gear and Mythbusters disagree on this subject. The pillars of my entertainment universe have been shaken to the core.
posted by hackwolf at 11:04 AM on December 31, 2007

Isn't this common sense for anyone with a high school education?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:09 AM on December 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm not getting the thing about the reporter's name.

It's "Jose Jimenez," a TV Cultural touchstone from a much earlier generation. (Extremely) Minor irony.
posted by mmahaffie at 11:12 AM on December 31, 2007

Is there a link to this particular thing about being submerged? Or, is the assumption that everyone here know whats you're talking about?

Yeah, seconded please, because beyond being vaguely aware of what mythbusters is, I have no clue what you're on about.
posted by jamesonandwater at 11:22 AM on December 31, 2007

Here is a synopsis of the episode in question.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:24 AM on December 31, 2007

I'm drawing a blank on youtube, but if you have Discovery look out for the "Underwater Car" episode, which seems to be on about once a week these days. Essentially they tested a bunch of approaches to exiting a partialy submerged car as it sinks.
posted by Artw at 11:26 AM on December 31, 2007

Or follow the crash davis link...

It sounds like the Top Gear episode and the Mythbusters epsiode are more or less in agreement to me: The door can be opened on the surface, or once the pressure has equalised, but not while the car issubmerged but has air inside. Theres a difference of opinion on the wiseness of waiting for the pressure to equalise though.

Anyone seen this allstate ad? Is that a new thing?
posted by Artw at 11:31 AM on December 31, 2007

Thanks, guys.
posted by jamesonandwater at 11:46 AM on December 31, 2007

Related: Buried under 3 feet of snow on a slope at The Canyons Resort in Park City, the 11-year-old's mind flashed to a Discovery channel special he had seen on avalanche survival. "Create air pockets," he told himself. He wiggled his head and hands around to dig space in the cocoon of snow that swallowed him.
posted by stargell at 11:46 AM on December 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't like when they say a Myth is "busted" meaning that it's confirmed a myth. The show should be called "Myth Confirmers". Also, most of the myths they do these days aren't even myths, they're just things, so the show should really be called "Thing Confirmers".

Goddamnit, stop talking to my wife (especially while Mythbusters is on)!

I seem to recall a story from the early 90's where a kid saved someone by performing CPR after watching Baywatch.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:46 AM on December 31, 2007

Next up: Complaining that the movie "myths" are not really proper myths.
posted by Artw at 11:51 AM on December 31, 2007

I seem to recall a story from the early 90's where a kid saved someone by performing CPR after watching Baywatch.

Hell, I remember a story in the 80s where a kid saved a choking victim because he learned the Heimlich Maneuver after watching an episode of Benson.

Robert Guillame saves lives, dammit!
posted by Spatch at 11:56 AM on December 31, 2007

I remember a story about a 9-year old kid performing an episiotomy on his sleeping mother after watching an episode of M*A*S*H. (I might be remembering that incorrectly.)
posted by found missing at 12:07 PM on December 31, 2007 [10 favorites]

Good lord, I hope so.
posted by goo at 12:10 PM on December 31, 2007 [2 favorites]

Good job, asavage!
posted by Pope Guilty at 12:20 PM on December 31, 2007

No, found missing, I just remembered... he performed it on a chicken! A chicken!! Oh, god!
posted by Spatch at 12:20 PM on December 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

huh? where does it say he watched Mythbusters?

me am confused.
posted by Frasermoo at 12:20 PM on December 31, 2007

Frasermoo - well, it's an oblique reference, but it can;t be anything other than Mythbusters...

Recalling an episode of a reality TV show he recently watched, the driver waited for the cab to fill with water before lowering a window and swimming out, Mora said.

Unless it wasn't actually a reality TV show and was actually an advert, per the comments.
posted by Artw at 12:25 PM on December 31, 2007

so we can just make stuff up now?
posted by Frasermoo at 12:30 PM on December 31, 2007

marked as inaccurate (not mythbusters, an all state ad)
posted by empath at 12:46 PM on December 31, 2007

MYTH: Confirmed

STORY: Busted

Not enough Kari Byron in this for my taste.
posted by briank at 1:01 PM on December 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

Mythbusters Saves Myth Busted!
posted by zeoslap at 1:03 PM on December 31, 2007

I use tips I learned on Mythbusters all the time. Just the other day I had a concrete mixer where the entire load had hardened unexpectedly. I had no clue how to fix it, so I packed it with explosives and vaporized it.

At least now I don't have to live with the shame of not knowing how to break out all that rock. The company I rented the truck from is probably going to be a bit pissed though.
posted by quin at 1:09 PM on December 31, 2007

found missing: do you mean a tracheotomy? Or really, just about anything other than an episiotomy...
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:11 PM on December 31, 2007

Man, I love that show. I heard on a podcast (can't remember which one) once that they were looking into doing a segment on use of a cell phones on an airplane and whether it can actually disrupt the instruments or whatever - but the legalities involved made them drop the idea. Which is sad because that's always been something I've been wildly curious about.

Meanwhile it's a good thing that there isn't such a thing as Cleaning Via Household Explosives (which is what the painting via explosives always makes my mind wander to) - I have some dishes that would look great either blasted clean or blasted into bits. Anything to have more explosions, I'm a sucker for multi cam explosion footage!

Oh and thanks for the link - though I live in San Diego I hadn't heard of this story yet.
posted by batgrlHG at 1:16 PM on December 31, 2007

They did cellphones on a plane, episode 49. Busted.
posted by found missing at 1:18 PM on December 31, 2007

the show should really be called "Thing Confirmers".

Or maybe "The Show with Adam and Jamie" because any other title would have someone complaining about it who thinks they are actually original in their complaints, rather than mirroring a thousand other posts on the internet.

Or they could call it "Brainiac".
posted by smackfu at 1:19 PM on December 31, 2007 [2 favorites]

batgrlHG: They did get to try it out on a non-flying private jet where it was discovered that the cell phone had no effect on the instruments.

Just thinking with the recent revisit of blowing cars over behind a 747, they could have killed two birds with one stone by revisiting the cell phone myth here as well. They had access to a large passenger-class plane that had a willing owner...
posted by bruzie at 1:23 PM on December 31, 2007

notmydesk writes "Also, most of the myths they do these days aren't even myths, they're just things, so the show should really be called 'Thing Confirmers'."

Yes, catchy.

I agree, though. "Urban legend" is probably a better term, but not as good for a title as "myth." But they're starting to get a bit obscure, and some of their myths are things I've never heard before. Reproductions of movie stunts are interesting to see, for instance, if they're trying to simulate a finger in a gun being shot, but those aren't always urban legends.
posted by krinklyfig at 1:29 PM on December 31, 2007

If I worked at a car company I'd suggest that every car should come with one of those "window-breaker" tools in the glove-box. This way you wouldn't have to wait until the car was completely covered by water before punching your way out of the window.

I'm surprised that even Volvo (who are otherwise security-obsessed) don't do this already.
posted by clevershark at 1:31 PM on December 31, 2007

Or they could call it "Brainiac".

Now that's overly harsh.
posted by Artw at 1:33 PM on December 31, 2007

Or they could call it "Brainiac".

Brainiac was a great show. It advised me in exactly how to deal with those pesky microwaves that I encounter on a daily basis.

Mythbusters shows me the effect of high explosives. Brainiac shows me how to make them.
posted by quin at 1:36 PM on December 31, 2007

...and then when they don't go off how to get in an explosives team and pretend they worked anyway.
posted by Artw at 1:38 PM on December 31, 2007

Myth - If someone makes a totally worthless Mefi post (single link to a tiny and inaccurate news item of zero interest), *but* they name check asavage, the mods will leave the post in place.

Results - CONFIRMED
posted by Ragma at 1:47 PM on December 31, 2007 [5 favorites]

Well, it's sort of interesting, and the comment regarding Allstate isn't super solid itself.

That RIAA story which ran yesterday was waaay dodgier.
posted by Artw at 1:54 PM on December 31, 2007

The comment regarding Allstate is more solid than the goofball assumption thanatopsis made that it *had* to have been Mythbusters the guy remembered. And has anyone ever seen a response to the accusation about misinformation Mythbusters spewed in its polygraph show? asavage never showed up in that thread, sadly.

("Hi, Adam!" indeed)
posted by mediareport at 2:02 PM on December 31, 2007

Seems a reasonable conclusion based on the article. I mean, they could have meant Top Gear, but I kind of doubt it.
posted by Artw at 2:05 PM on December 31, 2007

I dunno, seems to me front page news posts really out to try not to make bold assertions that aren't supported in the news stories they link.
posted by mediareport at 2:13 PM on December 31, 2007

^gh
posted by mediareport at 2:14 PM on December 31, 2007

I gotta say - this post looks more like an excuse to wave hello to a famous MeFite in hope of a response from said MeFite than anything else to me. There's a good chance the driver did utilize MythBusters, but the linked article doesn't specify this at all. For all we know, it could've been some obscure show on channel 993 the guy happened to catch while sitting at a truck stop at 2 AM one time.
posted by katillathehun at 2:19 PM on December 31, 2007

I gotta say - this post looks more like an excuse to wave hello to a famous MeFite in hope of a response from said MeFite than anything else to me.

Same here, but I've been here long enough to know that this trick very rarely works.
posted by clevershark at 2:36 PM on December 31, 2007

My mom won't buy a car with electric windows for fear that if she drives into a lake, she won't be able to roll down the windows once under water.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 2:40 PM on December 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

So my plan of thrashing and screaming and crying like a baby for my mommy is not the preferred method?

Huh.
posted by The Deej at 2:42 PM on December 31, 2007

My mom won't buy a car with electric windows for fear that if she drives into a lake, she won't be able to roll down the windows once under water.

Me too, sorta. The biggest reason is that I inevitably forget to put the windows back up until I've turned the car off.
posted by cmyk at 2:43 PM on December 31, 2007

"My mom won't buy a car with electric windows for fear that if she drives into a lake, she won't be able to roll down the windows once under water."

The electric windows won't roll down underwater. But it's due to the pressure of the water, not the system shorting out. The electrical system would probably be okay even after the cabin is full of water. In fact the pressure of the water is high enough that you'd strip the gears on the manual window mechanism. So both manual and electric windows will have the same issue. This is why you need to wait the extra few seconds for the cab to fill and equalize the pressure. One repercussion of this is that you don't even need to roll the window down. Once the pressure is equalized you could just open the door.
posted by Ragma at 2:49 PM on December 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

The biggest reason is that I inevitably forget to put the windows back up until I've turned the car off.

My solution to this is to just never roll down my windows. DON'T LET THE OUTSIDE IN. EVER. *twitches*
posted by katillathehun at 2:50 PM on December 31, 2007

katillathehun- one for you
posted by Artw at 2:55 PM on December 31, 2007

katillathehun- one for you

It's like HE KNOWS ME.
posted by katillathehun at 3:00 PM on December 31, 2007

"My mom won't buy a car with electric windows for fear that if she drives into a lake, she won't be able to roll down the windows once under water."

My concern, as someone who until very recently drove crappy cars with crappy batteries, was that the battery would run down and keep me from rolling the windows down in the heat of summer.

A decent credit score and a vehicle with air conditioning have gone a long way towards easing that concern.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:03 PM on December 31, 2007

Wait, so did he say he saw that on Mythbusters? Didn't say so in the article. I've only seen Mythbusters once (no cable), but I've seen that same tip on two other shows discussing how to escape situations so I know it's been covered elsewhere on tv. I think I saw it once on Oprah and once on a primetime news show.

(If I'm pooping on the "there is but one god and asavage is his prophet" party, I'm sorry. Just being honest.)
posted by miss lynnster at 4:09 PM on December 31, 2007

krinklyfig: "They did get to try it out on a non-flying private jet where it was discovered that the cell phone had no effect on the instruments."

Ah, that podcast I listened to was a while back - this might have been before that air'd. The issue had to do with what the FAA wanted them to broadcast - as in, "well don't TELL everyone it's safe to use cell phones in flight, we still don't want people doing that!" I would love to know the behind the scenes negotiations on that one. Bet they had to heavily script the results.

Now I'm interested in why the newspaper didn't cite the name of the show in the first place. I mean, what's the point of being vague?
From the article:
"Recalling an episode of a reality TV show he recently watched, the driver waited for the cab to fill with water before lowering a window and swimming out, Mora said."
So they had a quote from a fire deptartment captain - but he calls the show reality TV program and didn't name it? I'm doubting. I'm thinking possible edits for space reasons, but that seems silly.
posted by batgrlHG at 4:14 PM on December 31, 2007

The show should be called "Myth Confirmers".

Well, to get all picayune about it, I believe it should be called "Claim Testers", as the term "myth" presupposes the end result of the investigation. This notion seems quite straightforward to me, probably because I'm a James Randi groupie. "Claim Testers", would never fly, of course, as it's much too drab for TV.

Busted!
posted by Tube at 4:41 PM on December 31, 2007

Last winter an 18 year old girl here who had borrowed her moms car shifted into the wrong gear when trying to leave a parking space by the canal, and promptly headed straight into the canals ice-covered waters sinking instantly. While in the car she called the local firemen from her cellphone, and when they arrived (being just two blocks away) she had already gotten out of the submerged car and been helped up on the street by passers by. The first thing she said was: "I have no idea how to tell mom about what I've done to her car. I'm so grounded."
posted by dabitch at 4:55 PM on December 31, 2007

batgrlHG writes "krinklyfig: 'They did get to try it out on a non-flying private jet where it was discovered that the cell phone had no effect on the instruments.'"

Well, I didn't say it, but it sounds smart so I'll take credit anyway.
posted by krinklyfig at 4:59 PM on December 31, 2007

(If I'm pooping on the "there is but one god and asavage is his prophet" party, I'm sorry. Just being honest.)
posted by miss lynnster

No no no! "there is but one god: asavage"
posted by The Deej at 5:19 PM on December 31, 2007

Riiiight. My bad. Sorry. Al hamdu liasavage.
posted by miss lynnster at 5:29 PM on December 31, 2007

asavage may be a prophet, but he cannot be a god due to being ginger.

Sorry, Adam.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:25 PM on December 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

Did the damn plane take off or not? That episode hasn't made it to the Antipodes yet.
posted by Ritchie at 6:54 PM on December 31, 2007

"Not enough Kari Byron in this for my taste."

There can never be enough Kari Byron. Sure it's fun to watch Adam make a complete and total jackass of himself in the name of science, but all Kari has to do is smile and the ratings go up.

Did they ever actually prove that she farts? I don't think she does. I think that's a myth.
posted by ZachsMind at 7:08 PM on December 31, 2007 [2 favorites]

mr_crash_davis writes "asavage may be a prophet, but he cannot be a god due to being ginger."

Ah, that Adam. Am a fan of the show but only seem to watch it when I stumble on it, so the names haven't sunk in. He's pretty goofy ... but, from looking at his site and his most recent fpp (somehow missed at the time), he's had one creative engineering dream job or another for a good 15 years. I've always envied people like that, but I'm not enough of an engineer type to do it myself. He always does look like he's enjoying the hell out of his Mythbusters gig. Getting paid to blow stuff up, and not having to get a job in the mining industry or government to do it? Nice work if you can get it. But you can only get away with being a ginger and hosting a show if you have someone like Kari to balance it out. See, it's all about balance and harmony. It's all good.
posted by krinklyfig at 8:39 PM on December 31, 2007

If I worked at a car company I'd suggest that every car should come with one of those "window-breaker" tools in the glove-box.

Or better yet, some kind of lever attached to a crank so you could manually "roll down" the windows.

By the way, in case anyone is still wondering about what's the proper thing to do (according to the video attempt in Top Gear):

The problem with waiting for the cabin to fill up to equalize the pressure is that as your car descends, the pressure keeps increasing on the door. You basically have to wait for the car to hit the bottom of whatever you drove into before you can open it. If you're in a 5 foot wading pool, your golden. A 100m.-deep lake? That last big breath you take will probably be your last.

In summation: get out as quick as you possibly can, preferably before the car is submerged. Most car glass is safety glass, which means if you do end up submerged, your next best bet is to try and kick the windows out and escape through the window. Sucks if you have passengers.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 8:57 PM on December 31, 2007

You can't roll down the window with the pressure of the water pressing against it, even if it's a manual window.
posted by puke & cry at 9:41 PM on December 31, 2007

Did they ever actually prove that she farts? I don't think she does. I think that's a myth.

Oh, damn, would that I could test the veracity of said myth. I would use the scientific method in ways that it was never used before!!!!!

Science rules!
posted by John of Michigan at 10:24 PM on December 31, 2007

Am I the only one who imagines a Mythbusters and Survivorman crossover?*

I mean, testing with Science as to how various actual survival techniques work (staring fires, how hot you need to cook raodkill, etc) would be hellua cool.

*Besides the slashfiction
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:58 PM on December 31, 2007

2008: How many people will be saved by MythBusters this year? How many people will blow themselves up?
posted by XMLicious at 12:47 AM on January 1, 2008

robocop is bleeding - Open university on the BBC to the rescue! Rough Science is a series that gives scientists a bunch of challenges in a remote location. They do things like various methods to generate electricity, build a radio, figure out their location, make mosquito repellant, a natural life jacket etc etc. Not raw survival per se, but more the next step up.

http://www.open2.net/roughscience/ has a few clips. The BBC reshow it regularly domestically, and I think the Science Channel airs it in the US.
posted by ArkhanJG at 1:59 AM on January 1, 2008

"If you're in a 5 foot wading pool, your golden. A 100m.-deep lake?"

The car will float until it starts filling up with water. Thus, the depth the car will be at when pressure equalizes is independent of the total water depth. Assuming the depth is enough to totally submerge the car, the "equalization depth" will be the same if the total depth is 20 feet or 200 feet.
posted by Ragma at 6:48 AM on January 1, 2008

The funny bit about Rough Science is that the junk they get seeded with at the start is always exactly what they need to do whatever they need to do for that episode. It's almost like a puzzle game... "how can I do X given Y and Z?"
posted by smackfu at 11:53 AM on January 1, 2008

all Kari has to do is smile and the ratings go up.

This is exactly why I stopped watching the show. I'm sure she's a very nice person and all, but it was pretty clear to me she was hired for the bimbo-factor, and judging by the drooling and effusive praise of her tits that I have seen from various quarters (not just mefi), they really hit the target they were going for. Sad to me, but hey, bigger ratings!

I liked the show back when it was just Adam & Jamie. I just can't watch it anymore...

Aren't there enough shows out there already that are about looking at hot women? I'm pretty bitter about this.

Oh well.
posted by marble at 3:12 PM on January 1, 2008

That's a bit unfair. They seem to go out of their way to not exploit her in any way. When there is a myth that requires someone in a bathing suit, odds are it will Tori or Adam, not Kari.
posted by smackfu at 4:40 PM on January 1, 2008

I've got to 2nd smackfu on that, she's attractive but if they're really just out to exploit that it's quite understated compared to what it could be. They know that the show stands on its own merits; if anything Kari is probably a check-off on some network executive's "grokking our audience" list. Heh, she's the token hot white girl. (But not really token, because she's smart, articulate, and has the experimentalist mojo like the others too.)

My parents watch that HGTV "Home and Garden Television Network" with all of the house-renovating and house-flipping and house-selling shows and the contrast with a show like MythBusters is clear. Everyone who isn't a homeowner or a realtor looks to a ridiculous degree like they were hired from a modeling agency. The carpenters are all Beach God material, the very antithesis of Norm Abrahams. You can imagine any of them with a surf board under arm, casting a Zoolander "look" out across perfectly-whitecapped curling waves.
posted by XMLicious at 6:37 PM on January 1, 2008

I don't like when they say a Myth is "busted" meaning that it's confirmed a myth. The show should be called "Myth Confirmers". Also, most of the myths they do these days aren't even myths, they're just things, so the show should really be called "Thing Confirmers".

I've always felt that Meals on Wheels is a stupid name. They aren't on wheels at all, they're on trays! I'd recommend a change to MOTOTOW, or "Meals on Trays on Trucks on Wheels".
posted by rollbiz at 8:51 PM on January 1, 2008

They're called "Meals on Wheels" because of the way they roll through your intestinal tract.
posted by Dr-Baa at 8:49 AM on January 2, 2008

I have wheels in my intestinal tract? Clearly this is proof of an intelligent designer, no evolutionary process is capable of produving such a thing of wonder and complexity.
posted by Artw at 9:09 AM on January 2, 2008

Have they done 'a swan can break a man's arm/leg with it's wing' yet? Because that's one I definitely want to see....
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:50 AM on January 2, 2008