The Ultimate MythBusters Summary
The MythBusters tested over 1,000 distinct myths in 271 hour-long
episodes spanning 14 years, resulting in a vast amount of information
about common myths and interesting phenomena. The following overview
attempts to summarize and categorize the results of the entire
MythBusters series as succinctly as possible.
Table of Contents
Hidden Dangers
A rock kicked up by a lawnmower can
deliver the same force as a bullet.
A pane of
plate glass dropped from sufficient height
can cut a person in half, but tempered glass will just crush the
person.
Spray sunscreens can be flammable
due to the propellants.
A railroad tanker car can implode after
being steam cleaned and then sealed and cooled, but only if it has
prior damage.
A faulty
water heater can explode and shoot through the roof
of a house, even a two-story house .
(The phenomenon can also be used to partially
extinguish a house fire or to
power a cannon .)
A
dog bowl can focus enough sunlight
to start a fire.
A high-rise office worker can
accidentally run through a plate-glass window
and fall to their death.
A heavy
insect hitting a motorcycle rider in the
right spot could kill the rider.
If a car is driven into water, there is very little time to
open the doors before the water pressure
becomes too great. The pressure will also prevent the
windows from being rolled down , and keys,
cell phones, and steel-toed boots will be ineffective at
breaking the windows . Once the
car interior is flooded , the doors can be
opened again.
Under the right circumstances, a
taser may ignite someone who has just been pepper sprayed .
If a
hunting revolver is held improperly
when fired, escaping gases can blow the hunter's fingers off.
A person's
tongue can instantly stick to a freezing pole .
The vortex from a passing train will not
suck a person into the tracks .
A large number of
cigarette lighters in a hot car could lead
to a lethal explosion.
A cigarette lighter is not likely
to explode in a pocket, in a laundry dryer,
or on a car dashboard, but it is likely explode when hit with a golf
club or when placed near welding tools.
If a steel cable snaps , it will not cut a
person in two.
A lava lamp or a can of beans
heated on a stove can explode with lethal
force. A glass jug of milk and a can of potted meat will also
explode, but less forcefully.
A passing snowplow does not move enough air
to flip a car.
If denim pants are
soaked in certain farm chemicals , they can
spontaneously combust.
Steel toe boots will not
amputate someone's toes when a heavy object
is dropped on them.
A boom lift cannot throw its operator great
distances.
An MRI scanner will not cause
tattoos to explode , nor will a
radio transmitter .
A falling icicle can kill a person.
Microwaving a jawbreaker can result in an
explosion of molten sugar when the jawbreaker is bitten.
Sandblasting a PVC pipe will not build up a
lethal static charge.
Using a cell phone while pumping gas will
not cause an explosion.
A penny dropped from a skyscraper will not
gain enough speed to kill a pedestrian.
Vacuuming up black powder will
not cause an explosion.
If two hammers strike each other they will
not shatter with lethal force, nor will a
hammer that strikes an anvil .
Counterintuitive Phenomena
Idioms
Movie Myths
Hollywood movies were a frequent source of myths for the MythBusters.
The scene in Cliffhanger in which the hero leaps to safety
from a collapsing rope bridge is not
feasible.
In Titanic ,
Jack may have been able to survive
by joining Rose on the floating debris.
Jason Bourne
blowing up a house with a gas leak and a magazine
in Bourne Supremacy is not feasible.
Shooting at a
scuba tank in a shark's mouth
will not blow up the shark, as seen in Jaws .
Water can quickly slow a bullet
to non-lethal speeds, as seen in
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol .
Realistic face masks like
those in the Mission Impossible series may be effective at
fooling people.
In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest , the group of
people in a suspended cage
could not have swung to side of the ravine , but they may have been able to grab the vines and climb to the
top.
The pirates in
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
could not have improvised a submarine by
holding a rowboat upside down as they walked underwater .
Using a system of mirrors to
light an underground passage with sunlight , as seen in The Mummy , is extremely difficult.
It's not feasible for a group of cars to stir up enough
dust to blind a surveillance drone , as
seen in Body of Lies .
It is not possible to
hold a bullet over a fire and
discharge it toward an enemy, as seen in Shoot 'Em Up .
A merry-go-round cannot be
started spinning by shooting at it with a handgun , as seen in Shoot 'Em Up .
A spear with a shotgun shell on its
tip is not a feasible weapon, as seen in The Grey .
A car
halfway into an elevator won't
be cut in half when the elevator moves, as seen in
The Green Hornet .
With some modifications, the
front half of a car cut in two
can be driven, as seen in The Green Hornet .
Explosives cannot be used to
throw a bulldozer off a car
without hurting passengers in the car, as seen in
The Green Hornet .
A superhuman
punch to the hood of a moving SUV
will not cause it to somersault, as seen in Hellboy .
In a car crash, a surfboard on the roof of one car will not
fly through the windshield of
another car, as seen in Lethal Weapon 2 .
A carton of milk will not
contain the muzzle flash of a
pistol, as seen in Kiss the Girls .
A bus could not
jump a 50-foot gap and keep driving , as seen in Speed .
The passengers in a city bus do not need to
move to one side during a fast, sharp turn
to prevent the bus from flipping over, as seen in Speed .
A human
head dipped in liquid nitrogen for
five seconds will not shatter when hit, as seen in Jason X .
A laser can pop popcorn , but popcorn
could not break open a house as seen in Real Genius .
Bullets cannot be curved around an
obstacle by swinging a gun, as seen in Wanted .
A C-4 explosion will not
knock a golf ball into the hole as seen
in Caddyshack .
Liquid nitrogen can be used to
cool a pressure-triggered bomb and delay its detonation , as seen in Lethal Weapon 2 .
Sea water will not conduct
electricity from a car battery as seen in Deep Blue Sea ,
nor can a person survive an underwater explosion at close distances.
Having a conversation while skydiving is
not feasible and the fall wouldn't last as long as depicted in
Point Break .
A car that jumps off a ramp will not land
with little damage, as see in The Dukes of Hazard .
Shooting a lock with handguns will not break
it, as seen in Big Trouble in Little China , but shooting it
with shotgun slugs or a high-power rifle could.
It is feasible to equip a car with a
discreet seat ejector , as seen in
Austin Powers in Goldmember .
A person cannot
escape through a floor by shooting a ring
around themself, as seen in Underworld .
A sword cannot
cut off the blade of another sword , as seen
in The Count of Monte Cristo .
A sports car at high speed can
skip across a lake , as seen in
Cannonball , but launching off a ramp is counterproductive.
A urine-soaked silk shirt will not
bend prison bars when wrapped around and
twisted, as seen in Shanghai Noon .
A cable attaching the
rear axle of a car to a light post will not
yank the rear axle out, as seen in American Graffiti .
A car cannot fire a grappling hook around a pole to
make a sharp turn , as seen in
Batman .
Making a usable
candle out of earwax , as seen in
Shrek , is not possible.
It is not possible for a person to
punch out of a coffin as depicted in
Kill Bill and it is only possible to
dig out of a shallow grave with an open
coffin.
Movie Clichés
A car will not necessarily end up
on fire after crashing down a cliff .
The shock wave from an explosion will not
throw a person long distances through the air .
A car's fuel tank will not
explode if shot with a normal bullet ,
but it may explode if
shot with a tracer round .
A person will not be
thrown backwards when struck by a bullet .
During a rooftop chase,
jumping into a dumpster may allow
survival.
Falling or jumping through glass windows
without injury is not realistic.
Quicksand does not exist with the
characteristics show in movies.
Carrying a dead body is reasonably
easy, but digging a shallow grave is
not.
An axe is a more effective
weapon against zombies than a gun.
It would be difficult to
outrun a large zombie horde , but a
barricaded door could stop them .
If a car crashes through a
sheet of glass held by workers , the workers will likely be injured.
An
SUV will not flip over
if hit by an RPG.
A large truck cannot
plow through two lanes of traffic
and continue undeterred, but it can if it has a steel wedge
attached to its front.
Most movie sound effects for
punches and explosions are not realistic, but the sound effects
for rattle snakes and silenced guns are realistic.
It is not easy to drive a car and shoot a gun
while the passenger steers .
A driver and passenger in a car can
switch seats while moving at speed , and the passenger can push out an incapacitated driver and
continue driving.
A car cannot realistically be
driven through a fruit stand or a camper trailer , but it could be driven through a chain link gate or
under a semi-trailer .
A person can
hold onto the roof or hood of a car
while it crashes through cardboard boxes or
goes through a car wash , but not
while it makes a
big turn or zig-zags . If the
windows are down, it is easier to hold on to the roof. During a
sudden stop, the
hood can be held onto but not the bare roof .
Movie gun fights are
unrealistically long and
running through gunfire
does not protect a person from being hit.
Neon signs will not explode in a
shower of sparks if struck by a bullet.
It is possible to
quickly reload and fire a pistol , as seen in movies.
A person can only
hang on to a thin ledge briefly
before falling, but it is possible for a single person to
rescue someone hanging from a ledge .
A car in free fall will not stay
upright.
A person can
hang off the landing skid of a helicopter
and climb into it.
Indiana Jones
James Bond
Star Wars
Television
A
stick of dynamite dropped in a bucket of paint
will not fully paint the room, as seen in Mr. Bean .
A shotgun plugged by a finger will not
backfire and injure the shooter, as seen in cartoons.
A line of
black powder leaking from a barrel may be
able to function like a fuse, as seen in cartoons.
A banana peel on the ground is
not guaranteed to make someone fall when they step on it, as seen in
cartoons.
A car can
drive into a moving semi-trailer via a ramp , as seen in Knight Rider .
The scene in The Simpsons where Homer
blocks a wrecking ball with his
body has some feasibility.
The crab pots used
on Deadliest Catch are not indestructible.
A manhole cover could potentially be
launched by an explosion to disable a
vehicle, as seen in The A-Team .
The improvised cannon made of a log in
The A-Team is not feasible.
A mattress floating on water is
not effective at cushioning a three-story fall, as seen in
Burn Notice .
In Breaking Bad , Walt's
machine gun booby trap could
work as depicted, but hydrofluoric acid will not fully
decompose a body and eat through a bathtub , and Mercury fulminate will not explode if
thrown on the floor .
MacGyver
Implausible Events
Crime & Criminals
Driving at night without headlights
is not an effective way to smuggle contraband.
A car door cannot be
unlocked using a tennis ball to force air
into the lock.
Some
optical fingerprint readers can be fooled
by a fingerprint etched in latex, a fingerprint in ballistics gel,
and a paper copy that has been licked.
A heat detector can be fooled using a sheet
of glass or a fire proximity suit. It will not be fooled by cooling
one's body or heating the room, by being covered in mud, or by
wearing a diving suit.
A motion detector can be fooled by moving
very slowing or by holding a bed sheet in front of you, but not by
wearing heavily-padded clothing.
Laser beam detectors cannot be dodged using
night vision goggles or cosmetic powder to reveal them, or by
pointing another laser at the detector.
A thief may be able to
fill a safe with water and open it using an
explosive, without damaging the contents.
A police speed radar/lidar cannot be beaten
by: jingling a set of keys, hanging a disco ball or CDs from the
rear-view mirror, covering hubcaps with foil, lining the license
plate with LEDs, using a magnetron, releasing tin foil as chaff, or
painting the car matte black.
Climbing an air duct using magnets or
suction cups is possible, but too noisy to be useful. Suction cups
could also be used to climb a building .
Glass cannot be silently cut open by gently
cutting a circle and removing it with a suction cup, but drilling a
hole does work without too much noise.
A pressure sensor under an item could be
carefully squeezed with knife and then held down with tape while the
item is taken.
A modern safe cannot be
cracked using a stethoscope , but it could
be cracked by drilling a hole and visually aligning the tumblers.
Escaping Prison
Weather & Natural Phenomena
Physical Sciences & Conundrums
A truck carrying birds will not be lighter
if the birds are flying instead of standing.
A
bullet fired into the surface of a frozen lake
can spin like a top after impact.
Swimming in bubbling water may be
impossible.
Folding a piece of paper in half more than
seven times is possible.
A ball
thrown backwards from a moving vehicle , at the same speed as the vehicle, will fall straight down.
A lock becomes easier to break when
frozen with liquid nitrogen .
Objects of
different mass fall at the same rate .
A bullet fired horizontally will
land at the same time as a bullet dropped
from the same height.
Diamonds cannot be fabricated
by combining chemicals in a pressure cooker, by putting charcoal and
peanut butter in a microwave, or by cooling molten graphite and
iron. Diamonds can be made ,
however, by compressing graphite with a huge amount of explosives.
Pykrete is stronger than ice and it
can be used to make a functional, but impractical, boat.
Dropping
alkali metals into water
will not create huge explosions, and
sodium and water will not blow a hole in a
wall.
The tensioned strings in a
burning piano will not pop.
A small
car can be lifted into the air by fire hoses .
Greenhouse gases do increase
the amount of heat absorbed by air.
Cows emit greenhouse gases
and cow manure can be used to
generate electricity .
An RFID tag will not
explode if placed inside an MRI scanner.
Sound waves can put out a flame , but an
unamplified human voice cannot.
Anti-gravity is not possible.
A pool of dense gas can make a
tin foil boat appear to float in the air .
A compressed air cylinder can blast itself
through a concrete wall, but a boat cannot be effectively powered by
one.
A car sound system cannot quickly
shatter all the windows ; when one window
breaks the pressure has a path to escape.
A black car will heat up faster than a
white one.
It is possible to get free energy using a
coil of wire under a power line , but getting
enough to power a house is not practical.
A train will not be
derailed if coins are placed on the tracks .
Metronomes will synchronize on a sliding platform , but an excessive number will not.
Soldiers marching on a bridge could cause a
harmonic oscillation resulting in a collapse, but it is very
unlikely.
A
frozen chicken penetrates aircraft and train windshields
better than a thawed one.
A
glass of water can superheat in a microwave
and boil over dangerously when removed.
Walking over hot coals is possible
because ash forms an insulating layer and because the contact time
is brief.
If thrown into a fire, a
fire extinguisher can explode and put the fire out , depending on the type of fire extinguisher.
Making a
stun gun that delivers a shock over a stream of water
is possible but highly impractical.
An oversized
Newton's cradle using wrecking balls
will not work.
Fire can be started by a bullet fired from
a musket, by polishing a soda can with chocolate, by rubbing two
sticks together, by a car battery and steel wool, or by focusing
light with ice.
Sounds cannot be
recovered from the grooves of old pottery.
Water that has been microwaved
(and cooled) is not harmful to plants.
Falling from great heights onto water
can be highly destructive, but it still is not as bad as falling
onto pavement.
Household & Everyday
A huge ball made of Legos will break
apart when it is rolled downhill.
A needle thrown at glass cannot
pierce the glass without shattering it.
A
whole coconut can be mailed without
packaging.
A
strike-anywhere match can be lit by a bullet
fired from a pistol.
The heads of many matches can be
collected to create a large fireball.
Pouring water on a grease fire will
cause a large fireball, but a very large quantity of water can put a
grease fire out.
A
single grocery line leading to multiple checkouts
is slower but fairer than multiple lines.
An MP3 player cannot be charged by simply
plugging it into an onion .
A lock can be picked using filaments from
a light bulb.
A car door cannot be unlocked by
transmitting the keyless entry signal through a cell phone
call.
A frozen can of shaving cream will not fill
up a car if cut open and thawed.
A working
speaker cannot be improvised from a
paper plate, a penny, a mini jack, and tin foil.
Leaving on a light is not more efficient
than turning it off and back on.
To
keep needles from falling out a Christmas tree , Viagra, bleach, and hairspray may work, but urethane, pain
reliever medicine, soda, and fertilizer will not.
The heat from Christmas lights will not
ignite a Christmas tree.
Performing a 360°
loop on a standard swing set is not
possible under one's own power, but it is possible on a rigid-arm
swing set.
A shop vacuum will not act like a jet engine if it
sucks up gasoline .
A clothed snowman melts slower than a naked
one.
A regular
house fan cannot cause decapitation .
Noise may help plants grow .
An ordinary
playing card cannot be thrown with enough
power to be lethal.
Dropping an electrical appliance into a bath
can be deadly, but modern GFCI devices prevent this.
A makeshift hovercraft can be built for
under $500.
A CD can shatter if spun too fast , but
CD-ROMs do not spin fast enough to cause this.
A household
washing machine does not have the strength
to spin a flailing man.
Microwaving metal will not blow up the
microwave.
Superglue can be used to
attach a furniture to a ceiling ,
creating the illusion of an upside-down room.
Food & Drink
Eating poppy seeds can lead to a positive drug
test for opioids.
It may be possible to
liquefy the inside of a whole fruit
with an explosion and drink from it with a straw.
It is possible to cook a meal using a
car's engine compartment.
The tryptophan in turkey is not what
makes people tired.
Not everything tastes like chicken ; it is
easy to differentiate chicken from other meats.
You cannot
pop popcorn instantly with an explosion ,
and
popping popcorn with a pressure vessel is
not the fasted method due to the required preparation.
It is not possible to
swallow a spoonful of ground cinnamon
without drinking water.
A beef steak can be tenderized using
explosives, a cannon, or a laundry dryer.
Swallowing both Mentos and Diet Coke will
not make a person's stomach explode, nor will swallowing too much
Pop Rocks and soda .
A frozen turkey can crush your foot if
dropped, and possibly your dog too.
A turkey cannot be
cooked using a microwave radio or a radar antenna .
A cereal box does not have more
nutritional value than the cereal within
it.
Food cannot be launched in the air
through ingredients and flames and land
fully cooked.
Toast is not inherently more likely to
land buttered-side down , but it could be
more likely to when pushed from the height of a standard table.
Dropping a frozen turkey into a deep fryer
is very dangerous, but the turkey will not explode.
A tin of biscuit dough can explode in a hot
car, but aerosol spray and cola cans will
not.
Cola can be used as a cleaning agent to
remove bloodstains or clean chrome, battery terminals, or a penny.
Cola will not clean rust or greasy /oily
things. It will not
dissolve a steak or a tooth overnight and it
will not kill sperm .
A six-pack of beer or soda will not be quickly
cooled by burying it in sand and igniting
gasoline on top of it; salty ice water is
the most practical solution.
Pain from eating hot peppers can be
relieved with milk , but not with water,
beer, tequila, toothpaste, petroleum jelly, or wasabi.
Alcohol
Toilets and Bodily Functions
Germs & Health
Cars & Driving
Drifting is not the fastest way
to race through corners, not
even on dirt roads .
It is possible, but difficult, to
drift into a parallel parking space .
It is possible to
drive in reverse at high speeds .
One car braking in traffic can cause a
ripple effect that persists.
Changing lanes frequently in traffic
can save you time.
Roundabouts are more efficient than
four-way stops.
It is not difficult to
push one moving car off the road with
another.
During a car chase , the fleeing car
could escape by deploying a smokescreen or an oil slick.
A hood-mounted machine gun is an effective
weapon in a car chase.
Hollow road spikes are effective
at stopping a car, but
solid spikes are not reliable because
they can stick in the tires.
It is quite difficult to drive a
car balanced on two wheels .
Driving in heels or snow boots does
not significantly impair a driver.
Driving with a full bladder is not
as dangerous as driving drunk.
Two cars stuck together nose-to-nose
can drive in a straight line and spin 180°, but they can't go
around a 90° turn.
A burst of flame can be used to
re-seat a tire on its rim , but
another method is still needed to inflate the tire.
An
out-of-control car can be safely stopped
by pulling in front of it with another car and slowing down.
A car with a flat tire can temporarily
be driven on the bare rim, or the wheel can be replaced by a manhole
cover, stuffed with straw, or replaced with a carved log.
Older sports cars were not so badly designed that they are
more aerodynamic if the body is turned backward .
Driving while tired or driving
while using a cell phone can be more
dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol.
Using a
hands-free cell phone while driving
is just as dangerous as holding the phone.
A motorcycle cannot
yank the cloth off a banquet table
without disturbing the place settings.
Driving a convertible through rain at
high speed may prevent the driver from getting wet.
A long, fast
burnout will not cause a tire to catch fire .
Two semi trucks that collide head-on
will not stay fused together and conceal another car crushed between
them.
A blind person can drive safely by
following instructions from a passenger.
Electric cars are not more
sluggish than gasoline cars.
A speed camera cannot be beaten by a
reflective license plate cover, a magnified cover, a crystallized
cover, a commercial spray,
plastic wrap, or hair spray . It could be
beaten by an extraordinarily fast car .
Shifting into reverse will not stop a
runaway car.
Driving backwards does not
improve traction on an icy road .
Bracing a windshield with your hand will
not keep it from shattering when struck.
An engine cannot run on gunpowder alone.
Used cooking oil can be used as fuel in a
diesel engine.
A toy car can beat a full-size car in a short,
unpowered downhill race , but it will fall
behind in a longer race.
A broken
drive shaft dragging on the ground will not
cause a car to pole vault end-over-end if it strikes a pothole.
A car's engine will not be destroyed if
sugar or drain cleaner are put in the fuel tank, if a coin falls in
the carburetor, or if the tailpipe is plugged. It could be destroyed
if
bleach is put in the fuel tank or oil tank .
A cracked egg can plug a radiator leak and
cola can be used as an emergency coolant.
Adding mothballs to a car's fuel tank may
increase its horsepower.
A car can be
destroyed by a decomposing body and the
smell may never go away, but a buyer could still be found.
Car Crashes
Fuel Efficiency
Aviation & Aircraft
Boats
Sports & Outdoors
Animals
Human Behavior & Physiology
Physical Feats
War & Armaments
Guns & Bullets
A bullet fired straight up can still be
lethal when it falls to the ground.
It is possible to
shoot a bullet through a wall
and hit a moving target.
A rifle with a bent barrel can still
fire lethally.
A
rifle with a boresight left in the barrel
could backfire and explode.
Guns work underwater and would also work in
the vacuum of space .
A gun that is
dropped in a deep fryer will
discharge.
A
pistol dropped down a flight of stairs
is not likely to discharge.
A nail gun is not an effective
weapon.
Equally-matched opponents in a
fast draw gunfight would likely kill each other .
Silver bullets don't work well, but lead
bullets can be engraved and
still fire accurately.
A bullet can't be fired at a road surface to ricochet up
through a car's floorboard .
The standard two-handed stance is the
best way to hold a gun .
It is more accurate to
fire two guns simultaneously
than to alternate left- and right-hand shots in a two-handed stance.
A handgun can be used to
shoot a dropped handgun out of reach
of an adversary.
A bullet may be able to
ricochet three times and return to the shooter , but it will not have lethal velocity.
It is not possible to
shoot a gun out of a person's hand
without injuring them.
Guns can be shot around corners with
special devices.
A person can shoot a target while
airborne after jumping .
The sonic boom from a
supersonic bullet will not break glass .
A loud car stereo system will not
cause a rifle to misfire , but the
shock wave from a bomb can.
Davy Crocket could have shot a musket and
split the bullet on a distant axe blade .
A
tree can be cut down with machine gun fire .
Cigarette butts fired from a gun can be
lethal.
You cannot shoot a hat off a person's head ;
the bullet will not transfer enough energy.
A bullet can be
shot into the empty chamber of another
revolver, and two bullets can
collide in midair and fuse together .
An Old West gunslinger could not have shot
a hole through a silver dollar, fired five times before a coin was
dropped to the ground, or saved a man from hanging by shooting the
rope.
Bullets can generate
sparks when they ricochet , but it's not
common.
A
bullet could serve as a replacement electronic fuse
and eventually heat up enough to discharge.
Loose bullets in a hot oven or a fire will
explode, but they will not have lethal velocity. However, a loaded
gun in a hot oven can fire a lethal bullet.
What is Bulletproof
Things that can stop bullets:
a fish tank ,
a block of pykrete ,
inch-thick polycarbonate , and possibly
a police badge, a belt buckle, certain bathroom tiles, and
several pizzas in a warming bag .
Things that are not bulletproof:
a tape measure, a golf ball, a wallet ,
a hair weave, a refrigerator door , a car door ,
a car covered with phone books ,
an iPod, human fat, human muscle, a mixture of cornstarch and
water , an over door ,
a deck of playing cards, a book, and ¼-inch
polycarbonate .
Three
watermelons can stop a .50 caliber bullet .
A metal
cigarette lighter can stop a bullet
only if the bullet has already ricocheted off another surface.
A laptop may be able to
block a shotgun blast .
A person can
hide underwater as protection from bullets .
Explosives & Explosions
Standing
between two identical explosions
is not safe; rather, the shock waves accumulate.
A vehicle containing flammable gas can
explode when it receives a keyless remote signal .
C-4 plastic explosive
is stable enough to burn without exploding , even when subjected to falling anvils, gun shots, and thermite.
C-4 will detonate in a microwave
only if it is wired with a blasting cap.
Binary explosives (Tannerite) in the
trunk of a car will not detonate
if the car is rear-ended.
When exposed to fire, a
small propane tank can explode and fly
high into the air.
Igniting thermite on top of ice will
cause an explosion.
A large fireball can be created by
a cloud of saw dust or powdered creamer .
If a trail of gas from a leaking car is lit
on fire, the fire will not catch up to the car and blow it up.
Diving underwater could make an
above-water explosion more survivable.
A person can float on his/her back at the surface to improve the
survivability of an underwater explosion.
A person can outrun a
trail of burning gunpowder and kick it out
before it reaches the source.
Aerosol cans and beer kegs
will explode in an open fire , and a keg
exploding could cause lethal injury.
A stick of dynamite might be able to help
clean out a cement truck , but it will not
remove a solid slab of concrete.
A person who
lights gasoline in a culvert will be burned,
but not blasted out a great distance.
A methane
explosion can launch a manhole cover
into the air.
A
Christmas tree doused with liquid nitrogen
will not explode.
It not possible to
flatten a car using explosives
without obliterating it.
An aquarium, a garbage truck, and a bed can effectively
contain an explosion , but a filing
cabinet and a steel safe cannot.
A wooden table, a car, a metal dumpster, and a cinder block wall can
all
protect someone from the shock wave of a bomb .
Dry ice bombs are very dangerous.
Unusual Materials & Uses
Historical Feats
