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i can't remember any boring me while watching but i remember thinking at the time that the cabin fever myth would have bored me to insanity if i was having to do it!!
Failure is only a teacher if you learn from your failure. A lot of people do not. Can failure be a good teacher? Yes. I would even argue that failure is an excellent teacher. Provided you actually learn from it. And it can be hard to accept failure was because of something you did incorrectly, and that perhaps you should try something else. Human ego, i believe is the single largest block to learning. /edit: I will say the longer i am an engineer, the more humble i find myself. I am good at my job, no denying that. But an expert any anything? Nope. Experts know all the answers on a topic, and i will never fall into that category. Been there, thought i knew it all, only to find out i did not. To the point that i will never call myself an expert. Competent? Good? Sure, but never expert.
@@jeromethiel4323you also need the opportunity to be able to learn from a failure. For a lot of people, me included, we can't afford to fail even once.
@@jeromethiel4323That's the one thing I've found beautiful about science/scientists, and there's a saying that I'm going to butcher but is to this affect: _"There is no failure/bad data in science."_ (it goes on, but I'm cutting it short there) Because all failures inherent show you how not to do something, and that in and of itself is very important. Similarly, no data is "bad" because ALL data is useful. Hell, look at all those space related observations done years ago, where people go back to it and run through the numbers again to find NEW insights! They originally didn't find that, but now we do. Back then it might've been considered "insignificant data" (which someone might qualify as being 'bad'), but turns out there was something profound held in it! Even literal "bad data" caused by a malfunction, it's *_still_* useful, because now you have a known failure point to check beforen running an experiment or using the equipment! 😊 So yea, ALL failures are good and ALL data is useful. 👍
Man, I wanted to a scientist, but growing up I was so bad at math that I thought anything STEM related was completely unaccesible to me. Now I realize you don't have to be good at math to become a scientist, but rather be creative and imaginative
@@tartankiltington I never finished college but I got a job in a factory as a Quality Analyst. They teach me metrology stuff and I nerd out over gauge blocks like Adam does. But I'm a Scientist-they don't call us that but that's what I do and it's the ATTITUDE I bring towards my work. I'm there to learn and solve problems, I use creativity like a Mythbuster. Whereas others kinda approach it like a technician job, and just want to do the bare minimum and go home. I may not have any degrees and work in a laboratory but I am a scientist because I make myself one, and Adam and the Mythbusters show taught me that.
The thing with that is that he _does_ often think of himself as a scientist, and an engineer. Eg. 4:41 . He has often said it, and without specifying some principled delimiting modesty.
The requirements for being a scientist or engineer don't include Einstein levels of intelligence, technical vocabulary, nor talent for calculations. The only real gatekeepers to being a scientist or engineer are thinking like one and using logical methods to discover and apply truth. Anybody can do it and anybody can understand it. Mythbusters was, and still is, a display that science and engineering don't have to be exclusive clubs for PhDs to speak only in mathlatin. And, when the doors to science and engineering are open to all, they can be a lot of fun.
I think he over-estimates himself a bit. the last thing these guys were, were scientists. Wonderful entertainers, for sure, but they were very tangential to scientists.
I know Adam will never see this comment, but my son and I loved this show. We loved watching it together, and we still talk about it. He is now a structural engineer and will be a PE soon. I know that Mythbusters and Adam played a role in his path in life. Thank you, Adam.
I'm a molecular biologist and my favorite episode is the one where they swabbed and cultured 1000 soda can tops. I always tell people, THAT'S science! It's rarely explosions. It's usually boring and repetitive- but I wouldn't trade it for anything!!!!!! Best job in the world regardless.
6:20 Yeah, I recently watched the first season of the show for the first time in AGES and there is a montage devoted to Adam and Jamie personally calling places for permission to do stuff and all of them saying no or being like "You wanna do what???"
I think a lot about how the original "Taxi behind a jet plane" episode ends with them getting a phone call and learning that they aren't going to get the plane they thought and just kinda being like "...well!"
@sabotower1792 Yeah, I forgot which myth it was but there was also a time where Tori was just about to do something involving a moving car and they got told Buster had to do it, and it made it much less of a fun experience as a viewer. Tori was really annoyed too
Love the perspective shift from being an Engineer/Scientist as something formal to an activity based thing. "They treated us as peers. And we were, we just didn't know it yet" is so wholesome and really speaks to the benefits of just *doing* things and not getting caught up in self-imposed trepidation.
As someone who totally wrote off working in STEM as an option before being so abruptly shown that literally ALL of my interests are STEM by a college career analyst, I felt this. So much time and self esteem is wasted on thinking about what we're not when we're only doing ourselves a disservice.
Mythbusters is one of the best shows in history. I still miss having new episodes. I wish it was easier to compile a high quality collection of the episodes to rewatch. I can rewatch it so much.
They've recently been putting full episodes (and full seasons of episodes) on RUclips. Not just "best of clips" but entire shows. I think seasons 4-9 are completely available now. (Apparently only outside the US)
There's also a Mythbusters YT channel, but it's not official, it's just someone who obtained a license. However, I mention it because, despite being only 480p, I'm pretty sure it's the Non-US cuts! Adam has mentioned how he's often had jokes that were left on the cutting room floor when re-edited to air in the US (NA?), all because we have more commercials. Our hour long show runtimes have been 42-43.5 minutes, whereas other markets are longer... and these episodes, they are 48-49mins! 😁
The best for me was when Adam and Jamie appeared on CSI testing if a tazer could ignite pepper spray. At the time, CSI was first or second in the prime time drama ratings and Mythbusters was popular enough for them to take notice. Just wish they'd gotten some lines.
Yes I remember that episode...I was so disappointed they didn't give Jamie or Adam any lines .It was a wild episode and they were at the top of the ratings and no lines it was like heck might as well Had William Peterson look at a picture of them
I honestly think Mythbusters is why my child became an engineer. Demonstrating the processes involved in breaking down a myth over and over with levity made an impact. It simply couldn't not. If it had been around in my youth, I might have found my joy (making/creating) far earlier.
I worked as a photographers assistant in the 1980's. One of his gigs was food pix for store flyers. We could not figure out why the studio alarm would go off once in a while. With so many false alarms he was facing getting his alarm service cut off. We thought mice at first but never come up with a solid solution until one hot humid night we heard a loud bang and saw a lid from Pillsbury Crescent Roll go flying and the dough expand out. Solved! The tubes did on occasion bust open but until we saw the lid fly we never thought anything of it. Living near the Great lakes, its not the heat, its the humidity!
"I am those two things." Teaching middle school science and engineering and using countless clips and videos from you and Jaime, thank you. You absolutely have put people able to dream about being engineers and scientists and changing the world.
I loved Mythbusters and Junkyard Wars as a kid. It was so fun to be able to turn on the TV and come away feeling like you learned something. But now we can get that on RUclips any time we want! There are so many channels that do History and Chemistry and Engineering and it is amazing. I have never had cable TV or any streaming service memberships and I don't miss them at all. There is so much great stuff to watch completely free.
That was a good one, and it is also the one I always tend to bring up at parties. I'm sure I got more than a few people into watching the show because I told them to go look for that clip.
My oldest was born the same year your show aired. I watched all the episodes and he grew up watching with me, and saw me inventing solutions to small problems based on the show. When he was a toddler, he called it "The Dad & Dad Show". I was honored to be compared to you guys. ❤
You'd have to argue that the small crew size is why the show felt so intimate and personal to even the audience. It's hard to keep a message concise with too many voices pushing direction. I think that is where some modern media goes wrong. Some of the best work can be traced back to a couple nerds working on something they thought was cool and nobody else did.
I was a consumer rep for Pillsbury about a decade before MB started, and I would have loved for the biscuit dough myth to have aired back then because we got a lot of weird questions about the behavior of refrigerated dough products behaved under certain odd circumstances.
The pyramid power one is the dumbest, I think you've mentioned that in other videos. The one that surprised me the most is that talking to plants actually does make them grow faster. It was so ludicrous, but it worked.
@@johnlucas6683I think we kind of don’t know yet. A lot of plant signaling is pretty chemically complex and poorly understood. Under researched you might say!
There are a ton of RUclips channels that use mythbusters methodology. You the built the coat rack for the creatives of the world to hang their hat. Thank you sir!
I think for me, an especially absurd one was 'A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss'. It seemed like it would be a long, boring process to achieve something quite small. But their process in creating the rolling rig made it work after all. IIRC it was Tory, Carrie and Grant on that segment
I just watched the pilot season again yesterday, and, in the best way, you can tell that it was made with a small crew. And yes, Biscuit Bullet was episode 2
Lead Balloon is my dad's and sister's favorite episode! My mom always loved when you had to disable safety features. It was reassuring to hear you say "We can't make this household object dangerous, because the safety systems keep doing their job!" I loved the pirate myths. Filling a cannon with chain was so cool!
You mentioned a while back in a previous video that the stunt driving classes you had taken for the show made it so that when you were in an actual accident with a car that had a problem you were able to recognize the problem and safely steer the car still. I haven't watched the video yet but I've felt strongly that we need to teach more people how to actually operate their vehicles. One of the first things to get cut from high school budgets is the driver's education training and it shows with the poor quality of the drivers on the road today.
We should all mirror our driver education after the Finns! As I understand it, almost ever Finnish driver is at an amateur level of Rally driver (offroad racecar drivers). Their driver's ed is just way more comprehensive and technical!
@@DUKE_of_RAMBLEGermans also have quite a lengthy "training time" before one is a Licensed driver, because theyll test you on a Normal day, then on a Snowy day, and a few times at Night, and under just about every other possible combination...then again, in the country known for the Autobahn, you better make damn sure Everyone knows how to drive under Every condition
@@rtyuik7 Yea, ours is primarily classroom time, unfortunately. 😮💨 I can't say I recall my instructor taking me out on energy a RAINY day, much less a snowy one (I grew up in a state with a very healthy winter). We did go on the highway, and into the big city to get in some heavy traffic and one-way time... but I think that was only one day? Hard to recall as it would've been ~1999 heh THANKFULLY, my dad grew up in the country and still had extended family there, which we would visit almost every weekend. So when I was 10, he started my driving lessons on his lap, steering only. When I could reach the pedals around 12, maybe 13, he started to let me operate them (still on his lap). Then about a year later he was in the passenger seat. This was ALL in a giant 1990 Chevrolet Suburban 4x4! Mind you, it was only on back roads, many of which were gravel, occasionally we'd go into the rural town. So by the time I was 16 and ready to get my license, I was _WAY_ ahead of the curve! As we're my friends, who would occasionally go up with us, and dad did the same with them. _(wish he was still with us, to thank for that... 😞)_ But yea, our system is just flawed. If you fail your driver's test, you can just about immediately retake it. You don't even have to re-take the classroom portion, EVEN IF YOU FAIL IT MULTIPLE TIMES! 😮💨🤦♂️ So yea... flawed. 😒
My favorite myth was sneezing with your eyes open. I laughed when I saw that with the eyes popping out part. You came to the conclusion that you can't do it without forcibly holding them open. My second grade teacher who hated me said the same thing. I took it as a challenge and eventually managed to do it. I had forgotten completely about that until that episode came out. I'm happy to say I relearned that weird skill quickly afterward.
Adam is always giving me advice I didn't know I needed and when I least expect it. For background, I served in the Navy as a nuclear trained electrician and now I work for a company who builds submarines and my job is to recommend maintenance to the US government. I don't have a degree, my title is "Test Engineer", and I work with degreed/certified engineers. One recently said "You're an engineer and your degree is your hands on operation and troubleshooting experience." Adam, you just reaffirmed this with "They are talking to us like we are their peers. Because we were and we just didn't know it yet." Thank you ❤
I want to know how having Camera Drones, would have enhanced Mythbusters. Drone footage seems so standard now, watching all of the old episodes it feels like “I wish they could have a different angle.”
@@robadams1645 And you can often see them at work on RUclips, being operated by people who were inspired to go in that direction with their working life by MythBusters.
My understanding is that one of their cameramen was kind of pioneering the use of drone photography through the life of the show. Adam has talked about the camera guy building octorotors and getting shots that were ahead of their time. It would be even better now.
Mythbuster and Survivorman (Les Stroud) occupy a similar timeframe and not very dissimilar ethos, and were both greatly enjoyable and important to me. It was a golden time in Television in many ways.
There's an interesting demographic overlap for these two shows, and what's awesome is how both Adam and Les have returned later after leaving Discovery as very popular and personable influencers online with an ongoing fan base from their shows. I feel like anyone I meet who can say Mythbusters and Survivorman were formative TV for them in their younger years is an instant friend - We can just tell right away we're gonna have a great time together
What really bugged me was myths that when their plan to bust them did not go as planned they would just strap a bunch of C4 to it and blow it to hell. A lot of people liked that but it didn’t solve the myth. The imploding piano of fire was one of them. I figured it how it could have happened, but myth busters just blew it to hell. As the demo man said, “ we’ll play a tune in the key of C4 “
I wonder if Adam has ever thought about the idea that youtube is basically what caused Mythbusters' end. They started in 2003, ended 2015. The show remained largely the same the whole time. Just trying to think back to the early 2000s and basically the main difference is that TV was the main source of media rather than the internet. TV was basically the only place you could watch people blow stuff up and do science or whatever, but the internet made it so that there's like 100 different science channels with millions of subscribers each and they all probably collectively diluted Mythbusters market dominance for that sector. Kind of like how America's funniest home videos stopped being cool as soon as you could find funnier videos by yourself on the internet. Basically the same thing but with science youtubers and stuff.
Many of the people behind those science youtube channels were likely inspired by Mythbusters and/or grew up watching the show, though. IMO Mythbusters walked so a whole generation of young scientists could run. And boy howdy did they run. Mythbusters gave us clear examples of critical thinking. Respect for scientists and the scientific process. How to fail well, own our failures, iterate on our failures, and figure out whether to keep trying new methods or call a thing done. And so many other attitudes that help us approach the world in a healthier way, whether we're scientists or not. 💜
Interesting observation. For me, the reason I stopped watching Myth Busters as much was more about The Discovery Channel itself. Sure it was clear they were losing some steam, but there were plenty of other good show for awhile, until there weren’t. The more a channel showed ghosts stories, aliens, religion, and/or people doing their job (over dramatized), the less I check by.
@@alexanderrobins7497I'll probably never forgive David Zaslav for what he did to Discovery Channel and Mythbusters (it always seemed treated 2nd class despite how popular and informative it was).
When I was a kid way back when, we had a tube of Pillsbury biscuits cook off like that in the back of a Datsun 310 hatchback. Nobody thought it was a gunshot, but we were definitely startled.
5:20 I'm not sure about that, my kids were born during the peak of the show and didn't start watching it until it was available for streaming and they are teens now and absolutely love the show today. I don't think much would have to be different, the hosts just need to show the same level of passion and interest.
Totally agree. But it was Jamie and Adam that kept us glued to the screen to see what would happen next. I've seen RUclipsrs try their own version of mythbusters. But they would only regurgitate what Mythbusters already done and come to the same conclusions.
I think i would agree with adam it wouldnt. It was airing in an era where a lot of shows where scheduled and you watch whatever is on the schedule. I watched it during boring times and we just put on tv discovery during off times at home where we didnt have anything to watch and it became the show we knew when were the replays were we kept it on every afternoon just to not keep the house too awkwardly quiet. You dont have that weird "inconvenience" where you unintentionally discover new shows that you werent really looking for.
I always remember needle in a haystack, I don't even think it was the main story but just watching you guys find two completely different ways to just sorta jerry-rig your way into solving a problem was a life lesson for me. I learned how there is never just one solution and how you can use your basic knowledge on how things work (magnetism, density etc.) to put stuff together to make those solutions. For research and fieldwork, being able to just come up with cheap and quick solutions is absolutely critical. I don't think I would have been able to accomplish my masters research without that key skill set.
I stumbled across Mythbusters when that very first episode was airing and have been hooked ever since. The biscuit bullet was one of my favorites because it was counter to what I expected. But I also got the advantage of TV time and not sitting through the whole thing real time.
Once got in trouble because we had a bunch of biscuit dough well past the expiration date (diary manager wasn't rotating) and being dumb kids we decided to have dough grenade wars in the back room. Some of them popped impressively even without heat, the real issue was that we resorted to just throwing chunks of dough at each other.
Adam, Jamie, Kari, Grant and Tory, Thank you for giving me the "They tested that on Mythbusters" defence when needed to prove someone being right or wrong in their statements.😁 One of the truely genuine shows i know. You actually were surprised by the results good or bad.😊 PS the cement truck explosion still is one of the most awesome explosions ever filmed.😜
Trying to make the water heater go into LEO was pretty sweet. It was so much fun for the crew, they did it on two episodes. The planning leading up to the "experiment" was the best part of the episode. The editors should get extra kudos. They really stitched together compelling stories every episode. At work, coworkers sometimes discuss, "remember when mythbusters did....." now 10 to 20 years later, that is the ultimate compliment the show left on viewers. Thanks for the memories.
The value of not gating off science or engineering can’t be overstated, the mindset that lets a person say “I’m an engineer” is a comfortability to fail in the best way
Absolutely. Also, for me it's useful to remember what engineering *is*. People have thrown the term "engineer" into all kinds of job titles because it sounds cool, but the word has an actual meaning. Specifically it does NOT mean construction, building stuff. Once you're building, the engineering has already been done (perhaps very well, perhaps extremely poorly). Engineering is reliably predicting whether a specific design will meet a stated specification, based on known principles. So if you can choose a bolt and know that it will hold 50 pounds because you know the bolt is rated for up to 200 pounds - even you testing it - congrats, you just did (very simple) engineering.
There was this time when I never thought Myhtbusters would end, and that was one of the best feeling in my youth. Smartest show I have ever saw, should have been mandatory to watch in schools.
Adam, I love that you are quizzical and reflective and how you share with us, in real time, how you think about your experiences and what you have learned along the way. You are absolutely a scientist, engineer, and science communicator, up there with the best of them. Thanks for everything.
I'm so grateful for all the Mythbusters episodes, they were so fun. My favorite thing was ALWAYS Adam's excitement, especially his laugh after big explosions!
The myth that I always remember every time I'm driving near water, is how much water pressure will keep you trapped in a sinking car. I always mentally planning for the what if.
Your comments about your experience with the lead balloon episode highlight a certain truth. You just never know what is going to stick, resonate with people, and catch on because it is often the most unexpected thing that does.
@@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t You are completely correct. It is impossible to engineer spontaneity much like it is next to impossible to engineer making something go viral until you have become somewhat of a cultural meme yourself.
Hearing you say that you doubted that you were a scientist or engineer in any capacity ralies my belief in continuing to pursue engineering, I grew up seeing you as a scientist from that first episode and didn't know you as the prop maker you were before, even after learning that a few years later it made perfect sense. Now as I'm older I can understand those doubts you had and knowing you were able to succeed past them helps me, thank you for your contributions to the scientific mind of humanity
One lesson I keep with me came from the exploding pants episode. While it didn't technically explode, the comment made was "If that happened to me I would say it exploded." It helped me realize not to take everything at face value. We sometimes cannot accurately describe something and using what words we do know can lead someone in the wrong direction. Accurate communication can be very important depending on the situation.
Wow! I didn't realize that could be why I can't watch certain things 🤔 Like, I would love to watch CSI & whatnot, but I can't be interrupted. I have to see justice happen or I'm not ok, so I just don't watch it.
A thought developed while watching the Mythbusters team: “It is what it is! Doesn’t matter what you or I think it is. It is what it is. It is necessary for us to remain open to one or both of us being correct from our point of view.
Me and my late father loved MythBusters. I remember when i was a kid in school that when i got home me and my dad would lay down on the bed and watch it for hours. We watched every episode, every rerun and both were upset when it was finally over. Some of my fondest memories are being with my father and watching a series we both loved. Much love and respect to adam and everyone involved with the production of Mythbusters. You all inspired so much in so many people and helped to create some of the fondest memories for a generation.
I think there’s a hidden lesson I’ve taken from Mythbusters and other creative and educational entertainment. As Adam said, “they’re talking to us as though we were peers! Because we were - we just didn’t know it yet.” That is a lesson I’ve learned over time as I’ve gotten into more specialized situations. Don’t be ashamed of people treating you as a peer - you don’t always know when you’ve become something, until someone you respect in that field looks at you as a peer.
One of my favourite episodes of Myth Busters was the elephants scared of mice one. It was fantastic seeing you at Cutting Edge Engineering here is Australia.
Didn't get the projectile but roughly 1999-2000 I had a can of biscuits startle me just 15 minutes after leaving the store. Forget why but that bag had been placed on the rear dash.
On the issues of hot cars many years agoo my brother and I had a road trip over Stelvio pass and driving up we heard a loud bang from behind us. We couldn't work out what it was. The car was a diesel so we knew it couldn't be a backfire from the engine and it was driving OK so it didn't seem to be a tyre but being three quarters of the way up the pass we were in a series of never ending switchbacks so we didn't want to stop unless it was an absolute necessity and we carried on. A couple of minutes later there was another bang. Same issue. Not a backfire and no change in the way the car was driving so on we go. Two factors were at play, one being temperature of around 32 to 33 degrees C or 90 to 92 Fahrenheit and the other being tje altitude of something approaching 8000 feet. The following morning I was unpacking the car and got out the box of road trip foodstuffs. I looked at the box, looked my brother and said "did you open the two bags of chilli heatwave Doritos...........?"
7:40 I actually just watched the "Biscuit Bullet" episode just last night! And you were right on how early it was. Season 1 Episode 3 or 4. It's about the same timeframe as "Leaping Lawyer".
On the topic of fame and being more recognized as time went on / making life more difficult perhaps - I was living in the San Francisco / San Jose area some of the time the show was recording. I did have a couple sightings of some of the team 'in the wild' doing mundane life things (like in line at the DMV). I thought each time about going over and doing the fangirl thing and just saying Thanks for making science and scientific theory accessible and FUN. And... didn't. Y'all weren't ON or visibly doing show things - I figured it was part of the social contract for me not to impede / impose just because I recognized you from TV and we were sharing the same airspace - y'all deserve to have lives and privacy too. I've kicked myself off and on for that decision as I also failed to make it to a con or something for a legit meet n greet, but I still think I did the right thing.
I attended a comic con mythbusters panel and seeing everyone was SUPER MEMORABLE. I waited nearly 3 hours but it was worth it. Good vibes, fun, sprinkle of serious stuff. Thank you!
It makes a little sad that you don't think Mythbusters would land the same way today, but I agree. I have a sliver of hope that the current bent of anti-intellectualism and science denial is some sort of perverse fad, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case.
Got a little tear in my eye when Adam exclaimed that they were peers to scientists. I'm in a fairly technical field, and I deal with a lot of interns and juniors who underestimate their ability. It takes me a lot of time and effort to make them see that they'll be teaching me their insights in a matter of months. And when they do, it's a magical moment for both of us. Cheers Adam, the honorary doctorate from the University of Twente was well deserved to you and the team as a whole. Thank you so much for a smarter childhood.
Crazy to mention the biscuit episode because that is one episode that has always stuck with me and I think about whenever I see a can of biscuit dough!
What I observe Mr. Savage has taken from his time on Mythbusters is 1) All Good Things Must Come To An End. and 2) We Are All Scientists! This second one I feel is more important than the first one in that the legacy of Mythbusters is educational on a level that inspires millions of people! Mythbusters is just a couple guys who approach a question: from the Lawn Chair Balloon to Pane In The Glass and beyond. Is what the question suggests even plausible? Then you fabricate experiments to find out! To answer that question! Adam Savage started this journey with Jamie Hyneman as a couple special effects guys for movies. During their 'tenure' as Mythbusters they acquired honorary doctorates. They are scientists! You are too! Approach an hypothesis. Test the theory. Document your findings. Congratulations! You're a scientist!
idk why i feel compelled to say this on this video. But it just dawned on me that I've been watching you for 23 years now, since I was 11. I just wanna thank you for being a kind of TV dad for me, and I don't mean it in some you got me through tough times way. It's just nice that you have been you since the day I started watching, and coming here honestly feels like hanging out with someone familiar. Cheers Adam.
I miss you and Jamie together. Me and my dad watched it all the time. I turned into a real science fanatic thanks to you. All good things end, I know that, but it's still really sad. Time flies. I love your YT channel, gives me the weekly dose of Adam. Thanks for everything! And please tell Jamie he's missed if you see him.
Anyone who has worked in a grocery store can tell you those biscuit tubes don't even need to be warm to explode. Once they near or pass the freshness date they'll start popping off the refrigerated shelf.
We went to see Ira Glass in an in person show some years ago where he had a fascinating observation. He said that he was "famous" in the room he was in but outside that room, not so much. I imagine it was somewhat similar with Mythbusters. You guys were famous to the Mythbusters audience but not so much to people outside that audience.
here's a life lesson, I have been in the fortunate position to have junior staff members under me - as well as projects being under my control. I applied the same mindset with the office junior, as the building contractor, or specialist. I always told everyone "don't give me incomplete sentences!" now I always tried to maintain an early approachable attitude, but if someone comes up to me and says 'it doesn't fit!" I would respond with "and....?" if this person is now expecting me to drop what I'm doing and resolve the problem for them, then that shows a lack of engagement on their part. I want them to be involved, and invested- and in the case of the office junior, encouraged to grow. so, rather than "it doesn't work!", I what them to say "it doesn't work, but.....!" this starts a conversation focusing more on a solution to a problem, and it's super rewarding for everyone to see people grow in front of you
Adam, that’s so funny that you think the biscuit bullet was boring because I think about that episode all of the time! I probably think about it more than any other myth you tested!
The first episode of MythBusters I saw was when they tried to prove/disprove that you could use certain elements (like a plank of plywood) as a "parachute" if you had to jump out of a building. Thanks to cartoons, I totally believed it was possible... until I saw Buster smash into the cold, hard ground and was like, welp, scratch that.
I can vouch for so many people by saying we are grateful that you have this channel thank you for everything you've done to help shape people's lives in a positive Way by exploring the impossibilities
Gee, Adam, you could have just run down to Phoenix for the hot car test. A black car interior can easily get up to 160, and it only takes a few minutes! I always keep a thermometer in the A/C vent, so I could verify the temp every day. 140 is child's play, but I have seen it up to 160. I really miss your show!
The sense of humour part really resonates with me. I love science today in part because of the show, but what roped me into watching it was Adam being funny.
Many years ago (1971?) when I was in college, I had a brief summer job in a cold warehouse where products like those refrigerated biscuits in a tube were stored for delivery to local grocery stores. One day, somebody left the loading door to the cool room open a bit too long for the hot midwest summer. As a result, the warehouse floor became damp and slippery.. I was operating a forklift moving a 2-high pallet stack of boxed biscuit dough from the loading dock to a location inside the cool room. Apparently, I made a turn too sharply and the top pallet slid off crashing onto the wet concrete floor. Yes, there may have been a bit of OE involved... Anyhow, when those cases of biscuits crashed to the floor, massive amounts of kinetic energy was released in those biscuit dough tubes making a giant mess scattering clumps of dough disks all over the place. The lesson I picked up from this experience was those tubes don't care for heat OR pressure. I don't remember much more about that job - which suggests that I wasn't there too long...
I feel like they've tamed down the biscuit tubes over the years. When I was a kid, they were terrifying. You'd start to peel the paper to open them and they'd pop open real fast. These days, you peel off the paper, nothing happens, you whack it on the counter a few times and it'll finally reluctantly allow you to unroll it.
9:30 something about knowing that someone who I admire as much as Adam Savage feels good upon getting other people's laughter makes me feel good about myself.
In a way, my favorite part of these is when Adam pauses, and you almost FEEL his brain tuning itself towards the question in front of him. Churning, working through the premise, consider it from many angles, working through the steps of how it happened... Then pausing again to ensure he words his chosen answer correctly. edit: I changed my mind, My favorite part is when Adam gets lost in a passionate answer, flailing his arms and proclaiming each step as it happened with loads of energy :)
Eyes popping out of your head when you sneeze was boring to me. When they went straight to trying it, it was obvious the answer because they wouldn't have risked their eyesight like that.
"I thought that was for smart people" - it's always scary when I hear this or something like it from someone as smart as you, who never understood their own intelligence until the right opportunity came along to show them... Glad you had Mythbusters to teach you that lesson!
Which myth was the most boring for you as a viewer?
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Mythbusters was part of my childhood I don't remember the boring one's.
Pyramid Power, without a doubt. That was the only one where i literally thought "Oh, ffs, fast-forward"
Dr. Mike did a video about the medical myths you did on Mythbusters. You really should react to it.
i can't remember any boring me while watching but i remember thinking at the time that the cabin fever myth would have bored me to insanity if i was having to do it!!
@@tested None.
I know Mythbusters didn't invent the concept but I learned that failure is always an option and is an excellent teacher.
Failure is only a teacher if you learn from your failure. A lot of people do not. Can failure be a good teacher? Yes. I would even argue that failure is an excellent teacher. Provided you actually learn from it. And it can be hard to accept failure was because of something you did incorrectly, and that perhaps you should try something else. Human ego, i believe is the single largest block to learning.
/edit: I will say the longer i am an engineer, the more humble i find myself. I am good at my job, no denying that. But an expert any anything? Nope. Experts know all the answers on a topic, and i will never fall into that category. Been there, thought i knew it all, only to find out i did not. To the point that i will never call myself an expert. Competent? Good? Sure, but never expert.
@@jeromethiel4323you also need the opportunity to be able to learn from a failure. For a lot of people, me included, we can't afford to fail even once.
@@jeromethiel4323That's the one thing I've found beautiful about science/scientists, and there's a saying that I'm going to butcher but is to this affect:
_"There is no failure/bad data in science."_
(it goes on, but I'm cutting it short there)
Because all failures inherent show you how not to do something, and that in and of itself is very important.
Similarly, no data is "bad" because ALL data is useful. Hell, look at all those space related observations done years ago, where people go back to it and run through the numbers again to find NEW insights! They originally didn't find that, but now we do. Back then it might've been considered "insignificant data" (which someone might qualify as being 'bad'), but turns out there was something profound held in it!
Even literal "bad data" caused by a malfunction, it's *_still_* useful, because now you have a known failure point to check beforen running an experiment or using the equipment! 😊
So yea, ALL failures are good and ALL data is useful. 👍
@@DUKE_of_RAMBLE bad data is still data.
I would say that bringing three human beings home from outer space is not, in fact, optional. But in general, I agree.
I love the irony that the Lead Balloon episode went over well. 😄
Ha!
You might say it went over like a lead balloon.
Which, surprisingly, Worked!
That is one that always stuck with me. I still tell people that a lead balloon WILL fly.
And "like a bull in a china shop" could actually be a compliment to a ninja.
The man who didnt consider himself a scientist inspired an entire generation of scientists.
Too bad education is considered " socialism " and " indoctrination " now.
Man, I wanted to a scientist, but growing up I was so bad at math that I thought anything STEM related was completely unaccesible to me. Now I realize you don't have to be good at math to become a scientist, but rather be creative and imaginative
@@tartankiltington I never finished college but I got a job in a factory as a Quality Analyst. They teach me metrology stuff and I nerd out over gauge blocks like Adam does. But I'm a Scientist-they don't call us that but that's what I do and it's the ATTITUDE I bring towards my work. I'm there to learn and solve problems, I use creativity like a Mythbuster. Whereas others kinda approach it like a technician job, and just want to do the bare minimum and go home. I may not have any degrees and work in a laboratory but I am a scientist because I make myself one, and Adam and the Mythbusters show taught me that.
@@hedgeearthridge6807well said!
The thing with that is that he _does_ often think of himself as a scientist, and an engineer. Eg. 4:41 . He has often said it, and without specifying some principled delimiting modesty.
"We were peers -- we just didn't know it yet." Simply beautiful.
Great observation and awakening, yes!!
Lame
Fake it till you make it!
The requirements for being a scientist or engineer don't include Einstein levels of intelligence, technical vocabulary, nor talent for calculations. The only real gatekeepers to being a scientist or engineer are thinking like one and using logical methods to discover and apply truth. Anybody can do it and anybody can understand it.
Mythbusters was, and still is, a display that science and engineering don't have to be exclusive clubs for PhDs to speak only in mathlatin. And, when the doors to science and engineering are open to all, they can be a lot of fun.
I think he over-estimates himself a bit. the last thing these guys were, were scientists. Wonderful entertainers, for sure, but they were very tangential to scientists.
I know Adam will never see this comment, but my son and I loved this show. We loved watching it together, and we still talk about it. He is now a structural engineer and will be a PE soon. I know that Mythbusters and Adam played a role in his path in life. Thank you, Adam.
We will pass your kind comment on to Adam! (He does read comments a lot, but just in case.)
I wonder if historians will look back and can document the “Mythbuster effect” this show had/has on a whole generation of STEM
I'm a molecular biologist and my favorite episode is the one where they swabbed and cultured 1000 soda can tops. I always tell people, THAT'S science! It's rarely explosions. It's usually boring and repetitive- but I wouldn't trade it for anything!!!!!! Best job in the world regardless.
Good point. In a way, if it isn't repetitive, it's not science! It's just an anecdote until you show it's reliably repeatable.
the jet pack build-"everything worked....except the whole thing" terrifying thought for an engineer
average day for a software engineer lol
6:20 Yeah, I recently watched the first season of the show for the first time in AGES and there is a montage devoted to Adam and Jamie personally calling places for permission to do stuff and all of them saying no or being like "You wanna do what???"
Like trying to get a grenade! 😂
JATO. And the animal bits... "You wanna do WHAT. With WHAT."
And they have to make sure the insurance is okay with what they are doing too.
I think a lot about how the original "Taxi behind a jet plane" episode ends with them getting a phone call and learning that they aren't going to get the plane they thought and just kinda being like "...well!"
@sabotower1792 Yeah, I forgot which myth it was but there was also a time where Tori was just about to do something involving a moving car and they got told Buster had to do it, and it made it much less of a fun experience as a viewer. Tori was really annoyed too
Love the perspective shift from being an Engineer/Scientist as something formal to an activity based thing. "They treated us as peers. And we were, we just didn't know it yet" is so wholesome and really speaks to the benefits of just *doing* things and not getting caught up in self-imposed trepidation.
As someone who totally wrote off working in STEM as an option before being so abruptly shown that literally ALL of my interests are STEM by a college career analyst, I felt this. So much time and self esteem is wasted on thinking about what we're not when we're only doing ourselves a disservice.
Mythbusters is one of the best shows in history. I still miss having new episodes. I wish it was easier to compile a high quality collection of the episodes to rewatch. I can rewatch it so much.
I have them compiled
Prime video has a 24/7 Mythbusters channel
@@oxyLuna Would you be willing to share? I'd love to watch them all again with my daughters
They've recently been putting full episodes (and full seasons of episodes) on RUclips. Not just "best of clips" but entire shows. I think seasons 4-9 are completely available now. (Apparently only outside the US)
There's also a Mythbusters YT channel, but it's not official, it's just someone who obtained a license.
However, I mention it because, despite being only 480p, I'm pretty sure it's the Non-US cuts!
Adam has mentioned how he's often had jokes that were left on the cutting room floor when re-edited to air in the US (NA?), all because we have more commercials. Our hour long show runtimes have been 42-43.5 minutes, whereas other markets are longer... and these episodes, they are 48-49mins! 😁
The best for me was when Adam and Jamie appeared on CSI testing if a tazer could ignite pepper spray. At the time, CSI was first or second in the prime time drama ratings and Mythbusters was popular enough for them to take notice. Just wish they'd gotten some lines.
Yes I remember that episode...I was so disappointed they didn't give Jamie or Adam any lines .It was a wild episode and they were at the top of the ratings and no lines it was like heck might as well Had William Peterson look at a picture of them
@@Amethyst_Dragon_ Likely a union thing. Those with speaking parts are treated differently than background cast.
I honestly think Mythbusters is why my child became an engineer. Demonstrating the processes involved in breaking down a myth over and over with levity made an impact. It simply couldn't not.
If it had been around in my youth, I might have found my joy (making/creating) far earlier.
I worked as a photographers assistant in the 1980's. One of his gigs was food pix for store flyers. We could not figure out why the studio alarm would go off once in a while. With so many false alarms he was facing getting his alarm service cut off. We thought mice at first but never come up with a solid solution until one hot humid night we heard a loud bang and saw a lid from Pillsbury Crescent Roll go flying and the dough expand out. Solved! The tubes did on occasion bust open but until we saw the lid fly we never thought anything of it. Living near the Great lakes, its not the heat, its the humidity!
"I am those two things." Teaching middle school science and engineering and using countless clips and videos from you and Jaime, thank you. You absolutely have put people able to dream about being engineers and scientists and changing the world.
I loved Mythbusters and Junkyard Wars as a kid. It was so fun to be able to turn on the TV and come away feeling like you learned something. But now we can get that on RUclips any time we want! There are so many channels that do History and Chemistry and Engineering and it is amazing. I have never had cable TV or any streaming service memberships and I don't miss them at all. There is so much great stuff to watch completely free.
The "Bull in a China Shop" episode changed me - I mean talk about myths!! I still show that clip to friends.😊
Weirdly enough, in German we say its an elephant in a china shop for the same thing.
That was a good one, and it is also the one I always tend to bring up at parties. I'm sure I got more than a few people into watching the show because I told them to go look for that clip.
These videos are so candid and it's amazing. Please keep doing them for as long as it pleases you.
Thanks for saying that - we appreciate it.
If you just discovered them, then you are in for a treat. Tested and Adam have been making these QA vids for years now.
My oldest was born the same year your show aired. I watched all the episodes and he grew up watching with me, and saw me inventing solutions to small problems based on the show. When he was a toddler, he called it "The Dad & Dad Show". I was honored to be compared to you guys. ❤
You'd have to argue that the small crew size is why the show felt so intimate and personal to even the audience. It's hard to keep a message concise with too many voices pushing direction. I think that is where some modern media goes wrong. Some of the best work can be traced back to a couple nerds working on something they thought was cool and nobody else did.
I was a consumer rep for Pillsbury about a decade before MB started, and I would have loved for the biscuit dough myth to have aired back then because we got a lot of weird questions about the behavior of refrigerated dough products behaved under certain odd circumstances.
The pyramid power one is the dumbest, I think you've mentioned that in other videos. The one that surprised me the most is that talking to plants actually does make them grow faster. It was so ludicrous, but it worked.
What was the explanation? Carbon dioxide? Vibrations? I can't remember if I've watched that.
All i remember from that episode was tory yelling "you stuck you freshman!" At his plants lol
@@johnlucas6683 I think it was vibrations, because it turned out that the really loud music did the best.
@@johnlucas6683I think we kind of don’t know yet. A lot of plant signaling is pretty chemically complex and poorly understood. Under researched you might say!
@@johnlucas6683 the carbon dioxide we exhale when we speak (and that plants absorb to grow) would definitely be part of it.
There are a ton of RUclips channels that use mythbusters methodology. You the built the coat rack for the creatives of the world to hang their hat. Thank you sir!
Myth you learned from for life... How to escape underwater car
How to escape from quicksand (I think...)
@@antoniojones6256 You know, quicksand has never played as much a part in my life as childhood TV led me to expect.
The one who panics dies.
unless it's a Tesla
I put a glass shattering hammer thing in my car after seeing that - hopefully never need it but good to have just in case
I think for me, an especially absurd one was 'A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss'. It seemed like it would be a long, boring process to achieve something quite small. But their process in creating the rolling rig made it work after all. IIRC it was Tory, Carrie and Grant on that segment
I just watched the pilot season again yesterday, and, in the best way, you can tell that it was made with a small crew. And yes, Biscuit Bullet was episode 2
Lead Balloon is my dad's and sister's favorite episode! My mom always loved when you had to disable safety features. It was reassuring to hear you say "We can't make this household object dangerous, because the safety systems keep doing their job!" I loved the pirate myths. Filling a cannon with chain was so cool!
You mentioned a while back in a previous video that the stunt driving classes you had taken for the show made it so that when you were in an actual accident with a car that had a problem you were able to recognize the problem and safely steer the car still. I haven't watched the video yet but I've felt strongly that we need to teach more people how to actually operate their vehicles. One of the first things to get cut from high school budgets is the driver's education training and it shows with the poor quality of the drivers on the road today.
I never had a driving class in any of my school years :(
I think I recall Adam saying his steering column broke, insane for him to keep calm in such a scenario.
We should all mirror our driver education after the Finns! As I understand it, almost ever Finnish driver is at an amateur level of Rally driver (offroad racecar drivers).
Their driver's ed is just way more comprehensive and technical!
@@DUKE_of_RAMBLEGermans also have quite a lengthy "training time" before one is a Licensed driver, because theyll test you on a Normal day, then on a Snowy day, and a few times at Night, and under just about every other possible combination...then again, in the country known for the Autobahn, you better make damn sure Everyone knows how to drive under Every condition
@@rtyuik7 Yea, ours is primarily classroom time, unfortunately. 😮💨
I can't say I recall my instructor taking me out on energy a RAINY day, much less a snowy one (I grew up in a state with a very healthy winter). We did go on the highway, and into the big city to get in some heavy traffic and one-way time... but I think that was only one day? Hard to recall as it would've been ~1999 heh
THANKFULLY, my dad grew up in the country and still had extended family there, which we would visit almost every weekend. So when I was 10, he started my driving lessons on his lap, steering only. When I could reach the pedals around 12, maybe 13, he started to let me operate them (still on his lap). Then about a year later he was in the passenger seat. This was ALL in a giant 1990 Chevrolet Suburban 4x4! Mind you, it was only on back roads, many of which were gravel, occasionally we'd go into the rural town.
So by the time I was 16 and ready to get my license, I was _WAY_ ahead of the curve! As we're my friends, who would occasionally go up with us, and dad did the same with them.
_(wish he was still with us, to thank for that... 😞)_
But yea, our system is just flawed. If you fail your driver's test, you can just about immediately retake it. You don't even have to re-take the classroom portion, EVEN IF YOU FAIL IT MULTIPLE TIMES! 😮💨🤦♂️
So yea... flawed. 😒
It’s so incredible listening to Adam speak. He’s so smart and insightful. Truly a special ans one-of-a-kind person
My favorite myth was sneezing with your eyes open. I laughed when I saw that with the eyes popping out part. You came to the conclusion that you can't do it without forcibly holding them open. My second grade teacher who hated me said the same thing. I took it as a challenge and eventually managed to do it. I had forgotten completely about that until that episode came out. I'm happy to say I relearned that weird skill quickly afterward.
Makes me think of a question "When did you and Jamie suddenly realize that you could start asking for stuff from the top brass?" :D
Adam is always giving me advice I didn't know I needed and when I least expect it. For background, I served in the Navy as a nuclear trained electrician and now I work for a company who builds submarines and my job is to recommend maintenance to the US government. I don't have a degree, my title is "Test Engineer", and I work with degreed/certified engineers. One recently said "You're an engineer and your degree is your hands on operation and troubleshooting experience." Adam, you just reaffirmed this with "They are talking to us like we are their peers. Because we were and we just didn't know it yet." Thank you ❤
I want to know how having Camera Drones, would have enhanced Mythbusters. Drone footage seems so standard now, watching all of the old episodes it feels like “I wish they could have a different angle.”
I think they would have been a tremendous boost to all the Big Bang stories. Ah well.
It would have been a game changer
Also, high speed cameras are way better and way cheaper now.
@@robadams1645 And you can often see them at work on RUclips, being operated by people who were inspired to go in that direction with their working life by MythBusters.
My understanding is that one of their cameramen was kind of pioneering the use of drone photography through the life of the show. Adam has talked about the camera guy building octorotors and getting shots that were ahead of their time. It would be even better now.
Mythbuster and Survivorman (Les Stroud) occupy a similar timeframe and not very dissimilar ethos, and were both greatly enjoyable and important to me. It was a golden time in Television in many ways.
There's an interesting demographic overlap for these two shows, and what's awesome is how both Adam and Les have returned later after leaving Discovery as very popular and personable influencers online with an ongoing fan base from their shows. I feel like anyone I meet who can say Mythbusters and Survivorman were formative TV for them in their younger years is an instant friend - We can just tell right away we're gonna have a great time together
4:10 myths with no fire, guns, or explosions were always the reason I watched. The storys, ideas, or science principles behind them had meaning.
What really bugged me was myths that when their plan to bust them did not go as planned they would just strap a bunch of C4 to it and blow it to hell. A lot of people liked that but it didn’t solve the myth.
The imploding piano of fire was one of them. I figured it how it could have happened, but myth busters just blew it to hell.
As the demo man said, “ we’ll play a tune in the key of C4 “
I wonder if Adam has ever thought about the idea that youtube is basically what caused Mythbusters' end. They started in 2003, ended 2015. The show remained largely the same the whole time. Just trying to think back to the early 2000s and basically the main difference is that TV was the main source of media rather than the internet. TV was basically the only place you could watch people blow stuff up and do science or whatever, but the internet made it so that there's like 100 different science channels with millions of subscribers each and they all probably collectively diluted Mythbusters market dominance for that sector. Kind of like how America's funniest home videos stopped being cool as soon as you could find funnier videos by yourself on the internet. Basically the same thing but with science youtubers and stuff.
Many of the people behind those science youtube channels were likely inspired by Mythbusters and/or grew up watching the show, though. IMO Mythbusters walked so a whole generation of young scientists could run. And boy howdy did they run.
Mythbusters gave us clear examples of critical thinking. Respect for scientists and the scientific process. How to fail well, own our failures, iterate on our failures, and figure out whether to keep trying new methods or call a thing done. And so many other attitudes that help us approach the world in a healthier way, whether we're scientists or not. 💜
Interesting observation.
For me, the reason I stopped watching Myth Busters as much was more about The Discovery Channel itself. Sure it was clear they were losing some steam, but there were plenty of other good show for awhile, until there weren’t. The more a channel showed ghosts stories, aliens, religion, and/or people doing their job (over dramatized), the less I check by.
@@alexanderrobins7497I'll probably never forgive David Zaslav for what he did to Discovery Channel and Mythbusters (it always seemed treated 2nd class despite how popular and informative it was).
For those of you wondering, at 7:23 he said 'fait accompli', which is French for an accomplished fact, something that is considered already done.
"Better to ask for forgiveness than permission"
Cringe
When I was a kid way back when, we had a tube of Pillsbury biscuits cook off like that in the back of a Datsun 310 hatchback. Nobody thought it was a gunshot, but we were definitely startled.
Mythbusters would languish on TV today, but be an absolutely massive RUclips series!
5:20 I'm not sure about that, my kids were born during the peak of the show and didn't start watching it until it was available for streaming and they are teens now and absolutely love the show today. I don't think much would have to be different, the hosts just need to show the same level of passion and interest.
Totally agree. But it was Jamie and Adam that kept us glued to the screen to see what would happen next. I've seen RUclipsrs try their own version of mythbusters. But they would only regurgitate what Mythbusters already done and come to the same conclusions.
I think i would agree with adam it wouldnt. It was airing in an era where a lot of shows where scheduled and you watch whatever is on the schedule. I watched it during boring times and we just put on tv discovery during off times at home where we didnt have anything to watch and it became the show we knew when were the replays were we kept it on every afternoon just to not keep the house too awkwardly quiet. You dont have that weird "inconvenience" where you unintentionally discover new shows that you werent really looking for.
I always remember needle in a haystack, I don't even think it was the main story but just watching you guys find two completely different ways to just sorta jerry-rig your way into solving a problem was a life lesson for me. I learned how there is never just one solution and how you can use your basic knowledge on how things work (magnetism, density etc.) to put stuff together to make those solutions. For research and fieldwork, being able to just come up with cheap and quick solutions is absolutely critical. I don't think I would have been able to accomplish my masters research without that key skill set.
that was areal slog for them i remember they were worn out by the end
I stumbled across Mythbusters when that very first episode was airing and have been hooked ever since. The biscuit bullet was one of my favorites because it was counter to what I expected. But I also got the advantage of TV time and not sitting through the whole thing real time.
Once got in trouble because we had a bunch of biscuit dough well past the expiration date (diary manager wasn't rotating) and being dumb kids we decided to have dough grenade wars in the back room. Some of them popped impressively even without heat, the real issue was that we resorted to just throwing chunks of dough at each other.
Adam, Jamie, Kari, Grant and Tory, Thank you for giving me the "They tested that on Mythbusters" defence when needed to prove someone being right or wrong in their statements.😁 One of the truely genuine shows i know. You actually were surprised by the results good or bad.😊 PS the cement truck explosion still is one of the most awesome explosions ever filmed.😜
Trying to make the water heater go into LEO was pretty sweet. It was so much fun for the crew, they did it on two episodes.
The planning leading up to the "experiment" was the best part of the episode. The editors should get extra kudos. They really stitched together compelling stories every episode.
At work, coworkers sometimes discuss, "remember when mythbusters did....." now 10 to 20 years later, that is the ultimate compliment the show left on viewers. Thanks for the memories.
The value of not gating off science or engineering can’t be overstated, the mindset that lets a person say “I’m an engineer” is a comfortability to fail in the best way
Absolutely. Also, for me it's useful to remember what engineering *is*. People have thrown the term "engineer" into all kinds of job titles because it sounds cool, but the word has an actual meaning. Specifically it does NOT mean construction, building stuff. Once you're building, the engineering has already been done (perhaps very well, perhaps extremely poorly).
Engineering is reliably predicting whether a specific design will meet a stated specification, based on known principles. So if you can choose a bolt and know that it will hold 50 pounds because you know the bolt is rated for up to 200 pounds - even you testing it - congrats, you just did (very simple) engineering.
There was this time when I never thought Myhtbusters would end, and that was one of the best feeling in my youth. Smartest show I have ever saw, should have been mandatory to watch in schools.
Adam, I love that you are quizzical and reflective and how you share with us, in real time, how you think about your experiences and what you have learned along the way. You are absolutely a scientist, engineer, and science communicator, up there with the best of them. Thanks for everything.
I'm so grateful for all the Mythbusters episodes, they were so fun. My favorite thing was ALWAYS Adam's excitement, especially his laugh after big explosions!
The myth that I always remember every time I'm driving near water, is how much water pressure will keep you trapped in a sinking car. I always mentally planning for the what if.
you know what? This is correct. I have the same thought regularly about exiting a sinking car.
Your comments about your experience with the lead balloon episode highlight a certain truth. You just never know what is going to stick, resonate with people, and catch on because it is often the most unexpected thing that does.
Sometimes, the moments that do that are just... emergent during the process.
@@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t You are completely correct. It is impossible to engineer spontaneity much like it is next to impossible to engineer making something go viral until you have become somewhat of a cultural meme yourself.
Hearing you say that you doubted that you were a scientist or engineer in any capacity ralies my belief in continuing to pursue engineering, I grew up seeing you as a scientist from that first episode and didn't know you as the prop maker you were before, even after learning that a few years later it made perfect sense. Now as I'm older I can understand those doubts you had and knowing you were able to succeed past them helps me, thank you for your contributions to the scientific mind of humanity
Adam, I salute you because your sense of humour is very British. It’s one of the reasons why you guys were and are so popular over here.
"Wait wait wait! Don't hang up!" had me in stitches XD
One lesson I keep with me came from the exploding pants episode. While it didn't technically explode, the comment made was "If that happened to me I would say it exploded." It helped me realize not to take everything at face value. We sometimes cannot accurately describe something and using what words we do know can lead someone in the wrong direction. Accurate communication can be very important depending on the situation.
My Favorite, and my most Quoted Adam Savage line is " I Reject you Reality, and Substitute my own!"
My anxiety disorder makes watching shows dangerous. Mythbusters was one of the few I enjoyed and didn’t have to worry about having an attack.
Wow! I didn't realize that could be why I can't watch certain things 🤔 Like, I would love to watch CSI & whatnot, but I can't be interrupted. I have to see justice happen or I'm not ok, so I just don't watch it.
I'm learning Japanese, and your shirt jumped out at me as something I could translate; "te - su - te - do" - "Tested". I don't know what I expected XD
Just the premise- that itself was life changing. “Is that possible/plausible/comfirmed/busted?”
A thought developed while watching the Mythbusters team: “It is what it is! Doesn’t matter what you or I think it is. It is what it is. It is necessary for us to remain open to one or both of us being correct from our point of view.
3:30 I believe that has changed with streaming companies especially, if you're doing well they can't keep their hands off.
Me and my late father loved MythBusters. I remember when i was a kid in school that when i got home me and my dad would lay down on the bed and watch it for hours. We watched every episode, every rerun and both were upset when it was finally over. Some of my fondest memories are being with my father and watching a series we both loved. Much love and respect to adam and everyone involved with the production of Mythbusters. You all inspired so much in so many people and helped to create some of the fondest memories for a generation.
I think there’s a hidden lesson I’ve taken from Mythbusters and other creative and educational entertainment. As Adam said, “they’re talking to us as though we were peers! Because we were - we just didn’t know it yet.” That is a lesson I’ve learned over time as I’ve gotten into more specialized situations. Don’t be ashamed of people treating you as a peer - you don’t always know when you’ve become something, until someone you respect in that field looks at you as a peer.
One of my favourite episodes of Myth Busters was the elephants scared of mice one. It was fantastic seeing you at Cutting Edge Engineering here is Australia.
You were a great mad scientist. I miss seeing the show. It was a highlight of my days.
Didn't get the projectile but roughly 1999-2000 I had a can of biscuits startle me just 15 minutes after leaving the store.
Forget why but that bag had been placed on the rear dash.
On the issues of hot cars many years agoo my brother and I had a road trip over Stelvio pass and driving up we heard a loud bang from behind us. We couldn't work out what it was. The car was a diesel so we knew it couldn't be a backfire from the engine and it was driving OK so it didn't seem to be a tyre but being three quarters of the way up the pass we were in a series of never ending switchbacks so we didn't want to stop unless it was an absolute necessity and we carried on. A couple of minutes later there was another bang. Same issue. Not a backfire and no change in the way the car was driving so on we go. Two factors were at play, one being temperature of around 32 to 33 degrees C or 90 to 92 Fahrenheit and the other being tje altitude of something approaching 8000 feet. The following morning I was unpacking the car and got out the box of road trip foodstuffs. I looked at the box, looked my brother and said "did you open the two bags of chilli heatwave Doritos...........?"
7:40
I actually just watched the "Biscuit Bullet" episode just last night! And you were right on how early it was. Season 1 Episode 3 or 4. It's about the same timeframe as "Leaping Lawyer".
On the topic of fame and being more recognized as time went on / making life more difficult perhaps - I was living in the San Francisco / San Jose area some of the time the show was recording. I did have a couple sightings of some of the team 'in the wild' doing mundane life things (like in line at the DMV). I thought each time about going over and doing the fangirl thing and just saying Thanks for making science and scientific theory accessible and FUN. And... didn't.
Y'all weren't ON or visibly doing show things - I figured it was part of the social contract for me not to impede / impose just because I recognized you from TV and we were sharing the same airspace - y'all deserve to have lives and privacy too. I've kicked myself off and on for that decision as I also failed to make it to a con or something for a legit meet n greet, but I still think I did the right thing.
I was very much expecting the most boring myth to film would be Pyramid Power
Adam's incredulity on Power Pyramid made it a fun watch.
I attended a comic con mythbusters panel and seeing everyone was SUPER MEMORABLE. I waited nearly 3 hours but it was worth it. Good vibes, fun, sprinkle of serious stuff. Thank you!
Your sense of humor is a common ground for many.
4:43 If Adam Savage can have impostor syndrome, so can anyone else.
It makes a little sad that you don't think Mythbusters would land the same way today, but I agree. I have a sliver of hope that the current bent of anti-intellectualism and science denial is some sort of perverse fad, but I'm pretty sure that's not the case.
Can’t help but realize I literally grew up throughout the entire run; from toddler to adult.
Got a little tear in my eye when Adam exclaimed that they were peers to scientists.
I'm in a fairly technical field, and I deal with a lot of interns and juniors who underestimate their ability. It takes me a lot of time and effort to make them see that they'll be teaching me their insights in a matter of months. And when they do, it's a magical moment for both of us.
Cheers Adam, the honorary doctorate from the University of Twente was well deserved to you and the team as a whole. Thank you so much for a smarter childhood.
Happy memories of watching MB with my young daughter. She's a high school maths and science teacher now. :)
!!!!!
Crazy to mention the biscuit episode because that is one episode that has always stuck with me and I think about whenever I see a can of biscuit dough!
The Biscuit Bullet had such a profound effect on my childhood. I was so afraid of those biscuit containers because of that episode.
What I observe Mr. Savage has taken from his time on Mythbusters is 1) All Good Things Must Come To An End. and 2) We Are All Scientists! This second one I feel is more important than the first one in that the legacy of Mythbusters is educational on a level that inspires millions of people! Mythbusters is just a couple guys who approach a question: from the Lawn Chair Balloon to Pane In The Glass and beyond. Is what the question suggests even plausible? Then you fabricate experiments to find out! To answer that question! Adam Savage started this journey with Jamie Hyneman as a couple special effects guys for movies. During their 'tenure' as Mythbusters they acquired honorary doctorates. They are scientists! You are too! Approach an hypothesis. Test the theory. Document your findings. Congratulations! You're a scientist!
idk why i feel compelled to say this on this video. But it just dawned on me that I've been watching you for 23 years now, since I was 11. I just wanna thank you for being a kind of TV dad for me, and I don't mean it in some you got me through tough times way. It's just nice that you have been you since the day I started watching, and coming here honestly feels like hanging out with someone familiar. Cheers Adam.
I miss you and Jamie together. Me and my dad watched it all the time. I turned into a real science fanatic thanks to you. All good things end, I know that, but it's still really sad. Time flies.
I love your YT channel, gives me the weekly dose of Adam. Thanks for everything! And please tell Jamie he's missed if you see him.
Anyone who has worked in a grocery store can tell you those biscuit tubes don't even need to be warm to explode. Once they near or pass the freshness date they'll start popping off the refrigerated shelf.
Adam, you are a scientist! You make things while trying to find new ways to do stuff!😊
We went to see Ira Glass in an in person show some years ago where he had a fascinating observation. He said that he was "famous" in the room he was in but outside that room, not so much. I imagine it was somewhat similar with Mythbusters. You guys were famous to the Mythbusters audience but not so much to people outside that audience.
here's a life lesson, I have been in the fortunate position to have junior staff members under me - as well as projects being under my control.
I applied the same mindset with the office junior, as the building contractor, or specialist. I always told everyone "don't give me incomplete sentences!"
now I always tried to maintain an early approachable attitude, but if someone comes up to me and says 'it doesn't fit!" I would respond with "and....?"
if this person is now expecting me to drop what I'm doing and resolve the problem for them, then that shows a lack of engagement on their part. I want them to be involved, and invested- and in the case of the office junior, encouraged to grow.
so, rather than "it doesn't work!", I what them to say "it doesn't work, but.....!"
this starts a conversation focusing more on a solution to a problem, and it's super rewarding for everyone to see people grow in front of you
Yeah, the biscuit bullet episode was very early in the show.
I kind of remember that one, and I was left scratching my head a little over that one.
Adam, that’s so funny that you think the biscuit bullet was boring because I think about that episode all of the time! I probably think about it more than any other myth you tested!
The first episode of MythBusters I saw was when they tried to prove/disprove that you could use certain elements (like a plank of plywood) as a "parachute" if you had to jump out of a building. Thanks to cartoons, I totally believed it was possible... until I saw Buster smash into the cold, hard ground and was like, welp, scratch that.
I can vouch for so many people by saying we are grateful that you have this channel thank you for everything you've done to help shape people's lives in a positive Way by exploring the impossibilities
I always find it amazing how Adam can remember the myths and what they did to solve the problems.
Gee, Adam, you could have just run down to Phoenix for the hot car test. A black car interior can easily get up to 160, and it only takes a few minutes! I always keep a thermometer in the A/C vent, so I could verify the temp every day. 140 is child's play, but I have seen it up to 160. I really miss your show!
The sense of humour part really resonates with me. I love science today in part because of the show, but what roped me into watching it was Adam being funny.
Love the fact you guys did the Dumbo myth i suggested, the mouse and elephants.
Cause everyone thought it was fact, because of Dumbo.
Many years ago (1971?) when I was in college, I had a brief summer job in a cold warehouse where products like those refrigerated biscuits in a tube were stored for delivery to local grocery stores. One day, somebody left the loading door to the cool room open a bit too long for the hot midwest summer. As a result, the warehouse floor became damp and slippery..
I was operating a forklift moving a 2-high pallet stack of boxed biscuit dough from the loading dock to a location inside the cool room. Apparently, I made a turn too sharply and the top pallet slid off crashing onto the wet concrete floor. Yes, there may have been a bit of OE involved... Anyhow, when those cases of biscuits crashed to the floor, massive amounts of kinetic energy was released in those biscuit dough tubes making a giant mess scattering clumps of dough disks all over the place. The lesson I picked up from this experience was those tubes don't care for heat OR pressure.
I don't remember much more about that job - which suggests that I wasn't there too long...
I feel like they've tamed down the biscuit tubes over the years. When I was a kid, they were terrifying. You'd start to peel the paper to open them and they'd pop open real fast. These days, you peel off the paper, nothing happens, you whack it on the counter a few times and it'll finally reluctantly allow you to unroll it.
9:30 something about knowing that someone who I admire as much as Adam Savage feels good upon getting other people's laughter makes me feel good about myself.
In a way, my favorite part of these is when Adam pauses, and you almost FEEL his brain tuning itself towards the question in front of him. Churning, working through the premise, consider it from many angles, working through the steps of how it happened...
Then pausing again to ensure he words his chosen answer correctly.
edit: I changed my mind, My favorite part is when Adam gets lost in a passionate answer, flailing his arms and proclaiming each step as it happened with loads of energy :)
😂 I remember that! "Remember kids, science can be boring!"! I thought Jamie said it but, now I know better! 😅
Eyes popping out of your head when you sneeze was boring to me. When they went straight to trying it, it was obvious the answer because they wouldn't have risked their eyesight like that.
"I thought that was for smart people" - it's always scary when I hear this or something like it from someone as smart as you, who never understood their own intelligence until the right opportunity came along to show them... Glad you had Mythbusters to teach you that lesson!