"Snow Special"
- Original airdate: June 20, 2007
The following myths state that an avalanche can be caused by...
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ...yodeling. | Busted | While the small-scale experiments indicated that aimed at the right place, an amplified voice can set off an avalanche, in the final test, no amount of yodeling by a professional yodeler could elicit a response. The yodeler was provided with a megaphone, but again, no avalanche took place. |
| ...a whip crack. | Busted | Adam theorized that the miniature sonic boom caused by the cracking of a whip could trigger an avalanche, however, no avalanche took place. |
| ...submachine gun fire. | Busted | This myth was started with stories of World War I soldiers setting off avalanches in heavily snowed-in areas with their artillery, thus using them as environmental weapons. Adam and Jamie attempted to test if lower-powered weapons, such as machine guns, could also cause an avalanche. They tested this with a pair of MP5s, though they could not cause an avalanche to start. |
Despite the "busted" designation, Jamie emphasized that avalanches are "finicky beasts" and cases of skiers unintentionally setting them off have been noted. Therefore, it is impossible to tell exactly what will trigger an avalanche.
| Myth statement | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A person's tongue can instantly stick to a freezing (below 32°F) metal pole when touched, making it difficult to remove. | Confirmed | This is the classic "triple dog dare" stunt (from A Christmas Story). Using both Tory's tongue and a pig's, it was determined that a standard human tongue can be frozen to a cold metal pole substantially enough to risk pulling some of the skin and muscle off of the tongue. Kari jokingly suggested that a person could free themselves by urinating on the contact point between pole and tongue. |
| Driving backwards on an icy road will give the car better traction than driving forwards | Busted | While it was determined that drivers get better traction on an icy road while driving in reverse, when put into practice, the increased traction did not offset the sheer difficulty of driving in reverse. The Build Team theorized that because driving backwards is so difficult by itself, the ice compounded that difficulty, rendering any additional traction useless. |
Read more about this topic: Myth Busters (2007 Season), Episode 82
Famous quotes containing the words snow and/or special:
“Over the land freckled with snow half-thawed
The speculating rooks at their nests cawed”
—Edward Thomas (1878–1917)
“A successful woman preacher was once asked “what special obstacles have you met as a woman in the ministry?” “Not one,” she answered, “except the lack of a minister’s wife.””
—Anna Garlin Spencer (1851–1931)