The MythBusters The MythBusters

MythBusters Episode 1: Ice Bullet, Exploding Toilet, Who Gets Wetter?

Premier Date: September 23, 2003

An assassin can fire an ice bullet to kill someone without leaving a trace.

busted

The bullet was simply too brittle to be used.

(This myth was revisited in episode 14 and it was busted again.)

An assassin can use a meat bullet to kill someone without leaving a trace.

busted

The meat bullet fragmented on contact with the skin, causing only superficial damage.

An assassin can use a gelatin bullet to kill someone without leaving a trace.

busted

The bullet did not cause fatal injury.

An assassin can use a poison capsule fired from an umbrella to kill someone without leaving a trace.

partly confirmed*

It was found to have been the cause of death for a notable Bulgarian dignitary, Georgi Markov. The catch is that the umbrella must be fired from point-blank range for it to work.

* It was confirmed that the event is possible, but not that it’s untraceable.

Pouring gasoline down a toilet and lighting it will cause the toilet to explode.

busted

The gasoline simply burned without exploding. Not even a tin of gunpowder in the toilet bowl was able to eject Buster from the seat.

You stay drier running in the rain than walking.

confirmed*

When originally tested, the faster you run the wetter you get.

* The original result was “busted,” but when revisited in episode 38 it was changed to “confirmed.”