MythBusters Episode 77: Birds in a Truck

A truck carrying birds will be lighter if the birds fly around than if the birds sit/stand.

busted

Adam and Jamie constructed a large box and placed it on top of scale and then filled it with captured pigeons. Then, the MythBusters activated a special contraption that would force the pigeons to fly into the air, but they could not detect any discernible difference in the weight of the box. They then placed a model helicopter inside the box and had it hover above the ground, but this method also failed to produce any results. The MythBusters theorized that the air being displaced by the birds’ wings and the helicopter rotors was pressing down the box, which is why there was no change in the overall weight.

A boat moving at 25 miles per hour can be split down the middle by hitting a channel marker.

busted

Through small scale tests, the build team noticed that whenever they tried to have their model boat hit the channel marker dead on, the boat would just glance off with minimal damage. Tory then tried having the boat turn into the marker at the last second, which produced more positive results. Moving on to full scale, the build team acquired a used boat and had it crash into a specially constructed channel marker. The boat struck the marker, but only suffered minimal damage rather than splitting. The build team then tried moving the boat at faster speeds, but still could not split the boat. Wanting the boat to be completely destroyed, the build team opted to drop it from a crane, effectively busting the myth in the process.

(This myth was revisited and re-busted in the 2013 episode Painting With Explosives, Bifurcated Boat.)