The MythBusters The MythBusters

MythBusters Episode 8: Escape From Alcatraz, Duck Quack, Stud Finder

Premier Date: December 12, 2003

Prisoners successfully escaped Alcatraz prison using an inflatable raft made from rain ponchos.

plausible

The makeshift raft crafted by the MythBusters team did indeed reach the shore. Listed as “plausible” because no evidence has ever been found suggesting the prisoners survived the actual incident, and personal effects washed up later on shore, indicating that the men probably failed to navigate correctly and drowned in San Francisco Bay. However, a portion of the scale tests (cut for time but later shown in “MythBusters Outtakes”) did show that these belongings could have been released by the successfully escaped prisoners and washed up where they were found through strategic use of the Bay’s tides to throw the authorities off their trail.

A duck’s quack does not echo.

busted

When examined by an audio-expert, it was found that the echo was “swallowed” by the original quack, due to the very similar acoustic structure between the quack and the echo. Because of this, it may be difficult to tell where the quack ends and the echo begins.

When you go to get blood drawn at the Red Cross, you are actually secretly having mind controlling microchips implanted into your bloodstream that can be detected with a stud finder.

busted

While a stud finder can find microchips (like those used to track pets) embedded in flesh, none were found after a trip to the Red Cross.