The MythBusters The MythBusters

MythBusters Episode 84: Viewers’ Choice Special

Premier Date: August 15, 2007

This episode featured some of the most popular myths requested by viewers.

If you sneeze with your eyes open, your eyes will fly out from the force.

busted

It was hard for Adam and Jamie to sneeze with their eyes open, but Adam eventually did the trick by forcing his eyelids open with his fingers. His eyes were fully intact. It would be impossible for your eyes to pop out because of the number of natural attachments that keep the eye inside the socket.

You can stop a runaway car by shifting the gears into reverse.

busted

Using both an automatic and a manual car, both cars were given the full force of the brake and stopped after 60 and 80 feet, respectively. Shifting into reverse did just about nothing, and both cars stopped after over 1000 feet. It was noted that the automatic car had a failsafe to prevent going into reverse while going forward. Additionally, shifting into reverse at high speeds can damage the transmission of the car.

Cigarette butts fired from a gun can hit with lethal force.

confirmed

The MythBusters first fired cut-off cigarette ends, but none of them penetrated the ballistics gel mold, let alone into the heart. It was only after they fired at point-blank range and fired cigarette butts from used cigarettes, full of cigarette waste material, thus adding mass, that the heart was damaged.

By cutting a hole in a tennis ball, one can squeeze the ball and the resulting air pressure can unlock a car door.

busted

The Build Team replicated an online viral video with two different tennis balls with two sized holes, but the car door didn’t unlock. They blasted the lock with full air pressure, but it still didn’t do anything. They finally recreated the events in video by having Tory unlocking the door remotely in the background, and were quick to point out that clever editing can make things look real.

In the Civil War, you could have prevented an opponent’s sword from piercing your chest with a hardcover book.

confirmed

A hardcover book was able to prevent a sword being thrust at human strength and speed from piercing the pig’s flesh.

In the Civil War, you could have prevented an opponent’s sword from piercing your chest with a bunch of coins.

busted

The coins merely deflected the blow to another part of the body.