Episode Name:   BreakStep Bridge

Original Air Date:   January 25, 2004

Myths:  Breakstep Bridge, Toothbrush Surprise, Rowing Waterskier

Myth: Breakstep Bridge
The Myth:(in Adam's own words) "The idea behind it is that soldiers marching in formation, in synch, across the bridge might actually destroy the bridge."

The Experts:
Heather Joseph Witham says that the first recorded instance of this myth was in Manchester, England on April 14, 1831, when a group of soldiers marched across a bridge and it collapsed.

Quotable Moments:
Jamie: Adam, do you have any experience building a bridge?
Adam: No, but that's never stopped me before! (laughs)

Action/Results: Adam builds a sixty foot long, six foot tall bridge, and cuts his arm in the process.  Jamie builds twelve little marchers to walk on the bridge.  The marchers are pneumatically powered.  The marchers manage to break the bridge, but there is no evidence of harmonic vibration - it just folds due to the pounding.  So Adam fixes the bridge and Jamie
builds a big robot with weighted arms. There is some evidence of vibration with this one, but, in the end, the bridge breaks again, sagging in the middle, not vibrating to pieces. Adam finishes the bridge off by jumping on it and pulling it down.  The boys declare this myth busted.

The Myth: (in Adam's own words) "The idea behind this myth is the bristles of a wet toothbrush are an ideal collection surface for things like airborne bacteria."

The Experts:
Heather Joseph-Witham says that some people believe you shouldn't leave your tooth brush in the bathroom, particularly next to the toilet. Dr. Joanne Engel - Microbiologist from UCSF - tests all of the toothbrushes for Fecal Coliform bacteria

Quotable Moments:
Jamie: There's poo everywhere!

Action/ Results: Adam builds two toothbrush racks in the bathroom.  They hang twenty-four toothbrushes in the racks. Then, every day for a month, Adam and Jamie go in, wash their hands with antibacterial soap, then wet each toothbrush, put toothpaste on each one, then rinse each one out with distilled water.  They also leave two toothbrushes in a glass on the top of the toilet, and they actually brush their teeth with those.  They also have two toothbrushes that they keep in the office, away from the bathroom. These also get the wetting, toothpaste, rinse treatment. They also keep track of how much business goes on in the bathroom for that month.

At the end of the month, Dr. Engel comes over and tests each toothbrush for fecal coliform by rubbing them on a Petri dish and in some broth.  She incubates the dishes and the test tubes, and then shows the guys that all of the toothbrushes, including the two in the office, had fecal coliform on them. Myth true - fecal coliform bacteria do grow in toothbrush bristles.
However, when Adam asks if we should be concerned about this, Dr. Engel says no.

The Myth: You can water ski behind a rowing eight.

The Experts:
Heather Joseph-Witham says that this myth is a way for rowers to comment on what they do - "Look how fast we manly men can go!"
Jon Allbin - Stanford Assistant Rowing Coach - explains that the power in a rowing eight is not steady, that it surges when the oars are in the water.
Craig Amerkhanian - Stanford Rowing Coach (the one who calls Jamie "Big Dog") - says that he believes his team can do this
Willi Ellermeier - Waterski Instructor - teaches both Adam and Jamie to water ski

Quotable Moments:
Willi: I think Adam is one tired cookie!

Adam: We'll ask eight strapping young lads in the prime of life to yank our sorry ------ out of the water?
Jamie: That's the gist of it!

Craig: Never underestimate young, strong MythBusters!

Jamie: I'm pleased as punch that worked!

Action/Results: Adam and Jamie see the Stanford rowing team in practice, and they swing into action.  The get water skiing lessons from Willi, and Adam says that he is willing to let Jamie do this one. So Jamie suits up, hops in the water, and is pulled up on skis by the Stanford team after three tries. Myth true!

- episode synopsis written by river95