Episode Name:  Sinking Titanic

Original Air Date:   January 25, 2004

Myths:  Sinking Titanic, Goldfish Memory, Mad Tronbonist

Myth: Down With The Titanic
The Myth:(in Jamie's own words) "Well, there's a myth that says that if you're on a ship when it's sinking, it'll suck you down with it."

The Experts:
Heather Joseph-Witham says that there are numerous accounts that when the Titanic was sinking, people on rafts and life boats were saved because the strong men were able to row them far enough away from the sinking ship.

Quotable Moments:
Adam: "Okay, Ow!, first of all. Second of all ...."

Hypothesis:
Jamie’s: "My impression is that if you are floating above a boat as it is going down, it’s not really going to pull you down."

Action/Results:
Theories to test: Water bubbles rushing up from under the boat make the water less dense, and therefore make people sink.  Cavities in the ship allow water to rush in and the person would be pulled in with the water.  Ship moving down through the water rapidly will create a vortex that will pull you under.

Adam built a small tank with a bubbler and weights and miniature mockup boats, but this was inadequate for the experiment. They also decide to do experiments with a real boat. For a better tank, the Mythbusters use a swimming pool at Encinal high school. Adam build a rig four feet square by ten feet high. They use a hydrometer to test the density of the water when the bubbles are tested. Findings: the hydrometer proved the bubbles made the water less dense - it sank. They use a box on a cable to simulate a boat sinking. Adam and they hydrometer serve as test equipment for the vortex theory. With 200 lbs., the hydrometer sank a little. With 300 lbs., the hydrometer sank all the way down. Adam rides the box and gets pulled down with it. The real boat they used weighed 9 tons. Several resealable holes were put in the boat. Since Jamie is a dive master and has done thousands of dives, he wears SCUBA gear during the boat tests. Adam has safety lesson but gets no gear. After the boat sinks, it will be pulled back up with a crane. They sink the Mythtanic twice and do not get pulled under. Myth busted.

The Myth: Three second goldfish memory

The Myth: (in Jamie’s own words) "You can put a goldfish in a small bowl and they’re okay with it because they’re so stupid that by the time they make it around the bowl in like three seconds, they’ve just forgotten where they were."

The Experts:
Heather Joseph-Witham says the myth prevails because we want to think keeping the goldfish in the small bowl is not cruel. Professor George Barlow of Univ. of Calif. -Berkley says conditioned behavior does qualify as memory. Any task that can be taught to an animal and tested and completed later qualifies as memory.

Quotable Moments:
Adam: "So, what you are you are talking about is not just a goldfish intelligence test, but a Mythbusters intelligence test as well."
Jamie: "You can look at it that way."
Adam: (looking directly into the camera, in a devious voice) "One that I think I will win"

Adam: "Oh look they’re even growing little Jamie mustaches now. (In a voice like Jamie and his hands under his nose, mocking Jamie’s mustache) ‘Oh thanks for the food.’"

Adam: (not wanting to be outdone by Jamie’s 25 second record,) "Mine are eating there own poo."

Hypothesis:
Jamie’s: (on day 8 of 45) "They seem to know automatically where the food is. I would say that even now, even though we haven’t gotten them to go really through anything, in terms of the maze and such, that the myth is busted because they clearly recognize either me or the location where the food is being delivered. They are clearly capable of some sort of minimal memory."

Action/ Results: To test the memory span of a goldfish they decide to build a maze. The goldfish will be taught to navigate the maze. If they remember how, they may be able to determine how smart they are. Each guy will get 5 goldfish to train in 45 days. Jamie’s idea is to use bright colored openings and food suspended in the openings to entice the fish to swim through the maze. Adam makes his own dividers to put in the tank (as the maze) and tries to understand the motives of the fish. Unfortunately, the dividers may have been a bad idea. Ammonia builds up in the tank after eight days and one fish dies. Adam continues with the survivors. After 43 days of training, one of Jamie’s fish made it through the maze in 25 seconds. Final day : Jamie’s 40 seconds. Myth Busted.

The Myth: The Mad Trombonist

The Myth: (In Jamie’s own words) "We’ve got a trombonist in the 1812 Overture. And the trombonist decides to spice things up a bit by putting a firecracker into the mute of his trombone. He sets it off, intending to set it out into the audience, however it hits the conductor, knocks the conductor off the stage and into the audience, knocking them over like dominoes, blows the bell of the trombone wide open, shoots the slide out, hitting the second violinist I believe, and burns his lips."

The Experts:
Glenn Roberts, owner of Best Music music store
Jack Morocco- pyrotechnics expert

Quotable Moments:
Jamie: (with trombone with straight mute in bell on his shoulder) This ... kinda looks like it should be fired like a "Stinger".

Jack: "Just another day of blowing stuff up."

Jamie: "What would you think about also if I dumped a bunch of that crap down in the, uh, bell of the, uh, thing?"

Hypothesis:
Adam’s : "I don’t think anything we’re going to do will be able to get the mute to Buster."

Action/Results: The Mythbusters find a used trombone and a mute in a music store ("Best Music"). Loyal Busters will serve as a stand-in orchestra conductor. Jamie grinds up model rocket engine fuel to use as the firecracker. For protection, they will set off the explosives remotely, behind protective shield. 1st attempt: Use Chinese fireworks - front of mute blown off and hits music stand in front of Buster. Buster stands proud still. Slide did not move. 2nd attempt: 6 model rocket engine concoction (plus extra explosive powder in bell)- Mute flew off and hit Buster, but Buster fell forward smoldering rather than back, into the audience. The Bell got banged up but did not peel back. The slide stayed in place. 3rd attempt: more power than others - Buster stays in place and the trombone gets mangled (but bell did not peel back.) Myth Busted

- episode description by Mr. Mistoffolees