Antigravity

The Myth:
Is it possible to create a device that will turn off gravity?

The Experts:
Dr. Robert Jacobsen (professor of physics at UC Berkeley)
Derek Van Westrum (Micro-G Lacoste)
Tim Niebauer (Micro-G Lacoste)
All of these gentlemen help to measure gravity during this experiment.

Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Tory: (commenting on the lifter, before Grant got it to work) The antigravity machine is a little anticlimactic!

Grant: (commenting on the Hamel Generator) You would have been better building something by Mark Hamill!

The Science: Isaac Newton said, in 1687, “Gravity is the tendency of objects with mass to accelerate towards each other.”  Since the Earth is a large mass, everything on it tends to accelerate towards it.  However, planes, helicopters, and other flying devices are not, as Grant says, “modifying the gravitational field”.  They are generating another force, called lift, which counteracts gravity.  

The Action/Results:
First off, the build team pulls some plans for antigravity machines off the Internet.  Then, Kari experiments with a top that claims to defy gravity.  However, it turns out that it is really a case of magnetic levitation.

Next, Grant builds and “anti-gravity lifter” from a kit advertised on the Internet.  After a bit of tinkering, it actually does lift!  Grant almost falls off his stool in surprise!  Then the team set to work to determine if this device is actually turning off gravity.  After taking a few measurements they determine that the amount of electricity running through the device is actually ionizing the oxygen around the wires.  These ions are attracted to the metal on the lower part of the device, and the movement of these ions causes a downward flow of air, which creates thrust, which pushes the device up.  To test this theory, they gang put the lifter in the vacuum chamber.  When they create a vacuum around the device, it does not levitate.  As Grant says, “It worked beforehand.  We put it in the vacuum – no flight.  No flight, no air, no thrust, no antigravity.”

Just to make sure that there is no hint of antigravity in these devices, the team calls in three experts, who bring in a gravitometer.  They test both the top and the lifter and confirm the build team’s results – no antigravity at all.

Finally, Tory has one more device to test.  They test a Hamel Generator, which was invented by a guy who claims to have been abducted by aliens.  These aliens were using this device to power their spacecraft.  The team constructs the device, and then they place it next to the gravitometer.  The gravitometer does not register any change in gravity at all.

In the final analysis, the team decides that, while they cannot bust the entire concept of antigravity, they can bust the devices they tried.  So, antigravity is BUSTED for now.

Christmas Tree Lights

The Myth:
If you leave your Christmas tree lights on all night, will your tree go up in flames?

The Experts:
Mike, who is the store manager at Fantastico, says that most strands of lights now come with safety fuses.
Captain Kurtis Dickey from the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department, says that Christmas tree fires happen every year.

Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Adam (after dropping an ornament and seeing it bounce): Are these not glass?  (He throws it on the ground and it breaks.) Oh, they are!

The Action/ Results:
First, Adam and Jamie go to Fantastico, where they buy lots and lots of the two most popular kinds of Christmas tree lights – C7 and C9 lights.  Then, Adam sets up one strand of each kind of lights in a metal box with aluminum foil over the top.  He plugs these in, and will record how hot they get, to see if they get hot enough to burn anything.  Then, they set up three trees, each with the maximun allowable number of lights, according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.  Then they leave, letting Jess stand watch over the trees and the lights in the boxes all night long.

The next morning, Jess reports a quiet night, with no fires, only some strange noises.  Then Adam checks the boxes with the lights in them.  The two boxes with C7 lights did not get hot enough to do anything, but the C9 lights got up to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and started to melt together!

Next, they took 500 C9 lights and put all of them on a tree.  They waited for eight hours, the tree became very dry, but there was no ignition.

Then, Adam tried another scenario.  He hooked lights to cube sockets, and then hooked all the cube sockets to an18 gauge extension cord.  Adam described what happened next in his own words.  “The insulation on the wiring melted, and that made two of the wires touch together and that caused arcing across the wires and a large spark.”  And later, “People get really, really enthusiastic about their Christmas decorations, and I’ll wager that a few of you have done this!  Now do you see the danger?”

For the final experiment, Jamie and Adam take a Christmas tree that has been dried in a kiln to the Pleasanton Fire Center, where the firemen are waiting to help them test the end of this myth.  They festoon the tree with 2500 lights, and add a couple ornaments and a garland for good measure.  Then they turn on the tree.  After 40 minutes, there is smoke, but no fire yet, and so Jamie sparks the tree with a neon transformer.  The tree catches fire instantly, and the firemen rush to extinguish it.

The myth itself is BUSTED – just leaving the lights on overnight will not make your tree catch on fire.  However, as Jamie says, “That doesn’t mean that people should let their guard down, because we did prove that it is possible to overload something like an extension cord with so many lights that you create a short and you could start a tree fire.”

Vodka Jellyfish Sting
The Myth:
Can you use vodka to treat a jellyfish sting?

The Expert:
 Chad Wiomer (jellyfish expert from the Monterey Bay Aquarium) gives Kari a Pacific Sea Nettle to use in the experiment

Memorable/Quotable Moment:
Rob Lee: How does that feel, Kari?
Kari: Well, it’s not like petting puppies or anything!

The Action/Results:
Kari gets the jellyfish from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and brings it back.  Tory gently runs it over both of Kari’s arms.  Then, he treats the stings on one arm with the conventional treatment.  He pours warm water over Kari’s arm, while scrubbing her arm with a brush to remove the stingers.  Then he puts anti-histamine gel on her arm.  For the other arm, he pours the vodka over the affected area, while scrubbing with the brush.  Kari reports that, an hour and a half later, she would not have known that she was stung.  The vodka worked as well as the water and gel.  This myth is CONFIRMED!