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Voice Fire Extinguisher/Hypnosis |
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Written by river95
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Sunday, 29 April 2007 |
Voice Fire Extinguisher/Hypnosis
Episode #76
Original Air Date: April 11, 2007
The Myth: You can extinguish a flame with the sound waves from an unamplified voice.
The Experts: Roger Schwenke (Meyer Sound), J.D., and Frank Doyle help the guys out on this one.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Jamie: It’s not something you want to put out a fire on your house with, or you’ll remove your house!
The Action/Results:
Charles Kellogg was a naturalist who traveled around, imitating birds. He also claimed that he could put out a fire. So, the guys get a recording of Kellogg doing his thing, and they try it, in the same way that Kellogg did. But, they can’t get the flame to go out. So, they try to put the flame out with some help from Roger. He brings a tone generator, and they start sending different frequencies at the flame. At 166 Hertz, the flame goes out. So, now they try the same thing with a candle flame, instead of the “sensitive flame rig”. It also works. Adam and Jamie sing at the flame, but it doesn’t stop burning. They call in San Francisco a capella group Hookslide, and they start singing. Their bass, Jonathan, is able to extinguish a candle flame, while singing through a microphone. So, they decide to “supersize it”, as Jamie says, but Jonathan cannot get the bigger flame out. So, Roger blasts the flame with 55 Hertz at 149 decibels, and it does go out!
Then, just to make things more interesting, the guys decide to test a related story – the idea that an explosion (another type of pressure wave) can put out a fire. So, they head off to the Alameda County Bomb Range, and prepare to set off some explosives. When they use a low velocity explosive, it doesn’t work. However, when they use a high velocity explosive, the fire is blown out. So, the original myth is BUSTED!
The Myths:
1) People can be given a post-hypnotic suggestion and they will do things against their will.
2) Hypnosis can enhance your memory.
The Experts: Seth-Deborah Roth (clinical hypnotist) and Cynthia Kerson (neurotherapist) help the build team on this one by trying to hypnotize Kari, Tory, and Grant, and by planting a post-hypnotic suggestion in Grant. David Hill, who is a stage hypnotist, hypnotizes all three of them to help them recall the scene that Jamie and Adam set.
Memorable/Quotable Moments:
Tory: I feel like I am back in high school.
Kari: No, ‘cause if you were back in high school, you’d be cheating off of me!
Tory: I would not be cheating off of you – I’d cheat off Grant!
Grant laughs!
The Action/Results:
It is determined that Grant is the most susceptible to post-hypnotic suggestion, so they plant two suggestions in his brain. First, when Tory says “quantum physics”, Grant will pull out a marker and draw hearts on Deadblow. Second, when Kari yawns, Grant will jump up and down. They try it the next day, and find that Grant does neither thing –he just laughs. So, they decide to try again with Alice, who doesn’t know that the team will be asking the hypnotist to plant several post-hypnotic suggestions. This time, those suggestions are that Alice will scratch her ear whenever she hears Adam’s name, and that she will slap Kari in the face with some other, undisclosed trigger. However, Alice won’t do it- she refuses to agree to even the simple task of scratching her ear when she hears Adam’s name. In the end, even the hypnotist says that you cannot be made to do something that you do not want to do. This myth is BUSTED.
Then, Jamie and Adam get some local actors to do a scene in front of Tory, Kari, and Grant. The build team will be tested twice – once without hypnosis and once with it. The scene unfolds in front of the build team, and then they are tested on the specific details. Without hypnosis, they don’t remember very much. Then, with the help of David Hill, they take the test again. This time, they do remember some more details. CONFIRMED
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Episode Descriptions 