Original subtitles

Attention, viewers.

Do not try anything you are

about to see at home.

We're what you call experts.

Narrator: On this episode of

"myth busters"...

We expected something, and

something happened.

Narrator: Adam and Jamie have

a movie myth... can a gas leak

and a magazine in a toaster...

In a little bit, it's not

gonna be very happy in here.

Narrator: Make a room go

kaboom?

[ Laughs ]

I love running for safety.

Narrator: Then...

I'm starting to get a little

nervous.

Narrator: Kari, Grant, and

Tory tackle the tall tale of

blue ice.

That is incredible!

Narrator: Can the contents of

an airplane's toilet really fall

from the sky...

That thing is falling!

Narrator: In one frozen

chunk?

This is an awesome day.

Narrator: Who are the

mythbusters?

Adam savage...

Oh, god!

Narrator: And

Jamie hyneman...

Am i really that ugly?

Narrator: Between them,

more than 30 years of

special-effects experience.

Joining them, Grant imahara...

Ahhh!

Narrator: Kari Byron...

Time to wreck this car.

Narrator: And

Tory belleci.

We survived!

Narrator: They don't just

tell the myths...

They put them to the test.

Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com

narrator: There are three

ingredients to this bourne-style

getaway... the toaster, the

magazine, and the natural gas.

And first in the mix are one and

two.

How long does it take to toast a

magazine?

You ready?

I'm ready.

All right.

Narrator: The guys start the

clock using a magazine like the

one in the movie and a toaster

rigged to stay on.

You know, in the movie, it

was already on fire at this

point.

Narrator: As it turns out,

toasting a magazine takes a

little longer than the 20

seconds of the film.

Oh, three minutes over

schedule.

I think we're really close.

Narrator: In fact, it takes

over 12 minutes before they get

ignition.

Hey, we got fire!

Ta-da!

[ Laughs ]

[ Laughing ] Remember, kids,

we're professionals.

[ Laughs ]

So, reality is 12 minutes versus

the movie's 25-some-odd seconds.

Hey! We got fire!

What do you think?

Well, what i think is that

this magazine is a worst-case

scenario, because look how thick

those pages are.

And magazines are all different

shapes and sizes.

So, you think we should try a

whole bunch of different kinds

of magazines and see if they

have different rates at which

they catch on fire?

Exactly.

I love it. Let's do it.

Lots of toasters now.

Narrator: It's clear the

real-world magazine doesn't

light up like its movie

counterpart, so now the

mythbusters are on the trail of

a best-case scenario.

In order to cover our bases

here and working off the theory

that different types of

magazines composed of different

kinds of paper are going to

catch a light at different

rates, we're about to put a

half-dozen of them to the test,

everything from our original

magazine to something much

harder to catch on fire, comic

book, something that will

probably catch on fire in, like,

seconds.

We're gonna put one in each of

these toasters, start this

timer, and log how long each of

them takes to catch a light.

What could be more fun?

Narrator: Well, with the six

magazines in place, let the

chargrilling challenge commence.

[ Chuckles ]

We're experimentally doing

something that should just

never, ever be done.

I like that.

Oh.

Oh!

Flame.

Number 3.

1 minute, 40 seconds.

Narrator: This time around,

it seems the contenders are a

little quicker to toast.

2:20.

Yep. Here we go.

Number 4. 3:15.

Whoa! Number 1. 3:20.

[ Laughs ]

Let's listen for that sound.

[ Flame poofs ]

There we go.

There it is.

4:36.

Narrator: And, finally,

bringing up the rear...

There it is.

Narrator: Is the original

magazine at 12 minutes.

As we suspected, it does make

a difference what kind of

magazine is stuck in your

toaster.

The best-case scenario is

something that amounts to common

newsprint, but even that took

about three times as long as

what it did in the movie.

Interesting.

Narrator: So, it's clear that

even with the best-case-scenario

magazine, toaster ignition takes

a lot longer than the 20 seconds

it took bourne.

And now to test the next

ingredient of this explosive

combination... the methane.

Now, methane here is a

natural gas, and it's most of

what comes out of your stove at

home to cook with.

It's a flammable gas, but it's

not flammable on its own.

It actually requires a certain

amount of oxygen out of the air

in order to burn.

How much oxygen?

Well, that actually turns out to

be a very particular

relationship.

The relationship of oxygen to

flammable gas is called

"stoichiometry."

Narrator: To create fire, it

takes heat, fuel, and oxygen,

and when it comes to flammable

gases, the amount of fuel to

oxygen is a complex relationship

called "stoichiometry."

Too much fuel or too little, and

there'll be nothing close to a

flame.

But get the perfect mixture, and

you'll get an explosion.

We know that if we're gonna

get methane to burn, we need a

ratio of between 6% and 17% fuel

to air.

The ideal range is about 9%

methane, the rest air.

What we don't know is what that

actually means.

Does that mean if we are a

little off, we get sort of a

whoof, but if we get right at

the 9%, we're getting a real

strong bang?

Before we go full scale, we want

to really know what we're doing.

So, what we've done is make a

10"x10"x10" cubic box, and that

will allow us to really easily

dial in on these ratios to see

what it means.

Narrator: And while Jamie is

boxing, Adam has the ratios in

the bag.

One of the ratios i want to

play with is 9% flammable gas to

air.

This bag holds 9% of the volume

of this chamber.

I will fill it with gas.

I will then hook it up to the

chamber, open up both of the

valves, press the gas into the

chamber.

I'll be displacing the air that

comes out of this little hole

right here.

Seal it up, walk away, ignite it

with a neon transformer, and see

what happens.

Narrator: Adam's bags will

help the guys zone in on exactly

what ratio of methane to air is

explosive.

And speaking of methane...

So that we can ignite this

thing safely, we're gonna

remotely turn on this neon

transformer that will create a

high-voltage spark inside the

methane chamber.

In here we'll be able to vary

the methane concentrations,

ignite it, and see what we get.

Narrator: First up, a test at

the very bottom of the

stoichiometric zone... 6%.

We're good.

Okay. 6%.

In 3, 2, 1.

[ Laughs ]

We expected something, and

something happened.

[ Laughs ]

Our frangible box separated just

as we hoped it would, and it was

actually kind of a little bit of

a "boom!"

I was expecting a little more

from an explosion, and I'm

interested to see if our optimal

stoichiometric ratio gives us

that.

Me too.

Well, let's set it up.

Okay.

Narrator: 6% is explosive,

but what if bourne achieved the

optimal ratio of 9% methane to

air?

9% in 3, 2, 1.

Well, that was more energetic.

Narrator: 9% was definitely

more energetic, but for Adam,

the surprising thing is that at

both ratios, they scored the

mythical explosion they're

looking for.

This is awesome.

We think that 6% means we'll see

a pop, 9% means we'll see a big

pop.

In this case, that's not the

case, and that actually makes it

look better for this myth.

If we're getting a pop at the

very lowest end of the

stoichiometric range, that's

making bourne's... Use of this as

a diversion technique more

feasible.

I'm not saying it's probable,

but it's making it look more

feasible.

You're looking excited.

That's because we have a myth

that's spectacular, gross, and

challenging all wrapped up into

one.

What's the story?

It's the one where the pilot

jettisons the contents of an

airplane toilet, which promptly

freezes at altitude and turns

into a deadly projectile.

Ah, you're talking about the

myth of blue ice.

Exactly.

[ Whistle! ]

Narrator: When mysterious

substances of suspect origin

fall from the sky, urban myths

are sure to follow.

And the conspiracy theory that

has the message boards in a spin

is the infamous blue ice.

And here's how it happens.

On a bright, sunny day, a

passing pilot supposedly

jettisons the contents of the

toilet's tank.

[ Gurgle! ]

And apparently at high

altitudes, the subzero

temperatures freeze the liquid

into a damaging and disgusting

missile.

Aah!

All right, we know a little

bit about airplane toilets

because we did a myth on them.

Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!

We know for a fact you can't

get sucked into them if you're

sitting down.

And we know the reason why

it's blue is because they use

that chemical to cover the

smell.

But what we don't know is

what happens to the waste.

Yeah. Can you actually eject

the contents in midair?

I guess this is where we

start.

Narrator: So, first up, kari

hits stockton airport to find

out when and how a pilot dumps

his, uh, waste.

So, you're an airplane

technician.

What do you think of our old

blue ice myth?

Well, kari, as you can see

from this cockpit, there are

thousands of buttons and

switches, of which none are

labeled "dump the toilet."

Narrator: Which is bad news

for the myth.

But if the pilot can't jettison

the John midflight, is there any

way the liquid blue waste can

escape?

Failure of components.

So, there could be a

mechanical problem that causes

blue ice instead of the pilot.

Yes. Like with most systems

on an airplane, there are

redundancies, and with the lav,

it's no different.

Narrator: Yep. There are

three fail-safes that have to be

breached in order for the liquid

to leak... the dump valve on the

holding tank and two watertight

seals leading to the exterior of

the fuselage.

If all three of those components

fail, that's a problem.

[ Alarm blaring ]

It's not likely.

Is it possible? Absolutely.

Multiple components that fail,

leading to a problem.

This myth is looking good.

Yeah!

All right, kari.

So, how did it go?

Well, part of this myth isn't

looking good.

There's no way for the pilot to

jettison the contents of a

toilet.

True, but that doesn't rule

out ice falling off the plane.

That's right.

There are still two scenarios

that could happen.

There could be a major

malfunction that leads to either

all of the contents coming out

at once, freezing, and falling

to earth, or you could get a

nice, slow leak that created an

ice ball.

Now, the question is, how are

we gonna test them?

Actually, we've been talking

to our friends at NASA, and

they've agreed to let us use

their icing research tunnel,

which can simultaneously

duplicate temperatures of

-20 degrees and wind speeds of

up to 250 knots.

That is the perfect

conditions

for high altitude.

Well, it sounds like before

we leave, we're gonna have to

build a leaky airplane toilet.

Now, this myth is about

airplanes, but in order to test

it, we don't need to build a

full airplane.

All we need to do is make

something that has similar

aerodynamic properties.

So, this is our design.

And this will have low drag

and...

A place to leak, which are the

most important things.

Narrator: So, for their tests

at NASA, kari builds a waste

system designed to fail in two

ways... either with a slow

leak...

Or a catastrophic dump.

Now, according to NASA specs,

it had to be out of aluminum,

'cause that's what airplanes are

made of, and we were not allowed

to weld anything 'cause they

didn't want anything breaking

apart inside the wind tunnel,

'cause there's gonna be so much

pressure created by the wind.

So, we had to drill and rivet

over 600 rivets to put our

airplane together, and what we

have right here is our valve.

This is what we're gonna have

hooked up to a water tank, and

we're gonna be doing two

tests... one where we dump the

water completely and then one

where there's a slow leak... to

find out, can you grow a chunk

of ice on the side of a plane?

Narrator: After getting to

know their enemy in the shop,

the guys are ready to go full

scale.

If we're going to replicate

the natural-gas explosion in

this guy's apartment from the

movie, we're gonna need,

clearly, two things.

Yeah, they said, "get your own

show.

It'll open all sorts of doors."

One is methane, natural gas,

which is easy to get, and two is

the guy's apartment, which we

don't actually have, so we've

come out to the bomb range,

where they've got plenty of

room, and in a few hours, we're

gonna build this guy's

apartment... not to code.

We just need it to be a

gas-containment device that is

in the shape of the apartment.

But it will be properly

appointed, I'm sure.

Narrator: So, to find out if

you really can get a room to

kaboom with just gas, a

magazine, and a toaster, they'll

precisely replicate the

circumstances of the movie,

starting with the apartment

dimensions... 16'x32'.

Once the roof has been

successfully raised...

It's time for the resident

exterior decorator to take over.

After you blow enough things

up, you start to look for

aesthetic finesse in the

explosion.

I'll give you an example...

First hot-water heater, when we

painted that little house red.

Whoa!

Look at that.

Isn't that beautiful?

So, we're gonna give the same

treatment to this thing.

We're gonna paint the outside a

lovely orange so that when it

finally blows up, the high-speed

shot will be especially

gorgeous.

Narrator: Well, it certainly

will be explosively tangerine.

There.

I wouldn't call it "livable,"

but I'd call it "blow-up-able."

Narrator: It is blow-up-able,

and the final finishing touches

are to furnish it before they

step on the gas.

Whoa.

Excellent.

That's got a nice view here,

you know... the valley out the

window there.

Narrator: The house may be

complete, but soon it'll be

filled with highly flammable

gas.

And in the event they don't get

an ignition, Adam has created

this.

What I've got here is an

exhaust system so that i can

evacuate the gas from this room,

'cause one of the most dangerous

things that can happen to us in

this experiment is nothing.

We found this on "cell phone

destroys gas station."

We had a roomful of gasoline

fumes, and we didn't get it to

ignite, and nobody wants to

approach a roomful of fumes.

Hello, explosion? Hello?

So, if nothing happens, I've got

a switch i can turn that will

start these fans all up and get

all the gas out of this room so

it's safe to do a reset.

I think that's the last piece of

the puzzle.

I'll get to safe location.

Narrator: And that's not the

only safety precaution they're

taking with this test.

This is our methane outlet,

which has tinsel on it, which we

will be able to see moving if

gas is coming through here on

our remote camera.

This is our tank of methane.

We have a regulator and a flow

meter attached to it.

Now, this rig is set up to give

us the same kind of input of gas

into our house as you would

normally have in a domestic gas

line going into an apartment.

Now, this valve here i have with

a line attached to it that goes

to our bunker, and I'm gonna

pull on this line if there's

anything that bothers me about

this setup, because, you know,

it's gas.

It's flammable.

If there's something we don't

like, we want to be able to shut

it off.

And from this distance, i can

safely pull the plug if there's

something i don't like.

Narrator: Kari, Grant, and

Tory are tackling the infamous

tall tale of blue ice.

Can a leaking toilet midair lead

to a deadly chunk of ice down

there?

To find out for sure...

Ooh.

Wow!

Narrator: Tory and Grant

touch down in nerd nirvana.

All stations reporting with a

go/no go.

Narrator: Roger.

Prepare to release the geek,

because this place has a heap of

hardcore hardware.

This massive fan is the heart

of NASA's icing tunnel.

It's powered by a

5,000-horsepower direct-drive

electric motor.

It has 12 individual custom fan

blades for a diameter of

25 feet.

It's capable of generating wind

speeds over 300 knots.

And that's only half the

equation.

This is the other half of the

equation... the icing tunnel

itself.

The wind comes rushing through

here, refrigerated to

-20 degrees fahrenheit.

Narrator: Those are the

spectacular specs, and now to

put them to good use.

The way we're gonna test this

is we're gonna stick our section

of fuselage into their wind

tunnel...

Does this mean I'm the r2-d2?

Oh, boy.

And re-create the same wind

speeds and temperatures that you

would find at altitude.

Then we're gonna create a leak

inside the valve, let it sit

there, and see if those

conditions will cause that blue

liquid to form into a chunk of

ice.

Narrator: Remember, there are

two leaky-valve scenarios the

team will test, and first up is

the catastrophic dump.

We have our model in

position.

We're ready to go.

All right. Fire it up.

All right. Let's go.

Fire it up.

Maximum warp.

[ Groans ]

Sorry. I just made that

really geeky, didn't i?

We're trying to make science

cool, dude.

Here we go.

Narrator: And for cool

science, let's make it so.

The fan winds up, whipping up a

290-mile-an-hour wind speed.

Then the heat exchanger drops

the air temperature to a

high-altitude -20 degrees

celsius.

Our model is holding together

perfectly.

Narrator: Then they're ready

to pull the pin on the

catastrophic-failure test.

Will the blue liquid instantly

freeze into a chunk of blue ice?

So, this is full-tanked up.

In 3, 2, 1. Go!

Whoa!

[ Both laugh ]

Oh, my god.

Look at the stream!

Look at how fast it's coming

out.

That is awesome.

Narrator: As soon as the

liquid exits the aircraft, it's

ripped away by the shearing

force of the wind.

And despite the bitterly cold

air temperatures, it's unable to

form the mythical slice of ice.

So, behind me are the results

of our complete release test,

where we dump the entire

contents of the waste tank.

Now, it didn't atomize all the

way because you can see some of

it formed on the surface here,

but it also did not form one big

chunk that could fall on

someone.

Narrator: Yep. Although most

of the blue waste was vaporized

on contact with the wind, some

did form a thin layer, just not

enough for a blue icicle.

But, i mean, it's incredible

that we got an actual layer of

ice, and pretty quickly.

All right.

Well, let's try again and this

time have the slow leak.

All right.

Let's see if that gives us a big

chunk of ice.

Narrator: Once again, the

NASA techs simulate the same

high-altitude conditions and

then sabotage the plumbing for

the drip test.

And once the leak is leaking...

Oh, look at it go!

Whoa! Look how quick the ice

is building up!

Narrator: The results are

as astonishing as they are

immediate.

Dude, this is looking great!

And it's blue!

That is fantastic!

It hasn't even been two minutes

yet.

Oh, my gosh!

That is incredible!

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: The liquid moving

over the surface of the aircraft

is protected from the extreme

wind speeds by what's called a

boundary layer.

What that means is that not

all the air traveling over the

airplane goes at the same rate.

In certain areas, it actually

travels a lot slower.

Narrator: Which creates a

protective cushion where ice

crystals can form.

This thing is like this big.

I'd call that "baseball-sized"

right there.

If that whole thing broke

off, that would be just like the

myth.

Narrator: The guys are blown

away, unlike the ice.

The question is, how big can it

get, and will it fall off?

I actually can't believe how

big it's getting.

20 minutes later, with a

diameter around 10 inches, the

blue icicle seems to have

reached a size plateau.

It's approaching soccer-ball

size.

Narrator: And with plenty of

water still in the tank, that's

not the limiting factor.

But Grant thinks he knows what

is.

Now, an interesting thing to

note here is that as the ice is

getting thicker and pushing away

from the skin, it's actually

pushing its way out of the

boundary layer.

Once it exits the boundary

layer, it actually hits the

faster-moving air and... psh!...

Just goes away.

It doesn't allow it to freeze

up, which may be a reason why

the ice doesn't get really,

really big.

Well, let's see if we can get

it to fall off.

Let's pretend like it's at its

final descent.

Temperatures are rising.

Maybe we can get it to break off

and find out exactly what

happens when it does.

Perfect.

All right.

Start warming it up.

Narrator: It's a good theory,

because as the aircraft descends

and the air temperature warms...

Oh! We're getting bigger

chunks breaking off!

Narrator: Surely it's only

a matter of time before the

blue-ice barnacle becomes a

blue-ice missile.

-7 degrees!

Narrator: And, as it turns

out, when the wind-tunnel

conditions match those of an

altitude of 12,000 feet...

Both: Ohhhh!

Narrator: We have

lift-off.

That thing blew off in one

giant chunk!

Wow!

Dude, that was perfect!

This myth is starting to look

very, very believable.

Yeah, but you know what the

next step is.

What happens to the ice after it

falls off?

[ Laughs ]

I can't believe it!

Narrator: This test will be

exactly like the movie but with

one exception.

According to our testing, it

actually takes about two minutes

for the toaster to set the

magazine on fire, so that means

that we've had about four times

the amount of gas going into the

room in that two minutes as what

bourne had for the whole house

to blow up.

Now, that two minutes in our

case is only allowing about

7 cubic feet of methane to go

into the house, and it's rising

towards the roof.

Meanwhile, our source of

ignition is about 15 feet away.

I don't expect to see any kind

of explosion at all.

Narrator: And that's down to

stoichiometry.

In theory, for a room this size,

7 cubic feet of methane will be

too low a concentration to

ignite.

All right, I'm ready.

Okay, Adam.

Go ahead and turn on the gas.

Copy that.

Narrator: But this is

"mythbusters," and it's not a

fact until you test it.

It's pretty eerie watching

flammable gas go into a room in

which we've started a fire.

Or are about to.

[ Chuckles ]

Oh, i see some fire.

Fire. Great. All right.

Narrator: The magazine may

finally be on fire, but the

methane is not igniting.

Oh, man, that toaster's

totally burning.

Narrator: And even after a

further 60 seconds, there's

still no hint of a Hollywood

blast.

Gas is off.

Starting up the fans to

evacuate the room.

That was cool.

That was very cool.

That was a little... i was a

little tense.

Flammable gas, a fire... no

boom.

Narrator: No boom.

So, it's time to send in the

mythbusters fire brigade.

Oh, yeah.

There's your problem.

So, we replicated all the

circumstances for bourne's

evasion technique, and it

totally didn't work.

I think that's a pretty clean

busting of the myth.

Yeah, it's busted.

But, you know, i was thinking...

Yeah?

If we put something in

that room that burned for

longer, eventually, something's

gonna happen.

You mean eventually the gas

and the air will reach a mixture

whereby we will get some kind of

reaction?

Yeah.

I love it.

I think that should be the next

test.

Narrator: Although the exact

circumstances of the movie won't

get the bad guys off your tail,

the question is, could a little

more gas and a longer fuse get

the big bourne boom?

We know from our small-scale

testing and our research that it

takes a minimum 6% fuel-to-air

mix for methane and air to

support ignition.

The way we've got it planned

out, if we take the contents of

this methane tank and put it in

our test room, we'll have the

right fuel-air mix.

How are we gonna get a long,

burning, open flame?

Well, we're throwing out the

toaster and the magazine and

we're going with a supermarket

fireplace log.

Light this puppy on fire...

It'll burn for at least an hour.

This is for real.

Narrator: The log will burn

while the gas builds to the

6% ratio.

That's it.

Narrator: But when it hits

the stoichiometric zone, will

they get the bad-guy-repelling

detonation of the movie?

Back in the safety of the

bunker, at first, things go just

as planned.

"Did you leave a log burning

on the kitchen table?"

"Aw, crap. I did."

Narrator: But in a dramatic

turn of events, after four

minutes...

Oh, you know what's

happening?

The gas is actually making the

whole room catch on fire.

Narrator: Things suddenly get

incendiary...

I see smoke on the...

[bleep]

We're burning this building

down.

Narrator: And out of

control.

Uh-oh.

There we go.

We had a blowout.

That's it.

[ Chuckles ]

Well, i don't know if we're

putting this building out.

Oh, we should get up there

with a hose.

All right.

Let's turn off the gas.

Gas is off.

Narrator: The mythbusters

initiate the safety protocols...

Watch out.

Narrator: And cautiously

approach their apartment

inferno.

Don't go in.

I'm not seeing any flame.

[ Chuckles ]

There's the hole we blew.

Narrator: It may not have

been the blast of the movie...

It's a horror show in there.

Narrator: But the methane

sure made a mess of the

apartment.

So, all of a sudden, the

fire's going up and reaching the

ceiling.

We could see smoke coming out of

the top, and then the mixture

hit the bottom of the

stoichiometric range, and we saw

this "ha-whump!" Across the

whole room.

I'm seeing broken glass on a

bunch of windows, on the back

double doors.

It's clear that we got a

significant reaction but nothing

close to what we saw in the

movie.

Narrator: Nothing close to a

kaboom but certainly enough of a

conflagration to distract the

bad guys.

It's really clear from all

the melted plastic in there...

And even our exhaust fans

melted... it got supercrazy hot

in there very quickly.

I mean, just the whole room was

absolute... i didn't even know

what temperature it could be at,

but it was really hot.

But you know we're not gonna

leave it there.

No, no.

[ Laughs ]

So, here's where we're at.

We've looked into airline

toilets and found that they can

leak through an external valve.

Is it possible? Absolutely.

We made our own fuselage,

went to NASA's wind tunnel, and

found that you can actually form

a giant chunk of ice, which then

fell off the airplane.

Both: Ohhhh!

Now what we're going to test

is what happens to that ice

after it falls.

What we need to see for this

myth to be confirmed is for that

ice to fall through the air as

one giant chunk and hit the

ground as one piece with deadly

force.

Narrator: This is the final

piece of the blue-ice puzzle.

While falling from 12,000 feet

at a terminal velocity of

160 miles per hour, will the ice

stay in one piece?

Or will wind erosion and warming

temperatures cause it to break

up into harmless blue rain?

To track that, the team has a

spectacular plan of action.

We have our airplane.

We are gonna load it up with a

large chunk of ice, take it up

to altitude, and then throw it

out.

Now, we're gonna have a few

skydivers jump out with the ice

to track.

Kari is gonna be one of those

skydivers.

Narrator: Yep, and skydiving

team leader Nick also has the

crucial job of timing the drop,

because if the myth is true and

the blue ice falls in one chunk,

missing the mark could be

deadly.

Let's hope they can see that.

Okay. So, here's the plan.

Kari and our expert, Nick, will

go in the plane with the ice.

They're gonna go up, and, based

on prevailing conditions and

Nick's calculations, they'll

know when to release the ice at

an altitude that they deem safe.

Nick will jump out, and so will

kari, following the ice down.

You'll be fine.

[ Chuckles nervously ]

I'm gonna double-check this.

Meanwhile, Tory and i will be

on the ground, tracking the ice

in the air, and looking for the

impact zone.

Narrator: And as for the blue

ice, well, earlier, kari

prepared a similar-size block to

the test at NASA.

It's approximately the diameter

of a basketball, eye-catching,

and easily retrievable.

To make sure that we can

watch this ice fall, I've done

something a little different.

I've made it red instead of blue

so that it's going to stand out

on the blue sky.

I've added some really long

streamers so that we can track

it, and I'm going to put a GPS

on it.

Now, for this myth to be

confirmed, we need to see that

block of ice drop from altitude

and get to the earth in one

solid chunk.

Good luck.

Good luck, you guys.

[ Smooches ]

What i think's gonna

happen... i think kari's gonna

scream her head off, she may

potentially pee her suit, but i

think that block of ice is gonna

land on the ground in one big

chunk.

Okay, here's the package.

Good luck.

All right.

Narrator: And despite all of

their precautions, they will

need some luck.

Their goal is to drop the ice...

And kari... from 12,000 feet...

Here we go, kari.

Narrator: The height at

which Grant and Tory saw the ice

release from the fuselage at

NASA.

Okay, now... I'm starting to

get a little nervous.

Narrator: But will it remain

intact?

Traveling with an energy of

392,000 joules, its impact will

certainly be deadly.

However, if it melts in the

rising temperatures, it'll be

rendered harmless.

Narrator: At 12,000 feet,

kari and her free-falling

friends are preparing to deploy

their blue-ice cargo.

All i got to do is look at

the ice.

One job!

Narrator: But will it break

up on descent or have the

devastating impact Internet

reports claim?

Oh, boy. This is it, huh?

Narrator: If the team

misjudge the timing of the drop

by even a second, a 35-pound

projectile traveling at

160 miles per hour could crash

through a neighboring house.

But that's only if the ice

actually stays in one chunk.

If it breaks up, the only thing

busted will be the myth.

I got 'em.

They're approaching the drop

zone.

Narrator: So, this is it.

It's time to drop out and jump

off for science.

3, 2, go!

Okay. The ice is away.

3, 2, go!

Uh. So are they.

Narrator: In a stunning piece

of free-fall camera work, Nick

manages to capture the ice as it

plummets.

Wow. Look at how fast it's

falling.

That thing is hauling!

Narrator: And kari can see

that it's so far, so good.

With the ice already at a balmy

5,000 feet, it's still

completely intact.

Look.

It's staying in one chunk.

Dude, that's crazy.

Narrator: But will it stay

that way as they enter the final

few thousand feet of descent?

I see the ice right there,

and it's headed, in fact, near

the target.

That's great!

Whoa!

Ho-ho-ho!

Did you see the size of that

impact?

And did you see it stayed in

one chunk?

Wow. That's maybe only

150 feet from the drop zone.

Let's go meet kari and we'll

go find it.

All right. Let's go get it.

Hi, Tory! Hi, Grant!

Here she comes!

Boy, she's coming in hot.

You made it!

Wow!

Nice!

[ Laughter ]

Whoo!

Narrator: What a ride and

what a test, and no wonder

kari's adrenaline is off the

charts.

Awesome job.

Let's go check out the ice!

Did you see it?!

Did you see it?!

Narrator: Everything went

according to plan.

For the majority of its descent,

there was visual contact

confirming that the ice retained

its shape and mass.

And then, thanks to kari's

visual aids...

And Nick's awesome aim, finding

the impact site is a breeze.

There's a streamer.

Is it intact?

It was a chunk before it hit

the ground, and that is still a

chunk of ice.

Check it out.

It dug itself into the ground!

Wow. That is a serious

impact.

Narrator: Yep, and it may

have melted slightly in the time

it took to find it, but the

crater it created is a clear

testament to its destructive

power.

This is the size of the block

of ice that we threw out of our

plane, which is very similar to

the size of the chunk of ice

that we formed in our wind

tunnel at NASA that fell off.

That block of ice reached

terminal velocity very quickly.

It left a sizable impact crater.

And what's more... it stayed

pretty much intact all the way

down to impact.

Okay. A pilot can't release

all of the toilet water at once,

so that part's busted, but i

think the phenomenon is

confirmed.

I mean, it made it all the way

to the ground.

Totally confirmed.

I agree 100%.

Narrator: Confirmed, but

three mechanical failures

leading to blue ice falling on

your house is, in reality,

incredibly unlikely.

[ Whistle! ]

I'm gonna be looking out for

blue ice to fall on my head now,

right?

Dude, I'm gonna get blue-ice

insurance.

I know a guy.

Yeah?

Let me know.

I'll give you his number.

Narrator: At the mythbusters

mansion, they've been renovating

"bourne" -style.

No boom.

Narrator: However, the myth

as it appears in the movie is

busted.

Uh-oh.

Narrator: But it ain't over

until the man in the beret gets

a big bourne boom, so next

they're upping the ante with

more gas.

Now, when we empty this tank

into that house, that means that

we'll have just over 9%

methane-to-air in there, and

that happens to be the butter

zone for an explosion.

Narrator: The guys know from

small scale that 9% netted them

the most energetic boom, but

this is large-scale.

Will this test rip apart the

apartment "bourne" -style?

Before they blow it up, they

need to spruce it up.

We've swapped out all the

windows and doors.

All these holes that got warped

and opened, we're gonna actually

lay in a bunch of stripping.

We probably tripled the cohesive

strength of this building, and

that ought to give us just the

boom we're looking for.

Jamie's known for how he handles

his fans.

This time around, I'm running

the methane into the house

through this hose that I've

attached to the floor, and I've

drilled a lot of little holes in

the hose so that we'll get these

jets of gas coming out that will

mix with the air that is being

pushed across them with these

fans.

Kind of like a blender.

Just mix the air all along.

Yeah. This swirling mass of

air, I'm hoping, will distribute

this fuel-air mix throughout the

room, and, hopefully, that will

make the difference between a

poof and a bang.

Narrator: Jamie's fantastic

method will circulate the

methane throughout the

apartment, and with the

dangerous ratio of 9% gas to

air, they'll need something more

sophisticated for ignition.

We don't need a toaster and a

magazine anymore because we need

precise control over when we set

the fire, so we've brought back

out the neon transformer from

the small-scale testing with the

addition of a little piece of

paper here.

Go ahead and plug it in.

We're gonna be able to set a

fire exactly when we want to set

a fire.

Narrator: Exactly when they

achieve the goldilocks ratio of

9% methane to air.

The fans are rolling.

That's the last piece of the

puzzle.

Shall we get to a safe place and

go boom?

Yeah.

Awesome.

Let's turn on the gas.

Okeydokey.

All right.

We've got about five minutes.

Let's get to the bunker.

[ Siren wailing ]

Fire in the hole.

[ Chuckles ]

Hopefully.

Actually, i think we need a

new signal for us.

It'll be like, "fire in the

hole!"

"Hopefully."

"Fire in the hole!"

"Hopefully."

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: "Hopefully" is

right.

The precise stoichiometric ratio

should be enough to detonate

their apartment.

So, our firestarters take cover

as the methane fills the room.

Well, we're down below

20 cubic feet per minute, and

we're about 100 p.S.I., so I'm

thinking we should go whenever

you're ready.

All right.

Narrator: With the room

filled with 9% methane, will

this finally yield the Hollywood

blowout?

All right, here we go.

Ideal gas-air mixture, "bourne"

explosion, in 3, 2, 1.

Whoa!

Yeah!

[ Laughs ]

That is awesome!

We blew out the whole front!

Yeah.

We couldn't have done that if

we'd planned.

That was perfect.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: And there you have

it...

One magnificent, made-to-order

apartment explosion.

But unlike the movie detonation,

this one is polite enough to put

itself out... well, almost.

I hope this is a cautionary

tale what happens when you mix

mythbusters with science.

Okay, here's the thing...

While that was fairly

exciting... i mean, we blew out

the wall... i want to point out

that we didn't break any glass,

there was no bang, it was a

whoosh, and that's something

entirely different than what we

saw in the movie.

The fact that this was an

ideally mixed mixture with fans

and everything and the exact

quantity and that's the best we

could do kind of tells you what

the real deal is.

It's not what the movie showed.

Clearly, we were "bourne" for

this job.

[ Chuckles ]

Yeah, but it's kind of too bad.

That was a nice view in that

house.