Original subtitles

Do not try what you're about to see at home.

We're what you call "experts."

Narrator: On this illuminating episode of "mythbusters"...

Ah.

There went his first glass.

Narrator: Adam and Jamie have a smashing time...

I can see nothing! This is insane!

As they reflect on something truly enlightening.

Adam: It looks great. I didn't think it would be this good.

Narrator: Can you really use mirrors and the sun...

Behold! I am the master of the sun!

Narrator: As a form of ancient lighting?

There it is. Doink! Man, that's bright.

Then Tory, Grant, and kari...

Grant: Ha! Tory: That was hairball.

Investigate a freeway fable...

Grant: I think there are some law-enforcement people

who would be very interested in talking to us.

Narrator: That you can slow down an out-of-control vehicle...

Kari: Your idea of a safe stop is to shank me?

Narrator: By playing bumper cars on the blacktop.

Tory: We're on the road to madness!

Narrator: Who are the mythbusters?

Adam savage... Whoo!

What more do you need to know?

And Jamie hyneman.

When in doubt, c-4.

Between them, more than 30 years of special-effects experience.

Joining them... Grant imahara...

It's lethal, people!

Kari Byron... Jamie just doesn't look right.

And Tory belleci. And touchdown.

They don't just tell the myths.

They put them to the test.

Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

I've got a story for you to reflect on. Hit me.

I will hit you... With the sun's rays.

In the film "the mummy," there's a scene

in which the hero has to go deep into a dark tomb,

and in order to light his way,

he kicks into gear a system of ancient Egyptian mirrors

which bounce the sun's rays from outside

deep into the bowels of the cavernous tomb

so that they can navigate safely.

How enlightened.

Well, that's the question, isn't it?

That's the question.

And here's the clip.

Sunlight is bounced into the mummy's tomb.

And then there was light.

But is this ancient illumination really possible?

So, what do you want to do first?

Well, look, this myth is all about lighting up the darkness

with the sun's rays reflected.

We need to answer the question...

What does it mean to light up the darkness?

We need to define that... What's the minimum amount

of light necessary to move around in an unfamiliar space?

Exactly, and i think I've got

just the procedure to test this out.

Okay. Oh, don't worry. You're gonna love it.

Before we start bouncing light around the shop with mirrors,

we need to determine a couple of benchmarks

that we'll be aiming for in these tests.

The first one we've determined is the Hollywood benchmark.

This is the amount of lighting

that they used while filming the film

that properly tells the story of a light

being bouncing around with mirrors and lighting up a room.

The second benchmark is what i consider

to be the heart and soul of this story,

and it is, what is the minimum amount

of ambient light required to see?

Narrator: So, step one is finding the minimum

benchmark light level needed to see by,

and Adam's brain wave to test it is a makeshift maze.

Adam: We are going to try and make it through this obstacle course

under very low-light conditions

to determine the minimum light conditions

you can make it through this obstacle course

without breaking anything.

[ Glass shatters, clinking ]

That's the sound of failure.

Narrator: With the course set,

the guys focus on benchmark one...

The Hollywood level of illumination.

Jamie: I'm all set.

That means playing with the light level

until it matches that of the movie...

Jamie: Okay, that works for me.

And then record the Lux level.

We're gonna measure our ambient-light level

using a meter like this one,

which receives light in through the sensor here

and converts that to an electrical signal.

Now, our computer converts that signal

into what is known as Lux.

Narrator: In the days when candles were king,

scientists determined that one Lux

is the amount of illumination that falls over one square meter

if a candle is set one meter away.

Using this scale,

about 300 Lux is the minimum level needed to read by.

But how many Lux is the movie scene?

To find out, it's trial by tweaking

as the mythbusters crank up the levels bit by bit.

201 Lux.

And with a benefit of a jump cut or two...

That ought to do it.

They soon find the level

they think is a Lux look-alike for "the mummy."

Adam: This looks great. It looks just like the movie.

Okay. That gives us an average of 200 Lux.

Narrator: So, that's the Hollywood level sorted.

How will benchmark two compare?

Adam's got a plan.

Since the archaeologists in this myth

went from the bright sun into the tomb,

we're gonna do the same thing.

Here i am in Jamie's electronics room

with two lights simulating the bright sun.

I will then leave the electronics room

and walk down the tunnel of osiris,

otherwise known as Jamie's battery-and-wire storage shelf.

I will then enter the main shop area, which will be pitch-black,

and I'll use this rope to guide myself

out into the middle of the shop.

And when i hit the knot...

I turn and start to walk the obstacle course.

The question is, what is the minimum amount of light required

for me to walk this obstacle course...

[ Glass shatters ]

without breaking anything?

It's not gonna be easy.

Narrator: To find out, Adam set his overhead light source

to its bare-minimum setting.

Okay, Adam. Go ahead and do your thing.

Adam: All right. Here i go.

Jamie monitors progress on an infrared camera.

Holy crap.

There he is.

I can see nothing. [ Glass shatters ]

Narrator: And for those of you

who find the sound of breaking glass disturbing,

now might be a good time to switch your set to "mute."

Oh [Bleep]

This is... I'm the worst archaeologist ever!

[ Glasses shattering ]

Narrator: It's a bruising encounter,

as Adam...

This is insane!

Stumbles his way through the wineglass maze.

Here i am. I made it to the end.

And it's clear this light level

is far too low for the human-eye test.

[ Laughs ] That was a horror show.

Jamie: You pretty much broke every glass that was in your path.

Yeah, i think we need to turn up the lights a little bit.

Let's make it a little brighter

and see if i can't make out some of these shapes.

Okay.

I'll replace the glasses.

Adam tries a slightly increased light level...

There we go. One notch up.

And sets off again.

Okay, Adam. You're good to go.

All right. Here i go.

Man, i cannot... ah.

I can't make out...

[ glass shatters ] Ah.

There went his first glass.

I'm starting to be able to see things.

Oh, my eyes are adjusting.

Yeah, he's doing a lot better, actually.

It's still a blur. Ohh! [ Glass shatters ]

There's number two.

Oh! [ Glass shatters ]

Number three.

[ Glass shatters ] Four, five...

Narrator: And after a disappointing start...

[ Glass shatters ] Seven.

It soon becomes another catacomb catastrophe.

So they increase the light level again...

[ Glass shatters ]

and again...

[ Glass shatters ]

and again. [ Glass shatters ]

But it's not until light level six that Adam finally makes it.

This is it. This is the light level.

I'm gonna make it the whole way.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Hunh!

I made it.

Narrator: So, they break out the luxmeter

to shed some science on this final setting.

What's the verdict? How dim was it?

I get .389 of a Lux.

Of ambient light? Yeah.

That is amazingly dim.

At 0.39 Lux, the minimum human-eye level

is 500 times dimmer than Hollywood.

And with both benchmarks in the bag,

the question now is,

can bouncing light with mirrors beat either benchmark?

All right. Let's turn out the lights. [ Fingers snap ]

All right, so, this next myth

is all about driving fast, out of control,

and it's totally dangerous.

I love it already. What is it?

Could you... If a car was out of control,

could you overtake them, get in front of them,

and then slow down

till you brought that out-of-control car to a stop?

So, as if they had fallen asleep or had a heart attack.

Exactly. Great. Let's try it.

Narrator: When a driver passes out at the wheel,

things get very bad very fast,

but does it have to end up like this?

[ Tires screech, crash ]

Well, apparently not, because according to this myth,

you can safely stop a runaway car

by overtaking it

then carefully bringing it to a standstill.

Freeway fact or blacktop baloney?

Okay, as i see it, we have two scenarios.

First, the driver has lost total control of the car

and has no influence over it at all.

There's no steering, and the foot is off the accelerator.

So just coasting, then.

Exactly.

The second scenario is a little more extreme.

There's still no steering,

but the foot's jammed onto the accelerator.

Would that make a difference?

All right, so we have two tests.

It sounds like we need to go to stunt-driving school.

I mean, if this myth is about a car out of control,

we need to see what it feels like

to be in a car that's out of control.

That is a fantastic idea.

Narrator: Cue our ramped-up shot, and they're ready to roll.

We're out at the Alameda runway.

But before we can start our experiment,

we need to learn a little precision driving.

We're gonna learn how to approach, bump,

and overtake a car.

Yep, and the man to take charge of all that scary stuff...

Longtime driving instructor Marvin ruff.

What sorts of skills would we need to learn

in order to pull this maneuver off?

You need to learn how to approach a car,

how to get alongside it,

and how to slowly make contact with that car

and get it to stop.

Unlike the real testing to come later,

for this training,

kari will always be in control of her car,

and Marvin's part is to teach Grant to...

20 miles an hour?

Overtake...

Okay. Move over in front.

Grant: Okay. Here we go.

Slow his car down...

Kari: Oh, my god. This feels crazy.

Back the bumper against hers...

Ruff: Like landing an airplane.

Tory: He's slowing down too fast! We're gonna crash!

Ohh!

You are good.

Now just start pushing on that brake.

And bring it all to a stop.

[ Tires screech ]

Okay. There it is. Nice.

[ Laughs ]

Thank you. That's awesome.

Tory: Yeah, we didn't die!

So, that's training hurdle one passed with flying colors.

[ Tires screech ]

All right. What do you think?

Eh, well, we were only going 20,

but i think you did a really nice job.

Grant: I only did that at 20 miles an hour.

I think as we attempt to try this

at faster and faster speeds, it's gonna get a lot harder.

Narrator: Next, it's challenge two...

Learning what it feels like when something goes wrong,

courtesy of the infamous pit maneuver.

Tory: Here we go, in three, two, one, go.

Trying to get away from the law.

Narrator: Scarier still, the rain set in.

And ready to put them into a spin,

Marvin stalks the red car...

Grant: Here he comes! This is it!

Narrator: Pulls up alongside...

Tory: Get ready to go out of control!

Touches the rear Fender...

Grant: Whoa!

And...

[ Tires screech ]

Whoa! Whoa!

Whoo!

Tory: We just got pit-maneuvered!

[ Tires screech ]

That felt so good! [ Laughs ]

It's good to be out of control sometimes.

Narrator: Training's done. They're bumped, pumped...

Tory: We just got pit-maneuvered!

And amped to ramp.

I think i feel the need, the need for speed.

I think we can go faster now.

Narrator: Coming up on "mythbusters"...

* ta-da!

Narrator: Then, techniques of bumper-stopping a careering car.

Tory: Here we go. Oh.

Ruff: All right! Nice work!

Narrator: Can mirrors illuminate a murky mausoleum using the sun?

The film "the mummy" claims it can.

And then there was light.

But is this history or hooey?

To find out, Adam and Jamie

have established two benchmarks of illumination...

[ Glass shatters ]

Adam: I can see nothing!

A Hollywood lighting level... Jamie: 200 Lux.

And a human-eye level.

I get .389 of a Lux.

And now, by using two types of mirrors,

will they be able to match either benchmark?

Well, first up, Adam polishes up some ye olde metal mirrors,

and Jamie lines them up.

Jamie: We've set these mirrors up to bounce light

from mirror to mirror down the length of the room.

Now, our goal is to see if those beams

will raise the ambient-light level.

Narrator: To test this myth,

they'll line up their mirrors and try a sun substitute.

The artificial sun for this test needs to be like the sun...

That is, heavily collimated.

That means all the light beams

are actually traveling parallel to each other,

and the most collimated light we can rent is this...

A spotlight.

* ta-da!

Narrator: And with the metal mirrors lined up,

it's time for a moment of discovery.

When the shop lights are turned off,

how bright will the mirrors' light be?

All right. Let's turn out the lights. [ Fingers snap ]

It looks great. I didn't think it would be this good.

Narrator: Adam's right.

First impressions are that these mirrors are working well.

But, crucially, how are they doing in the Lux department?

Got it? Adam: All right.

The average ambient light of the polished metal...

1.13 Lux.

Do our light-bouncing mirrors work like they do in the film?

I'd say that they do.

There is an impressive amount of ambient light in this room

solely because of the mirrors.

Do they look like they do in the movie?

No, they do not.

By the six mirror, this beam is no longer collimated.

It is a heavily, heavily scattered affair.

Narrator: The scattering, or loss of focus,

is not a good look,

but the level of light itself is promising.

It's clearly not as bright as the movie,

but it is better than their naked-eye benchmark.

So, can modern glass be a more polished performer?

This is our polished metal mirror...

And this is our glass mirror.

Obviously, the glass mirror is more reflective,

but is that what we really want?

It may be the case that the metal mirror

is actually diffusing the light more

and therefore lighting up the ambient light

in the room more.

We're just gonna have to try it to find out.

Narrator: So, to do that, they position the mirrors

with the overhead lights on, and then...

Adam: Well, the mirrors are in place. They look great.

Here we go.

[ Laughs ] That looks fantastic.

It looks just like the movie.

Surprise, surprise.

The modern glass looks better...

All right. Good.

But does the data back that up?

Jamie: How did our glass mirrors do?

You're gonna love this.

First, you remember the ambient-light reading

that we got from the polished metal was 1.13 Lux?

Yeah.

Our glass mirrors came in at .487 Lux.

[ Laughs ] Who knew? I know.

Less than half. Isn't that amazing?

Jamie: There seems to be more going on here than meets the eye.

The goal of all this

is to raise the ambient-light level in a room,

and mirrors alone aren't gonna cut it.

That light needs to hit something that scatters it.

It could be my white shirt or it can be fog,

but it has to scatter to light the room.

Narrator: Because the modern mirrors give a cleaner beam,

the ambient light they give off

is actually less than the polished metal,

meaning the metal wins.

But what's also clear

is that the real loser in this proof-of-concept test

is Hollywood.

Look, on this show, we've always known

that Hollywood has a penchant for exaggeration.

Our Hollywood lighting setup in this shop

was 100 times brighter than the ambient-light levels

we got in our small-scale testing.

But that doesn't mean this myth is busted.

No, no, no, no.

Because those ambient-light levels

were still 2.5 times brighter

than what we determined was necessary

to safely maneuver through our "tomb."

That tells me we have every reason

to go full-scale and bring in the real sun.

Tory: Now that we've trained,

it's time to move on to testing the myth.

The first scenario... it's as if somebody has been driving,

has passed out at the wheel,

and now they're coasting at high speed.

The speed we're gonna start at for this first test...

35 miles an hour.

This is gonna be interesting.

Narrator: This time, they're going to try one big change.

Once Grant gets in front of us,

I'm going to take my hands off the wheel

and my foot off the accelerator

as if I've just passed out.

[ Tires screech ]

Let's just hope Grant was paying attention

during his training session.

I don't think he was.

Narrator: And for test one,

gentlemen and lady, start your engines.

Tory: All right, this is 35 mile an hour,

driver's passed out.

Here we go, in three, two, one, go.

[ Tires screech ]

All right. We are at 35 miles an hour.

And commence passing out.

Narrator: Look, mom... No hands and no feet...

Making this officially an out-of-control vehicle...

Tory: Here we go.

Which is Grant's cue

to first nose his way in front...

Ohh!

Before slowing down.

And it's easy-peasy, brakes-a-squeezy

as he manages to haul kari in.

Kari: And stop.

[ Grant laughs ]

You did it. You stopped us.

That was a little rough, but it worked.

It totally worked, at 35 miles an hour, too.

All right. What's next? Faster.

All right, let's take it up to 55 miles an hour,

freeway speed.

Let me point this out.

The bumper of the out-of-control car

is actually underneath the bumper of the rescue car,

and what that does is it starts to compromise

the stability of the rescue car,

making it even harder to rescue the person.

Narrator: The 35-mile-an-hour, no-hands test is down.

Now they're about to up the danger to freeway speed.

Kari: For this next test,

there's gonna be a little more jeopardy here

because that all is great as long as you're going straight.

We're gonna be passed out at the wheel.

The alignment's not amazing on this salvaged vehicle,

and we're going double the speed.

Tory: Here we go, in three, two, one, go.

Narrator: 55... Plus different-height bumpers...

Plus dodgy alignment.

Oh, and no hands, either.

30 miles an hour.

55 miles an hour.

This is too exciting to pass out.

But here we go.

Kari: This is actually kind of scary. I know.

All right. We're passing out.

Hand is off of the wheel.

With kari comatose behind the wheel,

Grant brakes in front.

If he's a whisker off dead center,

one car or other could spin out.

It's a totally tricky maneuver.

Here we go. Oh.

Ruff: All right! Nice work!

Grant: Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Uh, that was a little scary, got to say.

It's a lot more challenging,

and at 20 miles an hour,

the corrections are sort of gentle.

At 55, the corrections have to be a lot faster,

and so it's hard to do it really smooth.

But it worked. We're alive!

It worked at 55 miles an hour.

And, look, our hood is almost underneath your bumper,

and we didn't lose control.

Narrator: But having survived at 55,

can they let it rest at that?

What if the accelerator were stuck...

Yeah, like, if the guy passes out and his foot's stuck on the gas.

Or there was some sort of malfunction?

I like it. Add more danger to this experiment.

All right. Let's do it.

Narrator: Adam and Jamie have been reflecting

on some proof-of-concept tests at the shop.

The average ambient light of the polished metal...

1.13 Lux.

Can you really use mirrors to turn dark into day?

Adam: This is more than enough light

for me to make it through that maze.

Narrator: It's certainly a case of "so far, so good."

But will these results scale up?

Will using the real sun and a much larger crypt

be the making of this myth?

Well, this is the place.

Looks great.

Okay, it's not ancient Egypt...

[ Laughs ] Shall i open it up?

Absolutely.

But treasure island in San Francisco bay

uncovers an unexpected underground treasure.

Well, shall we set up?

Let's turn on the house lights.

All right. House lights up.

Well, this is our space.

Now, it's not a tomb,

but it is underground, and it's very, very dark,

so it'll be perfect for our testing.

Narrator: Jamie blocks out a few spots to make total darkness.

Jamie: There we go.

Narrator: Meanwhile, Adam's manufacturing

modern glass mirrors.

Now, I'll wager you're probably yelling at the screen right now,

wondering why i am building these with glass mirrors

when our polished metal mirrors

actually gave us a higher ambient-light reading.

1.13 Lux.

This is probably easiest to explain

if you take a look at these two shots

our cameramen filmed this morning.

On the left are the polished metal mirrors.

On the right, the glass.

Now, see how the light from the polished metal mirrors

Peters out really fast?

Compare that to the glass mirrors,

where the light is strong

virtually all the way to the end,

and that's what's really important.

This myth isn't about the type of mirror you use.

It's about bouncing a beam of light,

and the polished metal didn't give us that beam.

It only lasted about 15 feet before it was diffused.

That's why the glass is what we're using

in our full-size tomb.

Narrator: And with that cleared up,

there's just one more ingredient left... the sun.

Jamie: Now all we need to do

is see if the sun's gonna cooperate with us,

and that's actually a pretty big if

because not only do we have to worry

about whether we can reflect sun into the building...

In other words, is it lined up at a decent angle for that?...

But also, this is San Francisco,

and it's regularly kind of foggy here.

If we have a few too many clouds,

we're gonna be out of business.

Narrator: Yep, without the big guy in the sky,

the tomb's doomed.

Well, i can see the sun, but it is awfully overcast.

It is what it is.

Narrator: So, with San Francisco's fickle weather

doing its darndest to delay things,

Adam has a backup plan.

Adam: Have you met my sun?

It is a 7,000-watt xenon spotlight.

I'm gonna turn it on now.

Ohh!

Look at that puppy.

Boom!

Behold! I am the master of the sun!

[ Laughs evilly ]

Narrator: Adam's humongous light source

gives a whopping 160,000 Lux at 50 feet.

Adam: [ Laughs ]

That is freaking awesome.

Narrator: But will it be bright enough

to illuminate their colossal crypt?

Adam: I think that's right.

Narrator: To find out,

the guys will shine in Adam's sun,

position the mirrors, and then check the light reading,

starting now.

House lights out.

Shall we bring in the sun?

Sure. Why not?

Let's bring in the first sunbeam.

All right. You ready for it?

I'm ready for it. Bring it on.

Okay, here it comes.

There it is.

Narrator: Just like the movie, they're using six mirrors,

all of which are around 35 feet apart.

Doink! Man, that's bright.

Dude, that is, like, a two-foot laser beam.

Going for mirror number four.

Nice.

All right. There it is.

That's as good as it gets.

Going for the last mirror.

Okay. Coming down.

Zoop!

That's it. You're in.

* ta-da!

And there we go.

That works pretty good.

I swear, I'm gonna go out on a limb

and say this room is nicely lit.

I can move through the antiques without hurting anything.

Easily.

Look, nobody can say that we didn't accurately match

the look and behavior of this technique in the film.

Yep. It looks just like the tomb.

Narrator: It's a good start,

but what does the all-important data say?

All right. Let's take a reading.

Okay, i got it.

Well, it turns out

that bigger is absolutely better.

Going full-scale with our mirrors

is yielding an ambient-light reading in this room

of 2.3 Lux.

And when you're in this room,

you can totally carefully make your way among the artifacts

without any difficulty at all.

By both an objective and an empirical standard,

the theory behind this technique is totally sound.

Narrator: In fact, it's over five times brighter

than the minimum level they determined earlier,

and that's very good news for the myth...

Except for one little thing.

Jamie: Going full-scale and using an artificial light source,

we were able to very closely replicate

what we saw in the movie.

But this story is about using the sun.

Narrator: Jamie's right,

but luckily, the long-lost sun's finally put in a show,

so let there be light.

The question is, will it be enough light

for an archaeologist such as me or Mr. hyneman

to be able to move through a tomb without breaking anything?

Narrator: Coming right up,

it's runway runaway motor mayhem.

Grant: Ohh! Yeah!

Don't try anything you're about to see at home.

We're what you call "experts."

Narrator: Can you really bring an out-of-control car to a stop

with a dangerous game of bumper cars?

So far, so good. Yeah.

It turns out, you can slow down a coasting car

using this technique.

But now i think it's time to ramp things up.

By seeing what happens when the driver

has their foot jammed on the accelerator.

This is gonna be a whole nother experience,

because now that the accelerator's stuck,

this car's not gonna want to stop.

Narrator: So, back at Alameda runway,

it's pedal to the metal, literally.

And for that, Tory's going green,

because this time, he's doing the rescuing.

Tory: All right. Time to go save some lives.

I hope they don't wreck my paint job.

Narrator: This time, he's going for highway high speed.

For this next test, what I'm being asked to do

is to depress the accelerator as if it is stuck

and then take my hands off the wheel.

At no time should i take my foot off the accelerator.

Totally counterintuitive and kind of scary.

We're about to stop a car

going 75 miles an hour out of control

with another car.

Buckle up. It's about to get real.

Grant: In three, two, one, go!

[ Tires screech ]

Narrator: With both cars accelerating to 75...

70 miles an hour.

Kari, again, lets go of the wheel...

Hands off the wheel.

But keeps her foot on the gas.

Tory: Looks like those guys are out of control!

Narrator: Tory gets in position

and then starts pumping the brakes.

Hunh! Ohh!

[ Tires screech ]

Narrator: At this speed, the cars rapidly head off course.

With the fence getting ever closer...

Oh [Bleep]

Tory's wheels lock up, and he veers off.

Fortunately, he recovers...

Just in time.

Grant: Ha!

That was hairball. Dude.

I had both feet on the brakes,

and i still wasn't stopping.

We saw we were getting closer and closer to the gate.

I'm like, "oh, man."

I was like, "oh, I'm gonna push him through the fence."

Narrator: Without doubt, it was the hardest rescue yet,

as Tory's smoking tires attest.

But he did pull it off.

What i think we learned from this, though,

is that you can stop a car even going 70 miles an hour.

Unless we're gonna do this whole thing at 100 miles an hour,

i think we have to call it.

This one is confirmed.

Totally confirmed. Confirmed.

[ Groans ]

Narrator: Confirmed it is,

but not something you should try at home.

[ Tires screech, crash ]

Now, most people would call it quits,

but kari's got an appetite for more.

So, this rescue myth has reminded me

of a technique I've heard of that I've always wanted to try

where you actually can sandwich a car with two cars

to slow it down.

Oh, so they wedge the runaway car

and use friction to bring it to a stop.

A car sandwich.

That sounds dangerous. I love it.

Narrator: So, hungerin' for more action,

Grant and Tory are about to put the squeeze on kari's car.

Tory: So, we showed that it's possible

to stop an out-of-control car with another car,

but now we're back at the Alameda runway,

and this time, we're gonna try to stop an out-of-control car

with two cars.

We're making a car sandwich.

Basically, this thing we're about to do right here...

This is the most dangerous thing we're gonna do all week.

Narrator: You heard right.

If they overcook this sandwich maneuver,

kari's toast.

So far, I've been able to handle this,

but i noticed that i put my seat belt on

just a little bit tighter for this one.

Grant: In three, two, one.

Narrator: Most sane people would see this

as a seriously crazy thing to try...

Kari driving with stuck accelerator,

no hands, at silly speed...

And they'd be right.

There's a real danger here

of one, two, or all three cars rolling.

Grant and Tory pull alongside, move closer, and...

[ Tires screeching ]

Well, you can see the result.

Tory: Whoo-hoo-hoo!

[ Grant laughs ]

Oh, my god! It worked!

[ Laughter ]

Oh, my gosh! It worked!

It was ugly, but i think it worked.

Tory: We stopped an out-of-control car with two cars.

Kari: Oh, my god. It's working!

Tory: I would have to say that's working.

Kari: It definitely was successful in stopping the car.

But, man, i think we could do this better.

I mean, this was super clumsy.

[ Tires screech ]

Narrator: And having survived that rescue,

kari's throwing down the gauntlet

for a custom-built challenge.

Why don't you guys figure out a better way

to stop the out-of-control vehicle?

What if both of you go off

and come up with your own ways to stop a car,

and I'll give you a challenge

as a really out-of-control vehicle?

You like being out of control, don't you?

Narrator: Next up, will tut's tomb ever see daylight?

Jamie: That is intense.

Narrator: Back on treasure island,

the San Francisco sun is finally smiling

on Jamie and Adam's test setup...

I'm in the door.

Meaning they can finally attempt a real-world test

using their large tomb and the real sun.

Jamie: Yeah, baby!

The problem is, unlike all their other tests,

they can't just point the sun straight inside.

I think we're set. Should we bring in the sun?

Let's bring it in.

Okay. House lights out.

Instead, they have to bounce it in,

courtesy of a primary mirror outside.

Jamie: Wow. Look at that.

I'm gonna go for the first mirror.

Okay.

But once that's sorted...

That is intense.

We got a beam in the room. Here i am.

Here it comes.

It's then back to the tricky task

of aligning all the mirrors...

[ Laughs ] Okay.

That's pretty good.

Look at that. It's actually working.

One by one...

Going for mirror two.

Oh, right. Mirror two.

Until the end target is lit.

Mirror three.

Ohh!

There we go.

That's beautiful. All right.

I'm gonna bring it in on our last target.

And there it is.

[ Laughs ] Perfect.

That is fantastic.

This is the best yet.

I can totally see things in here.

But what are the Lux levels?

2.51 Lux.

That's amazing. That's really bright.

They've cracked it.

Six times brighter than the minimum eye level,

enough to put a smile on Adam's dial...

Well, briefly.

Adam: We're losing our beam. Yeah, we are.

You know what the problem is. What?

The sun's moving.

The relationships have all changed a little bit, Jamie.

Have they? Yeah.

The sun's moved off the primary,

which means the aim on the secondary is a little bit off.

As the sun moves off the primary mirror,

it kicks all the others out of kilter.

And the sun's moved again.

I'm gonna kick the primary one more time. Okay.

And for lighting up a tomb, that is a problem.

Jamie: The thing about using the sun

is that the earth is rotating on its axis

and it's also rotating around the sun,

which means that from our perspective,

the sun is moving all over the place across the sky.

So you can't really expect

to be able to aim a beam of light using a mirror

at a specific spot

without constantly adjusting it

to accommodate for the sun's movement.

Narrator: And its movement is surprisingly fast.

Adam: With this much distance on these mirrors,

the amount the sun's moving on the last one

is like inches per minute.

Well, it works, but only for about three minutes at a time

before the sun moves.

The mirrors are static. They don't move dynamically.

But the sun does, and as the sun moves through the sky,

it changes its geometry on the primary mirror,

which changes the geometry

on all the other mirrors in this room.

They'd have to be moved dynamically

throughout the whole thing to keep this room lit.

So, because of that, i don't feel like

we've really seen the theory behind this technique

work as well as it could.

Narrator: Yep, and that's something that didn't happen in the movie.

But before the sun sets on this myth,

Jamie's got one little trick up his sleeve.

Kari, Grant, and Tory have confirmed the myth.

You can stop an out-of-control car with another

with a brake-and-bumper technique...

[ Tory laughs ]

plus that crazy sandwich combo.

[ Grant laughs ]

Now, kari's set the boys a challenge...

To come up with a custom-built device to stop a car.

Grant: Ramming speed.

"Challenge." Ahh. Such a nice ring to it.

So, with a mix of metal and midnight oil later...

Perfect.

They come up with a typical

ingenious "mythbusters" solution.

Yeah.

Now they're ready to reveal all...

Come on, you guys! Try and stop me!

Narrator: Grant first.

To address kari's challenge

to come up with a better way to stop a car,

i have this.

These paddles mount underneath the front bumper of each car.

Employing the sandwich technique, we'll come in,

and they will allow us to control the runaway car

and bring it to a safe stop.

All right.

See, the other car's bumper comes in like this.

We don't have to get so far in front,

so there's no chance of spinning out,

and we just lock you in with an "l" shape

and slow you down.

Sounds good on paper.

Sounds bad when that's through the grille of the car.

[ Chuckles ]

Narrator: As for Tory's approach...

All you need to do is get your car going really fast

and then rear-end the car that's out of control.

The whole idea here is that you harpoon the car in front of you.

Once you are inside the car, you release that hook.

Kari: Really? This is your idea?

It might give you whiplash, but it should stop your car.

Your idea of a safe stop is to shank me?

More like harpooning.

Narrator: Next, custom-built-car craziness.

Kari: Nothing about it seems like a good idea.

Narrator: It's crunch time at Alameda.

Grant's sandwich-maker machine is warmed up...

[ Engine revs ]

ready to save kari.

Kari: Ready to drive.

Grant: Three, two, one, go.

[ Tires screech ]

Narrator: Grant's ingeniously bolted bars

to the front of each car...

Kari: 40.

50. Here they come.

Narrator: To act like a barrier to stop kari's car.

Now, it may look crazy...

Kari: Whoa!

[ Tires screech ] [ Grant laughs ]

but it's blitzed the job.

Grant: Whoo! Tory: Gotcha.

Whoo!

Gotcha!

That was beautiful!

That worked so much better than the original sandwich.

Oh, my god. We totally got you.

That was awesome.

Grant, your method is safer.

Nice work. Thank you. Thanks.

Now if we can only get the cars apart.

Are we gonna have to drive them home like this?

I get to a constant speed, take my hands off the wheel,

and watch the cars on either side of me

start to close in very, very quickly.

They slam at the same time.

My bumper hits the front paddles,

and they actually are slowing me down.

I smell rubber burning, but I'm coming to a stop.

It's amazing.

Narrator: And if that wasn't scary enough,

then there's the harpoon.

This is a new technique.

This is more of a stabbing, hooking,

and then using the weight of the vehicle

to slow the out-of-control car down.

This plan... nothing about it seems like a good idea.

Harpooning the back of my car, ramming it as hard as you can...

Who comes up with this kind of idea?

Only a crazy person.

I think we're set.

Narrator: It's a simple plan... Get up behind kari's car,

crash into the trunk, slam on your brakes.

What could possibly go wrong?

Tory: Three, two, one, go.

Yeah!

The runway road warrior sets out, ready to rescue.

Grant: This is Tory and Grant in harpoon rescue in pursuit.

Okay, hands off the wheel. Go for it, man!

Here we go!

Narrator: Kari's car is skewered.

Now, on the sophistication scale, it's crafty.

As for the all-important results rating, it's a hit.

Grant: Is it working? Tory: It's working!

Yeah!

Kari: It's working!

Can't believe it's working!

Yeah!

Nice!

Good job!

Kari: I can't believe that worked!

Tory: The rear spear!

Dude, that's awesome!

It stopped the car out of control!

Okay, we're gonna have to take both of these ideas and patent them

so that we can sell them back to the highway patrol,

because that's amazing.

I think there are some law-enforcement people

who would be very interested in talking to us.

The harpoon technique worked.

Kari took off at 50 miles an hour. I caught up with her.

It didn't take much to punch through the back of her car

and hook it.

[ Laughter ]

I came to a stop, she came to a stop.

Kari: Yeah! Grant: Nice!

I have to say that stopping a car with another car

has been very successful.

We've gotten in front of the runaway car

and applied our brakes and safely stopped it

at speeds in excess of 70 miles per hour.

We've come up to the side and sandwiched the car

using plates welded to our front bumpers.

And finally, we've deployed a crazy harpoon-like spear

to punch into the trunk of the runaway car

and drag it to a stop.

It just goes to show...

If you have a runaway car, call the mythbusters.

Actually, no, you should call the police.

[ Tires screech ]

Narrator: Back at tut h.Q. On treasure island,

Jamie's not quite done testing Lux levels.

There's one other thing I'd like to try.

You're gonna like it. All right. Let's do it.

In their earlier small-scale tests,

Jamie made an ambient-light level breakthrough.

Jamie: The goal of all this

is to raise the ambient-light level in a room.

And mirrors alone aren't gonna cut it.

That light needs to hit something that scatters it.

Narrator: So now, in their full-size, sunlit tomb,

he's itching to see if this scatter theory will scale.

Turn off your head lamp and check this out.

[ Laughs ] That's beautiful!

And you thought i didn't know how to light up a room.

I stand corrected. Let's take a reading.

Okay.

Maximum.

All right. Moving away.

Average Lux... 8.62 Lux!

Whoo for Jamie's shirt.

Amazingly, with this reflective scattering,

Jamie's whiter-than-white shirt

has given the maximum light reading

for the entire experiment.

Adam's gobsmacked.

Adam: Well, it turns out that Jamie's starched white shirt

provides almost three times as much ambient light in this space

as the next best technique of everything that we've tried.

Narrator: And Jamie's reaction? Well, this is Jamie.

Jamie: A mirrored surface is gonna be your best bet

to get light into a room because it's very directional.

But if you want to actually light the room

once that light gets in there,

you're best off if it hits a surface like my white shirt

because the white isn't so directional.

It's gonna spread the light and raise your ambient-light level.

How do you want to wrap this up?

In theory, it's plausible,

because the sun's rays did, in fact,

provide enough ambient light to move around in the room.

I agree. Plausible.

But totally impractical.

First of all, the sun moves, so you only get that light

for about 3 1/2 minutes

before you have to shift everything.

And the idea that all those mirrors

would sit around for 3,000 years

and be ready to light up that room...

Totally ridiculous.

Yeah.

Plausible but ridiculous. Yeah.

Want to know why we did what we did

and why we didn't do what we didn't?

Go to discovery. Com/ mythbustersaftershow

and check it out.