All language subtitles for Mythbusters.S13E08.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-NTb_track3_[eng]

That's right, folks.

Don't try this at home.

We're what you call
experts.

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

[ bell dings ]

Apparently a ping-pong ball
can kill you.

Yep.
Duck, cover, and, uh, dance?

Hey!

Narrator: To tackle a duo

Of deadly ballistic mysteries...

Adam: What the [bleep]

Nothing's making any sense.

Narrator: The team engages
in an arms race...

It's just a flesh wound.

...Of incredible ingenuity.

First, in a world-record-
breaking attempt...

This has never
been done before.

[ air cannon firing ]
wow!

It's scary.

...Jamie and adam ask,

"will ping-pong make
a mortal mark?"

Go!

That was an ever-loving smack
of a bang.

Then, kari, grant, and tory
feel the force...

Tory: I am your father.

Narrator: ...In a tsar war.

Will an ice cannon...

One.

...Really blow
the daft invaders away?

[ grunting ]

A lot of drama here
on the set of "mythbusters."

Who are the mythbusters?

Adam savage...

I reject your reality
and substitute my own.

Narrator:
...And jamie hyneman.

Bye-bye!

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

Together with grant imahara...

That is crazy!

...Kari byron...

Hyper-mile that!

...And tory belleci.

It's about to get real.

Narrator: 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

First up, adam and jamie tackle
the tall tale

That ping-pong
can go lethally wrong.

Whew! Really?

A ping-pong ball
can kill you?

That's the myth.

There's no way
it has enough mass

To actually penetrate
anything.

18 to nothing.

But what if the ball was
going really, really fast?

Enough already!

It's an interesting
physical conundrum.

Can such a delicate object
with so little mass

Achieve ballistic lethality?

Is it possible to fire plastic
ping-pong balls fast enough

To result in mortal damage?

So, if you're thinking
an itty-bitty ping-pong ball

Can kill you,
what's your plan?

Well, force...

Oh!

Equals mass...

Times acceleration.

Ah, I see.

So, what this lacks
in mass,

You're hoping to make up for
in speed.

How fast are you
thinking of going?

A lot.
I'm thinking supersonic.

[ sonic boom crashing ]

I love it.
Where should we start?

Human power?

Go down, bat a few
of these around,

And see how fast
we can make them go?

Yep.
Sounds great.

Wa-psh!

As the mythbusters know...

That's pretty serious.

...Speed kills.

Ho-ho!

The greater
an object's acceleration...

Whoosh!
...The more force on impact.

I'm going
to cook this now.

And before the guys attempt
to mechanically ramp it up

To supersonic,

The minimum that jamie thinks
is required for a lethal hit,

Our
less-than-professional players

Have given the manual speed test
everything they've got.

So, jamie was able to rocket
the ball off of his paddle

At 68 miles an hour.

I was able to do it
at 75 miles per hour.

Neither of those speeds,
anywhere close to lethal.

But I have an idea for getting
it to go a bit faster.

Ah! Perfect.

I'm gonna build it.

Narrator: Their hands-on
technique obviously failed

To fuel a fatal force.

So, adam puts together

An air-pressure-powered
ping-pong popgun.

Psh, psh!

Here's how this works.

This is what I call
a breech-loading popgun.

Here's the breech.
There's the ammo.

Seal it up.
Pressurize from here.

Open it up.

Point it in the direction

You want to hit
with a ping-pong ball.

Psh!

Release with this
high-pressure valve.

And bob's your uncle.

What does bob's your uncle mean?

Well, it means hopefully that
we've gotten the ping-pong ball

To an impossibly large speed.

Narrator: And with the pressure
pump to the max

The popgun can handle,
a modest...

95 p.S.I.
In 3.

We're about to find out.

[ air cannon firing ]

140 miles per hour.

Nice for a little device
like that.

Here we go.

[ air cannon firing ]

[ laughing ]

It's not lethal, though.

We've got a long ways to go
before we get to that point.

Bam!

Yep. As brody would say,

They're gonna need
a bigger barrel.

Our paddles got the ping-pong
balls to about 70 miles an hour.

My little shooter here,
up to 140 --

Wait a second.

Editors, can you give me a nice
shotgun sound effect for this?

[ shotgun cocking ]
much better.

Got the ping-pong ball up to
140 miles an hour at 100 p.S.I.

One!
[ air cannon firing ]

You know, for years,
jamie's gonna be like,

"ah, crap, there's another damn
ping-pong ball in the rafters."

Jamie's and my experience,

P.S.I. Is not
the deciding factor

For acceleration
in an air cannon.

It's barrel length.

So, I think what we need to do
is build another one of these

With a really, really
long barrel.

[ banging ]

[ laughing ]

Narrator: Up next...

An age-old, ice-cold ballistics
mystery from history.

Well, I hope you guys packed
your thermals,

Because this myth comes
from the depths of winter

In medieval russia.

Now, there was a town.
It was under siege.

And they didn't have anything
to defend themselves with.

So, they improvised a cannon
and cannonballs

Out of the one thing
they had plenty of.

Ice.

Really?
Just ice?

Yes! Ice, possibly some
materials to strengthen it.

But the history books say

It was a viable
defensive weapon.

Well, the good news is
if there's another ice age

And the zombie apocalypse
happens,

We'll have something
to fight them off with.

Well, it's really good
to be prepared for...

Everything.

I'm always prepared.

Narrator: Supposedly,
in the ultimate test

Of backs-to-the-wall,
improvised ingenuity,

The cossacks crafted a cannon

Out of the most unlikely
material imaginable --

Frozen water.

All right, now, you remember
a million years ago,

When we first
started on this show,

We tested ice bullets.

And as soon as
we shot the rifle,

The bullet turned
to gases.

Which is exactly why I think

That before we go and build
a full-size ice cannon,

We should start
by testing the cannonballs.

Right, because if the
cannonballs can't hold together,

Then the myth
is already busted.

Exactly.
So, why don't we do this?

Let's make
some ice cannonballs.

We'll fire them out
of a real cannon

And take it from there.

Good.
I like it.

Narrator:
The team's previous failure

Firing frozen h2o ammo...

Adam:
It just can't be done.

You're gonna end up
with vaporized water.

[ gunshot ]

...Means the opening salvo
in this siberian siege story

Will be the weakest link --
the projectiles themselves.

We've done a lot of research

To see if we could find any sort
of historical information...

Hey!

...On the specs
of the ice cannonballs.

Now, we've found that they may
have been reinforced with fibers

Such as hemp, wood,
and paper pulp.

So while tory and I work
on the supplemented cannonballs,

Grant's gonna work
on the clear ice ones.

What is going on back there?

Hey!

Narrator: So,
using natural materials

For structurally stronger
alternatives...

Sawdust.

Narrator: ...The team makes four
types of frozen cannonballs.

Yeah! This is gonna be one
strong cannonball.

Narrator: Pure ice...
Grant: Perfect.

Narrator:
...And ice plus hemp...

Ice ball with hemp in it.

Narrator:
...Sawdust and paper.

Kari: Ooh.

Whoa, that is awesome.
That's beautiful.

Look at how perfect
that is.

With their projectiles prepped,

It's off to
a suitably explosive location.

All right.
Let's bring out the cannon.

All right.

We've come out to angels camp,

Where we have a long history
of blowing up cement trucks...

[ exploding ]

...Unleashing fireworks men
into the world,

And firing off a cannon.

Whoa!
Wow.

That's what
we're gonna do again.

There she is.

Harry webb has brought out
old moses

So that we can test each recipe
for our ice cannonballs

And see which one can withstand
the blast of a real cannon.

We're gonna be firing
our cannonballs

With increasingly larger amounts
of black powder

To see if they can withstand
the pressure.

Kari: We're starting
with pure ice cannonballs

And 8 ounces of black powder,

The minimum amount we can use
in the cannon.

[ russian accent ]
don't worry, comrade.

They are only shooting ice.
How bad could that hurt?

We'll use it to chill our vodka.

Kari: We've set up our grid
to collect some data on speed

And also added a target.

[ normal voice ] hey, come on,
let's go dance at the battle.

Narrator:
So, it's all go for test one.

We are loaded.

Kari: Loaded! Yay!

Narrator: A pure ice cannonball
and half a pound of black powder

With a potential muzzle energy
of 20,000 joules.

Eyes and ears!

Surely, it doesn't stand
a snowball's chance in hell

Of surviving.
Firing! Three...

Let alone doing any damage
to our dancing dummy.

...One.

Wow!
That was awesome.

Kari: That looked like
a very successful hit.

Grant: It looks like
we hit the bad guy.

[ laughs ]
and knocked him down.

Kari: I am totally shocked.

Not only
did the pure ice cannonball

Come out completely intact,

But it was traveling
1,000 feet per second,

Or 680 miles an hour.

That means if we aim our cannon
just a little bit up,

We could have traveled
an incredible distance.

Narrator:
It is an incredible result.

The might power of old moses
couldn't part the frozen water.

It stayed intact
and hit the target

At a lethal 680 miles per hour.

Sorry, my friend.

I guess we underestimated
the ice.

And such an impressive result
means the myth can proceed

In its purest form, without
supplementary materials.

[ buzzer sounding ]

The question is,
how fast can pure h2o go?

Grant: We're gonna go up

To a pound and a half
of black powder...

[ chuckling ]

The powder burrito grande.

...Which is the most
that this cannon can handle.

Let's see what happens.

Three, two, one!

Yeah!

Oh, yeah!
That was...

Whoo!

Narrator: Old moses supplies
the biggest boom he can handle.

And with a top speed topping out

At an astonishing
1,550 miles per hour,

The ice has exceeded
all expectations.

Look, this is
a totally unexpected result.

I mean, none of us ever thought
that a pure ice cannonball

Could survive being shot out
of a cannon.

Especially since we had tested
the ice bullet way back when

And every time
we shot that bullet,

The ice just turned
into water vapor.

So, I figured that's
what was gonna happen

With the ice cannonball,
but it didn't!

So, we've got our cannonball.
Now all we need is a cannon.

Narrator:
Coming up...

Is bigger...
Wow!

Really better?

That's big.

Welcome back.

Jamie the paddle says...

Bam!

We've effectively been
attempting to weaponize

The one-tenth of an ounce
ping-pong ball

And make it lethal.

So we started out smacking them
with rackets as hard as we can

And came up with about 75 miles
per hour off the racket.

So, I built this little baby
right here, and at 90 p.S.I.,

We were able to shoot
ping-pong balls from this

At 140 miles per hour.

Still not really lethal.

But continuing along this theme,

We figure if we make something
that's a little bigger...

My little popgun.

Say, 20 times as big, we might
get some real results.

Narrator: So, in attempt
to do some deadly damage,

Adam and jamie are going
to extreme lengths.

It's coming along nicely.

Narrator:
80 feet, to be exact.

And exactly why?

Well, a hyneman walks
into a bar and says...

So, why the long barrel?

Well, as long as the pressure
behind the ball

Is greater than the pressure
in front of the ball,

The ball's gonna continue
to accelerate.

It's perfect.

Jamie: And so, the longer
the barrel we have,

The more time the ball
will have to do that,

And the faster it'll be going
when it comes out the far end.

There's a target.

Narrator:
And with the popgun pressurized

To the max the shop air
can supply...

Okay, that's 140 p.S.I.

...It's time to load...

Adam: These are some
professional-grade

Ping-pong balls.

...And lock...

Close the breech!

...And let rip.
Range is hot!

Jamie: Firing.

Three, two, one.

[ air cannon firing ]

[ laughing ]

I just see a hole
at the other end.

[ air cannon firing ]

[ laughing ]

Jamie: Wow.

That is far out.

That's a fast
little ping-pong ball.

Wow!

[ laughing ]

Well, our 80-foot-long barrel
sent this ping-pong ball

Through an inch-thick piece
of honeycomb cardboard,

Which in and of itself is not
that incredible a feat.

But it left a visible mark
on 3/4-inch plywood.

That is something
more than I expected.

It certainly banged up
the backboard.

But what about
the crunched numbers?

453 miles per hour.

That's a good place
to start.

Absolutely.

Jamie: So, we got this ball
going 453 miles per hour.

That's really fast,

But I have to say,
I don't think it's lethal.

Based on what I'm seeing
with this ball,

It might break a rib.

It might give you
a really nasty bruise.

But it's not gonna kill you.

Narrator:
So, to make a mortal mark,

They're going to need
more speed, more momentum,

And a step into the unknown.

Jamie: This has never
been done before.

It's scary.

Kari, grant, and tory
are testing the ultimate

In backs-to-the-wall
ballistics ingenuity.

Hey!

Narrator: And so far...

[ russian accent ]
don't worry, comrade.

Narrator:
...It's all go on the fro-blow.

Sorry, my friend.

I guess
we underestimated the ice.

The team has the balls.
Now to build the barrel.

Now, what I have here
is a giant cardboard tube.

Everybody okay?

Now, this is how we're gonna
make our ice cannons.

This is the mold that
we're gonna fill up with water

And let it freeze
so we can make our cannon.

So, I'm gonna build
a couple of different sizes,

And we're gonna see
which one is the strongest

To withstand the exploding
black powder.

Narrator:
Yep, when it comes to cannons,

Size really does matter.

The breech, that is,

The explosive chamber
at the base of the barrel,

Has to contain and channel

The energy
of the black-powder blast.

So to find
the optimal dimension,

Tory is building 3 breeches
with 4-, 6-, and 8-inch walls

And diameters
of 12, 16, and 20 inches.

Too thin, and it'll explode.

Too thick, and the mass becomes
structurally prohibitive

To move around.

All right, so now that the tubes
are filled up with water,

We just need to let them freeze,

And then we'll have
our breeches.

Narrator: And one week later,
the ice-cold cannons

Are ready for a refrigerated
trip to the bomb range.

This is gonna be fun.

So, we now know that half a
pound of black powder is enough

To propel our ice cannonball
at 680 miles per hour,

Which should give us
enough range and enough damage

To be a viable weapon.

Now what we need to do is work
on the breech.

God, it would suck
if this thing fell.

We have a 4-inch wall, a 6-inch
wall, and an 8-inch wall.

We'll put our half-pound
of black powder in there

And see which one of these,
if any, is able to survive

The kinds of forces
that are generated in a cannon.

Narrator: First up
is the 20-inch breech

With 8-inch walls...

Don't let go.

Whoa!
Aah! [bleep]

Oh, my god!

...Where surviving the
half-pound black-powder blast

May not be the only issue.

I got to tell you,

I can see some problems
with working with ice.

Yeah, I don't know
how these guys

Would've been able to actually
maneuver an ice cannon.

Mass is a big concern.

The larger it is,

The harder it'll be to build,
move, and manipulate.

Plus, even in the deepest
mid-winter...

Loading the charge now.

...Due to the insulating
properties of ice,

Freezing large amounts
of water takes a long time...

All right, we're set.
Let's go to the bunker.

Narrator: ...Meaning
the smallest breech

That can contain the blast
will be the best option.

So, with the black powder loaded
and no projectile,

Which barrel will survive?

All right!
This is 20-inch diameter breech.

In three, two, one.

[ laughing ]

Well, we just figured out a way
to make hail instantly.

Yeah.
Giant snow cone.

Narrator: Now, that did not go
according to plan.

Kari:
That's not gonna work.

That is the thickest wall
we have.

Tory: Right now, it is not
looking good for the myth.

But you know what?

Maybe we're using
too much black powder.

Maybe we need to find the
perfect amount of black powder

To launch the cannonball
and not destroy our cannon.

Narrator: So, with a few more
freshly frozen 20-inch breeches,

The team decides
a little less boom is required

And not more ice.

Now, the reason that we're going
with less gunpowder

Rather than thicker ice
is twofold.

See, what tends to happen
with ice

Is that the outer layer
insulates the inner layer,

So the core never really
freezes solid.

The second reason is that when
you get to ridiculous-size ice,

It becomes unwieldy...

Whoa!
Aah! [bleep]

Therefore,
ineffective as a weapon.

So, we'll get out
our 20-inch breeches...

Voilà.

...Lower the gunpowder,

And see if we can get a speed
that is potentially deadly.

Narrator: They're scaling down
the black powder

From 8 to a mere 1.25 ounces.

If the 20-inch breech
can't handle this...

All right, our cannon is hot.

...The myth is surely busted.

Tory: In three, two, one.

Grant: I think it did it.
It worked!

We shot the plug out
without blowing up the breech!

Narrator: It was a somewhat
less-than-big boom,

But it's a start.

Kari:
Our breech hasn't exploded.

It's still intact,
which means it's reusable.

We're gonna keep going.
1.75 is next.

All right, ice breech
locked and loaded.

Let's do this.

In three, two, one.

Whoa!

Narrator:
Now, that was more aggressive.

But can a brand-new breech
contain 2 ounces?

2 ounces,
in three, two, one.

Tory: Oh. All right, it looks
like that was too much.

I guess
one and three-quarter ounces,

That's the perfect amount.

Yeah,
two is just a bit too much.

Grant:
So, we've got the ball.

We've got the amount
of black powder.

We've got the size
of the breech.

You know what that means.

That means it's time to build a
full-size cannon and go for it.

Narrator: Later...

Okay, wait,
ooh [bleep]

Aah!

Narrator: The game of moans...
Adam: What the [bleep]

Nothing's making any sense.

Narrator: ...Continues.
[ laughing ]

[ choking ]
ugh.

Jamie: One.
[ air cannon firing ]

Narrator: Adam and jamie have
a super-sized ping-pong popgun,

And they're not afraid
to use it.

[ laughing ]

But while shooting
aesthetically pleasing objects

At 450 miles an hour
is impressive,

They determined the resulting
destruction is less than lethal.

So, what next?

It might break a rib,
but it's not gonna kill you.

Narrator:
Well, adam has chanced upon

A cutting-edge resource
called the, er, internet...

That's amazing.

It turns out
that physics teachers

Have been getting
incredible acceleration

Out of ping-pong balls

Without using
80-foot-long barrels.

And I think it's a method

That we should investigate
immediately.

Okay, cool,
it's working all right.

What they've been doing is,

They've been taking
a 36-inch-long tube of pvc,

And they've been putting
a ping-pong ball in one end.

Then, they put packing tape
over each end of the tube

And they use a vacuum to draw
a full vacuum in that tube.

Okay.

Here we go.
Pulling the vacuum.

Then, when they pierce
that side, of course,

Air wants to rush in
to fill the vacuum,

But the ping-pong ball's
in the way.

So, it starts
to move forward.

Just, everyone back off
a little bit.

There's nothing in its way
in terms of air

Because there's a vacuum.

And so, it bursts
out of this side

At something
over 300 miles per hour.

Narrator: That's the theory.

Here we go!

[ air cannon firing ]

Whoa!

Holy [bleep]

[ laughs ]

Oh, man, that was really good.

I didn't expect it
to work that well.

Narrator: The 3-foot prototype
worked scarily well.

[ air cannon firing ]

Popping the sealed vacuum caused
a sudden influx of air,

And the pressure differential
sends the ball rocketing.

And after a few technique
tweaks...

One.
[ air cannon firing ]

One.
[ air cannon firing ]

...And a double-barrel length...

One!
[ air cannon firing ]

...Adam measures rocketing at...

375 miles an hour.

That is mighty respectable.

Respectable enough
to be the new

Ping-pong projectile power
of choice.

Well, the vacuum trick
for launching a ping-pong ball

Out of a short length of tubing
is working gangbusters.

I actually got 375 miles an hour
on a ping-pong ball

Out of this measly 6-foot tube.

That is awesome,

And this is where I'm gonna
concentrate my energy

To get the fastest
ping-pong ball possible.

All right, we're ready.

Narrator: Based on the theory

That bigger barrels
are better...

Heh, it's taking a little
longer to pump this out.

Jamie: Yeah.

...The guys have rigged
the vacuum pump

To their enormous
80-footer.

There's plenty of nerves...

This has never
been done before.

It's scary.

High expectations...

Here's a world first.

...And energy waiting
to fulfill its potential.

Ping-pong bazooka
in three, two, one!

[ air cannon firing ]

But it's an unexpected
and disappointing dud.

Ah.
That's no good.

Here's our ping-pong ball.

That wall is where we want
the ping-pong ball

To be embedded in.

One!
[ air cannon firing ]

Something's not working.

[ air cannon firing ]

But it's reaching close
to the end of our tube,

And then somehow bouncing back
a little.

Well, not somehow.

See, air rushes in this tube
behind the ping-pong ball.

There's a vacuum in front of it.

But that air sneaks past
the ping-pong ball,

And it looks like
it's providing a cushion

That's actually causing it
to spring back

Once it reaches the end.

So, it's not attaining enough
speed or momentum to bust out.

One.
Adam: Nope.

Didn't make it.

That tells me that we've made
this tube too long.

Narrator: Yep, that cushion
of air decelerates the ball

To the point that it doesn't
have the force

To pop the packing tape.

So, as brody wouldn't say,
they need a shorter barrel.

The question is how short?

We're gonna use the high-speed
camera to find out

Where the ping-pong ball
is no longer accelerating.

Then I'm gonna cut
the barrel there

And hope that that works.

All right, speed test,
here we go.

Three, two, one!

[ air cannon firing ]

Narrator: Several tests...

[ air cannon firing ]

And sums later...

[ laughing ]

One.

They find the ball maxes out
30 feet along the barrel

At an astonishing velocity.

[ laughs ]
829.

We're well past mach 1 here.

Narrator: So, a quick reset
at the requisite length...

Hoo.
Boy, was that tough.

Narrator:
And the guys are expecting...

Let's do it.

...The ball to bust out
of the packing tape

At over 800 miles per hour.
Three, two, one!

[ air cannon firing ]

That would be a supersonic
ping-pong ball.

Sounded fast.

But who knows
what that meant?

What it means is...

275 miles per hour.

We're getting less
out of a 30-foot barrel

Than I was out
of a 6-foot barrel.

Jamie: Yeah.

...A frustrating miscalculation.

Adam: What the [bleep]

It's only coming out of
the barrel at 192 miles an hour.

Narrator:
The shorter barrel means

The ball is now
accelerating enough

That it can burst free.

But the air cushion
is still an issue.

Even though we're seeing speeds
upward of 800 miles per hour

Inside the tube, by the time the
ball leaves the end of the tube,

It's been decelerated
to well under 200 miles an hour.

And that's not lethal.

Narrator: Yep.
So far, this myth is misfiring.

Failure is apparently
the only option.

Narrator:
Back at big boom hq...

[ echoing ] look out, people!
We have an ice cannon!

Narrator: ...It's time
to get down to business.

Cannon goes here.

Kari:
We've come back to angels camp

To do the final experiment
in our ice cannon myth.

100 feet.

Now, so far,
it's been very surprising.

We learned that ice cannonballs
actually stay intact

And can go the distance.

Right here, 150 yards.
Let's set up our target.

Now we're gonna find out
if an ice cannon...

Time to deploy the army.

...Can shoot an ice cannonball.

It's time to go to war.

Grant: So, this sets up
the criteria for our myth.

Number one, the ice cannon
has to have sufficient range,

Meaning that it has to fire
about 150 yards.

Number two, it has to cause
significant damage.

This is a family show.

This isn't quite
from a family store.

We might have to do
a little bit of censoring.

And number three,
it has to be reusable.

One-time-only doesn't work.

That's better.

If the ice cannon meets
all three of these criteria,

Then we can call this myth
plausible.

What is that
they're wheeling out?

[ laughing ]

[ choking ]
ugh.

Narrator: What they're wheeling
out is a full-size cannon.

With a 5-foot-long,
20-inch diameter barrel,

It's a fantastic feat
of frozen engineering.

Whoa!
Yes, it is!

It's coming out.

Good.

But during the cannon's
tricky transition

From vertical in the truck...

Whatever you do,
don't break it.

Shut up.

...To horizontal
on the carriage...

Okay, wait,
ooh [bleep]

...It's apparent how tough
this test is going to be.

Kari: One of the major
challenges of the ice cannon

Is the fact that the one we made
is 600 pounds.

Ice is really, really heavy.
We're lodged.

It won't go up.
It won't?

I have to bring
the whole thing up.

A lot of drama here
on the set of "mythbusters."

Kari: So,
actually having to move it

From the freezer onto a truck,
off the truck, to here...

Oop, stop!

No, don't stop,
keep going!

Okay.
Aah!

Kari:
Get that tube off of the ice

And put it on the carriage

Without cracking
or crushing it,

It's insane!

[ both cheering ]

Now, let's get it
on the carriage.

I just want to see
this thing work once.

I hope we can.

Narrator: The extreme mass

Coupled with the lack
of structural integrity...

Grant: What the hell
are we doing?

This is nuts!

...Is an obvious downfall
of the building material.

Whoo!

But once in position
and prepped...

Beautiful.

Electric match here.

...It truly is
a sight to behold.

♪ ah!
♪ it's beautiful

♪ it's an ice cannon

Narrator:
And whether it works or not...

Look at that beauty.

All right,
don't stand in front.

...The backs-to-the-wall
ingenuity is to be celebrated.

All right,
we're wired and hot!

Kari: What this really is about
is innovation,

Improvised weaponry.

Taking what you have

To make something completely
dangerous and totally cool.

Or maybe a little dangerous.
We'll see.

Remember, do not try anything
you are about to see at home.

Oof!

In our quest to make
the innocent,

2.7-gram ping-pong ball lethal,

I came across a technique online
using a vacuum chamber...

Here we go!
[ air cannon firing ]

...That got us amazing speeds
on this bench

Of 375 miles per hour.

Holy [bleep]

So we thought, "let's just add
some more barrel."

One!
[ air cannon firing ]

That's no good.

So far, that has yielded
pretty much bupkus for us.

What the [bleep]
nothing's making any sense.

But, I have, in researching
this technique further online,

Come across a modification to it

That might just give us
what we're looking for,

And I'm about to build it.

It involves a choke.

Narrator:
With this new piece of tech,

Adam's bringing a little rocket
science to the ping-pong party.

And to understand what it is
and if it works,

Adam's first testing
a short-barrel prototype.

Adam: Part of this rig
is very familiar,

But the addition of the choke...

Ah!
Kidding.

After I pull a vacuum,
I'll put this on here,

Thus making this
a sealed pressure chamber

Behind the barrel.

Vacuumizing.

When I feel like
I've got a full vacuum,

I then hook shop air pressure
up into this,

And the extra
40 to 60 to 80 p.S.I.

That comes out of here
will burst this piece of tape,

Sending everything going,
supposedly much, much faster.

I really hope this works.
[ laughing ]

Three, two, one.

Ho, ho.

[ air cannon firing ]

Wow. Wow!

Narrator:
The blast of pressurized air
popped the vacuum

And added extra energy
to the equation.

But just how much?

779 miles per hour.

Mama! [ laughs ]

That's what I'm talking about.

Narrator:
What adam's talking about

Is that after all
their hard work,

They have a ping-pong ball
faster than the speed of sound.

That's quicker than this...

And this.
[ sonic boom crashing ]

So, where next from here?

Adam: So, this is now
a working proof of concept.

We found about this technology
of adding a choke,

Like, like rocket science.

Rocket science uses a choke
to make jets and rockets work,

And we put it here
with some pressure behind it.

And we got 779 miles per hour.

So now we're gonna go
to a bigger location.

Narrator:
And what a location.

Don't you wish
this could be our shop?

Jamie: Boy, do I.

Here at fabulous fort mason,

Adam and jamie will definitively
answer the question,

How fast can
a table-tennis ball fly?

One down.

Narrator:
And then test its lethality

By super-sizing their prototype
ping-pong popgun barrel...

That's the last one.

Narrator: ...And the pressurized
choke chamber.

Back in the shop, they've used
less than 100 p.S.I.

To pop the packing tape vacuum.

Now they're ramping it up
to 500.

Ready?

Ish.

And they want to deliver
that massive blast...

I hope
you don't break my arm.

...Fast.

[ air cannon firing ]

I think
that was pretty good.

[ laughs ] I think
that was pretty good.

And with the big beast hooked up
and ready for action,

Here's how
it's gonna go down.

Adam: The setup out here
should be pretty familiar

To anyone who's been watching
thus far,

Except for the fact
that the barrel's 150 feet long.

Behind our vacuum tube, of
course, is our pressure chamber,

And pressured to 500 pounds
per square inch of pressure.

The whole business is activated
by this lever,

Which we will set off with...

This.

Narrator: And so, with the air
evacuated from the barrel

And the choke ready to charge,
jamie steps up to the plate.

Here we go, 500 p.S.I.,
150-foot-long barrel

In three, two, one,
do it!

[ air cannon firing ]

[ laughing ]

It is like
a magic trick here.

I was looking
at the ping-pong ball,

And then
it just wasn't there.

Do it!

It wasn't even, like, I had
a sensation of it moving.

It just blip!
Whisked out of existence.

[ air cannon firing ]

Which bodes well ballistically,
until the evidence is found...

[ chuckling ]

There's very little
of the ping-pong ball left.

...And then examined
on the high-speed.

It's not even left the barrel,
and it's totally shattered.

That's a bit of a problem.

The problem being
they need the full weight

Of an aerodynamic, intact ball
for maximum mortal damage.

Adam: The good news is

It was going at a speed
of 1,086 miles per hour.

[ laughs ]

Jamie:
That's pretty fast.

That is pretty fast.

Even though our ping-pong ball
was going at mach 1.4,

Which is amazing, I can't say
that that was successful

Because it wasn't a ping-pong
ball when it left the barrel.

So, we're gonna cut
this barrel at 20 feet.

We're gonna lower
the overall pressure.

Here we go.

20-foot barrel, 300 p.S.I.,
semi-slow release.

We're not sure
what's gonna happen.

Three...

But whatever does ought to
really help inform us

About what's going on.

Two...
So, here we go.

One, go.

[ air cannon firing ]

[ squawking ]

[ laughing ]

That was an ever-loving smack
of a bang.

That was a hell of a bang,
and that ball is rolling.

The ball is intact.

Wow.

Narrator: Intact and insane.

Confirmed on the high-speed

At a world-record
1,100 miles an hour,

The delicate 2.7-gram
ping-pong ball

Is traveling twice as fast
as a jumbo jet,

As fast as a speeding bullet.

Adam: Now we are talking.

We went from a 150-foot barrel

To a 20-foot barrel
with 300 p.S.I. Behind it.

And now it's time to find out
if the 1,100 miles per hour

We got out of the end
of that barrel...

I think we're ready.

...Is in fact lethal.

Lethal balls.
That's what we're looking for.

[ air cannon firing ]

Narrator: Adam and jamie
are about to test

The lethality
of their supersonic balls.

But before that, they want
to shoot jamie's lucky bat.

It has no idea
what's in store for it.

It totally knows
what's in store for it.

Three, two, one, go.

[ air cannon firing ]

[ laughing ]

Narrator: Holy batman.

There's your problem.

That is a beautiful,
beautiful object.

That is an 1,100-mile-per-hour
ping-pong ball,

Ladies and gentlemen.

But is it lethal?

Narrator: In the depths of
an 18th-century siberian winter,

A desperate, siege-bound army
used their imagination

And their most
abundant resource

And came up
with a working ice cannon.

♪ ah!

Narrator: It's been 300 years
since this majestic,

Macgyver-like solution
has supposedly worked.

Will it take out
the fearsome foam army?

It's the moment of truth.

All right, this is ice cannon
final experiment.

In three, two, one.

[ all cheering ]

Tory: And the cannon
is still intact!

Narrator: So far, so good.

With a muzzle velocity
of 200 miles an hour,

The cannonball easily covered
the 150 yards

To the target zone.

Look at this.

This is the ice cannonball.
This is awesome.

We took our first shot, and we
reached two of the parameters.

One, we made the distance,

And our cannon is still
in good condition.

We can take another shot.

Grant: We just didn't get the
damage that we were looking for.

But for something that hasn't
been done in 300 years,

That's pretty good.

Narrator:
Not just pretty good.

The team successfully fired
a cannon made of water.

But according
to their strict criteria,

It's not yet successful.

Well, I know the cannonball made
it all the way to the guys,

But I'm hoping this time,
it actually does some damage.

So when you're talking
about the damage

That a cannonball can cause,

You're talking
about kinetic energy.

Kinetic energy depends on
two things, mass and velocity.

Now, the mass is determined
by the ball itself.

So if we want
more kinetic energy,

What we need to do
is increase the velocity.

Now, under normal circumstances,

All you'd need to do is add
more black powder,

And it comes out faster.

But the more black powder
we put in,

The greater risk
of destroying the cannon itself

Before we get a lethal shot.

Narrator: So with the same
amount of black powder

And a tweaked trajectory...

We are hot.

...Will the ice-cold cannon
this time

Be an ice-cold killer?

This is the ice cannon,
in three, two, one!

Grant and tory: Aw.

Narrator: The answer is...No.

Although the ball more
than covered the distance,

Sailing over the heads
of the targets,

This myth is on the rocks.

[ laughing ]
I like this.

I'm gonna start
crushing my ice this way.

Mixing fire and ice

Was never likely to be
a dangerous cocktail.

But given the severe limitations
of the material,

It was an incredible effort
of ingenuity.

This is the myth that was almost
plausible so many times.

It was looking so good
in the beginning.

We started out
with our ice cannonballs.

Fired out of a real cannon
at high speed.

Then we went to the breeches,

And we found a breech size
that would hold

A reasonable amount
of black powder.

We put the whole thing together,
built a full-size cannon,

Brought it out here
to face our army.

And it was, again,
looking very promising.

But unfortunately,

On the one that would've caused
the most damage,

Which is the one that sailed
over the army's heads

And hit the wall,

That's the one where the cannon
itself exploded.

And for this myth
to be plausible,

We have to have damage and range
and reusability all in one.

And that just never happened.

So, unfortunately,

I think we have to
bust this one.

And I'm not happy about it.

[ hums "hava nagila" ]

Narrator: Table tennis,

One of the fastest ball sports
on the planet.

But surely it can never be
fast enough...To be fatal.

So it all comes down to this,

A ping-pong ball going
1,100 miles per hour...

Go.

...Versus flesh.

Which one's gonna win?

We're about to find out.

For our lethality test,

Today's human analogue will be
played by a pork shoulder,

Otherwise known as a pork butt,

Because pork has four shoulders
and two of them are butts.

It's true.
Look it up.

Narrator: The question is, will
the world-record-breaking ball

Bounce harmlessly off the butt
or penetrate with lethal force?

Time to turn some potential
energy into some actual energy.

You ready?

I'm ready.
Okay.

Short barrel, 300 p.S.I.,
lethality test

With a pork butt
in three, two, one, go.

[ air cannon firing ]

Whoa.
[ laughing ]

That was a blast...
Literally.

[ laughing ]

But how did
our porcine pal fare?

All right,
let's look at the damage.

Ew.

Dude.

There's, like, flesh trauma

Going down an inch and a half
into here.

That's impressive.

Adam: I must admit,
if you had asked me beforehand,

I would've told you that
I thought the ping-pong ball

Was going to bounce
right off of the pig.

I thought the mass
of the two objects was such

That the ball really wouldn't do
that much damage.

I am shocked
by how much damage it did.

Now, that thing
actually penetrated.

That's
ping-pong-ball-shaped.

That is a shocker.

That would hurt.

But I think we still need to
call that this a non-lethal hit.

It did not penetrate
all the way through the flesh

Or leave some gaping wound,

And barring some lucky hit,
that is not a deadly hit.

This is a substantial flesh
wound, but it ain't lethal.

[ air cannon firing ]

Narrator: Yep, despite
the extreme air pressure

And a supersonic ball
making the pig fly,

The impact did not
mortally harm the ham.

So, final verdict?

A mach 1.4 ping-pong ball

Might just be the fastest
ping-pong ball in history...

Extremely dangerous,
but not lethal.

Not lethal at all.
The myth is busted.

Busted, it is.
Let's get out of here.