Original subtitles

Don't try anything you see on this show at home.

We're what you call "experts."

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

Aah!

Adam and Jamie risk drowning and dysentery...

This water's disgusting!

By testing the voracity

of this multi-million-hit viral video.

That was very light-footed!

[ Laughs ]

Can man, woman, or a sporting superstar

actually manage to briefly run on water?

I'm more nervous of this than i was at the Olympics.

Narrator: Meantime, kari, Tory, and Grant

try blasting a supposedly survivable action-movie stunt.

Tory: Oh, my gosh.

Well, that was definitely a death zone.

[ Smooches ]

When you're desperately diving for cover,

just what is and what isn't bomb proof?

You'd probably be bleeding from your ears, but it is bomb proof.

Whoa! Ho-ho-ho!

Narrator: Who are the mythbusters?

Adam savage...

That's 100% wacky right there.

And Jamie hyneman.

[ Warbling ]

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

Joining them...

Tory belleci...

Let's torch this thing!

Grant imahara...

It's lethal, people!

And kari Byron.

Kari: I'm starting to get the idea

that this shouldn't be done inside.

They don't just tell the myths.

Oh, yeah.

They put them to the test.

Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

first up, a myth that seems to defy the laws of physics.

Jamie, there's a viral video we absolutely have to test.

Double rainbow?

No.

This is some dudes by the side of a lake

wearing shoes they say are water-repellent,

and then they proceed to run on the water.

They actually run across the surface of the water

in these shoes.

I'm dubious.

And that's why we're interested in this.

Let's roll the videotape!

[ Film projector clicking ]

This is the clip that's got more than 7 million online viewers

rethinking what they thought they knew about, well, sinking.

There's not a whole lot to it.

Strap on a pair of waterproof shoes,

run on a curve to enhance the skimming effect,

and keep the faith for a dozen adrenaline-fueled strides.

I think if you don't actually believe

that you're gonna walk on that water,

it's not gonna happen for you.

Narrator: They call it liquid mountaineering.

But is this approach to temporarily walking on water

a myth or a miracle?

What do you think? Should we just go for it?

I think so.

Let's find ourselves a lake

and replicate exactly what we see them doing in that clip.

Works for me.

Okay.

Finding a lake that looks much like the one in the clip

is the easy part.

[ Quacking ]

Now it's time to run on the water.

Narrator: Adam's optimism should be infectious.

But over the years, Jamie's built up a natural resistance.

According to the clip, this is all about the shoe.

They're hydrophobic, which means they repel water.

Well, we've got the same type of shoe,

and they do seem to repel water.

Whether that translates

to me being able to run across a lake or something,

let's just say i think I'm going for a swim.

Narrator: According to the viral video,

Jamie needs to hit the water at speed.

And the turf should ensure traction

right down to the lake's edge.

Adam: You know, in the clip, they talk significantly

about the curve that you enter the water in,

like on a long arc, and about believing.

You believe? You believe you can do it?

I'm right there. You know me.

[ Laughs ] All right.

All right, here we go.

Ugh.

So much for focus.

But maybe it does all come down to self-belief.

Three, two, one, go!

[ Laughs ]

[ Laughs ]

Or maybe not.

[ Groans ]

These shoes don't repel water well enough

to keep me on top of the water.

I just sort of ran into the water,

and that's all there is to it.

[ Laughs ]

All right, come on out. I want to give it a shot.

So, any words of advice?

Keep your mouth closed.

It's sort of like au jus de duck poop in there.

[ Laughing ] Oh, god!

[ Spits ] No problem.

Adam's instincts tell him

a longer run-up might yield a better result.

Okay, I'm ready.

In three, two, one, go!

You really can't fault the execution.

In fact, Adam's effort

looked just like the ones in the video...

Except for the end bit.

Adam: Oh!

This water's disgusting!

So, did you feel like you were on top of the water?

I mean, 'cause you didn't really look like it.

I felt like i was getting some good leg motion,

like, "pat, pat, pat," on the ground.

And then my foot hit the water, and it just kept going.

Apparently, the technique does take some getting used to.

So I'm gonna give it another go.

Knock yourself out.

They both decide to continue the test,

desperate to take at least one step on water.

Whoa!

This continues to not work.

Every single attempt ends with a splash and a crash.

Adam: Well, that was a spectacular failure.

Yeah, these shoes are gonna have to have

a lot more going for them than water-repellence

for that to work.

True enough.

[ Laughs ]

Now to a myth

that takes self-preservation to its natural conclusion.

All right, so, as you guys know, and you guys definitely know,

we have tested a ton of myths

where we have taken everyday objects

to see if they're bulletproof.

Like laptops, sheriff badges. Yep.

And we've also done an episode

on what is supposedly stab proof.

Like money. Exactly.

But you know what? This one is gonna trump them all.

We are taking everyday objects to see if they're bomb proof.

Narrator: And those everyday objects,

as suggested by you, the fans, are...

A table, a car, a wall, and a dumpster,

all four inspired by Hollywood.

It's the kind of stuff you see all the time in action movies.

Moments before a bomb blast,

the hero leaps to safety behind a parked car.

[ Explosion ]

The heroine is just close enough to reach that cinder-block wall.

[ Explosion ]

Or the sidekick,

who's still got a snappy line or two left in him,

finds refuge in the refuse.

[ Explosion ]

But we want to know if any of these suburban shields

could really save your bacon.

Okay, for the explosive du jour, how about we use c-4?

That's used in a lot of Hollywood explosions.

Sounds great.

And first, we should do a control blast

to establish the injury zone.

We can start bringing objects one by one

to see if they're bomb proof.

All right, well, the maximum amount of c-4

we can use at the bomb range is 3 pounds.

That is a gonna be a huge blast.

This is gonna be a cool experiment.

You have no idea how right you are.

Narrator: For the whole team, this shapes up

as a pretty sweet day at the office.

"What's bomb proof?"

I can't believe we haven't though of this one before.

Narrator: The first thing to work out

is the perfect test distance

between the bomb and the shields.

Too close and the whole experiment just blows to pieces.

Too far away

and the shock wave might not be lethal in the first place.

So this will take some finessing.

Come on, Byron. Hurry up. We don't have all day.

Now, we're gonna set up a number of radii

from the epicenter of the blast.

At each of these radii, we're gonna put two burst disks,

one that goes at 13, which is the threshold of injury,

and one that goes at 75,

which is the threshold of instant death.

Narrator: We've used burst disks before on the show

to find out if various shock waves were survivable,

without actually resorting to a human sacrifice.

So in this control blast, they're testing the outer limits

of two differently calibrated disks...

One set for certain death, the other for injury.

Grant: Up to some point, once the blast goes off,

these are all gonna burst.

At the point where they don't burst,

inside of that radius is injury.

Outside of it is the safe zone.

And identical on the other side...

Inside of the death radius means instant death.

3 pounds c-4.

Tory: All right, you guys ready to see

how much damage this shock wave can do?

Absolutely.

Kari: Charging.

And three, two, one...

[ Laughter ] Whoa!

That was a nice thud.

That was a good one. Let's go check our disks.

3 pounds of c-4 is the most

we can actually use at the bomb range.

And i can see why.

That is a nice, high-powered, destructive explosion.

We got a beautiful, quick poof of orange,

and then nice, clear kind of sheer destructive blast.

Narrator: Destructive is right.

All that's left of the c-4 spike is a stump.

All right, so, death side first. What do we got?

We are bursting at 10 feet.

So if you're anywhere zero to 10 feet from the blast, you're dead.

In the staggered arc,

the 10-foot disk was the farthest one to burst.

The disks at 11 feet and beyond stayed intact.

So they've got their range.

All right, let's check injury.

As the shock wave expands,

the chance of death, as you'd expect, decreases with distance.

Ooh, look at all these ruptures.

So this is the 20-foot marker.

All the way through.

All right. So that's the injury radius.

Zero to 20 feet... You're getting injured.

Once again, they've got their range

by noting that the next disk, at 21 feet, didn't burst.

So these are the blast boundaries...

Just inside 10 feet for certain death, and inside 20 for injury.

But could everyday objects placed on the edge of the zones

really save life and limb?

There's just one way to test it, and that's by blowing stuff up.

After the break, Adam and Jamie see if sheer speed

can enhance your running-on-water experience.

Adam: Go!

Narrator: Having totally failed

to skip across a lake like a well-pitched stone,

Adam and Jamie have reverted to plan "b."

On your marks, get set...

Narrator: And plan "b" is a beauty.

Adam: If successfully running on the water is dependent on speed,

we need someone really fast.

And that's where Wallace spearmon, behind me,

comes into the picture.

His 6'3", 170 pounds,

and he's run the 200 meters in 19.65 seconds,

making him the 5th-fastest person in the world

at that distance and the perfect test subject for us.

How are you doing? Pretty good.

If speed's the missing ingredient,

that's what Wallace has brought.

Narrator: They figure that lightning speed

might well be the key to success.

And this man also runs the 100 meters in under 10 seconds.

So, Wallace, how far do you think you're gonna get?

I'm hoping three steps. Just three steps?

I'm fast, but i don't know if I'm that fast. We'll see.

Okay. Whew.

Jamie: This test is mostly about speed.

And Wallace is pretty fast... On land.

However, when Wallace moves from the land and into the water,

he's not gonna have the same kind of traction,

and that means he's gonna slow down really quickly.

I'm more nervous of this than i was at the Olympics.

[ Laughs ]

Narrator: And fair enough...

Even the Olympics can't compare to walking on water.

So let's see if sheer speed is the answer.

Adam: Three, two, one, go!

Apparently not.

[ Laughs ] It's cold.

Ugh.

He didn't seem to do any better than any of our other tests.

Now, his first step on the water

actually was quite a bit further out.

But once it touched the water,

it went down, same as the rest of us.

But spearmon junior hasn't come all this way

to pick up his towel and run home.

Take off.

In three, two, one, go!

[ Adam laughs ]

Hmm.

I don't think it's working, guys.

Try harder. I got you, coach.

Narrator: Wallace has also seen the viral video.

And just like Jamie and Adam,

he's become obsessed with the thought

that a minor miracle might be only a quick step away.

He's not quitting. Nope.

Adam: You know, one of the things

that they talked about extensively in the video

was how much you had to want to run on the water.

And Wallace did a fantastic job with that.

He talked to us about it.

He really wanted to make this work.

He thought about his stride.

He thought about the way his feet were hitting the water.

And he gave it every chance he could.

And it was still a total bust.

I want this.

Jamie: So it turns out speed's not everything.

Maybe if we got Wallace up to about 100 miles an hour,

he'd skip across the lake like a rock.

But given that humans can only run

up to about 30 miles an hour, it's not happening.

All right, so, we've done our control test.

And it turns out if you are 10 feet away

from 3 pounds of c-4 exploding, you're dead.

If you're 20 feet away, you're gonna be pretty messed up.

Now that we've established those distances,

we're gonna see if hiding behind an object

can protect you from the blast wave.

Narrator: And the first object

might not be your first choice of shelter,

assuming you had a choice.

That's because it's a plain wooden table.

No, i don't think I'd want to be 10 feet away

from 3 pounds of c-4, behind just a table.

Oh, come on. That's 3/4-inch pine.

Yeah, it does seem kind of flimsy, huh?

Narrator: We'll find out how flimsy in just a few minutes.

Pow!

Grant plants the burst disk behind the pine

as kari and Tory deliver a twin for the 20-foot test.

All right, let's point it towards the blast.

This is the injury zone.

All right. Get in there.

Given the likelihood of shrapnel,

foam figures are added to catch any potentially fatal shards.

But the way Grant sees it, that's not the main threat.

So, when we're looking at what is bomb proof,

what we're actually looking at

is a branch of physics called fluid dynamics,

because we're looking at the movement of air,

and air is technically a fluid.

Now, when you set off a high explosive such as c-4,

what it does is create

a high-velocity, high-pressure wave of air.

And that high pressure

is potentially what is deadly to you.

Narrator: With one table just 10 feet from ground zero

and the other a scant 20...

13 p.S.I. For the injury zone.

It's a test that seems certain to end in splinters.

Unprotected, we know

that a blast of c-4 would ruin your health.

Now to see if a simple pine table can save you.

Okay, this is "what is bomb proof?... Wooden table."

Tory: All right, charging.

In three, two, one.

Kari: Whoa! [ Laughs ]

Wow!

Oh, my gosh!

Well, that was definitely the death zone.

Now, one table is down,

but the other table is still standing.

Let's go look at the damage!

Narrator: No prize for guessing

which table is gone and which one looks kind of intact.

But the rubble inside the death zone has a surprise in store.

There's no table left.

The table is completely destroyed!

Oh, my god!

No way! The burst disks are intact!

What the heck? How is that possible?

The table must have deflected the pressure wave.

Narrator: That's exactly what it did,

even if Tory finds the data hard to swallow.

There is no way you would have come away from this uninjured.

No, but by our criteria, you would not have instantly died.

Grant makes a good point.

Incredibly, a simple wooden table

made an otherwise fatal explosion survivable.

Now to check out the injury disk at the 20-foot mark.

Okay, well, the table's still standing.

Let's see. Sort of.

Ah! It's not burst.

It's definitely crinkled.

You may have got away without any injury on this one.

Okay, these results are so interesting.

Let's go check out the high-speed.

I'm dying to see what it looks like.

Narrator: Me, too.

And it looks like that massive shock wave

was at least interrupted by the table

that Tory quite recently called "flimsy."

Whoa! Wow.

Look at the wave.

The disk didn't burst, but that table is in shreds.

Narrator: Both tables absorbed the brunt of the blast.

In the 10-foot death zone, extreme shrapnel

from the shattered wood might have been fatal,

but the shock wave wouldn't.

And at 20 feet, you will remain snug and safe.

Up next, replicating a reptile

that has this whole "water-walk" thing down pat.

Yeah, it's a big tail. So what?

Jamie: Go!

Narrator: So far, Adam...

And Jamie...

And a world-class runner...

[ Adam laughs ]

have failed to replicate this viral video.

So it's time to think outside the box.

We couldn't make it work,

and speed is definitely not a factor.

So where do we go from here?

Well, i think i may have found

the grain of truth at the heart of this myth.

Really? Really.

It turns out there's a Basilisk lizard,

otherwise known as the "Jesus Christ lizard,"

that actually can run on water.

It can? It can.

Really? Really.

Narrator: Yeah, really.

This remarkable reptile can run

as far as 20 yards across the water's surface.

And that's just the kind of inspiration they need

to replicate the results of the viral video.

All right, it looks like his feet are actually

slapping the surface of the water.

But they're continuing to push down and back

as he's moving along.

Also, he's... it's not like he's running like this.

He's, like, running with his legs out, like that.

Yeah, in an oar-like fashion.

[ Laughing ] I could watch this all day.

[ Chuckles ]

But that's not gonna happen.

Based on what they just saw,

Adam and Jamie will each build their own versions

of lizard/human hybrid footwear.

The aim is the same... To run on water.

Where the waterproof shoes failed,

these just might do the job.

So, after looking at all the scientific papers that I've got

about the physics of how this lizard stays above the water,

it really seems to come down to the surface area of its foot

and how hard it smacks the water.

Narrator: The design details

of Adam's water-smacking lizard loafers are all in his head.

The hinge in his feet shows that flexibility is a key factor.

But otherwise, it's a case of watch and wait.

Jamie, however, lays all his cards on the table.

I figure, why mess around?

[ Chuckles ]

Narrator: It's clear from the get-go

that we're witnessing the birth of the shovel shoe...

Patent pending.

Jamie: Now, a lizard foot

is an incredibly hard thing to replicate.

It's a whole bunch of finely muscled and jointed segments

all working together, that allow it to run on water.

[ Lizard grunting ]

So I've taken a kind of intuitive leap here.

I'm hoping that cupped shape of the inverted shovel blade

will cut into the water and then scoop it backwards.

And once it's finished with the first sweep,

it should be easy enough to pull the whole thing forwards

without dragging half the lake back with it.

And just so you don't break your ankles,

the attachments I'm using here

are slightly modified boots and ankle braces from snowboards.

Narrator: Meantime, Adam proves he's the master of multitasking.

If you're not sure what he's up to, here's a clue.

So, his tail's coming out to about here.

Seems like it's counterbalancing him.

Yeah. Also potentially, you know, ruddering.

Yep.

In the quest to build a better lizard,

Adam's decided it's not all about the feet.

The Basilisk lizard has substantial counterbalance.

So an articulated tail is deemed essential equipment.

Yeah, it's a big tail. So what?

Narrator: Adam's done,

and Jamie's shovel shoes are also ready for action.

That might work.

So it's back to the very same lake

that proved so unsupportive the first time around.

But they have changed the stunt staff.

Adam: Our water-walking lizard today will be played by Jessica.

She's 58 1/4 inches tall, weighs 100 pounds,

and she's an acrobat.

We think that her strength, her agility, and her diminutive size

make her the perfect candidate to help us make this work.

You feeling ready? Ready!

Let's do it.

Narrator: If either design stands a chance,

it makes sense to strap them

to the lightest, most agile frame they can find.

First up is the control, our point of comparison.

Jessica is going to run into the water

without any apparatus on her, just like we did.

Narrator: Jessica's faster than Adam and Jamie.

She's much lighter.

And the odds are she should do a little better.

Here we go! Running on water!

Control in three, two, one, go!

[ Both laugh ]

Adam: She is fast! Jamie: Yep.

Come on out.

Nice work. Let's get you dry.

Narrator: Checking the high-speed,

it's hard to see any marked improvement over Adam and Jamie.

She ran, she hit water, and she sank.

Come on.

But maybe, just maybe,

Adam's giant shoes will reverse the result.

The biggest obstacle to buoyancy

is that Jess is denser than water.

But then again, so is a lizard.

The Basilisk spreads scaly fringes between its toes

to increase its surface area on the water,

which is what Adam's tried to do.

Then it all comes down to speed and balance.

Adam: Now, if it's true that we are minutes away

from setting lizard/human, hybrid history

and walking a human on the water,

it will be because of my two-pronged attack.

First prong is the feet,

providing the widest possible surface area

for Jessica to smack the water with,

providing, hopefully, enough up pressure

to keep her above the surface

and giving her the same amount of flexibility

as her normal feet or as close as we could achieve.

The second prong is the tail,

acting as both a rudder and a stabilizer.

A lizard wouldn't run across the water without it,

and neither will our acrobat.

Jamie: How's she gonna do?

Well, she looks about as close to a Jesus lizard

as you can get at this point.

It worked for the lizard. Maybe it'll work for her.

Let's do it.

Narrator: If nothing else,

our acrobat's about to prove she's no lounge lizard.

In three, two, one, go!

You can do it!

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

Oh!

Oh!

Oh!

[ Coughing ]

How are you doing? You all right?

Aah!

Astonishingly, it did not work!

It's, like, stuck in the mud!

Oh, really?

Narrator: Jess did her best, but it's fair to say

the rig fell short of its early promise.

Did you feel like the shoes held you above the water at all?

Not at all. No?

You just plunged right in? Yep.

Narrator: Now it's all up to genius Jamie

to prove that a man... Or woman... can walk on water.

Coming up, the hopefully bomb proof shield

that just might defeat its own purpose.

Kari: It's right next to that bomb.

It's gonna... boom!... Smash that car!

Do not try any of the experiments

you are about to see at home.

You heard him. Don't do it.

Tory: So, so far, testing what is bomb proof,

it turns out that the table will save you

from death and injury from the blast wave.

However, at 10 feet, it will not save you from the shrapnel.

Narrator: But a wooden table is a world away from a mostly metal car.

It's another classic Hollywood refuge suggested by fans.

The silver sedan is set side onto the blast,

out on the 20-foot ring.

And stop.

[ Tires screeching ]

Grant: So, this is our 13-p.S.I. Burst disk

here at the edge of the injury zone.

And it's right here behind the wheel, where,

you know, if you were hiding from an explosion, you'd crouch.

Narrator: Whether or not that's a smart move,

we'll find out when the bomb goes off.

The white car drew the short straw,

so it's in the death zone.

And the death disk now has an injury disk for company.

What I've done now is added an injury disk in the death zone

'cause what i want to find out is, will the blast cause injury

in the death zone now if the car is in place?

Grant: Okay, so, we've got two cars set up

and 3 pounds of c-4 between them.

I think it's gonna be a pretty good shield.

Narrator: Kari agrees that the car should block the shock wave.

Check out this man.

Narrator: But she's still convinced it'll all end in tears.

Kari: If the burst disks rupture, it's not from the wave.

It's 'cause a car's gonna fall onto them.

It's right next to that bump. It tore a table in half.

It's gonna... boom!... Smash that car straight into those.

Narrator: She might be right.

If you're crushed by the shelter you're cringing behind,

that does kind of defeat the purpose.

Okay.

Here we go! In three, two, one!

Whoa! Ho-ho-ho!

You know what?

That looked like a pretty good bomb shield.

Grant: Dude, did you see how far it moved the car?

Yeah! I'm not so sure.

Let's check it out. All right.

Narrator: It's clear that the car nearest the bomb

took a beating.

But just to build the suspense,

they checked the injury-zone disks first.

Oh, my gosh. Look at the damage it did to that car.

It shattered the window, knocked the hubcaps off.

Wow. That is intense.

Narrator: But the disk tells its own story.

They're not burst. We're good.

Looks like we're bomb proof against injury at 20 feet.

Perfect. Let's check for death. Awesome.

Narrator: So now for the big one.

Behind the death-zone car was a death disk and an injury disk.

Wow!

That is crazy.

There's no way you survive this.

Expectations are not high.

Oh, my god. You survive.

You survive death?

Yeah!

You don't die? No.

You live? You live.

Narrator: It takes a while to sink in.

Even though the injury disk burst, the death disk did not.

So by our criteria, then, car is bomb proof.

Looks like there's some truth to these action films after all.

Narrator: The high-speed shows the car buffeted five 5 feet,

which would knock you flat.

Most of the glass shattered, and the burst injury disk shows

you wouldn't jump up shouting, "you missed me!"

But given this methodology and this amount of c-4,

a car is a safe shelter.

This was a really cool explosion.

Honestly, i thought the car would get a lot more torn up.

But it turns out it's a really good block.

We did not burst the instant-death disk.

Grant: This is a really interesting result.

We found that a car prevents you from dying in the death zone

and prevents you from getting injured in the injury zone,

which means that it's bomb proof.

Narrator: Adam and Jamie are rapidly realizing

that the concept of "man running on water"

is every bit as improbable as it sounds.

[ Groans ]

Running on top of the water is totally possible...

If you're a bug.

Something tiny like a water strider

is small enough and light enough

to rely on the surface tension of the water

to stay on top of it.

As we get larger though, things like Jesus lizards

have to run really hard to be able to do that.

And as we get larger still,

something like a water fowl, like a duck...

They can run on top of the water, too,

but they need help.

They use their wings.

Narrator: Adam built two fancy lizard feet and a Godzilla tail.

All he managed to do was to half-drown an acrobat.

I can't say that my rig was a success.

I mean, we definitely did not see the human/lizard hybrid

skipping across the water that i had dreamed about.

Narrator: But Jamie has dreams of his own.

And Jessica's job is to make them come true.

So, what do you call these? Shovel shoes?

Shovel shoes they are.

It kind of has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Yep.

True to form, Jessica's soon up and flapping.

How about trying to do a little run?

It seems like she's found her inner lizard.

There you go. It's just what the Jesus lizard does.

You know, just flail at it.

Now let's go back down to the water.

But any purchase of Jamie's shovel shoes

comes with a free gift,

a kind of outrigger walking frame that adds balance,

much like a tail does, but up front.

Jamie: While a tail may provide a certain amount of stability,

i figure that we can do the same thing in the front with a ski.

But with the ski, we'll also get

a certain amount of supporting lift on the water.

Narrator: Jamie's also relying on a bigger surface area

to help keep Jess afloat.

But Adam's shoes were flat.

And these concave feet could make a real difference.

On the other hand, the ski's too cumbersome to carry.

So she won't get much of a run-up.

Okay.

Shovel shoes in three, two, one, go.

[ Laughs ]

Okay, that was just embarrassing.

So maybe the ski should go the way of the tail.

All right, shovel shoes without the sled

in three, two, one,

go.

Hey! [ Laughs ]

She's a good sport. Uh-huh.

We could try this a hundred times,

and i don't think we'd get running on water.

No, i don't think we would.

Narrator: Straight ahead, the dumpster and the brick wall

that might or might not save your life.

Hey, somebody threw away a perfectly good mythbuster.

So, here's where we're at.

We are testing the myth of "what is bomb proof?"

And so far, we've tested a wooden table and a car.

And as it turns out, those things are bomb proof,

both in the death zone and in the injury zone.

Next up, we're gonna test one of these... a dumpster.

It's like in the action movies where a bomb's going off,

a hero sees a dumpster,

thinks, "oh, I'll jump in there and be safe."

Narrator: Whatever happens, it looks like

they've already confirmed the myth

that getting in is a whole lot easier than getting out.

What a shame.

Somebody threw away a perfectly good mythbuster.

A little help?

As with the table and the car, they'll test two dumpsters,

one at the 10-foot death zone,

and one at the 20-foot injury zone.

Perfect!

If this doesn't work out, we could be trash men.

Okay, this is the 13-p.S.I.

All right, this is the injury disk. Yep.

Narrator: Once again, they fit

an injury and a death disk in the death-zone dumpster.

Now, you'd think those four steel walls

would be the best shelter yet

against having a bomb churn your insides to custard.

But here's the thing...

It's a mostly enclosed box, except for the lid.

If that energy wave actually diffracts around the top edge,

because it has these rigid walls inside,

you could see some reflection

and possibly get higher pressures inside of the box.

Narrator: And that same, exact thought

has already occurred to kari.

Kari: If the waves happens to bounce

off the back side of the dumpster,

if it amplifies, we might burst one of the disks.

Oh, bomb's going off! Get in!

Narrator: But Tory's no time for this kind of trash talk.

Tory: You know what?

I have a feeling this is gonna act just like a bunker.

I mean, you're surrounded by steel.

The roof is open, but i think

the shock wave is gonna go right over you.

You might get some ear damage,

but i think you're gonna be pretty good.

Narrator: And the catalyst for catastrophe

is still 3 whole pounds of plastic explosive.

Let's do this.

In three, two, one.

[ Laughter ] Nice.

Tory: Wow, that looked pretty good.

Those dumpsters look in pretty good shape.

The one on the right went boom!

Narrator: The 13 p.S.I. Disk in the injury dumpster

remains intact.

So you'd be unscathed at 20 feet.

And the death-zone dumpster

doesn't look too much the worse for wear.

You know, for being so close to that blast,

this dumpster looks in pretty good shape.

Hey, the 75-p.S.I. Disk is not ruptured.

Yeah, but the injury disk is busted.

So you're gonna survive, but you're injured.

Narrator: But some of the shock wave must have penetrated

or the injury disk wouldn't have burst.

Still, the dumpsters did well.

Injury free at the injury zone,

and alive but unwell at the death zone.

Tory: So, this is the dumpster

that was 10 feet away from the c-4 blast.

And look at it. It's in pretty good shape.

I mean, it's got some concaving happening,

so it took a lot of the shock.

But, i mean, it acted like armor.

And our death disk did not burst,

which means if you were in here, you would have survived.

You'd probably be bleeding from your ears, but it is bomb proof.

Narrator: So far, the results have surprised everyone,

not least because

every shelter tested inside said parameters

actually would save your life.

Next and last is a cinder-block wall.

And if you think you know how this one goes down,

all i can say is you're probably wrong.

I'm pretty sure that this wall is going to block the wave

and you're gonna survive behind it

and you're gonna get no injuries behind it.

I mean, it's a brick frickin' wall.

Narrator: Point taken.

And they've only built one brick frickin' wall, as Tory explains.

So, we only have one wall to test this one,

but we still have to have

the death zone, which is 10 feet away,

and the injury zone, which is 20 feet away.

So, since we only have one wall,

we're gonna have to move our blast zone

to 10 feet and 20 feet.

Narrator: Common sense says start wide and work your way in.

So Tory sets the first charge at the 20-foot mark.

Grant fits the 13-p.S.I. Injury disk...

And kari supplies the styrofoam stuntman.

Now to see if a freestanding cinder-block wall

is as solid and as safe as it looks.

In three, two, one, fire!

Grant: Wow!

Oh, i never get tired of that!

That was loud.

All right! That was a big blast.

All right, let's see if it was bomb proof.

The wall's still intact.

It is.

And the disk?

The disk is...

Crinkled but still intact.

So it's bomb proof for injury.

All right, let's see if it'll save your life.

Narrator: They're down to the last 3 pounds of explosive.

And halving the distance from last time

brings it all into perilous perspective.

All right, 10 feet is right here.

[ Laughing ] Oh, my god, that's so close.

Oh, my gosh. We're gonna destroy this wall.

All right, bang it in.

The wall itself was examined and patched up,

so it's just as strong as before.

You're very trusting right now.

No longer.

Grant installs the last two burst disks.

75...

and 13.

And the bunker beckons.

In three, two, one, firing!

Whoa!

My gosh! Down went the wall!

That wall is gone!

I don't know if the disk is ruptured,

but i think a brick would fall on your head.

I think we have shrapnel.

I don't think that's bomb proof at all.

Let's go check it out!

Narrator: It sure doesn't look it.

Barely a single brick is still joined to another,

but the bomb-proof proof

all rests with those sensitive disks.

We're testing the lethality of the shock wave, pure and simple.

Whoa! Hey!

They both survived.

So, both disks are still intact.

Tory: All right, so it looks like

the wall protects you from the shock wave,

both from injury and death.

Narrator: It's an amazing result.

The blast was big enough to turn the wall to rubble,

but the wall would still save you from death and even injury.

Incredibly, all four shelters

made an otherwise fatal blast survivable,

which is a massively surprising result.

And the foam figures showed

that serious shrapnel was only a factor with the wooden table.

Tory: I wonder what else is bomb proof.

What about duct tape? Ooh, that's a good one.

Grant: Phone books? Ooh, i like that one.

All right, well, as incredible as it seems,

i think we're gonna have to call "myth confirmed"

on all four shelters.

I mean, they were technically bomb proof

in the parameters that we set up.

Yeah, but we should make it clear

that if the blast were any larger

or the explosion any closer,

that would be a different situation.

We were specifically testing the blast wave.

And if you dive behind something solid,

it's definitely gonna dampen it.

But shrapnel? Now, that's unpredictable.

Narrator: Still to come,

Adam and Jamie finally do walk on water.

Go! All right, let's go.

We've tried everything we can to successfully run on the water.

We've tried it ourselves.

Aah!

We brought in an olympic-class runner.

And we even made a human/lizard hybrid

by strapping two special sets of shoes to a gymnast.

Yes! Yes!

Oh!

And nothing has worked.

I think you'll agree that this thing is busted.

But of course we can't leave it there.

We want to see us run on water,

which means we've got to cheat this sucker.

And i think you know on "mythbusters,"

when we're about to cheat something,

that means we're gonna utilize

a pile of wood and a pile of steel.

Let the cheating begin.

Jamie: What we have in mind is a bridge.

But instead of going over the water,

our bridge will go under the water

maybe a couple of inches or so.

You won't be able to see it,

but we'll be able to run on it just like they did in the clip.

Narrator: But building a sub-aqua sidewalk

is a whole lot trickier than it sounds.

Jamie: We're using square tube steel for the frame

because it's relatively easy to cut and weld.

Obviously, also, it's less buoyant than wood,

and that means that we won't have to weight it down as much

to keep it stable.

Narrator: But they do need a wood surface to run on.

It's got enough give

to enhance the illusion of running on water.

Awesome.

The next step is to camouflage it black.

Look at that.

White shirt, black paint...

That's what being fearless is all about.

What?

Narrator: The black paint should reflect

the least amount of light.

And it's all tied together

with a long strip of flexible, clear plastic.

Adam: This is the device

that will allow us to look like we're running on the water.

It's an underwater bridge.

It has two features that'll make this extra-realistic, i believe.

One... a set of adjustments. Now, it's all the way down.

That'll allow us to precisely calibrate

its distance under the water.

I believe it's about 1.5 to 2 inches, will be ideal.

And two, this wooden top actually floats,

which means when we run along it,

it's actually gonna give a little bit, hopefully

lending an extra-realistic aspect to our running.

Narrator: All that remains is to sink it

precisely to 2 inches under.

And that calls for teamwork.

It's beautifully balanced! Jamie: Good.

Let's walk on down.

Okay.

The basic concept of a sunken catwalk

is pretty straightforward.

Does that seem right?

I think that seems right. It looks great.

Let's lower it down.

But the uneven contours of the lake bed

force Adam to make some adjustments.

After a delicate tap or two,

both Adam and Jamie are convinced

that they're good to go.

I know! I know!

You're thinking, "i can totally see that bridge!

How is this thing gonna work?"

Remember, special effects isn't only about building a prop.

It's also about how you film the prop.

We're not gonna film this from this angle.

We're gonna film it from this angle.

See? No bridge.

Do you see a bridge?!

No bridge!

No bridge.

Narrator: Now let's see if our fake measures up to theirs.

Running on water by cheating

in three, two, one, go!

All right, let's go.

[ Laughs ] Aah!

Ohh!

Yeah! That looked great!

[ Laughs ] Beautiful!

Jamie: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how it's done.

Narrator: Ours was a fraud, and it looks like theirs was, too.

My turn.

But Jamie knows better than anyone

that reliable results should be repeatable.

Three, two, one, go!

Go! Go! Go! You've got it!

You've got it! Yes! Yes!

[ Laughs ]

Beautiful!

And repeatedly repeatable.

Yeah!

Not to mention reproduced, replicated, and duplicated,

just to be on the safe side.

That was very light-footed!

[ Laughs ] That worked pretty well!

Yeah!

In fact, it matched the viral video so well

that the only way to call this myth is busted.

Well, i think the take-home from this

is that when you need a little magic to make something work,

movie magic will suffice.

And don't believe everything you see.

Exactly. After you.

You want more "mythbusters"?

Then be like my cardboard, praetorian friend here

and march on over to discovery.Com/mythbusters.