Original subtitles

On this episode of Mythbusters, it's a botanical bonanza when Jamie and Adam

shoot wind at record speeds. I love this job.

I think we might exceed Mach 1 on this. To test the myth that in a storm, a

piece of straw can slice clean through a palm tree trunk.

That is the coolest thing I've ever seen.

And meanwhile, to find out if plants have feelings, Grant and Tori embrace

inner status.

And convert the workshop into a horticultural house of horrors. Do you

screaming? Science isn't always pretty.

Who are the Mythbusters?

Adam Savage.

And Jamie Heineman.

Aren't Tracer rounds illegal?

Between them, over 30 years special effects experience.

That's what I'm talking about!

Joining them, Tori Bellacci.

What could go wrong?

Carrie Byron. Going for total annihilation.

And Grant Imahara.

I'm bumping as fast as I can.

They don't just tell the myths.

They put them to the test.

is what I've been wanting to do since we started doing this show. It is that in

a tropical storm, the winds can become so powerful that they'll take a piece of

straw and give it enough energy to drive it right through a palm tree.

That sounds like it's right down our alley. Small objects accelerated to

really high speeds and see what they do, what kind of damage we can achieve.

I can barely wait.

Storms can be incredibly powerful, but can they propel a fragile piece of straw

so fast it becomes a flying missile?

At the wind speeds they reach, anything is possible.

Any guesses?

200 miles an hour?

Keep going.

250 miles per hour?

Nope. You got to keep going.

The highest ever recorded wind speed was taken using Doppler radar in Oklahoma

City in 1999, and they got 318 miles an hour.

No way. I don't know how we're going to do that. We could use a jet, but it

would burn everything to ash while we tried to use it.

No, it's simpler than that. I have a trick up my sleeve, and it involves a

really big air gun.

I like it.

We are arming the chicken cannon.

Jamie and Adam made a cock -a -doodle -do of an air shooter before.

When they tested the splat power of projecting thawed versus frozen chickens

the windshields of planes.

Hurtling foul at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour, they set a new low in in

-flight food service standards.

For this myth, they have to more than double the oomph of the chicken

That's the stuff.

But the shooter doesn't need to be bigger to squeeze the air out faster.

The difference here is that this is going to be much longer and it's going

much smaller because what we need is velocity, really high velocity.

The plan is to get an air compressor, attach it to a metal tank with a release

valve, attach that to a very long pipe that will act as the barrel, and at the

end of it all, place the target.

A very tall, swaying palm.

Jamie lays out a five -foot -long, four -inch diameter metal pipe. This will be

the main body of the shooter that will contain the compressed air just before

it's released.

Then he screws on a device that will tell them what PSI, or pounds per square

inch, of pressure they're at.

We have to have a gauge on it to measure the pressure. That will be this device

right here, which will attach to the pipe.

Adam fashions a simple loader for the ammo by cutting a slot into a piece of

pipe and fitting a cylindrical plastic tube over the top that simply slides

and forth.

I'm making what's called a breech loader. Basically, it'll allow it to pop

whatever we're going to fire out of it, whether it's straw or toothpicks or

anything, and close it back up. With Adam stuck in the breech, Jamie adds a

release valve that has a lightning -fast electronic trigger.

It's one of his most loved toys.

and has a very long name. This particular thing is one of my favorite

and it's called a pilot -assisted diaphragm valve.

And that means that it's kind of in a state of almost being ready to trip, and

then when you hit the trigger, all of a sudden it goes pop, and all the air goes

through. Air pressure alone won't give the straw the thrust it needs. To get

enough momentum going...

it's going to need a really good run -up on a very long track, the barrel.

Unfortunately, we're limited to about 150 psi here in the shop. Our solution

that is to have a massively long barrel, and that will give us the velocity that

we need by the time we get to the end of the barrel. It should be going quite

fast. Jamie and Adam start to connect lengths of half -inch diameter copper

end -to -end.

Piece by piece, they solder on down the workshop floor.

But just how long does this super stretched -out straw airstrip need to

Hey, that's enough.

One more.

No, come on. We've got 60 feet here. We're going to go for the max sooner or

later. Might as well do it now.

Okay.

What the hay? They extend it out even more and take it all the way to 80 feet.

With a barrel this size, the straw may streak down the middle so fast it breaks

some records.

I'm a little nervous to say this right now, but...

I think we might exceed Mach 1 on this.

Now they've got the length, they have to make it straight.

The more we can eliminate any bends in the system, the more efficiency we'll

out of it. And by efficiency, I mean insane amounts of speed.

Here's my laser.

To get the pipe to line up just right, they're going to use one of Adam's

favorite toys now, a laser. Need to go up just a tiny bit.

Stop. Stop.

That looks just about right.

That is pretty darn good.

With the kinks all ironed out, all that's left to do is cement it into

While Jamie gets gluing, Adam goes to fetch the target, the palm tree.

Hi. Hi, Dale. Yes, sir. Adam Savage, nice to meet you. Pleased to meet you.

Owner of the Neon Palm Nursery, Dale Matyska, has been fascinated by the

allure of these tropical plants for 30 years and is an oasis of information.

There's a myth going around that in a strong enough wind, a piece of straw can

be driven right through the trunk of a palm tree. Have you ever heard this?

I believe it's true.

Really? Oh, yes. It's a different kind of trunk than most trees.

They have what's called vascular bundles of fibers, and they're sort of, if you

can imagine, like a braided cable.

So you're saying it's actually a property of the palm trunk that perhaps

it more permeable than we think of a normal tree trunk.

This is correct.

So palms have very permeable trunks. Good insight, Dale. Having thousands of

different kinds on site, Adam gets touchy -feely. Wow, what's this hole

Woodpecker. From big...

That's awesome.

Too small.

This is a dwarf palmetto.

To just right. Let's check this one out. It's Washingtonia robusta. Is this the

one you're actually thinking of letting us work with?

Yes.

Cool.

It's a big boy. Yeah.

Big boy is an understatement.

Okay, ready for takeoff.

The palm is nearly 20 feet tall and a robusta 3 ,000 pounds.

Look at that.

So, will Jamie be surprised at the size of Adam's trunk?

Jamie's reaction.

Oh, God, I hope I get this right, because then you can cut him right back

back. He's going to go.

What did you do?

It may have seemed like a good idea at the store, but back home, the rush of

Adam's major purchase is fading.

The palm has to go at the end of the barrel of the straw shooter.

All the way at the back of the workshop.

I mean, I foresee just heartache and backache all the way down and all the

back with this thing.

Adam, you may be psychic.

First things first, we're just going to drag it back. They put a chain around

its massive ball of roots and start to lift it out. But it's so bottom heavy,

it's hard to balance. Now, what do you want to... You're not hurt, are you?

No, I'm not hurt. Okay.

Thankfully, Adam's not hurting, but getting the palm in place is a painful

experience.

Sounds like a horror show up there.

Finally, they get it upright and have a clear passage to the end.

Am I clear to my left?

You're in the corridor. It's beautiful.

You're fine. You don't have to steer that way. You can even out.

That's good. I think you can lower it down.

Touchdown. There you go.

My guess is that's going to be perfect. All we've got to do is shave off this a

little bit right here, but we're right on target. It's just beautiful.

It's a palm tree, guns aimed at it.

That's perfect.

Sound the trumpets. The time has come for the boys to blow wind.

Okay, guys.

Plants. Have feelings.

And as an emotional response to a threatening situation, they can even

Is this a myth?

Yeah. Have you heard this one? You know, I do remember there was a guy who took

plants and hooked them up to a polygraph machine and did some tests.

In fact, back in the late 60s and early 70s, he was a world polygraph expert. He

developed this theory that plants, eggs, yogurt, all these things have...

A way of communicating on an emotional level that we don't even perceive or

understand. The concept of primary perception may be a little out there for

people. It means that all living organisms on Earth, from a whale, a

being, a plant, right down to a single cell, is interconnected, able to feel

sorts of emotions and to communicate with ESP.

The theory was developed by the founder of the FBI's polygraph unit, Cleve

Baxter. I've been reading the experiments of Cleve Baxter.

When he thought about burning the plant, the needle on the polygraph jumped as

if the plant could actually read his mind.

To put his theory to the test, the team is going to recreate some of his

original experiments.

First, to see if vegetation really does have feelings, they're going to get a

plant, hook it up to a polygraph, subject it to physical and mental

see if they get a reaction.

Brad heads off to the nursery to get their victims and take shop assistant

along as some extra muscle.

That one looks like it's giving you the evil eye, dude. I know. I'm going to

kick this pink one.

At the Tropical Indoor Plants from Africa Isle, plant carer Cindy picks out

Dracaenas, the same species used in the original Baxter experiments.

We were wondering if the plants that we take are going to have some sort of

separation anxiety.

Well, they shouldn't unless you put them in an extreme environment right away.

Well, have you ever seen the show?

Yeah, yeah.

They unload the unsuspecting plans into the truck.

Gentle, Grant.

Keep your thoughts pure.

Hard when you put a plastic bag over their head.

And Terry is giddy with excitement.

If you could talk to the plants, just imagine it.

Converting with an orange carrot.

In fact, he seems a little touched by the sun.

Just imagine it.

What would you say to an onion?

What would you say to a baby Karen?

We will pray for you, Terrence. We will pray.

I feel closer to the plant kingdom already.

With the plants crossed off the Baxter grocery list, the next item they need

just arrived at the workshop's special delivery.

Grant, do you know how long we've wanted one of these?

Yes.

And I don't mean a box.

One genuine Stolting 22600.

I hear something rattling already.

The same model polygraph used in the, you guessed it, original Baxter

experiments. Oh, sweet.

I still meet the parents. I know how these things work.

Ever done time in prison, Jack?

When humans are in situations of stress, such as telling a lie to someone, the

theory is there are often changes to their body. Their heart rate goes up,

they sweat more.

It's the GSR, or galvanic skin response component of the polygraph, that

measures the amount of sweat. It does this by putting out a tiny electrical

current that monitors any change in the skin's conductivity.

Baxter took the GSR electrodes from the polygraph, attached them to a leaf, and

said he could tap into the currents that flow into our green friends.

But before they hook up their new plaything to a plant, they have to test

What I'm about to do now is prep the machine to hook up to Tori so that we

see if it's working.

Tori is already breaking a sweat.

Why am I nervous?

This is ridiculous.

Detective Imahara begins.

Do you drive in the state of California?

Yes.

How'd I do? Did I pass that one? Okay. Do you work on a science -based reality

show called Mythbusters?

You can call it work.

Have you ever lied about your egg?

Absolutely not.

They check the results, and Tori is caught like a rat in a trap. Number six,

have you ever lied about your age? Your galvanic skin response peaked there.

I said no, right?

I said no because I have lied about my age before.

The only time I guess I would lie about my age.

Maybe if I was in a situation, let's say like spring break.

Wow, what integrity you have, Torrey.

We've got some questions.

Burning questions.

To make doubly sure the polygraph is working right, it's Grant's turn to take

some heat. Do you find quantum physics easy for you?

No. Has your GPA ever dropped below a 4 .0?

Yes.

Have you ever made or wanted to make a female robot?

Answer the question, Mr. Imahara.

It's a simple question, Grant.

Uh... No.

Grant says no, but the needle says yes.

Yes. Yes.

When I asked Grant about whether or not he'd ever wanted to or built a female

robot, his, uh...

The needle went off the chart, and I'm a little disturbed by that.

So the machine has exposed Tori as being sensitive about his middle age, and

Grant has a thing for replicants.

Seems like the polygraph has detected their secrets and lies just fine. So now

they can go ahead and hook it up to a plant.

All right, Grant, I got our guinea pig.

Back at Tropical Central, Adam and Jamie are testing if storm force wind can

blow a piece of straw clean through a palm tree.

They've built a giant air shooter and are ready to put it to the test.

They groom their target.

Basket weaving is the primitive people's favorite class.

Then Adam preps their projectiles.

We've got straw and hay and rigid plant material. We're going to bundle these

up, fire a bunch at the same time. That'll help them each provide each

with some stability in the tube. It will also give us multiple chances to hit

our target.

A high -speed camera is set up to tape the action, a chronometer to record the

speed, and all is ready to go. We are set to fire.

Or maybe not.

Jamie has some bad news.

What is up?

Well... We have a bit of a sticky wicket here.

All right.

We're being told to pull these palms, and we don't want to use them.

According to the higher -ups, the palm Adam chose isn't a species that grows in

tropical storm territory, so they don't want to use it because it wouldn't be a

true test of the myth. So all Adam and Janie's sweat and toil getting it into

the workshop was for nothing.

All of that, we're yanking that thing. We're not even going to try and fire

it at all.

Apparently not.

Like, we're to stop even though the very next thing we have to do is load that

thing with air, put some straw in it, and fire it at that thing. It's about

minutes of work.

That is our instructions.

I'm just going to stand here and wait for the problem to go away.

Okay. Jamie and Adam are not pleased.

So after three hours of loading it in and setting it up, four hours at this

point, we're now going to pull it for another couple of hours and send it back

and get some other palm tree in here that does satisfy production.

And it's ridiculous to me.

While they're waiting, and to blow off some frustration, at least they can do

some test shots to see if the shooter works and can reach 318 miles per hour,

the world record wind speed.

Let's fire a cotton ball.

Okay. For the practice run, they're using a cotton ball.

All right, now I'm going to go watch the thing exit the barrel, okay? Okay,

charging.

They charge the air compressor up to 80 PSI, about half its power, and are set

to fire. 80, 3, 2, 1.

That came out beautifully.

It looked like it was going pretty quick from here.

They check their numbers.

We always knew they were full of wind.

But the power and accuracy of their blow is impressive.

That was perfect. That was 321 miles per hour.

This is off by 1 % of the speed we were hoping to hit.

The very first test that we did, 300 miles an hour, give or take.

It's almost like we knew exactly what we were doing.

Having got the shooter right, Jamie and Adam are now happy campers again and

take the Palm all the way back out of the workshop without a grumble.

You need a push?

Two highly professional mythbusters at work who know who writes the paycheck.

There you go.

Breathe, Adam. They've ordered you a beautiful new tree.

Primary perception is an open -the -portals -of -your -mind kind of myth

all forms of life have feelings and can read minds.

Recreating the experiments of primary perception guru Cleve Baxter, Grant and

Tori are using a polygraph.

Their first test is going to be on this plant.

Tori makes a special screw -on clamp to secure the electrode from the polygraph

to the leaf of the dracaena.

Don't worry, little buddy. We're not going to do anything mean to you.

Yet. No, dude.

Sorry, we're not supposed to freak it out? No.

Okay. To help block out any accidental electrical interference that could

the polygraph, like a cell phone going off or a plane flying overhead, they're

going to conduct the test inside a shipping container.

I'll take it into the container, which we know acts as a really good shield

radio frequency interference.

The camera crew, everybody else will be outside, so all that camera equipment's

going to be out there recording us remotely.

Grant and Tori clear their minds. Let's go to our happy place.

And become one with nature.

Definitely a little deflection there.

A little flap on the leaf caused the needle on the polygraph to move.

Could it mean the plant is feeling fear and pain?

The plant's kind of twitching. Because he knows what's coming.

To up the out factor, Tori pulls out the heavy artillery.

Whoa, huge spike.

The needle moved way more when the strength of the attack was increased.

Each time we hit the plant with the fire extinguisher, the needle pinned.

The boys are baffled, but move on to test if plants can read minds.

This time, Torrey's not going to touch the plant at all. He's just going to

imagine hurting it.

Think about something specific to this plant.

And I want you to really, you have to really intend to do it. Like, I am going

to do this. I'm going to kick your butt.

Ready? All right.

At a good baseline, I gave it a mental picture, ensuring it burning on fire.

The needle jumped.

Are you serious?

Stop.

No way.

Tori had a thought.

And the plant reacted.

What the heck was that?

I don't know.

Okay, you're not touching the plant. No, I'm not touching anything.

All I'm doing is I'm staring it down and imagining it in flames.

Is the Dracaena tapping into Tori's consciousness and terrified of being

Okay, that's... I mean, I'm not saying I believe this, but...

Yeah, yeah. It's kind of hard to dispute the ink.

Even engineer Grant, man of science, is taking off his skeptic cap.

If I were to say that it was a random occurrence, there'd be some pretty

coincidences going on.

It boggles the mind!

They unboggle themselves enough to decide on their next move.

They got some mind -blowing results, but moving and talking so close to the

polygraph may have been causing vibrations that made the needle move.

This time, they're going to repeat the ESP test, but with themselves outside

container. This experiment is plant inside container, no human inside the

container. And Tari is going to keep his mental strikes a secret. That way,

Grant won't be influenced when he looks for any changes in the thin blue line.

Jedi Tori sums up all his powers and shows no mental mercy.

Attack one. Hard to tell what he's thinking.

He could just be constipated.

Attack two. Again, no idea, but he's obviously one sick, sick puppy.

Attack three.

Why is he smiling?

Me thinks Tori is enjoying this a little too much.

We're running this experiment.

I'm trying to keep the plant on its toes. I didn't want to just give it the

mental attack each time.

Okay, that's 15 minutes.

Okay. The guys compare notes, and Grant learns a lot about Tori's state of mind.

At minute four to minute four, 45 seconds, I give it an angry

attack. An angry attack is just I'm mad at the plant. I don't necessarily want

to kill it.

Minute 5 and 30 seconds to 6 minutes, I give it an evil attack.

The evil attack, I'm ready to destroy it.

So angry, you're just mad, but you're not going to hurt it.

Well, I'm going to hurt it. I'm just not going to completely destroy it.

At minute 9 to 9 .30.

Okay.

It was a happy attack.

What's a happy attack? A happy attack is being really nice to the plant, hugging

it, putting it in a nice greenhouse, making it feel wanted.

His methods may have been a little kooky, but Torrey meant serious

has his series of inspired attacks made a mark on the paper?

Just to look at the data.

The evil attack did not intimidate it. In fact, it's exactly the same as the

happy attack.

Angry attack got a little bit of fluctuation. That is a possible thing.

The polygraph didn't react to every one of Tari's assaults, but there was a

response to his angry attack.

So if we total up all the responses to stimuli inside of the container, 35 % of

the time, the plant responded to stimuli.

With us outside of the container, 28 % of the time.

The plant responded to Tori's psychic stimuli.

So there was less needle response with the guys outside the container, but

enough to keep Baxter's theory that all life is interconnected alive.

This is weird stuff, man.

To test the myth that in a storm, a piece of straw can hit a palm tree trunk

hard it can come out the other side, Jamie and Adam only needed three things.

Straw. Check.

Three. An air shooter that can reach record speeds.

Check.

And a palm tree.

Uh -oh.

After setting up a massive 3 ,000 -pound palm, the producer got them to pull it

out.

Seems it didn't fit strict myth -busting standards.

There are about 2 ,600 different kinds of palms in the world. But the big guy

wants a species that can only be found in a balmy tropical paradise.

Hula girl not included.

When you think of a palm tree, when everybody thinks of a palm tree, they

of a long, thin trunk with coconuts at the top.

That's called a coconut palm.

What we've got here is the best analog to a coconut palm. It's a queen palm. It

grows in California, and it is the closest cousin to the coconut palm that

could obtain.

The right species of palm, the right kind of projectile, the right amount of

wind.

Ideal straw -spitten condition.

So we have built the fastest air gun we have ever built on the show. It's going

precisely the speed we want.

Do you think it's going to work?

I don't know. There have been studies done using 2x4s where they only got them

up to around 100 miles an hour, and they went through several layers of plywood

and even cinderblock walls.

To get something as light as a piece of straw to travel right through and come

out the other side of something as solid as a palm tree, the key could be speed.

The faster an object travels, the more force it has. With enough of a push,

perhaps even a featherweight stalk of straw could become a heavyweight

projectile.

That's the theory. Now to find out.

Now we're going to see what kind of damage real straw does to a palm tree.

The ammo is loaded and wadded with a cotton ball.

The wadding will equalize the air pressure behind the straw as it flies,

hits the palm evenly when it comes out.

Ready to go.

Pressurizing.

80. Go ahead.

Firing straw in 3, 2, 1.

I love this job.

The straw shoots down the barrel and slams into the trunk. But did it break

through to the other side?

That one looks really serious.

Dude. That's a good quarter inch.

That's actually, I'd say that's three -eighths.

Adam, you're splitting straws. The bottom line is the straw didn't make it

but it did manage to pierce the hard outer shell of the trunk and embed

solid way in. That would be a result.

That's a result.

Adam checks the airspeed it was traveling at.

Yep, pretty much looks like we're traveling at...

right in that butter zone of 318, 320 miles per hour.

That's just beautiful.

It was a great shot, but that means even the highest wind speed ever recorded

wasn't enough for us to push the straw through the trunk. But this myth isn't

blown away yet.

To test the myth of primary perception that all life has feelings and the power

of ESP, Grant and Torrey hooked a plant to a polygraph, attacked it physically

and mentally, and the plant seemed to react. Could they be on their way to

confirming this out -of -the -ordinary myth?

So how are you guys going with this experiment? I leave you guys alone for

seconds, and you've proven plants have feelings.

Well, I mean, we've been getting some weird results. There's some kind of

correlation between my thoughts and the plant and the polygraph machine.

So what do you guys plan to do to further this kooky experiment?

Every resourceful grad's got a plan.

This time, the team is going to repeat their plant ESP experiment, but swap out

the polygraph with an EEG machine.

An EEG is actually a very sensitive voltmeter, and so it uses electrodes

connected to the head to measure any electrical brainwave patterns.

All living cells have electric currents running through them.

Hooking up the Dracaena to the EEG might give the team more accurate results.

And again, they're following in the footsteps of Cleve Baxter.

The original series of experiments used an EEG machine, and this gives us the

opportunity to see whether it's a real plant phenomenon or whether it's an

artifact of the polygraph machine.

Tari goes to town with his mental calisthenics one more time.

But there's no blip on the screen.

Are you having big mean thoughts or little mean thoughts? What were you

of? Big mean thoughts. I was just imagining tearing that plant.

part in different ways. I would say that that plant's not reacting to you. No.

The data the team has from plants is conflicting, but Baxter did plenty of

experiments on different organisms they can try.

Okay, Grant, I'm going to need you to cough.

Reminds me of my last trip to the airport.

They're going to test a popular breakfast item rich in protein, B

most importantly, live bacteria.

We're going to see if yogurt has emotions.

Well, most people get kind of freaked out when they hear that yogurt is a live

bacteria. You heard right.

Emotional acidophilus. Cool. We get to torture yogurt.

All right.

The idea is to take two samples of yogurt from the same tub, leave one in

and persecute the other. Part of the primary perception theory is that all

is in tune with each other, so the bacteria should sense that its buddies

being messed with.

They squirt yogurt into test tube one, insert conductive gold wire, and connect

it to the EEG.

They've already learned movement might affect the result, so to absorb any

vibration, they set up test tube two's stand on a foam base.

Okay, 10 feet's right here. The stage is set, and Carrie goes into her good

neighbor act. Let's go ahead and use the happy stimulus, which would be sugar,

which is my happy stimulus, too.

Go.

That is freaky.

The instant she dropped the sugar into the test tube, there was a peak.

There was an unmistakable leap on the EEG. Was the bacteria in test tube one

jumping for joy for test tube two's sugar high?

Or did someone in the room accidentally move?

You didn't touch the table. No.

I was standing right there.

Upping the aggravation to the max, they pour in boiling water. Let's see if we

can stimulate it by making it angry.

Drop it like it's hot.

Nothing happened that time.

No result.

If the death of the bacterium BFFs doesn't get a reaction, what will?

All right, well, I guess that first test was a coincidence.

I would love to be wowed. I would love to have my mind changed. That's my

favorite. So far I'm not convinced.

Yeah, this test was less than conclusive.

Can a piece of straw propelled by storm force winds pass through a palm tree

trunk?

Well, the Mythbusters are a little stuck on this one. They got a piece of straw

to go in.

but not out that's a good quarter inch they've already got their air shooter

dialed up to 318 miles per hour the highest recorded wind speed in a storm

they can't change that but they can change the ammo this time they're going

swap out the straw for a different plant material that's reed your average

person picking up a piece of this on the street and go oh look i found some

straw However, it is a little more rigid and may actually provide a lot more

penetrating power than the straw does.

80. Go ahead. All right. Firing fast reed in 3, 2, 1.

Ouch. The reed pierces the trunk like tiny spears.

That right there is pretty serious.

The amount of penetration we're getting from this debris is pretty amazing.

The more rigid reed dug in two inches deeper than the straw, but it still

go all the way through. I think by the figures we're getting, you need a palm

tree that was two inches thick.

Then you could be reasonably sure that one of these might go all the way

it. If something as strong as reed didn't make it, can anything at all go

through a palm tree trunk?

It's time to beat things up with some stronger material.

And have a little fun in the process.

We can shoot anything that'll fit in the gun.

Piano wire will tickle the boys' ivories.

Straws, you know, that's good to know. It's what the myth is about. But if I

this piece of wire to go sailing right through the concrete brick wall in the

back of the shop, that'll be what gets my juices flowing.

Go ahead.

Firing piano wire. Three, two, one.

You know, that's the first shot we've had that actually sounded like an

Yeah!

Touché. Not only did the piano wire slice through the trunk like it was

it came out the other side and kept going.

For the first time, they got something to pass right through the tree.

I don't think it hit the concrete, but let's see.

It did because I can't pull this board off the wall.

Three different objects skewered to perfection.

That is the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Now all they need to do is get the straw to serve up the same thing.

In the meantime, the primary perception myth is that all life, from the highly

evolved to the most simple, is interlinked, aware of what is going on

and has psychic powers.

By using a polygraph and EEG machine to detect any vibes, they subjected a plant

and live bacteria to stress.

Nothing happened that time. Their results haven't given them a concrete

either way, so they're going to try another experiment, this time with human

cells.

White blood cells from Tori's mouth will be put into a test tube.

Gold wire will be inserted into the tube and connected to the EEG.

Then Tori will be tortured to see if his own cells in the tube feel his pain and

freak out.

Tori, would you come over here? I need to take your leukocytes.

You're not going to use that on me?

Leukocytes, commonly known as white blood cells, live inside the body. A

way to catch them is to spit.

Tori horks into test tubes filled with saline solution.

With my mask in your mouth, this is probably a really great audio moment.

Go.

Proud of his Italian heritage, Tori may be, but his display doesn't exactly

rival the beauty of the Trevi fountain.

Fresh. Mmm, lovely.

Spit cappuccino.

Grant is looking a little queasy.

Dude, you let a dog lick your face. This can't gross you out.

Then the test tubes of spittle go for a spin in a centrifuge. The force of the

hyperspeed circular motion will separate the cells from the liquid.

You realize if something goes wrong with this, we'll be showered in Torrey's

spit.

Disgusting. Grant takes a sample to make sure they've captured their quarry.

That is definitely a white blood cell.

Now. Here comes the shocking part. Can we have somebody else do it? I just

trust her for some reason.

I'm sorry. I've got to run the EEG. She's enjoying it too much. I think you

to close your eyes so you don't expect it. Mistress Carrie is going to inflict

physical pain on Tori using a stun gun.

Close your eyes.

Stun guns emit electric currents, so they move Carrie far enough away that

she turns it on, it won't cause interference on the EEG.

That's pretty good. Out of range, she's ready to fry her friend.

Do not try this at home. These devices do hurt bad.

It's worse when you don't know what's coming.

So did you get anything?

Nothing. No reading whatsoever.

Where do you want it?

Don't put it any place that would really be bad.

Maybe a little bump, but, you know.

There's barely a flicker on the EEG that indicates the isolated white blood

cells sense anything.

With our remote stimulation of Tori, we haven't seen any response.

I think we can safely say this one's busted.

It's busted. I don't see anything happening.

All right, so we've finished all these experiments. You guys had fun shocking

me, but we still haven't been able to explain those weird results that we got

with the plant and the polygraph. I think you'll find if we take all of the

that we learned to isolate our experiment from outside influences and

to this last experiment, we'll get our answer.

The final experiment is a cracker. This time, the innocent chosen for the

sacrifice is the humble egg.

Grant whips up an intimidating -looking metal rig designed to break a bunch of

eggs at random intervals.

So this is the egg dropper, and I've got ten cylinders here, and the shaft of

the piston blocks the egg from falling. When I trigger it, the piston will go

up, and the egg will fall through.

Dude, this thing is badass.

You like it? I love it. You can take it home after this.

This test is to see if one cellular being, a plant, responds when another

cellular being, an egg, is destroyed. The test has been designed to completely

block outside movement, vibration, or electrical interference from affecting

results.

Here's how it'll go. The plant will be put on a foam base and connected to the

polygraph inside the shipping container.

Grant's egg dropper will be placed outside the cage over a pot of boiling

Then the eggs will plummet one by one into the drink.

Okay, once this boils, we'll be ready to go.

No one, not even the eggs, will know when the time comes to meet their maker.

Not only will it choose a random cylinder, but also the time delay

cylinders will be random so that the eggs can't anticipate when the next

going to drop.

The eggs are locked and loaded. You just need to make an automatic toaster,

automatic orange juicer.

You're in business.

Okay, you guys ready? So once I do this, we have 30 seconds to exit. Ready?

Three, two, one.

Sequence started.

Every single soul, including the crew, exits the building.

Trapped in the wheel of death, the first egg drops.

If the myth is true, the plant should have reacted.

The same when egg two falls.

Omelet, anyone?

After 45 minutes, the team comes back inside to check the results.

So we're looking for a jump in the polygraph when the egg drops. Correct.

would be the plant's response to the eggs buying it in the boiling water.

Okay, there's the first one.

And no reaction on the polygraph.

No screaming, no psychic activity.

Well, I had a quick look at the trace, and it was kind of varying just a little

bit. But nothing in correspondence to the dropping of the egg? No, definitely

not. Not even a piece.

It's a cool egg -dropping mechanism.

Thanks.

Even with the plant and polygraph in total isolation, the needle still didn't

move. Along with the eggs, it looks like Baxter's theory of primary perception

is broken.

I think we've done a really good job of replicating all of the primary

perception experiments.

I mean, we got the right plants. We got our vintage polygraph. We've been

extremely thorough. We're drowning in polygraph paper. I found out I'm a

statist. From all this, what did we get?

Well, I agree. I think we did a really good job of isolating all the variables,

things that might have influenced the original experimenters and given a false

positive. There's vibration, electromagnetics. Most importantly, we

ourselves out of the equation.

But there was a point where we got some weird results, but we weren't able to

repeat it. And if you can't repeat it, it's not science. So this one's busted.

Busted. But I did like shocking you a whole lot. I know. You guys didn't get

feel it. And I think...

Maybe we should share.

I thought I took the batteries out of that thing. I thought you did too.

At Hurricane HQ, Jamie and Adam proved that while straw can't pierce a palm at

318 miles per hour, piano wire can.

There is a theory that we haven't tested here, and it's that in a gale force or

hurricane or tornado wind, the tree is actually bending, and the bending of the

tree actually makes its pores or makes its material open up and makes it more

penetratable.

So I'm thinking one of the reasons we got this thin -trunked tree is to put a

ratchet strap on it and pull it like a big old bow.

Palm trees are built to stand up to tropical storms. Their tall skinny

and lack of branches extending out offer less surface area for winds to blow on.

That, combined with their very flexible trunks, allows them to duck and weave

more than other trees.

You're going to have to do this fairly quickly because I'm hurting my shoulder

here. Oh, now you realize it's heavy.

To replicate the stress a palm would be under in a storm, they brace and strap

their tree and bend it back as much as they can without snapping the trunk.

I think that's about the limit of what we're going to get out of this in terms

of bending.

Yep, I mean, if we crack it, we've got to get another one. They also move the

palm closer to the barrel, so it's in point -blank range.

Maybe the tree isn't too comfortable right about now, but these are

ideal conditions for the straw.

We're going to give the straw the best possible chance that we can to do

something to this tree. So if it doesn't go through under these absolute maxed

-out conditions, the myth is totally busted.

The straw is loaded.

Okay, you're ready.

Firing a bent palm in 3, 2, 1.

So what's waiting at the other end?

We only got about a quarter inch.

Yeah, there's about a quarter inch.

The straw dug into the trunk about a quarter of an inch. Even in optimum

wind conditions, it was nowhere close to coming out the other side.

Even with ideal conditions, point -blank range.

With the palm tree bent at the most severe angle we feel comfortable with it

without breaking its back, we get the same results we did with a normal palm

tree with the straw from like 50 centimeters away.

But before calling this myth a bust, they still have one more option to try.

I think the only thing left for us to do is to use the thatch reed, which is, I

believe, the strongest thing that we've found that is an organic material that

could be mistaken for a straw.

Pressurizing. Because the thatched reed is way more rigid and tougher than

straw, this time having the advantage of being fired at point -blank range into

a bent trunk could make it an unstoppable force.

Firing thatched reed into the bent palm.

Three, two, one.

So, did it work?

It didn't make it out of the barrel.

Nope. It still got stuck.

Certainly did not enhance the effect about the same as it was getting before.

The point is that bending the trunk and shooting it at the stressed point where

the fibers would presumably be open, according to that theory that we found,

does not have any appreciable effect on the penetration that we're getting.

So I'd say we can put this one to bed.

So the straw through a palm tree myth is busted.

But before they take their shooter apart...

Adam has one more myth he wants to explore.

This one was hatched down on the farm.

Oh, man.

The myth is that a hurricane or a tornado can blow all the feathers off a

chicken, so we got a feathered chicken there.

That's disgusting.

We're just going to unload the strong air current right at him, you see.

Then I figured you could, you know, take him home and eat him.

I only eat things that I kill myself.

We got one chicken. We got a strong wind.

We have a foul odor.

To really send its feathers flying, they're going for maximum airspeed,

up the PSI all the way.

If this doesn't blow all the feathers off, I don't know what will.

Three, two, one.

But the chicken's feathers are barely ruffled.

This chicken has just as many feathers as when he arrived.

We could not blow the feathers off this chicken with 350, 60 some odd miles per

hour of wind.

Well, then I guess there's no way a hurricane could.

And besides that, the chicken itself is going to go someplace in 318 mile per

hour wind.

Well, that is a solid day's work of experimenting.

Straw might actually embed itself in your palm tree, but it is never going to

pass all the way through.

Nope, that's busted. And it ain't going to blow all the feathers off your

chicken either.

No way.

Let's clean this up tomorrow.

Hey, what do you think? You think we can get that wire to go all the way through

an engine block?