Just saw the dimpled car show. How did they decide on a size for the dimples? I think they need to revisit this myth, and test different sized dimples to see if that has any affect on the gas mileage.

quote:

Originally posted by bgallagher:
they got the drinking rhyme wrong
it's not "beer you're in the clear, beer and liquor never sicker"

it's "beer before liquor, never sicker - liquor before beer, you're in the clear"

soooooo true! been there, done that!

Yes! I've never heard it as they described it. It's always been "beer before liquor, never be sicker. Liquor before beer, you're in the clear." I've also heard it "Beer before hard (liquor), you're in the yard. Hard before beer, you're in the clear."

Grant and Tory are going to need to man up and drink for science a couple more times! Drink 5 beers and then 5 shots of spirits and test 'em. Then reverse it.

Just watched the dimpled car episode and I have a question. Do you need to dimple the whole car?

Would the same work in reverse? as in if there were bumps instead of dimples. I would like to try it on my bicycle.

quote:

Originally posted by bob_g:
Just watched the dimpled car episode and I have a question. Do you need to dimple the whole car?

I was thinking that this may actually have practical value to the auto industry, but since the air is being primarily lifted over the vehicle to make the vacuum behind it, the turbulance may not be helpfull on the sides. only on the horizontal surfaces.

quote:

Originally posted by greysock:
Would the same work in reverse? as in if there were bumps instead of dimples. I would like to try it on my bicycle.

Also, as far as your bike goes, I think bumps might work as well as dimples, but they would have to be on your body as that is the only surface large enough to cause a significant drag. I know there is drag because cyclists use a rotating leader line to cut wind resistance.

Sequence recap: First they ran the guys through the baseline testing. Then they ran them through the same tests (with Beer), Then they ran them through the same tests (with Beer and hard alcohol).

My concern is a potential flaw in the testing methodology: that the exposure to the testing methods makes for a progressive improvement in the baseline: suggesting that had another baseline been done some days after the testing, the subjects would have been found to have been able to withstand even higher levels of light, sound, had better recall, longer times in the chair (without need for the bucket) etc.

If we had that, then we could conclude that some of the progression in the test scores on the second test, (which was the mixed drinks test) was from increase in familiarity with the testing methods and procedures.

We didn't get sufficient details on the memory test to learn if you also had a control memory test (one where the images were not repeated each time).

If you do similar testing in the future, as some have requested, some tests you might acquire to use that already exist include the diagnostic tests used to diagnose attention disorders.

Another concern I had was that it seemed that the testing arrangement was only able to accomodate one subject at a time. It would have been better science if they could have tested both subjects at the same time and made it clear to the viewers that was occurring, perhaps by occassionally showing a split screen.

To accomplish this they might have used two camera crews and while one was doing light, sound and memory tests, the other could have had the other subject in the chair.

This adds a variable on whether testing sequence changes results without requring building a second chair. An alternative would be testing the subjects on alternate nights (in which case it would look less like drinking buddies and more like a drinker and his friend).

But how much does waiting up to an hour for the chair to become available skew the results?

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I watched, kind of horrified, and in the name of research, I'd much rather see research and application toward golf-ball divots on car parts becoming a standard production option.

I think it would be really cool if NASCAR, airlines, and car manufacturers started making dimpled bodies, directly as a result of this show!

Several things here, I'll spread them out...

Bullet-drop: I'm afraid I have to disagree with the Mythbusters conclusion. They did a wonderful job (as usual) but a fired, spin stabilized, bullet has it's body pointing down whereas a dropped bullet has its tip pointing down (eventually). That means the falling air resistance of the bullet fired is greater than the bullet dropped. In a vacuum the equal drop speed thing works, but in air it doesn't.

Duct-tape cannon: Less of a point to make and more of a question to ask. When the Build-Team were observing the duct-tape cannon, Grant appeared to be using Binoculars with something akin to laser-emitters beside the objective lenses. What were these? And, in fact, what were the models of binoculars? Were they laser-range-finding models?

Golf-balls: Greysock mentioned bumps Vs. Dimples. I seem to recall hearing the Cayman Islands has a tiny golf-course which uses golf-balls that have bumps on them. This is to reduce the distance the balls fly and, as such, no they can't be used in place of dimples.

I did wonder if it might be possible to precision machine dimples into the boat-tail of something like a .338 or .50 bullet and increase its performance. You'd need very very very precise machining but it might be interesting.

Damn I love this show.

I really liked the episode with duct tape where the tape was made of gun and a boat. I beg destroyers continue this theme and try to make a duct tape lifeguard vest and the aircraft supplied to boat. Lifeguard vest can be made from many layers of tape (like a gun), and between the layers of tape you can put a coin so it will be thinner and stronger. Of course then have to shoot in the vest of various weapons.

quote:

Originally posted by Zuma:
I really liked the episode with duct tape where the tape was made of gun and a boat. I beg destroyers continue this theme and try to make a duct tape lifeguard vest and the aircraft supplied to boat. Lifeguard vest can be made from many layers of tape (like a gun), and between the layers of tape you can put a coin so it will be thinner and stronger. Of course then have to shoot in the vest of various weapons.

I had a bulletproof vest because

Re hangovers: one thing to consider is that different types of liquors may have different effects on hangover severity. Vodka, for example, might have a lighter effect than bourbon.

It's said that red wine is the most likely to promote hangover severity due to the presence of tannins in the wine, whereas champagne is least likely due to the removal of impurities. Mind you, it'd be a big ask to get the producers to cough up the dough for a "red wine vs. champagne" hangover test, but it'd still be fun, don'tcha think?

Comment on peeing on third rail---
I have a brother in law that was at a teenager beer party. After a few hours had to relieve himself and did so onto and over some bushes where an electric fence was. It did set him back on his butt.
So I don't think the third rail theory was busted.

Please mythbusters use this myth it is awesome and i've been hering this for a couple months now and i hope you guys can test it,
A giant pop rock the size of a ping pong ball can blow a normal persons head off. So i hope you can test that out Adam and Jamie.
1 of your biggest fans,
Micheal

Soooo... when are the next two segments of this show going to air? I liked the first one, but I'm still waiting for duct tape/clean-dirty car to see what they have to say.

Commenting on the Hangover test...I never heard the quote that Kari used, I've always heard it as beer on whiskey, risky, whiskey on beer, in the clear.

Ref your patching the boat. I bet if you just drifted your boat over a poly tarp, pulled up and secured up around the gunnels (dumping out as much water as possible) and bailed the boat out you would be good to go.

So are we going to see another episode of 'The Combustion Chamber' soon? And if so, do we know when? Or hasn't it (either if or when) been decided yet?

I think it's a great idea. I really enjoyed watching the pilot. I hope we will have more to come. Especially with all the juicy controversy over this week's episode! It'd be nice to see the MBs respond to some of the fans' concerns without having to wait for some new 'revisited' special months down the line ...

(Come to think of it ... I don't know if it actually counts as 'controversy' when, apparently, every single person who posted about it agreed that the conclusions were invalid ...)

What happened to grant carey and tory on the show. I never see them on it anymore. It almost angers me because they made the show fun to. They were the crazy wild people that i liked to watch. The myths are great but grant tory and carey made them interesting. WHERE ARE THEY

The dimpled car was cool. But the wind tunnel test of the gof ball was seriously flawed. The fact that a golf ball SPINS in flight was not accounted for. Th spin actually pushes air int the negative preasure area behind the ball relative to the direction of flight. This lessons the drag more than shownin a static test. A pin to one side or the other produces a slice of hook depending on the changed aerodymanics.