My grandfather who lived in Lockwood, CA, told a story of transmitting telephone conversations through continuous barbedwire fencing over a 20 mile distance (to Bradley, CA) by connecting a battery and their phone equipment to the fence. This would have been in the early 1900s. Is it possible?

My wreck of the "Cali" myth posted in the historical forum. Can a cargo of expanding grain sink a ship?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Scooty:
I heard from a very smart friend of mine that in ancient times merchant ships that were sunk when the hulls broke from the rice expanding is this possible? Hey, that's what my myth is about-the wreck of the cargo ship "Cali" in the cayman Islands around 1929. Supposedly sunk due to an expanding cargo of rice that got wet after the ship sprung a leak.

quote:

Originally posted by Deadly Cannnon:
Does rubing two sticks together really create a spark and can that spark start a fire?

Yup! Been done by many a boy scout! I've done it myself. Though it isn't a spark, it is friction heat that causes the ignition.

There is no myth about drinking beer only or drinking beer and liquor. The myth is about which one you drink first. Drinking beer BEFORE liquor will make you sicker or drinking liquor BEFORE beer you are in the clear. You Did not test the real myth and should re-do this test. ANY AND ALL DATA YOU GATHERED IS WORTHLESS.

I want to know if it is true if a frog urinates on your hand, will you end up with a wart?

quote:

Originally posted by jmtank:
My grandfather who lived in Lockwood, CA, told a story of transmitting telephone conversations through continuous barbedwire fencing over a 20 mile distance (to Bradley, CA) by connecting a battery and their phone equipment to the fence. This would have been in the early 1900s. Is it possible?

If there were two continuous wires or one continuous wire and good earth conductivity, yes it should be possible. We did the same sort of thing as kids, but not over such a large distance, using a battery and war-surplus headphones and carbon microphones attached with alligator clips to fence wire.

Supposed momentum from inertia and the work of Eric Laithwaite, now there's a myth that needs busting or proving when the observed behaviour (YouTube - Recreated Royal Institute Lecture ) conflicts with Newton's Third Law of Motion.

first off.. love mythbusters, seen every episode
in the one where u had the bloodhounds chasing Adam, i think you should have done...
where the dog is sniffing at the purp, but the owner thought the dog was sniffing at a bag of dog food, but actually the purp was in the dog food.

I'm a Norwegian and a huge fan of the show. I have a myth that we were taught in school, about our viking kings. It is said that one of the greatest viking kings ever - Olaf Trygvason - could run across the oars outside of the viking vessel while his men were rowing. This is shown in the film "The Vikings" with Kirk Douglas and in written records (The Sagas). King Olaf Trygvason's Saga

It would be great to see the Mythbusters trying out wether this historical fact were possible to conduct.

Here's one I've heard here and there:

According to Folk Lore, when the Titanic's boilers were touched by the icy atlantic ocean water, the sudden transfer of heat caused them to explode, resulting in the ship sinking faster.

Obviously that's a load of bull, given all the testamony to the contrary.

However, when the Lusitania was torpedoed in WWI, there was a second explosion that hasn't been explained(no, it wasn't a second torpedo), one theory for the second explosion was that(once again) cold water came in contact with the hot boiler, causing it to explode.

My question/myth is this: Could cold sea-(or fresh)water coming in contact with a hot early-20th century ship boiler cause it to explode? If so, how hot would the boiler need to be? And furthermore: could such an explosion cause a ship to sink faster?

And assuming that the damage was survivable for the ship, could the explosion cause the ship to sink?

Let's hope Adam doesn't get hurt if they use this myth.

THe metal might warp, but that's it. The Lusitania was hauling ammunition, and it exploded upon impact of the torpedo.