MythBusters
MythBusters: Season 4

Air Date

January 11, 2006

Episodes

28 episodes

MythBusters

Season 4

Overview

The cast of the television series MythBusters perform experiments to verify or debunk urban legends, old wives' tales, and the like. The holiday special episode in this season was the first time MythBusters was broadcast in high definition.

Episodes

Paper Crossbow

1. Paper Crossbow

January 11, 2006
60 min

Is it possible to make a deadly weapon out of nothing more dangerous than newspaper and underwear? Grant, Kari and Tory unscrew the cap on some more vodka myths.

Shredded Plane

2. Shredded Plane

January 18, 2006

Is the photo of a light plane, with precise, clean tears on the side, genuine? Was it the work of the jilted lover, who took to her ex's plane with a chainsaw and a taste for vengeance?

Archimedes Death Ray Revisited

3. Archimedes Death Ray Revisited

January 25, 2006

Challenged from fan mailbags to retest the "Archimedes Death Ray," Adam and Jamie accept. In turn, fans and a M.I.T. team were invited to perform this challenge.

Helium Football

4. Helium Football

6.0
February 1, 2006

This time around, Adam and Jamie test a myth that footballs filled with helium will fly farther and hang longer than ones filled with regulation air. Are teeth strong enough to withstand the force of a bullet?

Franklin's Kite

5. Franklin's Kite

6.0
March 8, 2006

The build team attempts to discover electricity by flying a kite in a thunderstorm. Do innocuous legumes really increase gas? Is it possible to break wind so much that you can suffocate to death?

Cell Phones on Planes

6. Cell Phones on Planes

6.0
March 15, 2006

If you fill a normal raft with helium can you fly? Tory and Kari tackle a conspiracy theory familiar to many frequent flyers. Can your cell phone interfere with a plane's instruments?

Bullets Fired Up

7. Bullets Fired Up

9.0
April 19, 2006

Can celebratory gunfire kill when the bullets fall back to Earth? Grant, Tory and Kari quench their thirst with another round of "Vodka Myths."

Myths Re-Opened

8. Myths Re-Opened

7.0
April 26, 2006

The team revisits myths explored from "Split Arrow," "Confederate Rocket," and "Bulletproof Water."

Mind Control

9. Mind Control

8.0
May 3, 2006

Adam and Jamie do a little painting and detonating when they try to blow open a home-improvement myth. Grant, Tory and Kari explore if it is possible to manipulate someone's mind remotely.

Exploding Pants

10. Exploding Pants

7.0
May 10, 2006

Tory, Kari and Grant investigate the spontaneous trouser combustion. Do gas companies and car manufacturers deliberately conspire to make gas-guzzling cars so that they can split the cash?

Crimes and Myth-Demeanors (1)

11. Crimes and Myth-Demeanors (1)

8.0
July 12, 2006

Are Hollywood break-ins complete hocus pocus? The team tries to tiptoe their way around a laser system before facing the mother of all safes.

Steam Cannon

12. Steam Cannon

6.0
July 19, 2006

Did Archimedes build the world's first "supergun," a cannon powered by steam? Adam's mom thinks a typical modern breakfast cereal has less nutritional value than the box it comes in. Is Mom right?

Whirlpool/Snowplow

13. Whirlpool/Snowplow

7.0
July 26, 2006

Somewhere on Earth is there a massive whirlpool sucking whole ships and their hapless crews to a watery grave? Can a passing wintery road sweeper displace so much air that it flips an oncoming car?

Mentos and Soda

14. Mentos and Soda

9.0
August 9, 2006

Adam and Jamie try to figure out the theory behind the chaos when diet cola and Mentos mix. Can posting a postage stamp on the rotor blades send a helicopter into a tailspin?

Shattering Subwoofer

15. Shattering Subwoofer

7.0
August 16, 2006

The guys find out if the bass from a car stereo can destroy an automobile. Also, Grant, Kari and Tory hit the road to take on two tall tales from our mates down under.

Crimes and Myth-Demeanors (2)

16. Crimes and Myth-Demeanors (2)

8.0
August 23, 2006

It's "lights, camera, action!" time again for the MythBusters, as they test more Hollywood heists. This time, our cat burglars Adam and Jamie go cold as they try to beat a heat-detecting alarm sensor.

Earthquake Machine

17. Earthquake Machine

7.0
August 30, 2006

Adam and Jamie take on one of the greatest scientist/inventor and myth creator legends of all time: Nikolai Tesla and his Earthquake Machine. Tory and Kari investigate a lethal lava lamp.

Deadly Straw

18. Deadly Straw

8.0
September 6, 2006

Can the wind in a tropical hurricane get so strong that it can blow a piece of straw through a palm-tree trunk? Can a hurricane blow the feathers off a chicken?

Mega Movie Myths

19. Mega Movie Myths

7.0
September 13, 2006

Can you use awnings to cushion your fall? Is there really such a thing as a car ejector seat? Can you chop a sword with another sword Is it possible to shoot through a door lock?

Killer Cable Snaps

20. Killer Cable Snaps

7.0
October 11, 2006

If a cable at high tension snaps, can it slice a person clean in two? Does ancient pottery contain sounds from the past that can be played back and listened to today, just like a record?

Air Cylinder Rocket

21. Air Cylinder Rocket

7.0
October 18, 2006

Can a ruptured cylinder -- carefully aimed --really cause the massive damage some people claim? Meanwhile, Tory, Grant and Kari go back in time to test some prototypes from the past.

More Myths Revisited

22. More Myths Revisited

8.0
October 25, 2006

"Myths Revisited" offers Jamie and Adam the chance to clear their names. Watch as they repeat past experiments to see if their original answer was genuine or bogus.

Exploding Lighter

23. Exploding Lighter

6.0
November 1, 2006

Jamie and Adam find out if a small, disposable butane lighter can suddenly ignite with the force of several sticks of dynamite. The "Magnificent Three" try and shoot down some popular gunslinger myths.

Concrete Glider

24. Concrete Glider

6.0
November 8, 2006

Adam and Jamie test the old engineering challenge that you can't make a concrete glider fly. Kari, Grant and Tory find out just how dangerous it is to stand too close to the edge of a train platform.

Firearms Folklore

25. Firearms Folklore

6.0
November 29, 2006

Could a criminal's bullet have hit and jammed the empty chamber of a policeman's revolver? Could two bullets colliding mid-air fuse together? Is a hammer more dangerous than you think?

Anti-Gravity Device

26. Anti-Gravity Device

9.0
December 6, 2006

Could leaving Christmas lights on your tree overnight cause it to burst into flames? Is Anti-gravity science or science fiction? Can vodka cure the pain of a jellyfish sting?

Holiday Special

27. Holiday Special

10.0
December 6, 2006
42 min

Can six reindeer run fast enough to launch an ultralite glider? Does one burn more calories jogging Naked in the snow or by putting on an Airtight jogging suit and running in a hot desert?

22,000-Foot Fall

28. 22,000-Foot Fall

8.0
December 13, 2006

Is it possible to survive a 22,000 foot fall using the blast from a 1,000 pound bomb to break the fall? Is electricity saved by switching off the lights when leaving a room?