Mythbusters Tonight
- Thread starter Nedersong
- Start date
And of course it has to conflict with the Democratic Convention...
Yeah, I'll be watching.
Yeah, I'll be watching.
Yeah I live in Denver and it is just like normal here, no protesters no nothing.
Must have been staged months ago in a Nevada Soundstage.
Presumably tonight is the Moon Hoax episode.
They canceled "Viral Hour" and "Ninja 2" the last two weeks "because of the Olympics" so who knows if they plan to air those two later or start this run with the delayed episodes. Tonight is the scheduled air date for the Moon Hoax episode but considering how DISC lkes to dick around their viewers I wouldn't hold your breath.
They canceled "Viral Hour" and "Ninja 2" the last two weeks "because of the Olympics" so who knows if they plan to air those two later or start this run with the delayed episodes. Tonight is the scheduled air date for the Moon Hoax episode but considering how DISC lkes to dick around their viewers I wouldn't hold your breath.
And we all know how it's going to turn out anyway. And if it was faked, and I sure some MIB's paid them a visit.
I could call Discovery's broadcast center and ask the master control tech which episode is on the schedule, if that would really make you feel better
I could call Discovery's broadcast center and ask the master control tech which episode is on the schedule, if that would really make you feel better
Just calling it like it is.
Thanks for the heads-up! 
WEll, I can confirm it's airing, because I am watching it right now.
Very interesting episode. No surprising conclusions and I doubt it'll quiet any Moon Hoaxers, but still a good episode.
Looks like Viral Hour is next week.
Looks like Viral Hour is next week.
Yeah.... did you notice the way Joe Biden waffled to and fro when there was supposed to be no wind?
But as to the actual Mythbusters episode... good subject for a show. Why, when I in no way cotton to any of those conspiracy theories? Simple fore the reason that it's fascinating to watch how Adam, Jamie et al approach these puzzles. Not saying that they actually follow the strictest sense of the scientific method, but even so the lunar landing story is a personal favorite. Whenever discussion about it comes to light, I'm there.
This turned out better than I expected. I wasn't sure what they could really do here, but they did a good job of zeroing in on some of the main arguments the moon-hoax nuts use and exposing their flaws.
If you ask me, though, they overlooked a glaring logic flaw -- pun not intended but fitting -- in the first myth about the non-parallel shadows. The hoax nuts say the shadows "prove" there had to be two light sources. But if there were two light sources, then each object would have two shadows. Unless the lights were very narrowly focused on their respective targets, which wouldn't produce the consistent lighting in the photo.
What I liked was how one or two of the things that the hoax nuts cite as proof of the presence of atmosphere are actually caused by its absence. One is the movement of the flag, which is far greater without air to damp it. The other is the stability of the footprint, although the Mythbusters didn't mention this aspect, aside from the narrator vaguely alluding to "other factors" besides the rough grains and low gravity that helped the dust maintain its shape. The other factor I thought of was vacuum cementing. On Earth, dust grains have air molecules between them, providing some separation even at their closest. Thus you need some cohesive medium like water to cement them together. But in vacuum, there's nothing between them, and the electrostatic attraction between their surface electrons sticks them together without any extra help.
In terms of the "slow motion" myth, it was obvious just from watching the lunar footage carefully that it wasn't just slow motion. The hoax theorists can't be very observant if they can't see the difference in how the body moves, how the equipment moves, even how high the astronauts jump. But it was interesting to see the ways the Mythbusters tried to replicate the footage. The problem with the rig that reduced Adam's effective weight is that objects in a given gravity field fall at the same rate regardless of their weight. It would've had to slow his rate of descent by a factor of the square root of six. Maybe it did with an elastic effect or something, but if so, it only did so with his center of mass; his legs were hanging free and moved normally in response to gravity.
So they did show pretty clearly that the way a body moves in low gravity is a distinctive thing that can't be duplicated in normal gravity.
The bit where they fired the laser at the Moon was cool in and of itself, but a bit underwhelming as proof; the conspiracy nuts will just say the readout on the computer was faked. Of course the rest of us know it's legit, but it doesn't quite live up to the usual Mythbusters standard of giving a graphic demonstration of the principle, something simple and straightforward enough that seeing is believing.
Of course, the nuts will find ways to claim all of this was faked. After all, they were working with NASA support the whole time, and those NASA people have a vested interest in maintaining the conspiracy! And... and... the differences in the moonwalk footage were created by altering the video on a computer! Because the Mythbusters are in on it too! They've been compromised by the Man! The Man is... is... holding Kari's puppy hostage! Threatening to shave off Jamie's moustache! Threatening to take away Adam's naptime! To forbid Grant from building any more robots! And stop Tory from, uh, doing any more stupidly dangerous stunts!
If you ask me, though, they overlooked a glaring logic flaw -- pun not intended but fitting -- in the first myth about the non-parallel shadows. The hoax nuts say the shadows "prove" there had to be two light sources. But if there were two light sources, then each object would have two shadows. Unless the lights were very narrowly focused on their respective targets, which wouldn't produce the consistent lighting in the photo.
What I liked was how one or two of the things that the hoax nuts cite as proof of the presence of atmosphere are actually caused by its absence. One is the movement of the flag, which is far greater without air to damp it. The other is the stability of the footprint, although the Mythbusters didn't mention this aspect, aside from the narrator vaguely alluding to "other factors" besides the rough grains and low gravity that helped the dust maintain its shape. The other factor I thought of was vacuum cementing. On Earth, dust grains have air molecules between them, providing some separation even at their closest. Thus you need some cohesive medium like water to cement them together. But in vacuum, there's nothing between them, and the electrostatic attraction between their surface electrons sticks them together without any extra help.
In terms of the "slow motion" myth, it was obvious just from watching the lunar footage carefully that it wasn't just slow motion. The hoax theorists can't be very observant if they can't see the difference in how the body moves, how the equipment moves, even how high the astronauts jump. But it was interesting to see the ways the Mythbusters tried to replicate the footage. The problem with the rig that reduced Adam's effective weight is that objects in a given gravity field fall at the same rate regardless of their weight. It would've had to slow his rate of descent by a factor of the square root of six. Maybe it did with an elastic effect or something, but if so, it only did so with his center of mass; his legs were hanging free and moved normally in response to gravity.
So they did show pretty clearly that the way a body moves in low gravity is a distinctive thing that can't be duplicated in normal gravity.
The bit where they fired the laser at the Moon was cool in and of itself, but a bit underwhelming as proof; the conspiracy nuts will just say the readout on the computer was faked. Of course the rest of us know it's legit, but it doesn't quite live up to the usual Mythbusters standard of giving a graphic demonstration of the principle, something simple and straightforward enough that seeing is believing.
Of course, the nuts will find ways to claim all of this was faked. After all, they were working with NASA support the whole time, and those NASA people have a vested interest in maintaining the conspiracy! And... and... the differences in the moonwalk footage were created by altering the video on a computer! Because the Mythbusters are in on it too! They've been compromised by the Man! The Man is... is... holding Kari's puppy hostage! Threatening to shave off Jamie's moustache! Threatening to take away Adam's naptime! To forbid Grant from building any more robots! And stop Tory from, uh, doing any more stupidly dangerous stunts!
Like rolling out of bed in the morning?
My criticism about that segment is, that it only proves, that there have been humans on the moon, but not as the myth usuall goes (as far as I know), that just Apollo 11 was faked.
Anyway, I think the Mythbusters did a great job at making an utterly ridiculous myth look somewhat reasonable and then crushing it thoroughly leaving no doubt about its stupidity.
As far as *I* know the Moon Hoaxers feel that humans have never been to the moon and that it is impossible to even go there, because of the Van Allen Radiation Belt.
The bouncing lasers off equipment left behind on the moon, for me, prooves little because as far as *I* know no one has made the claim that no human equipment has been left on the moon just that man himself, in person, has never been there.
The Grey Aliens put it there, of course!!
Which just proves that common sense is frequently wrong. Especially when applied to circumstances outside of common experience.
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