Friday, February 23, 2018

MythBusters! at Fleet Science Museum

by Patricia Frischer


MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition

Does toast always land butter-side down?  In this amazing hands-on exhibition, you can put myths like this to the test—just as the team from the popular MythBusters TV show has done for years!


When we visited this exhibition of hands on demonstrations and artifacts from the TV show, everyone was so excited and laughing and sharing experiences. This is a great show for kids and adults alike and really brought the community together whether it was sharing results, helping each to understand, or getting help to participate.  
  • Use scientific observations and your own curiosity to search for the truth behind some commonly held beliefs.
  • Explore the Blueprint Room and relive some of the show’s most exciting moments.
  • Test your hypothesis in The Workshop and decide whether the myth is plausible, busted or confirmed.
  • Catch a live demonstration on the Demo Stage. There are multiple shows throughout the day, and the variables (people) are always changing, so results can change hour to hour!
  • Submit your own myths, and you could see them being tested on future episodes of MythBusters!
On display in the expanded upstairs galleries, the exhibition overflows with hands-on props and gadgets from the show. The Fleet invites you to try your hand at busting some new myths, as well as some old favorites.
MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition is now open daily (including holidays!) through Monday, September 3, 2018.  (open daily at 10 a.m.) Add MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition to your Fleet visit: $5 Members pay just $2.95.

No, you can not stay alive in a closed coffin for long underground.

No, you can not yes catch a bullet in your teeth. 

Yes, you could possibly distract a shark by poking it in its eye. 

We had great fun watching for the flash and being timed for our reaction. Turns out you would have to do it in less than 1/10 of a second and no one can manage that. You could dodge a bullet if it was shot 500 yards away, but then you would not see the flash. 


 Can you really pull a tablecloth off of a fully set table without disturbing a dish? Yes, if the cloth is slippery and you pull fast and with a downward motion. Darwin and I were both able to complete this fun trick.  

What keeps you drier: running in the rain or walking through it? It depends on the length of space you are trying to cover. You get wetter in long distances, walking and wetter in short distances running. 

Loved watching this young lady trying to decide if she should done the superman outfit inside of the phone booth and test here speed. Even with the extra large clothes so you don't have to undress the best time is about 1/2 minute, not enough time to catch a thief....myth busted!

This lady is sitting on a swing held up by phone books! And I encouraged her companion to stand up on the swing and it was rock solid. 

This was more a fun exercise than a mythbuster. You  had to instruct the drive who could not see how to drive to stay on the road and not crash into anything. It was very, very hard to do but with some practice you could instruct a blind person how to drive.  I am sure in the future it will be technology that performs this task and not another human being.