TVSquad

(S03E16) Another season down. I really couldn't imagine this show not being renewed for another season, so here's looking forward to the next one. This is one of those guilty-pleasure shows that I have to TiVo and watch later in the week, but it's always worth it.

This week, the MythBusters tackle one very weird myth, the myth of the exploding pants, and a few myths that seem very applicable today: the great gas conspiracy.

Exploding Trousers: In 1931, in New Zealand, a sudden and deadly epidemic swept the country: farmers' pants started exploding. On the clothes lines, in front of fires, and on the farmers themselves. So, what did this? the 'Busters try a few likely culprits, along with several ways in which they may have ignited: via flame, radiant heat, friction or impact.

Culprit 01: Fearsome Fertilizer: Everything is busted for this culprit. Not even flame causes it to ignite.

Culprit 02: Black Powder Bonanza: Everything but radiant heat is busted, though the radiant heat is barely plausible.

Culprit 03: Herbicide Humdinger: Everything confirmed here! Even slamming the herbicide-soaked pants causes an explosion. We have a winner!

Culprit 04: Gun Cotton -- Same stuff used in the Confederate Rocket myth. Though wouldn't you know it, everything's busted.

Later, in a test using Buster the dummy, we see how very flammable the herbicide is when ignited. Buster is literally engulfed in flames, and the pants burn right off him. Seeing as this herbicide is one used frequently in 1930s New Zealand, this myth is right-out confirmed.

The Great Gas Conspiracy: Are the auto makers and the fuel suppliers in collusion together to get us to buy inefficient and expensive cars to keep them in business? Adam and Jamie test devices listed in the internet that the creators claim improve gas mileage.

Using both a carburettor car and a fuel-injected car, they put several tricks to the test.

Fuel line magnet: Totally busted. MPG doesn't change at all.
Acetone/gasoline mix: Busted for both kinds of cars. In fact, MPG was worse!
"Super Carburettor" that gets 300 MPG: Busted, big time. Much worse gas mileage.
Homemade fuel cell that converts water into hydrogen gas: While the car doesn't run on it at all, it does actually generate hydrogen gas. In fact, Jamie grabs a big tank of hydrogen and blows it right into the empty carburettor ... and the car runs on it!

This was the coolest part of the testing: Used cooking oil. They simply filtered used French fry cooking oil and put it into a diesel engine, and the car runs just fine on it with no engine modifications! It was 10% less efficient that the diesel, but hey, that's fricken cool.