Extra Extra! Mythbusters Test a Cool Myth!

Ever heard of the show Mythbusters on Discovery Channel? The episodes that air on that series are both interesting and educational. One of the episodes I watched was about the myth of a taxicab accidentally driving by the back of a 737 jet airplane that was about to lift off. It was said on the news that the taxi had been blown seventy-five feet in the air by the blast of the jet engine! Adam and Jamie thought this myth was worth testing. They first bought an old taxicab and customized it in many ways. First of all, Adam, being the fun-loving man he is, designed a Mythbusters logo to spray paint on their new, about-to-be-demolished taxicab. Then, Jamie decided to make the car remote-controlled so that they could safely drive the car behind a jet from a distance. This wasn't hard for Jamie, so the Mythbusters were ready to finally test the myth in no time. Adam and Jamie could not get hold of a real 737 jet to use, so they had no choice but to use hired jet engines that were not attached to a jet. To be safe during the experiment, the Mythbusters had a professional jet operator named Steve Bolan supervise the test. Also, all of the people watching stood away from the scene so that they would not get burned by the engine's hot gases. In addition, they wore appropriate safety equipment on their ears so that the sound of the engine would not hurt them. Luckily, the Mythbusters did not break any general lab safety rules. If they had, they would have been hurt. During the experiment, Adam believed the taxi would completely flip over a few times, but Jamie disagreed and did not think anything so dramatic would happen. As usual, Jamie was right and the taxi had stayed on the road. The damage was very visible though. The air pressure from the engine was extremely high, therefore peeling off several parts of the car such as the front and back fenders. This episode also showed Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. On the news, the hot gases from the engine were pushed backwards during the accident and the car was also pushed backwards with them. Then, the opposite action occurred when the jet moved forward. In this myth, Adam and Jamie definitely needed a science background for their special effects career because knowing how air pressure works, how electricity flows in a car, and the effects of heat on the objects around it helped Jamie and Adam make accurate hypotheses and design new inventions that could be used to test their hypotheses for future myths. If Adam and Jamie did not understand physics at all, then they would not have known how to test this myth. It looks like their special effects experience really pays off!