The Mythbusters are here! Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage are the daring duo behind what has to be one of the greatest science shows ever created. They also have one of the most fun jobs in the world--trying to prove wrong (or right) popular urban myths. They've blown stuff up, lit stuff on fire, and dropped stuff from unimaginable heights. In all honesty, if you don't already know who they are, then you don't love science.
Adam and Jamie hit the stage at AAAS today to answer questions from myth-loving fanboys and their kids. Just as charming and hilarious in person, these superstars of the nerd-i-verse talked about what goes on behind-the-scenes:
- The high-speed camera that takes shots of flying objects like Buster (their remarkably unfortunate crash test dummy) can capture up to 30,000 frames per second.
- There are 18 people behind the scenes (not including fellow Mythbusters Grant, Tori, and Kari) whose only job is to research each myth, help the guys understand it before taking it on, and find the FBI guys who bring the explosives.
- Buster the dummy has almost no original body parts left. According to Adam, "The last piece was his spine and we destroyed that a few weeks ago." Jamie notes, however, that Buster's feet are the original and there may be a piece of his chin left.
- The show runs at a breakneck pace, Adam says. Each myth you see takes about 5 to 8 days to bust. After that, a team of editors in Australia cut down 30 to 40 hours of footage to get the roughly 45 minutes you see on air.
- The car sinking myth, in which Adam was trapped in a submerged car and forced to find the best way out before using up his oxygen, left many people on the set a little rattled. According to Adam:
"In the first experiment I was making a show of it [flailing my arms and using all my energy to get out]. The next day Jamie said he didn't get any sleep that night because the image of me thrashing around was really upsetting. The rest of the crew said they felt the same way about some of the footage."
- Adam really isn't the only one getting beat up and tossed around. "Everyone thinks I do all the guinea pig experiments but we split them equally. [People] just don't remember because Jamie doesn't experience any fear or pain...but I'm happy that my pain is funny to you all."
- The Mythbusters have a long history of employment in the nerd-i-verse. Adam and Jamie worked together to create what Jamie calls a "notoriously destructive" robot for competitions like BattleBots (which you may remember from Comedy Central). And Adam himself worked extensively with fellow-busters Grant and Tori at George Lucas' special effects powerhouse Industrial Light and Magic where they contributed to the Star Wars and Matrix trilogies.
