# Whoopsie! - Mythbusters + Cannonball
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [December 7, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339 "2011-12-07T03:51:27Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2011, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/81 "2011-12-10T00:47:42Z")
> [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](#):
>
> I would think the crew knew what was on the other side. Just because Tori didn;t know his surroundings dosn;t mean no one there knew them.
Well, Kari didn’t know either, at least judging by the look of sudden, stone cold panic on her face.
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### Author:  [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/82 "2011-12-10T02:55:49Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#):
>
> Wimpy-ness? I actually hope this incident DOES have a chilling effect on their over-reliance of explosions, cannons and firearms.
I hope not! I’m under the impression that in the next season they were going to bust some of myths related to nuclear war/weapons. I’m SOOO looking forward to that.
😃
FWIW: I’ve never seen the show.
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### Author:  [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2011, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/83 "2011-12-10T22:08:21Z")
> [@Shawn1767](#):
>
> Wimpy-ness? I actually hope this incident DOES have a chilling effect on their over-reliance of explosions, cannons and firearms. It seems like almost every show has them blowing up something. I actually enjoy the ones that don’t involve explosions, like the Monty Hall problem, airplane on a treadmill, the coughing in your elbow, rat urine on the cans, blue ice kinds of mythbusting. If that’s “wimpy” give me wimpy. I mean, yeah, we know shit blows up. And if it doesn’t blow up enough, they’ll just ramp it up anyway. Boring…
One of my favorites ever - the germ-spreading one where they gave Adam a invisible blacklight-dye runny nose. That was awesome, and a great experiment, and no 'splody. Also, the one where they had him try to get out of a sinking car. Very informative, and tense, and also no 'splody.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2011, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/84 "2011-12-10T22:57:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#):
>
> Journalistic accuracy comes first as always. Read the [caption](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2011/12/07/BAN31M9Q81.DTL&object=%2Fc%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F12%2F07%2Fmn-cannonball08__0504697458.jpg) in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Authorities continue with their investigation on how, exactly, the cannonball flew from Alameda County Sheriff’s range _several miles_ away from the Dublin suburb” And well they should investigate how a cannonball was able to travel several miles.
Google maps gives ~2,700 ft. I’d guess someone asked them to fudge the numbers because thinking you’re safe if you’re several miles away is less idiotic.
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### Author:  [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/85 "2011-12-11T15:39:55Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#):
>
> One of my favorites ever - the germ-spreading one where they gave Adam a invisible blacklight-dye runny nose. That was awesome, and a great experiment, and no 'splody. Also, the one where they had him try to get out of a sinking car. Very informative, and tense, and also no 'splody.
This is why I love the Dope. I stopped watching MB because while the explosions were cool at first…eventually, seen one, seen them all. The show began to feel so one-dimensional and it bored me, frankly. But this episode I would like to see!
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### Author:  [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/86 "2011-12-11T16:26:23Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#):
>
> Well, Kari didn’t know either, at least judging by the look of sudden, stone cold panic on her face.
I may of course be wrong. But I am assuming that it is the people behind the cameras that we don;t see who choose the locations and such things. If Kari and Tori chose that place without paying attention to what were behind it, I don;t think they would be in a position to make those choices much longer.
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### Author:  [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2011, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/87 "2011-12-11T16:36:29Z")
I think the whole “Let’s blow stuff up” aspect is kinda overblown by people. Yeah, there’s usually an explosion if that’s what the myth is, but it’s not really as common as people act. They do tons of non-explosion myths, but people don’t seem to remember those.
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### Author:  [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/88 "2011-12-11T16:39:58Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#):
>
> I think the whole “Let’s blow stuff up” aspect is kinda overblown by people. Yeah, there’s usually an explosion if that’s what the myth is, but it’s not really as common as people act. They do tons of non-explosion myths, but people don’t seem to remember those.
Also, the explosion myths often turn out to be not that big of a deal and they end up ramping up the explosion for fun. The cement truck explosion is a pretty good example of this.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/89 "2011-12-11T18:20:15Z")
I think that’s the complaint. The explosions that they ramp up for fun–after they’ve already reasonably tested they myth at realistic levels–just seem kind of pointless now. It’s becoming old. And I am still a big fan of the show because they are still doing things that really interest me, like the wrecking ball Newton’s Cradle this season. I’m a science teacher and I often use Mythbusters clips in the classroom.
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### Author:  [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)
#### Post date: [December 11, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/90 "2011-12-11T19:10:01Z")
> [@Merneith](#):
>
> They were using one of Mythbuster’s home made cannon’s, according to the article. I wonder if the tube split throwing the trajectory off. Or maybe it was just mis-aimed.
I suspect it was Myth-aimed…
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### Author:  [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/91 "2011-12-12T05:58:21Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#):
>
> Also, the one where they had him try to get out of a sinking car. Very informative, and tense, and also no 'splody.
Tense is a great word. When they redid the myth with the car flipping over, Adam’s anguish was palpable in the interview. He seemed genuinely pretty frightened over the experience.
I bought my emergency hammer the following weekend. 🙂
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2011, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/92 "2011-12-12T15:13:20Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#):
>
> Also, the explosion myths often turn out to be not that big of a deal and they end up ramping up the explosion for fun. The cement truck explosion is a pretty good example of this.
I would never have believed that wouldn’t work unless they had gone all the way with it. It just seemed like such an obvious solution. . . I expected the drum to be out of whack (no longer perfectly round) but never thought the cement would just hang out there laughing at the puny humans.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/93 "2011-12-12T15:23:43Z")
Don’t forget that they have always recreated the circumstances of a myth AND the mythical result of the myth. It being a TV show means that they have to keep things visually interesting. This means more big booms than are necessary for the science aspect of the show, but it is a show.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2011, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/94 "2011-12-12T15:41:04Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#):
>
> Tense is a great word. When they redid the myth with the car flipping over, Adam’s anguish was palpable in the interview. He seemed genuinely pretty frightened over the experience.
>
> I bought my emergency hammer the following weekend. 🙂
you need the major tension of blowing something big up and will it work, who might get injured (even though you are taking precautions).
tension is good reality tv. speaking of tension Fear Factor is back on new today, the best of the reality challenge shows.
not having cable tv, i don’t watch Mythbuster much. i think they do a fair job of tension in the nondangerous, nonexplosive experiments/trials/tests as well.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/95 "2011-12-12T23:05:45Z")
I can’t, personally, see how the Mythbusters would be to blame for this nor the example of the car which went over the hill. In both cases, they were working at a professional site that was (theoretically) specifically engineered, inspected, and signed off as a testing facility for just such things. If a cannonball can hit you, shrapnel could too. If the Mythbusters car can go over the hill, all other cars could as well. I’d have to vote that these test locations just aren’t as well crafted as one would have expected.
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### Author:  [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whoopsie-mythbusters-cannonball/605339/96 "2011-12-12T23:17:26Z")
The “muzzle lift” theory makes some sense because the old time, at least American Civil War, artillery was fired with a sabot which greatly reduced the bouncing-down-the-gun-tube factor. I doubt if the runaway ball fit the tube very precisely. That, of course, could and maybe should have been anticipated.
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