MythBusters Bust House 631
ewhac writes "The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the MythBusters accidentally sent a cannon ball hurtling through Dublin this afternoon, punching through a home, bouncing across a six-lane road, and ultimately coming to a rest inside a now-demolished Toyota minivan. Amazingly, there were no injuries. The ball was fired from a home-made cannon at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department bomb range, and was intended to strike a water target. Instead the ball missed the water, punched through a cinder-block wall, and skipped off the hill behind. Prior to today, the MythBusters had been shooting episodes at the bomb range for over seven years without major incident. It is not clear whether Savage/Hyneman or Belleci/Imahara/Byron were conducting the experiment."
Belleci/Imahara/Byron (Score:5, Informative)
NIMBY's (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not to be too pedantic (Score:5, Informative)
Re:NIMBY's (Score:4, Informative)
It takes NIMBY to quite another level when you build the backyard in question on top of what you don't want there.
Happened quite frequently in the 1970s and 1980s, with fresh suburbanites screaming about noise from airports that had existed for decades.
Not On My Mini Van! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Funny Stuff (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Up stairs and through walls (Score:5, Informative)
Back when they used cannonballs in war, they used to fire "ground balls". The balls would bounce along on the ground, moving rather slowly.
Ineveitably some newbie would see it and try to stop it with his foot.
The next day they call those newbies "Stumpie" .
Re:Up stairs and through walls (Score:5, Informative)
Most British (and American) Ships of the Line from the late 17th and 18th centuries had long range forward facing guns called "Long Nines". These were cast iron, "9 pound" guns usually 8 or 9 feet in length used as a "chase gun" firing from the bow or stern of the ship. On the larger ships such as the classic British "Man of War", often entire broadside batteries were "long nines".
This was part of the reason why the British fleet ruled the seas for so long. They could take out an enemy from a range so far the enemy could not shoot back.
Re:Not to be too pedantic (Score:5, Informative)
It's a television show. It was probably planned WEEKS in advance.
I will believe this the minute people involved in the show are arrested and prosecuted. Until then, the safe bet is publicity stunt.
People are not arrested and prosecuted for accidents. They were at a bomb range, not recklessly firing cannon balls in the middle of residential areas. They took appropriate precautions, but shit happens, and their insurance pays for the damage.
Re:Funny Stuff (Score:4, Informative)
Heh. Spoken by a true non-parent.
Spoken like a parent of two kids who has an "8-to-5" job! When my kids were infants, I was in sitting in a cubicle every morning and afternoon. (Now I telecommute.)
It's called: "baby asleep in the crib, Parents having nookie very quietly in the bed." Many many parents have done it.
Only during the evening. Or on weekends when I was actually home during the afternoon.
Re:Remember (Score:5, Informative)
Re:NIMBY's (Score:5, Informative)
With the combined magic of Google Street View plus the images in the linked article, we can be more specific than that.
This image [tinypic.com] shows the cannonball's trajectory. Location #1 is the house that the cannonball went through, apparently entering through the front door and exiting through the rear wall. Location #2 is the driveway in which the cannonball came to a stop in a minivan.
Re:NIMBY's (Score:5, Informative)
And here's one [tinypic.com] that shows the complete trajectory from the bomb range.
Re:Remember (Score:5, Informative)
Except in some episodes with guns, the Mythbusters always show that they have a professional gun or explosives guy around.
The Mythbusters may be certified to do pyro and explosives, but they take care to show on TV that they have an outside expert, usually from law enforcement.
If they were shooting off home made cannons at the Alameda County Sheriff's Department bomb range,
then they probably had the Alameda County Sheriff's Department bomb squad present to supervise.
Having insurance just means that you have to follow whatever protocols your insurer demands.
Their premiums are definitely going to go up after this accident.
Re:Remember (Score:5, Informative)
As someone who has written a fair amount of sales copy for services, I can tell you categorically that "professional" means that we intend to get paid for it.
Re:Not to be too pedantic (Score:5, Informative)
Except that they always, *always*, have officials of the local emergency services and experts on hand when they do stuff like this. Pretty much once your experiment has been cleared by fire/safety, the police, and a known explosives expert you can wash your hands of criminal liability. They're still financially responsible for the damage of course, but unless this is some sort complete departure from their normal modus operandi they did more than enough due diligence to avoid criminal prosecution for gross negligence.
Video and Pics (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Funny Stuff (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not to be too pedantic (Score:1, Informative)
A large percentage of what they do on the show is strictly for entertainment value. Many of the so-called myths they test, and the methods they devise to test them, are completely predictable by anyone with any common sense, yet they perform the "tests" anyway because they involve entertaining car wrecks, explosions, fire balls, or Adam ending up in pain and/or puking.
I don't know if this particular incident occurred while testing something unpredictable or whether simply doing something entertaining, but either way, the lawyers have been hired and the suits will fly. The police, the production company, Adam, Jamie, and every other member of the cast who was present, the state of Ca., and the TV channel that sponsors/airs their show will all be sued for actual damages + compensation for PTSD + punitive damages. There will even be a suit over who gets possession of the cannon ball- the myth-busters, the PD bomb squad, the city, the state, the homeowner, or the van owner. If either the homeowner or the van owner win it will promptly be placed on ebay- hopefully they'll be smart enough to get Adam, Jamie, and the rest of the gang to autograph it first...
Pictures from the bomb range! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Not to be too pedantic (Score:5, Informative)
Contrary to all expectations, the heavier object fell faster.
This is correct. It can take quite a few iterations before one has a fool proof release mechanism that does not favor the heavier object.
Re:Not to be too pedantic (Score:4, Informative)
Resulting damage and initial part, maybe- too valuable not to. But I really think they didn't have cameras on the back side of the hill.
And they have shown that sort of footage in the past - the "instant convertable" myth (where the car doesn't stop as expected after going under the semi, launches off a berm and ends up in a ditch on the other side of the fence), they show the launch (several times - because that was cool), and more importantly, focus on the team's reactions (which were obviously unscripted "oh ****" type responses), and then show them finding the car and having "oh, this could have sucked a whole lot" type conversations. (I think one of the "don't try this at home" bits are actually in front of the car.)
I imagine they'll still use the bomb range in future - they'll just point the cannon *away* from the residential housing...