This summer is a great time to visit the Ontario Science Centre where the Discovery Channel’s Emmy®-nominated series, MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition, comes to life to uncover truths behind popular myths. If you’ve ever watched MythBusters, you’ve seen the co-hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman use the scientific method to test the validity of rumours, myths, movie scenes and even news stories.
Have you ever wondered if you could pull the tablecloth off a fully set table? You might have seen a magician do it. Don’t rush to try this at home; try it at the Ontario Science Centre! Find out by setting your table with the non-breakable dishes provided and then using Newton’s first law of motion to find the correct angle and speed to pull the tablecloth from under the place setting – without disturbing a dish. We did pretty well on this game. Will this make unsetting the table an easier chore?
Phone Book Swing: Test the strength of interlaced phone books as you take a seat on this swing. On one episode of MythBusters, the phone books withstood 8,000 pounds of force due to the friction between the pages! Since we don’t use phone books anymore, it is good to know phone books are still good for something!
What is the dirtiest object – a hotel remote control, a kitchen sponge, money, a shopping cart, a keyboard, or a toilet seat?
Could you dodge a bullet? It looks easy on TV, but is it possible? Stand in front of the figure outline until the motion sensor recognizes your presence. Pay close attention because at a random moment, a strobe light will “fire” at you at which point you try to get out of the way as fast as you can. You’ll be timed on how quickly you’re able to move out of its path. If you don’t succeed, you get to try again and again. If only real life could be as forgiving.
It is a coincidence that it rained the day we visited the exhibit and we forgot our umbrellas. I ran to avoid spending too much time in the rain, but wonder if running will really keep me drier. Have you wondered that too? Here is your chance to find out for yourself. Find someone to run through this rain tunnel where it is actually raining inside. The person in the slow lane walks while the person in the fast lane runs. The rain has an edible dye so that you can compare your rain drops to your partner’s under a black light. I did succeed in convincing a friend to come through the shed. The result? Well you’ll just have to try it for yourself.
So I did my unscientific experiment to test if MythBusters: The Explosive Exhibition is informative, engaging and fun.
Outcome of experiment: CONFIRMED
Check out this ingenuous exhibition.
Ontario Science Centre
MythBusters runs from June 5 to September 13, 2015.
I used to watch Mythbusters all the time when I had access to the Discovery Channel.
It rained earlier this week, and I forgot my umbrella. My guess is that you get just as wet when you’re running. I tried both on the day it rained and decided to just walk. Needless to say, I got soaked.
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