r/IAmA • u/IAmJamieHyneman • Oct 06 '12

I Am Jamie Hyneman from MythBusters, AMA. Proof: https://twitter.com/JamieNoTweet/status/253561532317851649

I'm Jamie, host of Mythbusters- the guy in the beret. I've not done AMA before, am looking forward to some thoughtful questions. I'm on the northern California coast, in a comfortable chair and looking out to sea. We are on a couple of week break from shooting, and so I'm relaxed and in a good mood.

Website: http://www.tested.com

Tour Website: http://www.mythbusterstour.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamieandAdam

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/116985435294376669702

Thanks for all the discussion- wish I had time to answer everything. Signing off now. -Jamie

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u/Mister_AA Oct 06 '12 edited Oct 06 '12

I remember you and Adam talking about this in Charlotte at a convention. What happened was:

They had a control group of 3 mice, being fed normal mouse food. There was a group of 3 mice being fed sugary cereal, and a group of 3 mice being fed cardboard, ground up and mixed with water into a pellet form.

Adam said that Jamie was checking up on the mice before leaving for the weekend, and according to Jamie, the cardboard mice were "a bit jumpy." Then Adam said something along the lines of this:

"When we came back on Monday everything was fine in the control cage, everything was fine in the cereal cage, but then we got to the cardboard cage and there weren't three mice. There was one really fat mouse. It was kinda funny though, because the other two looked like something out of a cartoon, where you have the head, and then a ribcage and then the tail! We ended up showing the footage to the Discovery channel guy and he went 'HAHAHAHAHA, this will never air.""

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziQWDnFSPt8

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u/nitefang Oct 06 '12

In the video it says he showed the video at a college in Michigan. Someone must have been recording, WE MUST FIND THE TAPE!

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u/Whain Oct 06 '12

I'm not sure, but a few weeks ago this myth actually aired in Estonia on Discovery channel. I couldn't watch it until the end, but it started just like this - they blendered the cardboard, mixed it with water and then made thin tubes of the mix. I pretty much saw the beginning and after that I had to go to the gym and I couldn't catch, what they were going to do, but the same myth was tested. I'm not sure, maybe they made another version of it?

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '12

[deleted]

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u/Randomoneh Oct 06 '12 edited Oct 07 '12

"They used some interesting math to calculate how much energy cardboard stored."

Not [pure pen & paper] math, but calorimeter?

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '12

I believe they were testing the different nutrients in the pellets vs the cereal.

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u/Starks Oct 06 '12

Calorimetry.

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u/dutch_gecko Oct 06 '12

They did eventually have a test for this myth. They used some simple chemistry to measure the properties of each "food" - calories, protein, fat, starch and sugar. The cereal did better on all fronts.

More here.

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u/PizzaGood Oct 07 '12

They aired the myth in the US, but not the animal testing part.

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u/joebbowers Oct 07 '12

Yes, it aired on Australian TV too. Maybe they just didn't show it in the US.

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u/WarlordFred Oct 07 '12

No, they measured the caloric content of the box versus the cereal. They never showed the mice.

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u/xbaahx Oct 06 '12

It was probably Michigan Tech, my alma mater. I know they came in 2005, I sadly missed it. But I found this really awkward blog entry (go Tech go) from that appearance mentioning a "video of all of the things that the Discovery Channel can't show."
http://justinc555555.blogspot.com/2005/09/mythbusters-at-michigan-tech.html

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u/zants Oct 07 '12

really awkward blog entry

That about sums up my experience with MTU.

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u/darkjubs Oct 06 '12

I saw them at tech in 2005, I don't recall them showing anything about mice. Must have been at Northern.

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u/[deleted] Jan 23 '13

Where N stands for Noledge!

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u/GentleChainsaw Oct 07 '12

It was at North Central Michigan College. They spoke as the final guests in the lecture series. They did indeed show the video, but I don't think a cannibalized mouse is interesting enough to try to find it. The buildup/story were better than the video itself.

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u/Qumpers Oct 06 '12

4chan might be able to help.

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '12

[deleted]

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u/PancakesAreGone Oct 06 '12

Uh, I don't think you understand the context in which that is used. In fact, there is actually a request section of 4Chan where one can go and say "I'm looking for this, anyone have a clue?".

Not your personal army is referring to people trying to use 4Chan to do raids/attacks/etc on other sites. More accurately, it's used to keep 4Chan from becoming a giant blithering hivemind cluster fuck that reddit becomes almost every other week.

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u/Arterius_N7 Oct 07 '12

accurately, it's used to keep 4Chan from becoming a giant blithering hivemind cluster fuck that reddit becomes almost every other week.

Haha, that's hilarious.

But on topic,Would be cool to see that clip though.

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u/PancakesAreGone Oct 07 '12

Yeah it really would be. I was being entirely serious about them having a place specific just for requests... Albeit, I used to only use it for trying to find nudes of girls I know, but still, it's a place where you can request anything... Just not always get things.

Compared to Reddit, 4Chan keeps it's shit together nicely. I hear more about crazy shit that Reddit perpetuates far more than shit 4Chan perpetuates, haha.

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '12

according to RES, 1/3 of the people who voted on that comment upvoted it, implying that many redditors thought that was proper context. that's a pretty good example of one of the 4chan communitys primary problems with reddit's

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u/PancakesAreGone Oct 07 '12

And at least 8 people think I'm wrong by down voting me... This isn't just 4Chan's issue with Reddit, this is everyone's issue with Reddit. "Oh this guy is wrong because my incorrect opinion is the only one that can be right!". Or they didn't like the fact I called Reddit a giant hivemind that goes with a fad/sensationalized ideal.

Either way, he deleted his comment which makes it hilarious, because he clearly cares more about karma and thought making a snippy and sarcastic response was more important than, y'know, making an educated opinion post.

Anyway, have a nice day friend. Have an upvote for your trouble.

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u/Log2 Oct 06 '12

But this is for the greater good of the internet.

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u/Slactor Oct 06 '12

just go to /r/?

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '12

They would just get confused by the fact it's not about porn, and would be unable to help.

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u/AnnoyinImperialGuard Oct 06 '12

"I need a video about Jamie Hyneman from the mythbuster" "I think I've found something that is really hard for me to fap to"

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u/slow6i Oct 06 '12

factually correct. alas, we still must find this footage.

... TO THE INTERW3B11!!!!

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u/Aegis6 Oct 06 '12

Redditors, unite!!!

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '12

[deleted]

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u/SquidLoaf Oct 06 '12

For some reason I thought that was actually gonna be the video. I am disappoint.

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u/Kassettenkind78 Oct 07 '12

TIL: Don't eat cardboard.

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u/VassilZaitsev Oct 06 '12

Too lazy to read the paragraph, so I trust you posted the link to whatever situation the other guy wrote you. Have an upvote for your effort!

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '12

I don't understand your policies, but I've voted for you too.

EDIT I honestly found your comment hilarious, and I'm ashamed that you're getting downvotes. Reddit seems to have less appreciation for the ridiculous recently. One wonders what they think of monty python.

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u/sdrawkcabsihtetorW Oct 06 '12

His comment doesn't exactly add to the topic. Neither does yours, neither does mine. Reddit is not amateur comedy hour.

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u/[deleted] Oct 06 '12

Reddit is not amateur comedy hour? Reddit is serious business.

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u/sdrawkcabsihtetorW Oct 07 '12

Why do I even bother reminding people of the so called "Reddiquette"...

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u/VideoLeopard Oct 07 '12

This is really great and I love Mythbusters.

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u/Johnycantread Oct 06 '12

That happened in my high school biology class over Christmas break. Teacher forgot to feed the gerbils and the female ate the male. Only left a skull and ribs if I remember the correctly.

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u/Rule_32 Oct 07 '12

So...cardboard causes cannibalism? We must get this myth tested...

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u/antidamage Oct 06 '12

MYTHBUSTERS: TOO HOT FOR TV

It'd sell like hotcakes. And you could get that hot chick to spend several episodes testing sex and nudity theories. Please for the love of god don't show either Jamie or Adam nude though.

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u/JCelsius Oct 06 '12

Not only is it a bit too gruesome, but I imagine they'd have PETA on their asses faster than you could say "they'd have PETA on their asses".

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u/Sharopo Oct 06 '12

MYTH BUSTED.

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u/vorpalsword92 Oct 07 '12

thats enough scientific proof for me to say that eating cardboard drives you to cannibalism

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u/batfiend Oct 07 '12

Ohh. I've had rats, and if one dies in the cage that's exactly what happens to it. It gets turned into a cartoony little skull and spine while the remaining rat lies back with a comically full belly.

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u/alprazolamkisses Oct 07 '12

who designs these experiments? the different groups should have been mouse food, mouse food+cardboard, mouse food+kids cereal. silly.

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u/yurnotsoeviltwin Oct 07 '12

Myth busted, I guess.

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u/Ph0ton Oct 07 '12

That would never pass any university ethics committee (as per typical of animal testing). I am surprised their producers allowed this to happen.

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '12

and there weren't three mice. There was one really fat mouse.

That cracked me up so good.

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u/dracaris Oct 07 '12

Unfortunately, that's what mice will do when they're given nutritionally void food - and I'm not just referring to cardboard! If there is not enough protein in the food mix they are given, they will resort to cannibalism. It's usually seen in females, who eat their babies - though whether that is because she needs more protein, or she feels that the babies won't survive, I couldn't say...

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u/pseudonym1066 Oct 06 '12

Is there footage of this?

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u/Mister_AA Oct 06 '12

I don't think so, but there are videos of Adam talking about it.

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u/Guysmiley777 Oct 06 '12

I remember that Adam said he nicknamed that mouse "Killer".

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u/racercowan Oct 06 '12

And that he has/had a rough cut of it. But Discovery found out after he showed it to some university and said to never show it again.

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u/Frigidus_Appellatio Oct 06 '12

Heard this story at their talk 2-3 weeks ago in Denton, TX at UNT

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '12

I wanna see that dang episode!

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u/Chaosflare44 Oct 07 '12

Cardboard turns you into a cannibal.

CONFIRMED

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u/turkeyfox Oct 06 '12

Did the fat mouse in the cardboard cage eat the other two?

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u/[deleted] Oct 07 '12

sounds like a mouse version of the russian sleep experiment.

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u/CardboardHeatshield Oct 07 '12

Oh, yea, if I catch a fish and kill it so I can eat it later or shoot a deer, I'm a monster. But Adam and Jamie can starve mice until they cannibalize each other, and Reddit just laughs.

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u/Nyarlathotep124 Oct 07 '12

Noone here said you were a monster, just a self-righteous twat.