'MythBusters' stars provide lively angle on science
By MICHAEL MALIK
mmalik@journalandcourier.com
Purdue University senior Brian Gershkoff, who is studying aeronautical engineering, has been conducting experiments since he was a kid.
His mom, Gershkoff said, would always warn him to be careful because she was worried he would get hurt while doing his experiments.
Gershkoff said it was interesting to hear the hosts of the Discovery Channel's MythBusters Sunday speak about how they conduct their experiments while staying safe.
"I've sort of always been attracted to people ... who can go after these myths and ideas and not completely blow themselves up," Gershkoff said.
Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, known for conducting sometimes ridiculous experiments to prove myths wrong, spoke to a sold-out crowd at Elliott Hall about their show, how they attack myths and how much fun they have doing it.
Savage and Hyneman told stories about blowing things up under the supervision of law enforcement. Savage said most of their experiments are illegal in California where they film the show, but a quick call to the bomb squad or FBI allows an experiment to proceed. The law enforcement agency dubs it a training session, Savage said.
"The only difference between us and a couple of 14-year-old pyromaniacs is we call the police" before blowing things up, Savage said.
Hyneman and Savage spoke and took questions for more than an hour from kids, students and parents.
Jeffrey Vitter, the Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science at Purdue, introduced the pair. Afterward he said he hopes Hyneman and Savage encouraged kids to go into science, and also taught parents to encourage their kids to go into science.
"What's so important is to build the excitement of kids," Vitter said. "We have such a need for talented scientists and engineers that we are really hurting ourselves if we cannot build" the next generation of workers to fill jobs in those fields.
A portion of the ticket sales will endow a scholarship for future College of Science students at Purdue.
Hyneman said the show is not all about blowing things up, but it is about problem solving.
"We get the most jazzed when we are able to get into that zone and problem-solve a situation," Hyneman said.
What makes them so good at what they do, Hyneman said, is "we're both intensely curious about the world."
0s, 0ms