Mythbusters testing the LEGO Indy viral video!

[ThinkingImpaired]

Unless they glue them together...then it might work.

[Solo]

I demand they revisit the myth, and this time glue it!

[thepatient]

Personally, the ball disintegrating was much more impressive than the Youtube version. As it falls apart it looks more liquid than solid. I say don't glue it, watching it come apart was far more entertaining.

[BigBenKenobi]

It would be nice to see if they would test other lego myths as well in my opinion. But, I thought the new Mythbusters episode was pretty good when I watched it. Hopefully the new episodes that are coming out will be just as good as always.

[Iare Tosevite]

Totally awesome.

[Daz Hoo]

I call for a revisit of this myth too. I say the army of builders didn't tighten the bricks together well enough, hence why it failed miserably...



Seriously, very entertaining!

[gfxguy]

Personally, the ball disintegrating was much more impressive than the Youtube version. As it falls apart it looks more liquid than solid. I say don't glue it, watching it come apart was far more entertaining.

Agreed... that was one of the things I noticed about the "fake" one, that no bricks came off. Having had similar experience (on a much smaller scale, of course), I figured that would happen, at least.

I also suspected the whole thing would just break apart without any glue... friction holds it together, force breaks it apart... when it weighs several thousand pounds, that's a lot of force bouncing and jolting down that hill.

[Daz Hoo]

I was thinking about this ball this morning, and I can shake the feeling that it could have been buit a better way, hence it wouldn't have failed the way it did.

The show doesn't give away much details about how the ball was put together, but I'm wondering : wouldn't it be structurally more solid if its core incorporated Technic beams, pins and axles, much like concrete becomes stronger when you poor it onto a steel frame? The catastrophic failure seems to have happen when pieces from the inside of the ball got loose, but Technic beams might have prevented that.

What do you guys think?

[thepatient]

Sounds like you want to bust the Mythbusters.

[Solo]

A ball that size with a well thought out Technic interior would absolutely be better, but the "myth" from the video they were debunking was that the thing was made from basic bricks. They proved pretty concretely that it couldn't be done as shown. But I think they missed out on the key to Mythbuster glory: finding out what it would take to get the result.

[Blacknight]

I think this Mythbusters segment was all a giant conspiracy to change public opinion! Ask yourself: have your Lego models ever spontaneously burst apart when you're rolling them along the kitchen floor? No - this has never happened before in history. Clearly, the ball went through a controlled demolition from the inside out. If you believe so too, please sign my petition at www.Lego-ball-rollers-for-truth.org.

[Solo]

I was hoping that was a real site.

[Gingerbeard Man]

The show doesn't give away much details about how the ball was put together, but I'm wondering : wouldn't it be structurally more solid if its core incorporated Technic beams, pins and axles

My understanding is that they used basic bricks (ie. 2x4 and various others) to build up individual larger "bricks", say 20x40 studs and 5 bricks high. (I'm just using random numbers here - I can't be bothered to rewatch the video to figure out the size they actually used.) They then simply assembled the ball out of those larger building blocks.

I think a major factor was a lack of interlinking between said blocks. As soon as one block came loose the whole thing just fell apart. I would have used e.g. some 2x8 bricks to connect the individual blocks to each other (half in one block and half in the other). Of course that would have completely screwed up the planned building time, which was based on the fact that all those larger blocks could be completed in parallel.

[Puddleglum]

^Yeah, I do think the modular construction of the ball probably affected it's overall integrity. Next time they should build it from the ground up with 2x16 plates!

[Daz Hoo]

But I think they missed out on the key to Mythbuster glory: finding out what it would take to get the result.

That's exactly what I was thinking. Sure, they busted the myth, but they didn't take it to the next level like they usually do. Personally, I think a hollow ball, supported by a good Technic frame, would be lighter and less likely to break apart.

How cool would a revisit of this myth be if it involved a ball specialy created by experts from LEGO?

[Skafte]

The show aired in Sweden today. Great stuff (also shooting a match powered bowling ball cannon ), and I must agree I was disappointed with the lack of "recreate the scenario" part of Mythbusters with the LEGO ball myth. And why build it so blocky in the first place? A less jagged and squared ball would roll much better (and stay together better).

[Solo]

I'm not so sure about your last point. Yes, it would roll better... but it would go faster, and probably get a fatal bounce much sooner and fail in the same way as the one built to match the video did.