Barack Obama Guest-Stars on 'MythBusters,' Wants to Learn About a Solar Death Ray (VIDEO)
First 'The Daily Show,' and now this ... President Obama must have a thing for basic cable shows. The commander-in-chief appeared on the new 'MythBusters' (Wed., 8PM ET on Discovery). But what myth or secret would Obama ask to have exposed? The secret of balancing the budget? The myth that you can get Democrats and Republicans to work together? The legend that Abraham Lincoln hid gold under the White House floorboards? (Okay, we made that last one up.)None of the above! Instead, Obama expressed a more unusual desire. "I'm a big fan of 'MythBusters,'" he said. When hosts Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage widened their eyes at this, the President said that the show made science "fun." "And occasionally, you blow things up," he added.
True, watching things get blown up -- or even get set on fire -- is cool. And so, Obama asked the hosts to research a solar heat ray for him -- which was ... an unexpected choice. A solar heat ray? ... Um, Mr. President? Are we planning on invading the North Pole or something?
But no, President Obama just wanted to learn about one of the longest-running debates of all time: The Archimedes Solar "Death" Ray. Supposedly, over 2,000 years ago, the inventor Archimedes used mirrors to set fire to a fleet of ships, while trying to save his city from invasion. For five centuries now, scientists have been arguing over whether or not this was possible.
Well, Obama is the boss -- so Jamie and Adam got to work, building scale models, creating a life-sized ancient vessel, and eventually organizing 500 schoolkids, who used mirrors to attack the ship. Would this myth turn out to be real, or would it be busted?
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