If there is a show on TV whose claim to fame is We knock on the doors of science and run away or We grab science by the scruff of its neck and give it a sound beating or We get hold of science and give it a well deserved spank on its bottom how would you feel ?
And before you start screaming Science Abuse and have me thrown out of MS, let me open the bag of tricks. Welcome to the big, entertaining and scientific world of Brainiac. Beamed on Skyone in Briton and on VIVA in Germany (2015hrs every Thursday German time), this is one science show which makes you sit up and notice.
Hosted by the handsome and witty Richard Hammond (also seen on BBC’s Top Gear) Brainiac aims to impart the knowledge of science in an explosively entertaining way. This show is not for school kids to teach them the basic, nor is it for advanced geeks who want to know beyond the relativity theory or quantum physics. This show is about the events and encounters from the daily life.
The Brainiac team consists of other brainiacs (of course :-). Jon Tickle has a funny bone right up his sleeve. His Tickles leaves you scratching your head for time unlimited. Sample one of his ticklers...
Jon Tickle’s Teasers
1. If its zero degrees centigrade today and if tomorrow its going to be twice as cold, what will be the temperature tomorrow ?
Dr. Bunhead is the comic of the show. It’s hard to imagine this character as one of the scientists. Bunhead features in Pub Science with Dr. Bunhead. Everytime Bunhead visits one of the Pubs in London, befriends damsels (usually) and tries to show off of his geek stuff. Like, creating an instant rocket in a bottle filled with Soda and one secret ingredient. The bottle does fly and so is Bunhead’s as* when the Pub’s bouncer kicks him out. The poor chap’s ending is always the same, getting kicked out of the pub with expletives more in number than in a periodic table hurled at him. But the goofy smirk and twitching eyebrows never ceases to bring a smile on you.
The show also does a damn good job of demythifying some famous myths. The demythifying job is handled by Richard, whose thick British accent makes it much more interesting.
Myth 1 Switch off your mobile phone at the Gas Stations.
The Brainiac team, poures litres of gasoline inside a caravan, placed a mobile phone in it, went some distance and called up the mobile phone inside the caravan. Some rings later nothing happens. More mobile phones are kept inside the caravan and all of them ring simultaneously. Still nothing!!! Hmmm...so why do we see these signs at the Gas stations.
It may so happen that a person carrying a mobile phone and wearing a nylon/terricot garment manages to induce plenty of static electricity on themselves. One touch of finger to create a spark and boom goes the caravan in the air. So...the next time while you fill in gas, make sure you don’t have static on your body.
Myth 2 Its strange but true. Ducks quack does not echo.
Jon Tickle takes a Duck to the Westminster church, which is supposed to have one of the echoing halls. A furious church minister turns down his request to film inside the church. Poor Tickle, manages to find a echo(ey) London Subway. The Duck is made to walk for a while and Tickle is behind the Duck with a long-range sensitive microphone in hand. The Duck quacks and there goes its echo. So you see, ducks’ quacks do echo. And finally with a ’roast duck’ in his plate Tickle says ’’During the filming of this experiment we assure that no animals or birds were harmed’’.
Myth 3 Staring at women’s breasts is equivalent to a 30 minute workout.
Pair of male twins and two blonde beauties volunteers for this experiment. A toss of coin and TwinB gets to do the stare. TwinA is made to do strenuous exercise for the next 30 minutes. Of course he is not allowed a peek at what TwinB is doing. 30 minutes later, TwinB’s max heartbeat was recorded at 84 while TwinA’s was 134. Its now time for Richard’s trademark comments ’’There you go. We have now proved this is bullshit’’.
Some other very interesting experiments are conducted on the show. A very fat guy and a very thin guy are put in simulated life threatening situations. The deal is to find, whether it is better to be fat or to be thin when faced with a life threatening situation. Both are subjected to extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme wind, extreme earthquake and extreme water (floatation capacity you see). The results were equally interesting.
Does drinking beer increase men’s ability to see things better? Now I cannot judge scientific value of this experiment, but this is how it went through. Two (Very Lucky Brainiacs) are taken to a pub. Four femme fatale are seated across a table. Before the exercise begins the 2 brainiacs rate the beauty of the 4 femme fatale on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest. Four mugs later, (when they are more sober!!!), they again rate the ladies on the same scale. For three ladies, the score improves in the second round. Finally Richard again...’’There you go, beauty is in the eye...of the beer holder’’.
Apart from these, Professor Miang Li and her basket of (seductive) fruits tantalize every week with a question. Does the (so and so) fruit sink or float in water. And the mystery is solved after the break.
Further four blonde bombshells on The Big Bang Farm show off their science prowess by blowing off different stuff using variety of explosives.
Microwave experiments are those which are conducted by Brainiacs so that you do not have to do them at home. The results of these are always spectacular to watch. And do you know about the smell of fear ?
If science is your doze of life to lift up your spirits or otherwise, The Brainiac is one innovative, exciting and an edutainment show. How I wish this would get beamed to India too!!! For more info, catch up on https://skyone.co.uk/programmes /brainiac