Brainiac faked the Alkali-Metal exploding episode

TheChort

Diamond Member
May 20, 2003
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In the second season of Braniac they tossed the alkali metals in water and watched them explode. The first three were real, but they faked the Rubidium and Cesium explosions to with real explosives so they could shatter a bathtub to pieces.

Apparently this is old news (from this summer) but I couldn't find any threads on it, new or archived.

I've also added a link to theodoregray.com, where he talks about Braniac's fake episode, and has done his own series of alkali metal experiments, with plenty of VIDEOS to share

I suppose I was being naive in thinking science shows could be trusted completely. And what's worse is I've talked to my chemistry students about this very episode. Now I have to go back and tell them the truth :(

3min of the braniac episode on youtube

The Gaurdian Artilce(copy/pasted below)

Theodore Gray's actual Alkali Metal explosions
Sky's limit for big bangs

Ben Goldacre
Saturday July 15, 2006
The Guardian

The new series of Sky's explosion-laden hit science programme Brainiac starts tomorrow, and there's just one question on everyone's lips: will they be faking the science as much in this series as they have previously? Because I can now quote telly, there's a link to a very interesting clip of Brainiac for you at badscience.net

It purports to show a lump of rubidium, and then a lump of caesium, each blowing up a bathtub, in series two. "Whether you've left school, or you're still at school, you can still appreciate the sheer MAYHEM that chemistry can be!!!" it begins.

"These next two are the dog's nuts of the periodic table." They go on, introducing rubidium and caesium. "Mix these two with water, stand back ... and watch the MAYHEM!"

Sky claims that viewers are always told when the results of experiments are jazzed up. But what is the point of a science programme that shows what happens when you add A to B if the sequence shows nothing of the kind?

Science consultants walk a dangerous line. One, to whom we shall refer to as "Deep Throat", was unimpressed with the way things turned out on Brainiac.

So what happened with the caesium? In the programme they are explicit. "Caesium, the emperor of alkali metals, particularly nasty, could go off at any time!" "What's that going to do when it hits the water?" "Imagine a depth charge in a bath tub!"

Yup, imagine. The voiceover continues: "As our caesium sinks in the water, the rapid generation of hydrogen gas should produce quite an explosion ... " They drop the caesium in and run for cover. "And it does!" The bathtub is blown to pieces. "Yeeeeeesssss" gasps the presenter. "Only on Brainiac do you get that kind of ... Science!"

But what really happened? Deep Throat (OK, Brainiac's Dr Bunhead, aka Tom Pringle) claims: "Absolutely bloody nothing. The density of caesium ensured it hit the bottom of the bath like a lead weight. The sheer volume of water then drowned out the thermal shock-wave I was expecting to shatter the bath. They could not go home empty handed. So they rigged a bomb in the bottom of the bath and then blew the ****** out of it. I must say it did look cool ... [It] ate away at my conscience. But I couldn't do anything about it."

If this was all faked, then what is the point of me watching? And, what is the point of them saying "the rapid generation of hydrogen gas" caused the explosion, if it didn't?

Anyway, a Sky spokesman said: "All of the experiments conducted on Brainiac have proven theory behind them. We aim to inform, excite and, above all, entertain our viewers with science method conducted in a fun and engaging way. We love big bangs and sometimes we'll make an explosion bigger than we need to just because it's fun, but we always tell our viewers."

The spokesman was unable to confirm if this particular experiment was faked or not, or whether viewers were told if it was faked or not, and claimed my source had not even been there.

Please send your bad science to bad.science@guardian.co.uk
 

CKent

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
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Soon enough we'll look back wistfully on science, however closely it treads the line, as it's branded heretical and censored in the name of Jesus...
 

funboy6942

Lifer
Nov 13, 2001
15,290
389
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Just thinking really quickly on this, if these chemicals react with an explosion when introduced with water why not find a way to coat the top of a piston with a coating that wont wear away, or wears away very slowly and you go in for a re-coat, and then just introduce water in a vapor form into the engine instead of gas letting the coating and the vapor explode in place of the air/fuel/spark we use today? Then we could run our cars on water, no?
 

tweakmm

Lifer
May 28, 2001
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Originally posted by: funboy42
Just thinking really quickly on this, if these chemicals react with an explosion when introduced with water why not find a way to coat the top of a piston with a coating that wont wear away, or wears away very slowly and you go in for a re-coat, and then just introduce water in a vapor form into the engine instead of gas letting the coating and the vapor explode in place of the air/fuel/spark we use today? Then we could run our cars on water, no?
We'll we'd be running our cars on water and alkali metals.

You can't have a chemical reaction with the coating and not have the coating wear away.
 

funboy6942

Lifer
Nov 13, 2001
15,290
389
126
Originally posted by: tweakmm
Originally posted by: funboy42
Just thinking really quickly on this, if these chemicals react with an explosion when introduced with water why not find a way to coat the top of a piston with a coating that wont wear away, or wears away very slowly and you go in for a re-coat, and then just introduce water in a vapor form into the engine instead of gas letting the coating and the vapor explode in place of the air/fuel/spark we use today? Then we could run our cars on water, no?
We'll we'd be running our cars on water and alkali metals.

You can't have a chemical reaction with the coating and not have the coating wear away.

I already had that in my original question about going in for a re-coat. In either case it has to be cheaper I would think then running on gas, and would any one know if it could be done to make such a coating to stick?
 

Praxis1452

Platinum Member
Jan 31, 2006
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Originally posted by: funboy42
Originally posted by: tweakmm
Originally posted by: funboy42
Just thinking really quickly on this, if these chemicals react with an explosion when introduced with water why not find a way to coat the top of a piston with a coating that wont wear away, or wears away very slowly and you go in for a re-coat, and then just introduce water in a vapor form into the engine instead of gas letting the coating and the vapor explode in place of the air/fuel/spark we use today? Then we could run our cars on water, no?
We'll we'd be running our cars on water and alkali metals.

You can't have a chemical reaction with the coating and not have the coating wear away.

I already had that in my original question about going in for a re-coat. In either case it has to be cheaper I would think then running on gas, and would any one know if it could be done to make such a coating to stick?

I'd think the amount of Cesium you'd need would be much greater than the cost of gas.
 

TheChort

Diamond Member
May 20, 2003
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Originally posted by: Praxis1452
I'd think the amount of Cesium you'd need would be much greater than the cost of gas.

agreed, the cost of the pure alkali production might mirror if not surpass the cost of gasoline refinement
 

lokiju

Lifer
May 29, 2003
18,536
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You mean I can believe everything I see on TV!?!??!!?!?!?


Noooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!



/sarcasm
 

TheChort

Diamond Member
May 20, 2003
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Originally posted by: FoBoT
now i have to find out if my kids school uses that crap

don't think of it so negatively
sometimes, all it takes is for something to spark an interest in a student, and they begin to learn a whole lot of things that they wouldn't have paid attention to before ;)
 
Jun 14, 2003
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its hammond and he's off topgear.... the show would be rubbish if things didnt exploded

the john tickle one was good where he tried to get sozzled by pouring vodka on the hot rocks in the sauna...lol