Kari Byron - Crash Test Girl: An Unlikely Experiment in Using the Scientific Method to Answer Lifes Toughest Questions

FOR STELLA RUBY

AND ALL THE ADVENTURES

WE WILL CRASH TEST

TOGETHER

Contents

Contents

I f youre reading this, you probably know me as one of the science presenters from MythBusters.

Hate to break it to you: Im not a scientist. Yep, thats right. I dont even have a background in science. No college degree in biology, or PhD in physics. No late nights in the library memorizing organic chemistry. No internships in a lab coat. In fact, the only times Ive ever worn a lab coat were for photo shoots, when my cohosts and I were gritting our teeth and trying not to roll our eyes. If youve seen MythBusters or any of the other shows Ive hosted, this might surprise you. In fact, Ive made a living from science entertainment, am best known for my contributions to the field, and even hosted the White House Science Fair and have inspired thousands of girls to become scientists themselves (or so they tell me via social media and at conferences).

One of the most gratifying things about being on MythBusters has been talking with teachers and reading articles that say our show changed the way science is taught throughout the country and abroad. Educators play our shows in their classrooms; parents rely on it for homeschooling. Kids re-create our experiments in their labs. Theyve used our methods as a jumping-off point to come up with their own myths to bust. When I was growing up, I hated my formal, textbook-y science class. Too much memorization, not enough inspiration. Now kids look forward to getting their hands dirty and using their imaginations in a less formal setting, thanks to the influence of our show.

We had no idea this sea change in education was going on while we were at the shop, working elbow deep in grease and grime. We were just regular people having fun and blowing stuff up. We didnt expect such amazing side effects, and we sure didnt expect to become a pop culture phenomenon. It all came as a pleasant surprise, especially for me. For many years, I was the only female host in science TV. At network parties, I would be the lone woman in sight. Now, there are many more of us on the air and in the room. I never set out to change things for teachers, parents, or other women in the field. But the status quo has changed, and Im humbled and happy to have been a part of that.

So howd a nonscientist like me end up with science expert as a job title? As it turns out, you dont need to wear a lab coat to be a science geek. You dont need a PhD to be fiercely curious. You dont need an engineering degree to figure out what happens when you put a Mentos in a Coke bottle. (Spoiler: it explodes!)

Lets throw out the old idea of what a scientist is. Say the word, and you might picture an old, gray-haired white man with glasses and a beaker filled with some mysterious substance. I was the opposite of that when I joined the show, a twenty-seven-year-old woman with an art degree and flaming-red hair, tattoos, and body piercings.

I was always taught that art and science were mutually exclusive. There are artsy types (me) and nerds (them), and I fell one hundred percent on one side of that line. But after a season on the show, I straddled it. Art and science are both creative processes about using the tools at hand, being struck with bright ideas, and getting your hands dirty. By living as a scientist, I saw how adding an artist sensibility to science and vice versa lifted them both.

I started thinking of myself as something else, an experimenter. Our experiments werent dry and precise, like measuring how much liquid to pour into a test tube. We were messy and bold. We were just winging it a lot of the time. And, while I may not be a scientist in the typical definition of the term, I do have a forklift license, keep duct tape in my purse, know how to blow up, cut in half, or light on fire basically anything you put in front of me, and have been conducting experiments professionally for fifteen years.

As a cohost on MythBusters, I wound up getting a world-class science education while conducting tests in order to prove (or disprove) all kinds of urban legends. Or as host Adam Savage used to say, Helping settle bar bets professionally. Just as none of the hosts held degrees in science or were experts in those fields, the show was not originally intended to be a science show. But since we had to use engineering, chemistry, biology, statistics, physics, and math to, say, build a rig to split a car in half, we were thought of as a de facto science show after all. Our objective was never to teach or preach to viewers about the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). We were just having fun and learning along with the audience about how things worked.

To do so, we employed the scientific method, the perfect narrative vehicle for proving and disproving myths. If youre not familiar with this elegant process for, well, figuring shit out, here it is in five simple steps:

1. Question. Learning begins with I wonder what would happen if... ? For example, What would happen if I dropped a Mentos into a bottle of Coke?
2. Hypothesize. Formulate a theory about whats going to happen based on what you know or think you know. For example, you could hypothesize that dropping a Mentos in a bottle of Coke would add minty freshness to the sugary sweetness.
3. Experiment. Do it. Drop the Mentos in the Coke and find out exactly what happens: Brown foam explodes all over the walls, the furniture, in your eyes, and up your nostrils.
4. Analyze. What the hell was that? Analyze the components of Coke and Mentos, study the chemical reaction that occurs when combined. Because the surface of Mentos is dimpled, dropping one in carbonated soda causes nucleation, the rapid multiplication of bubbles that have nowhere to go but up and out of the bottle. Hence, foam explosion.
5. Conclude. The answer to the original question is If I drop this mint into the bottle of soda, I will need to steam clean the carpet. You should probably conclude to do it outside next time, with safety goggles.

Using the scientific method, my cohosts and I asked questions and tested over 900 hypotheses, filmed over 7,200 hours, set off 850 explosions, used 43,500 yards of duct tape, and loved every minute of it.

At some point during the shows long, fourteen-season run, it dawned on me that the scientific method could be applied to everything, and that Id unwittingly been dropping the figurative Mentos into the Coke bottle of life all along, asking questions, forming hypotheses, experimenting, analyzing results, and drawing conclusions to figure things out.

Admittedly, my particular style of experimentation has been more like crash testing: I strap myself in, step on the gas, and head straight into a wall with my eyes open. Its always a crazy ride. Ive gotten a bit battered and bruised (via bad decisions, bad relationships, dead-end jobs, to mention a few), but I dont mind my wounds. Scars are cool. Like wrinkles, they prove youve really lived.

If I hadnt crash tested through life, I wouldnt have landed the job at MythBusters, met my husband, made my best friendships, managed major depression, or gotten my wild life under control. Im a living, limping example of how being a risk-taking methodologist can bring you love, success, and inspiration. I had to be a crash test girl to evolve into a road-tested woman.

If youre a professional scientist reading this, great! If youre a curious person who loves the idea of dissecting what went wrong and deciding how you might do things better next time, welcome! The brilliance of the scientific method is that it is for everyone. Seriously,