Mythbusters Recap: Crimes and Myth-Demeanors 2

Unlike the first Crimes and Myth-Demeanors special that focused on Great Hollywood Heists, this episode features real-life intrusion prevention measures, and whether they can be beaten. That doesn't make it any less enjoyable. Just different.

Fingerprint Lock. The first challenge is to see if a fingerprint lock can be bypassed. Grant secures the lock with his thumb print and assigns Adam and Jamie the task of bypassing it. According to the research, this particular manufacturer claims that no one has ever bypassed this lock because it uses not just the fingerprint, but also other biometric data as well, which makes it a more secure method of protection.

Adam and Jamie first use a computer fingerprint scanner to practice their craft, and they use some fingerprint scanning techniques to try their luck. At first they have no success, but then Jamie has a brainstorm and blows up one of the scans, where he realizes that the scan isn't very good - it has gaps in the scan. So he fills in the gaps with a pen and shrinks it back down to size before transferring it to a circuit board, and from there etches it so it can be transferred onto a ballistics gel "thumb".

Amazingly, this works on the computer fingerprint security system, where it hadn't previously (a simple paper version of the scanned fingerprint hadn't worked either), so they decide they're ready to test the door lock. Adam tries a latex version attached to his thumb, which gives it the "living" characteristics that are supposedly needed and he at first has trouble, but when he licks it, he gets in fine. Then Jamie tries his gel thumb and gets in. Since everything else worked, they try a paper scan and that works too. So much for the secure lock. It looks like the simple computer security device worked better than this lock. Busted.

Thermal Motion Sensor While Adam and Jamie are playing with the fingerprint lock, Kari and Tory are trying to figure out how to get past the next sensor - one that scans the room for variations in temperature. If it detects something changes, such as a body entering the room, it goes off. Several tests were tried to get past the sensor.

CO2: Using CO2 (a fire extinguisher) to cool down the body and get past the sensor before heating up again. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to make a bit of difference. Either that or Tory is just very hot natured. Busted.

Wetsuit: Similar in concept to CO2, but without the need to spray yourself with a fire extinguisher. This seemed to work, but the longer the wetsuit was worn, the less it seemed to work. Busted.

Mud: The natural alternative didn't work nearly as well, plus it had the unfortunate side effect of leaving a trail of mud wherever you went so that anyone could easily see where you had been and track you down. Busted.

Ambient Temperature: As seen in the movie Sneakers, raising the temperature of the room to body temperature seems like a good idea, but it would require that you enter the room naked. Grant takes one for the team, but unfortunately it still didn't work. You also need to make sure you don't blast the room suddenly or it's just like you walked into the room yourself. Busted.

Pane of Glass: This involves holding a thick pane of glass between you and the sensor, so it requires knowledge of where the sensors are - but then, presumably you already knew that or you wouldn't be going through all this trouble. It also seems to work. The only problem is getting a pane of glass through the air duct. The best result seems to be hanging a small pane over the sensor itself, and you can just walk through the room. Of course, most places probably have sensors in each hallway, so you'll need several. Still, it works. Confirmed.

Water Safe. In the movie The Score, the safe had a safety mechanism known as a glass relocker - if you trip this, you're in trouble because it shuts itself up and you'll never get in. So they went in through the top, filled it with water and blew the door off instead. So Adam and Jamie test to see if that's really possible.

While it is theoretically possible, it's not very practical. The first problem is that using a thermic lance will likely burn up whatever you're after inside. The second problem is that it took Adam about 12 bars to get in, not the one bar and thirty seconds advertised in the movie. Then you need to fill the safe with water, which is a problem as most safes are not water tight, and in order to make them hold water, you need to open them to get at them from the inside, which defeats the purpose. Assuming you get to that point, you can likely blow the door off, but you'll probably ruin whatever is inside, assuming it's still in a state that is usable. Still, it is possible. Plausible.

Ultrasonic Motion Detector. The final test is for this fancy motion detector which works a bit like sonar - sending out signals and checking to see if they come back as quickly as they should. If they come back faster, it means something is in the way. The first test is with a shag carpet suit that Kari built to absorb the signal. It doesn't work. The second test is walking through the hallway holding up a sheet in front of her. Surprisingly, that works. The final test is to walk excruciatingly slow, and that works too. For being new technology it doesn't seem to work all that well - the sheet especially was a little odd.

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