UAA professors featured on Discovery's Mythbusters show

A team from UAA assisted Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, co-hosts of The Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" TV show, in an investigation of a myth about misguided hunters using dynamite to blow a hole in lake ice for duck hunting, losing their truck in the process. The episode, a part of the show's "Alaska Week," will air on Wednesday, April 23 at 9 p.m.

Professor Orson Smith of UAA's School of Engineering and his son Riley Smith, lab instructor for UAA's Physics Department, measured ice thickness on Fisher's Pond just north of Wasilla on Jan. 28-30, 2008, and advised the production crew about safety on the ice. "The Mythbusters show has inspired thousands of young people to seek careers in science and engineering," said Smith. "We were thrilled to help Adam and Jamie look into a cold regions myth here in Alaska."

For more information on the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters show and a complete TV schedule, visit www.discovery.com/mythbusters.