Editing MythBusters (section)

=== Outcomes of the experiments ===
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By the end of each episode, the myths are rated "busted", "plausible", or "confirmed".

==== Busted ====
Myths are rated as "busted" when the myth's results cannot be replicated under either the described parameters or reasonably exaggerated ones. Often, when a myth is declared busted, the team will attempt to see what would be required to replicate the result of the myth through scientific means, discarding the original parameters of the myth itself. Going to absolute limits of what is physically possible to replicate the results is the origin of what is unofficially titled the ''Mythbusters'' motto, "If it's worth doing, it's worth ''over''doing."

This is commonly referred to in the series as "the MythBusters way", and often reveals that the circumstances required to accurately recreate a "busted" myth are physically impossible or highly unlikely to occur with the scientific facts presented, or the equipment used in the myth used to gain the results is neither available to the general public, nor capable of producing the results. For example, when trying to see if diamonds can be made with a microwave, and the myth is busted, the team arranges with an expert to have diamonds created with a large quantity of explosives.

Some of these myths are retested if the viewers are dissatisfied with the results, and are declared "rebusted" if the results of this second attempt result in the same conclusions as the original attempts. On rare occasions, retested myths result in a conclusion different from the first attempt, usually going from "busted" the first time, to "plausible" or even "confirmed" on the retest.

==== Plausible ====
Plausible is given under a few circumstances:
*The myth's results can only be replicated by expanding some parameters of the myth by a realistic and reasonable margin. This may have been because of the myth having been altered slightly over time by it being told and retold by the time it was tested by the MythBusters. Also, certain materials may have had to be substituted for others in some cases as a matter of necessity during the course of the myth being tested, but the new materials are almost always very similar to the materials specified and usually are readily available, so as to prevent it from being prohibitively costly or impractical.
*Plausible is given if no documentation of the myth occurred at the time of the episode's production, yet the MythBusters were still able to duplicate it very closely as to how the myth was described (such as the myth that pirates wore [[MythBusters (2007 season)#Episode 71 – "Pirate Special"|eye patches to keep their night vision]], or an [[Talk-down aircraft landing|untrained pilot was talked through landing an airplane]]).
*If the myth's results are achieved using the method described, but the underlying reason is different from the one described in the myth (such as in the myth of [[MythBusters (2008 season)#Episode 107 – "Water Stun Gun"|throwing a fire extinguisher into a fire]] to make it explode and extinguish the fire)
*If it requires a highly improbable set of circumstances, yet is shown to be possible under similar yet artificial circumstances, plausible is used. For example, in the myth of "[[MythBusters (2006 season)#Firearms Folklore|Can two colliding bullets fuse together?]]", two bullets were shown to fuse together, but would be exceedingly difficult to actually get two period guns with period ammunition to collide in the correct way to cause the result. The results can be created in a similar laboratory setting, but the chances of the myth actually happening as described are remote.
*If the results stated in the myth are attainable, but in such a way as to make the process either highly dangerous or less efficient than more common methods of achieving the same result, it is used. For example, in "[[MythBusters (2009 season)#Episode 124 – "Car vs. Rain"|Car vs. Rain]]", the MythBusters declared the myth "plausible (but not recommended)", due to the danger in driving a car at high speeds on a wet road, though the myth was completely true.<ref name=carvrain>{{cite episode|title=Car vs Rain|date=June 17, 2009|episode-link=MythBusters (2009 season)#Episode 124 – Car vs Rain|network=Discovery|series=MythBusters}}</ref>
*Plausible is used if a positive result is attained using surrogates for living creatures, but the procedure would result in injury or death if an actual creature were<!-- subjunctive --> tested. For example, in "[[MythBusters (2006 season)#Episode SP10 – "Holiday Special"|Holiday Special]]", two ballistics-gel replicas of pet dogs were used to test the myth that a falling frozen turkey would crush a household pet; both replicas sustained serious injuries, as determined by a veterinarian, and the myth was dubbed "plausible", as the Build Team was unwilling to test the myth on actual pets.
*Occasionally, a myth is labelled plausible if the described scenario produces a result similar to, but of less intensity than, the one described in the myth.

==== Confirmed ====
The term "true" was used instead of "confirmed" in the first season.
* The MythBusters are able to recreate or closely recreate the myth's purported outcome with the described circumstances. A "confirmed" myth is usually corroborated with documented evidence of actual occurrences.
* If the myth lacks any specific scenarios, the MythBusters test every reasonable scenario, and just one scenario is enough for them to confirm the myth. For example, when testing to see whether [[MythBusters (2007 season)#Episode 91 – "Shooting Fish in a Barrel"|shooting fish in a barrel]] was in fact very easy, in most tests, they could not hit the fish with a bullet, but the energy transfer to the water by the bullet was lethal to the fish; therefore, the myth was confirmed.
* If no instances of the event are documented as occurring in real life, but the myth was taken from a specific scene or character in a specific movie, the myth is confirmed if they are able to replicate it with the same circumstances. For example, the Build Team gave a verdict of "confirmed" for a scene in ''[[Point Break]]'' where two skydivers—one without a parachute—jumped off the plane at different times, and yet the second jumper was able to catch up to the first jumper. Though no cases of this ever being attempted in real life were documented, it was confirmed nonetheless, since it only came from a single scene in a specific movie. The same applied to the myth about the [[Knight Rider (1982 TV series)|Knight Rider]] driving his car at highway speeds into a [[semi-trailer truck]] via ramp, without any trouble; though Adam and Jamie found no real-life occurrences of the stunt other than movie or television productions, it came from a specific TV show, and thus was confirmed.
* In rare circumstances, a myth is considered confirmed when the testing process is intentionally stopped but news reports or other documentation are available that confirm it ''has'' happened at least once; in testing the [[MythBusters (2004 season)#Jet Taxi|jet taxi myth]] (in which a taxicab is flipped by the engine of a jet aircraft), both Adam and Jamie agreed that the myth could not be replicated accurately for insurance reasons, but news footage verified that such an event is possible. (In this case, three years later, they were allowed to [[MythBusters (2007 season)#Supersize Jet Taxi|return to the subject]] and confirm the myth using a Boeing 747.)