Brainiac: Science Abuse

[[File:Brainiaconlocation.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Brainiac: Behind the Abuse]]
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'''''Brainiac: Science Abuse''''' is a TV "science" show.<ref group=note>It's called "[[Pseudoscience|Science Abuse]]" for a reason.</ref> It was presented for its first four series by Richard Hammond, of ''[[Top Gear]]'' fame, and was initially designed to bring real interest back to [[science]]. It did this primarily by ''removing'' the [[scientific method|science]] and replacing it with large [[breasts]] and explosions.

Although initially fun and almost accurate, as the series progressed, it concentrated even ''less'' on the science and more on the ''abuse''. The episodes quickly became nothing more than a string of explosions held together by Hammond explaining how dangerous they were.

==Accusations of fraud==
===Alkali metals===
It is a well known fact that alkali metals (lithium to cesium) increase in reactivity going down Group 1 of the periodic table. To demonstrate this, teachers often mix them with water to show a faster reaction from lithium to potassium. Rubidium and cesium, the two least common of the stable<ref>Francium is produced synthetically and is terribly radioactive, thus inaccessible outside a laboratory environment.</ref> alkali metals are highly reactive, often being held under inert argon atmospheres to prevent them reacting with moisture in the air. The experiment shown on ''Brainiac'' attempted to show rubidium and cesium reacting even more violently.

Due to numerous reasons,<ref>[http://www.theodoregray.com/PeriodicTable/AlkaliBangs/ Theodore Gray's site - with the most awesome periodic table and a penchant for blowing !@#$%^&* up]</ref> cesium and rubidium will not produce dramatic explosions. The amount of hydrogen gas (which is the primary cause of the "explosions" not the actual reaction) produced ''per gram'' of metal rapidly decreases down Group 1. Thus, the higher mass metals will not produce a ''dramatic'' reaction even though the reaction is intense and these metals ''will'' readily react with water vapor in the air.<ref group=note>You treat them with care because they're ''expensive'' and you don't want them dissolving 
in
 your hand, do you?</ref> It turns out that in reality, the biggest bang comes from good old common sodium, rather than the more exotic and expensive materials. Brainiac producers decided to screw the ''real'', interesting science and present their audience with, not a metal induced explosion but a conventional one produced by regular special effects pyrotechnics. In fact, if you slow it down and look closely enough, you can see the detonator wires going into the bathtub.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhg0WsINmPc Thunderf00t - Brianiac alkali metals were faked]</ref>

===Ben Goldacre gets his science on===

Noted blogger and columnist [[Ben Goldacre]] brought the frauds to the attention of the media throughout 2006 after being contacted by someone working on the show. Despite Goldacre's letters and calls to Sky TV, they refuse to comment which experiments have been faked.<ref>[http://www.badscience.net/category/brainiac/ BadScience.net]</ref>

==See also==
*''[[MythBusters]]'' - They repeated the alkali metals experiment and showed undramatic results.

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Television programmes]]

Categories: Pseudoscience, Television programmes