Can Cockroaches Really Survive Nuclear Radiation? | Mythbusters

In this clip the Mythbusters test if Cockroaches, Fruit flies and Flower beetles can survive high levels of radiation. See which one passes the test.
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[@Vesper778]

It's all fun and games until they created RadRoach

[@Onyxthefem]

I wanna see someone fight a giant RadRoach with only their fists in real life

[@garrettwalcker401]

That would be a really rad-roach.......

[@SumOneSomewhere]

I’d just shoot them with my pipe pistol

[@wesleythegreatgamer0943]

Allow me to introduce myself

[@mrxenomorph3196]

@@wesleythegreatgamer0943 OH GOD

[@grampton]

So Keemstar will definitely survive even after the fallout.

[@eliasnewton1142]

No, hes a rat.

[@vplusultra]

Course he does. Garden gnomes arent affected by radiation.

[@jaketheginger8658]

lol

[@dahdream6044]

Saunterblugget Hampterfuppinshire LMAO

[@petuanmarshall2924]

Asa Stephen Mnicio stupid kid get out of here

[@dangjoeltang]

Radiation affects complex organisms more severely than simpler organisms. The radiation causes changes on an atomic level, which in humans who have very complex and precise cellular interactions, causes those cells to behave differently or fail. An analogy i can think of is like throwing a bolt into a machine with many moving parts vs one with very few.

[@Aztesticals]

Sir you are somewhat right but I'd like to just point out an extra thing. It's actually a size thing and a dna repair thing. See alpha particles bounce off paper and so only ingesting them is fatal for most things. But they were testing I believe with beta and gamma. Beta takes like a few inches of material to stop. Which means that if a person stands in front of a beta ray beam they will absorb most of it. The cockrpach is so small it j7st doesn't absorb nearly as much of the beam because a thinner body means less atoms for the radiation to run into and more just keeps on moving. Secondly is that fruit flies, cockroaches, and flower beetles actually have genes that make proteins that make dna stronger its like if you shot a Jenga tower. In humans the Jenga tower has rubber bands around it. Some protection and some might not break but small bullet will damage the structure. Imagine the dna of flower beetles as a jenga tower that is glued together and has steel straps around the whole thing. Which will be easier to fix. The one where the pieces are thrown 50 ft and you have no idea which one was where initially or the one where only one or two blocks got knocked off and you can still tell where to put them back. They just built different. Source biologist, biotechnologist, and hopefully in the next 2 years ecologist. All my friends in school went for masters. I went for extra bachelor's. I like to be well rounded instead of super specific

[@aikslf]

"This myth is busted." -"Just like our chances of reproducing."

[@TorutheRedFox]

+ɐᴉdoʇoʞsooʞ Im like "WUT?"

[@_alphasierra4705]

I think he meant the retries

[@TorutheRedFox]

-Axeal- Do you even know what reproducing means?

[@georgiaprixs2630]

sex with the hot red head

[@baneblackguard584]

he was referring to them all being sterile now because they've been irradiated.

[@dreadednaught7641]

Of course they would why do you think they call them radroaches

[@jameson32]

+Spam TheChat gg wp

[@Armyjayden33]

Dmitri Tousaint never heard of fallout 3 fallout nv fallout 2 or fallout you just know the fallout series from fallout 4

[@sgt.kanxkix9945]

Thats from fallout😑

[@randomguy-cg1fz]

my vault is 111

[@HaveSabr114]

Dreaded Naught that’s only in fallout 4

[@christianh3871]

Grants face at 2:17 priceless

[@tikkihummerl5113]

Clorox Bleach wow i see u again 😅

[@randomuser04]

Hahahahaha!! Dat boi!!

[@armenvondoms1815]

Now it is really sad to see him in this video knowing this statement to be true.

[@jeremiahtimothy9543]

if cockroaches can survive the radiation then whats in raid

[@pexfmezccle]

your science sucks bro

[@Gurgleschlortz]

Pyrethroids, piperonyl butoxide, and permethrin. In other words, poison.

[@pexfmezccle]

***** those are specially tailored for insect biology.

[@Gurgleschlortz]

First name Surname Yes, poison -- to the insects.

[@inuyasha1389]

Propane

[@JackIsNotInTheBox]

RIP Grant.

[@GrandHuevotes]

Came here to say this.

[@Exekutioncro]

The simpler the organism the lesser the chance it gets damaged by radiation

[@viola0livido]

surviving without having offspring is just waiting for the death before the extinction. So the true question is: can they reproduce? and if they can, is the offspring fertile?

[@InFiD3ViL1]

Poor Grant. We miss you man! RIP

[@theCreature773]

One word RadRoaches

[@TheIndogamer]

Dominic Smith Fallout 4

[@NNNSSSCCC]

I saw that coming.

[@busykitty893]

Dominic Smith roaches are not radical, theyre FUCKING CUNTASSES i know the joke barely

[@Armyjayden33]

Raihan Purboyo fallout 3 fallout nv fallout 2 fallout you only know the fallout series from fallout 4

[@sgt.kanxkix9945]

Fallout

[@jensdavidsen4557]

Writing this comment from PNNL (on a business trip) - just took a tour of the lab where this was performed. Used to watch this program all the time and don't remember this episode. Very cool!

[@davidhenderson3400]

I know a cockroach can survive a microwave oven. I tested that before.

[@lilsnek3394]

Why not Throw a cockroach near the elephant's foot

[@addyhernandez9272]

Sure just gotta find someone willing to die

[@sgt.kanxkix9945]

Addy Hernandez yup

[@metal_bucket7893]

Great idea

[@orangeeeeeee]

@@LouisE-mp8lx Yeah the elephant would probably stomp on you (BAD JOKE)

[@freddiemercurybulsara3876]

Wtf lol

[@bugrua6180]

boi i dont want me no radroaches

[@binyot7791]

I'M THE BEE'S KNEES radrouches are created by f.e.v. not radiation

[@thanosdidnothingwrong8026]

Myth Busters you didn’t choose the right kind of cockroach, there are different kinds, the ones here in the U.S aren’t as Bulky, but they are seemingly impossible to kill, like not as in their hard to damage, but like if you injure them mortally they just drag on with whatever is left. It’s disgusting, I’m talking like half a head, hollow gaping wound, three legs missing, and still crawling fast to get somewhere... terrifying.

[@no1noone34]

Children in Africa could have eaten that radiation, what a waste...

[@fieldfrost4220]

NO1 (NoOne) oh wtf

[@susiebaek8740]

Fungi can survive better

[@Armyjayden33]

NO1 (NoOne) not funny

[@MrApple-or2bk]

NO1 (NoOne) shut the fucking up what if u where hungry so shut up

[@aid6n]

Mr. Apple "shut the fucking up"

[@xXSwaggDaddy69Xx]

1:17 Uhhhh what do they do with that mouth

[@quackistan]

Science stuff. . .

[@quackistan]

Bryant Rodriguez-Manzo Tune in next time on Mythbusters "How Many Dicks Can Fit Edition"

[@NNNSSSCCC]

LMAO I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING

[@arjellagamayofortuny2692]

Bryant Rodriguez-Manzo h

[@ciri151]

I am the 69th like :D

[@hoid6126]

"These insects were bred for death by science" Just like us!

[@xGARIDx]

Is there still they shooting videos? last time i saw myth busters in 2012-2013

[@dontreadmyprofilepicture931]

They just posted can you dodge a bullet

[@xGARIDx]

It was year ago

[@oliver1345]

Me too

[@sharpshotefx]

Mythbusters ended in early 2016

[@BoodyCheek]

it's a bummer too. always used to watch it with my father when I was young.

[@wingman-cok692]

No animals were harmed during the filming

[@mgalyean]

Great vid. I'd like to see a mythbust test of the multigenerational effects of radiation exposure. It would seem that popular conceptions (even among scientifically educated people) of inheritable mutations induced by radiation have been highly exaggerated given real world data from Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.

[@pizzapanda9363]

Everybody gangsta till we all killed by mutant zombie cockroaches

[@taski1]

Apparently flour beetles can survive in very dry environments. I wonder if that has anything to do with it

[@camiloacevedo3288]

I think this wasn't enough, they just tried one type of cockroaches....mythbusters 2.0 (?)

[@jesirepalagar3219]

Bethesda Game Studios thought it was a fact and added it to there game: Fallout 4 and the cockroaches are not called that now. They are called: Radroaches

[@omidenomis1713]

Where do you find 100,000 rads ? radiation !

[@sharpshotefx]

They took the bugs to a testing facility and exposed them to radiation in a contained environment.

[@mustakrakishthebakedtroll2896]

We wouldn't necessarily die Theres a 50% chance we turn into a Ghoul

[@valerieplaysgames4610]

my moms trapped in there with the radroaches!!!

[@darthjertis8166]

Poseidon Games how ironic. you are aking for help now?

[@pinacoladatv808]

Poseidon Games i let her die

[@mellowm5634]

i saved her!!

[@andrewtimothy9792]

but the title is can it survives?which it does. not "is it the best"

[@TML_Gameplay]

Next myth: will leaving roaches in radiation for a prolong time create radroaches

[@nikerailfanningttm9046]

0:42 me when I see one of my queen Pheidole Menacephala pass away.

[@feedthebassist3160]

Oh my the quick 3 way reference at the very end

[@JuanJimenez-zy7ns]

Fallout 4 rad roachEs will come

[@wolfstar124]

no, they aren't. They were in all of the "new gen" fallout games (FO3, NV, 4) and I'm willing to be they've been a staple for much longer in the older games.

[@JuanJimenez-zy7ns]

Rad roachoes from fallout 4 cause it's the recent game

[@EasyDubai]

Radroaches actually come from F. E. V not radiation they're just immune to it

[@sgt.kanxkix9945]

They come from Evolutionary virus not rads

[@jameson32]

I came here looking for the bleeding hearts crying over the inhumane treatment of cockroaches and fruit flies.

[@cia9315]

1:39 i wonder what's the use of that hand in the middle

[@xenxkisu]

DeadRecorder lol

[@BOBROSS-ld7bk]

Lol I was waiting for the roaches to become life 5× as big Fallout fan

[@abxsmal]

Why would you kill cocroaches for a experiment??????

[@theproygo]

The Asian guy is the fry from futurama lmfao

[@ParadoxPerspective]

RIP Grant. :

[@connorsmith9732]

well if a roach can survive that long.... what the heck is in raid

[@binyot7791]

Connor Smith chems

[@Br0kenMask]

so was this eperiment about which insect can take more radiation or which insect can outlife a human while under the effect of radiation or if cockroaches can survive the radiation of a nuclear blast??? Seems like they went of topic very early or didn't know what they were looking for in the first place.

[@planemod8399]

radroach Fallout

[@brunom72]

its been said that after a nuclear war, the only things that would survive are cockroaches and Cher...now it seems that only Cher will be left :-)

[@DrMecha]

Thus, it's not the Cockroaches that will inherits the earth, but the Flower Beetles.

[@ignaciomota3627]

wtf is in a can of raid then?

[@nn3534]

Ignacio Mota LOL

[@invschematics]

Your dad's belt pain

[@holyheretic3185]

I can't get over they have different VO narrators for Australia lol I feel like if your speaking English you get the same VO

[@johnjames4834]

CARRIE: "Dont move guys a radioactive spider got out. Hey wheres Rod"? TORI: "He`s on the ceiling"!

[@coolguyx14]

You wasted radiation children in Venezuela could have eaten that!

[@Guy-lk3rw]

STFU and stick to playing your kiddy Nintendo games. BTW PlayStation is wwaaaayyyy better than Babytendo

[@ozdemirkapustin6836]

Where is radiation?

[@siccmade3603]

Now I see why this show no longer airs. I've seen better acting in a bang bus.

[@getnmyoven69]

RIP Grant

[@faizrehman8619]

Title Should be Can Cockroaches Really Surrvie Slipper Slam ?

[@Tibetian]

Flower beetle: Arughh...

[@jakemachado3612]

But what if you don't want to eradicate bugs with a ray gun?

[@rachdarastrix5251]

Why are you bothering with that stile of nuclear radiation? You know what you should be testing on these insects? That green goo from War Of The Monsters.

[@kevinv.1391]

Wonder what raid has in the liquid if roaches can't survive that?

[@jeremyallen5974]

Tori: only like ten percent survived Cockroaches that didn't survive: the endurance skill! It does no-thing!

[@derlyjuari3812]

When glass was break the experiment change to apocalypse

[@ekremyilmaz5072]

Why else do you think americans have dropped the 'fat man ' on Nagazaki? They were simply testing whether cockroaches down there were going to surivive that kinda blast..

[@juniijanaka1120]

Meh

[@naberpampa]

i am a cockroach myself i can confirm this test

[@wolskyhubert4718]

I'm a demon you dare oppose mortal

[@filipinotighnari4744]

Yo, tell your cockroach buddies to get out of my house.

[@LugiaMCG]

so 100000 rads is the equivalent how many chest X-rays?

[@karimwalid8216]

no insects were harmed in the making of this video.

[@chuymoreno13]

We need flower bettle armor

[@theverybadsniper6910]

*Real life Radroach*

[@duscarasheddinn8033]

When I heard this narrator, he was wrong! As in, not the voice I associate with Mythbusters narration. I live in the United States. Is this a dub for a different part of the world?

[@NNNSSSCCC]

The birth of a radroach.

[@dimitriblyat5505]

I was waiting for giant mutated cockroach

[@johncalamada7272]

History of Radroaches in a nutshell

[@binyot7791]

John Calamada radrouches are created by f.e.v not radiation

[@kuuttinen]

Does the exposure to radiation affect their (the cockroaches & other insects) ability to reproduce?

[@mrxenomorph3196]

Probably

[@Bez_straha_od_zla]

Not busted because NO ONE have ever said ONLY roaches survive a nuclear blast...

[@mumbaibreaderreddragonflow4703]

What's the use of all this almighty power to survive a nuclear radiation, when they can't even flip back on their legs once they fall on their back

[@spacie89]

So if anyone wondered how this friggin equated to anything that might happen in a real world scenario, because this video sucks at putting anything in perspective: "Severe illness occurs with 1,000 rads, causing destruction of bone marrow, marked drop in white cell counts, anemia, bleeding, destruction of stomach and intestinal fluids (mucosa). Most victims died within 30 days. (Note: “rad” indicates a unit of absorbed radiation.) Immediate disorientation and coma occur with 10,000 rads, and death follows within hours. *Estimated air dose of gamma rays: Hiroshima: 10,300 rads; Nagasaki: 25,100 rads. *Estimated neutron dosages: Hiroshima, 14,100 rads; Nagasaki: 3,900 rads." Also, she was counting the dead roaches with bare hands and without any kind of shielding, I am no expert, but just plain logic would make one think that after such high doses being absorbed, the corpses would start to radiate as well...

[@runswithbears3517]

Late response, but the dosage doesn't really matter. In order for radioactive contamination to occur, specific kinds of radioactivity are required, usually the kinds associated with nuclear reactors and nuclear explosions. Even in the case of radioactive contamination, it's not the contaminated object that is emmitting radiation, but small radioactive particles (radioactive dust/fallout) on or inside the object.

[@broke1677]

I wonder what that mouth is for at 1:20?

[@Paramjitkaur-do1vx]

Imagine some nuclear blast on earth and only cockroach species left just imagine cockroaches over every fricking square foot area💀💀

[@RocketHarry865]

Also in case of a nuclear war cockroaches would die off except in the tropics as most cockroaches species require year round sub tropical and tropical like climates and its human buildings that give them the stable warm habitats that lets them survive in colder regions. A nucelar war would destroy most of the buildings meaning roaches would suffer habitat loss

[@artistjoh]

This myth has been busted numerous times over the decades, yet people still repeat it and believe it. It is as if they don't care about facts, they just want to believe what they want to believe.

[@jokerinthebronx]

There are less things to be damaged in simpler organisms. It's also surface area. The bigger the creature, the more surface area to absorb radiation.

[@Jacob-mx6ie]

Starving children in Africa could have eaten that radiation...

[@exoticduck4752]

If that’s the case we should make suits made out of cockroach 😀

[@erikaferia1324]

Ever seen the movie wall e? Look at the cockroaches and learn a much more fun way yet longer

[@d.anthony4363]

Assuming this insects wont die on the actual nuclear blast

[@crackedaim]

0:15 did you hear the poke ball noise?

[@GokantheHusky]

Im surprised none of them got really big.

[@zer02her02]

I thought the thumbnail was a radroach in VATS view

[@ZzigZaG00NIN]

Flower beatles ooh

[@REDACTED1818]

WHAT ARE TRYING TO DO MAKE RAD ROACHES FROM FALLOUT 4 that can literally fly up to your face and kill you

[@ruthlessjones8220]

What about the water bear

[@OriruBastard]

If those mother fuckers can survive vacuum of space... They can survive anything.

[@ShaneFlett]

did the laid back guy try hitting on that chick by asking her to reproduce?..*mythbusted*

[@lf298]

What? The 10000 rad dose had more survivors than the 1000 rad dose? For cockroaches? Did they start wearing lead jackets?

[@electricimpact9322]

Now in fallout 5 there's gonna be giant fruit flies 😂

[@mrxenomorph3196]

And giant beetles

[@ShaneFlett]

wtf happend to the old narrator?.. not this uk ..

[@Playtiempo]

Is prof.oak there too

[@erayk61]

1:36 GENIUS

[@kronk358]

Them pretending that they are just talking to each other and not reciting a script at the end is pretty terrible. Still love the show though.

[@AkbarNurPribadi]

Those cockroaches are so weak. Cockroaches in here are magical, they even have body double to bring us confuse

[@mikenoutify]

because we contain more water then a bug recalculated i think

[@EDG-r7t]

Why not send cockroach n other useful organism to Jupiter n europa

[@toastedidiotagaming2889]

idk why cockroaches freaking lay eggs on the egg trays when i pull out a normal chicken egg and i see one small baby cockroach i always want to kill them

[@smirkovs120]

Try scarab beetle