As if you didn’t already know, Wikipedia is host to a huge amount of information, sometimes worthless, sometimes not. This is one of the times where Wikipedia comes through and comes through bigtime! A group of fanatics (in the true sense of the term) are compiling a list of every problem ever solved by everyone’s favorite late-80s super-nerd, played by Richard Dean Anderson. Going episode by episode we’re treated to an outline of every problem Mac has had to face during his career, for instance, from the pilot episode:
- MacGyver destroys a laser array using binoculars and cigarettes. He lights three cigarettes from the lasers then puffs smoke (whilst coughing violently) to make the lasers visible. The episode states that the laser is a carbon dioxide laser. These operate at a wavelength of approximately 10 micrometers (far infrared) and are thus invisible no matter how much smoke is in the air. He then smashes the binoculars, removing a lens fragment to deflect a laser beam back to the emitter and destroy it. He also wipes his optics clean with bare fingers. Time index: 21:00.
- MacGyver plugs a sulfuric acid leak with chocolate. He states that chocolate contains lactose and sucrose (Chemically C12H22O11), which are disaccharides. The acid reacts with the sugars to form elemental carbon and a thick gummy residue.
- When MacGyver needs to move a large steel beam blocking his way, he cuts the end off a fire hose, ties a knot in the hose, and runs the hose under the beam. He then turns on the water, and the hydraulic pressure in the hose causes the beam to lift enough for him to shift it out of the way.
- MacGyver creates a bomb to open a door using a gelatin cold capsule containing sodium metal, which he then places in a glass container filled with water. When the gelatin dissolves in the water, the sodium reacts violently with the water and causes an explosion which opens the barred door.
[A list of problems solved by MacGyver | MacGyver for President 2008]
December 12th in 
