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Livescience_2013 05552.txt

#Punkin Chunkin: Behind the World Championship of Pumpkin Hurling It's not unusual to enjoy a plentiful helping of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving. But some people gather together each fall to enjoy pumpkins in another way: by flinging them as far as possible. The contest known as the World Championship Punkin Chunkin event has become a huge draw in Bridgeville Del. bringing thousands of spectators to see who can launch a pumpkin the farthest. Anybody from around the country can apply to enter the event and build a machine to launch pumpkins. These medieval-looking devices come in a variety of shapes and sizes many of them built in backyards or garages. The machines can employ air cannons for launching trebuchets for flinging and a variety of torsion machines that propel pumpkins via the power of twisted cables basically anything that doesn't involved gunpowder said Grant Imahara co-host of a Science Channel special on the event which airs at 8 p m . ET on Thanksgiving (Nov 28). The live event took place on Nov 1 but you'll have to watch the broadcast to see the winning hurl. Imahara along with co-hosts Kari Byron and Tory Belleci visited Livescience to talk about the event. The three also co-host the Discovery Channel show Mythbusters. What is Punkin Chunkin? -Exclusive'Mythbusters'Interview Perhaps not surprisingly mishaps do occur during the event. The giant machines have misfired for example sending pumpkins thousands of feet straight up into the air. In one case an errant punkin nearly hit Imahara he said. My producer had to jump on me to prevent me from getting hit Imahara told Livescience. It's really dangerous Belleci said. You're standing next to these machines and there's so much tension they have springs they have ropes and sometimes these things break. Last year Belleci was standing next to one such machine when the arm snapped and it splintered all over the place he said of the pumpkin launcher. But the host wasn't injured. This year's contestants set a number of world records and launched one pumpkin nearly a mile Byron said. Emailâ Douglas Mainâ or follow him onâ Twitterâ orâ Google+.+Follow us@livescience Facebookâ or Google+.+Article originally on Livescience n

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