Obama's appearance on the popular Discovery Channel show is part of a White House effort to highlight the importance of science, math and engineering as experts warn that low interest in these subjects among US students could hurt the economy.

It is one of several nontraditional appearances by the president, who joined an MTV "town hall" meeting last week and was interviewed on the daytime talk show "The View" in July.

Questions tackled this year on "Mythbusters" include "What's worse, having an empty bottle smashed over your head or a full one?" and "Can a sniffer dog be thrown off the scent using household items?"

The Obama episode, to air on Dec. 8, reprises an earlier debunking of the 2,000-year-old story that Greek mathematician and engineer Archimedes set fire to an invading Roman fleet using a system of mirrors to focus the sun's rays.

"I can announce today that I taped a special guest appearance for their show, although I didn't get to blow anything up," Obama said at a White House science fair event. "I was a little frustrated with that."