Thread: Let's bust stupid / unscientific myths , referenced as SCIENTIFIC by ordinary people in our daily lives.

MYTH 1: A duck's quack doesn't echo.


MYTH 2: frog can jump in space.


MYTH 3: sharks are immune to cancer.


MYTH 4: Humans have stopped evolving by natural selection.


MYTH 5: Lightning never strikes the same place twice.


MYTH 6: Whether you can roll your tongue or not depends on your genes.


MYTH 7: Bumblebee flight violates the laws of physics.


MYTH 8: We only use 10% of our brains.


MYTH 9: Earth is closer to the sun during summer.


MYTH 10: Astronauts would explode without their spacesuits.


MYTH 11: Bats are blind.


MYTH 12: Hair and fingernails grow even after death.


MYTH 13: Pure water conduct electricity well.


MYTH 14: It is impossible to stand an egg on its head.


MYTH 15: Lemmings commit mass suicide.


MYTH 16: You are born with all of the brain cells you will ever have.


MYTH 17: People can have "photographic" memory.

Disclaimer: I have collected those from net.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 2: frog can jump in space.

Whut?

Originally Posted by Dywyddyr

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 2: frog can jump in space.

Whut?

can it jump in space , without gravity?

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

Originally Posted by Dywyddyr

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 2: frog can jump in space.

Whut?

can it jump in space , without gravity?

Sure. It just won't come back.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

Originally Posted by Dywyddyr

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 2: frog can jump in space.

Whut?

can it jump in space , without gravity?

You claimed that all of those "myths" came from the internet.
Can you provide a link?

Lack of gravity doesn't prevent jumping.

You will probably find most of these addressed here: snopes.com: Urban Legends Reference Pages

MYTH 6: Whether you can roll your tongue or not depends on your genes.

Well, it does partly: Myths of Human Genetics: Tongue Rolling

Very few things are determined completely by your genes.

MYTH 14: It is impossible to stand an egg on its head.

Eggs don't have heads.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 1: A duck's quack doesn't echo.

Nonsense that can be disproved by kicking a duck into the Grand Canyon.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 2: frog can jump in space.

If it has something to propel itself off of, it will "jump", but it won't return.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 3: sharks are immune to cancer.

Sharks do get cancer, but it is very rare. That is why they are the focus of some cancer research right now.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 4: Humans have stopped evolving by natural selection.

We do experience a different set of conditions than other wildlife, but evolution is not something that stops unless breeding stops.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 5: Lightning never strikes the same place twice.

Simple probability shows this to be untrue. Some people have been hit by lightning more than once. Many trees have suffered numerous strikes. Watch the top of any skyscraper during a lightning storm. They can be hit dozens of times during a single storm.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 6: Whether you can roll your tongue or not depends on your genes.

This is a classic example of dominance in genetics. Along with eye and hair color, it is one of the first Mendelian inheritance characteristics we learn in school.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 7: Bumblebee flight violates the laws of physics.

The idea that they are too big to fly with wings their size is disproved by the fact that they...well, do fly with wings their size. Bumblebees basically use brute force to overcome gravity and take off.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 8: We only use 10% of our brains.

We don't use all of our brains at full power all of the time, but every part of our brain serves some kind of purpose.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 9: Earth is closer to the sun during summer.

You could just look at the orbit around the Sun during a given time in our season to understand why that isn't true. It may not seem as intuitive as spatial distance to the Sun, but our tilt has far more influence on our seasons.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 10: Astronauts would explode without their spacesuits.

Exposure to a vacuum would be a horrible way to go. Look up Joseph Kittinger or the Soyuz 11 mission for some examples. What happened to Kittinger's hand sound pretty awful.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 11: Bats are blind.

Many animals lack visual acuity in favor of other senses. Bats can respond to visual stimuli. They are not blind, but they supplement their nocturnal navigation with other methods.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 12: Hair and fingernails grow even after death.

It has been shown that as the body dries out, the skin peels back. It not only makes fingernails appear longer, but it makes the corpse seem to smile.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 13: Pure water conduct electricity well.

Conductivity depends upon impurity. Pure water does not conduct because it does not contain the ions required to transfer electrons.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 14: It is impossible to stand an egg on its head.

Given its shape, it's probably really hard, but I doubt it is impossible.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 15: Lemmings commit mass suicide.

They are known for their group behavior even in dangerous situations. I don't know of a case of a bunch of lemmings running off a cliff as everyone has heard, but they certainly do follow the leader.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 16: You are born with all of the brain cells you will ever have.

I believe neurogenesis ends after a couple years in certain parts of the brain, but I can't really comment on that. I'm just saying what I remember from a biology class a million years ago.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 17: People can have "photographic" memory.

I've heard of savants who are capable of amazing feats of recall, but I can't really comment on whether or not eidetic memory is a real thing. Never looked into it.

All of these answers came from my backside while I am waiting for the oven to preheat. I do not guarantee their accuracy as I am often misinformed on topics. Hopefully, someone can point out any errors I made.

Originally Posted by Dywyddyr

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

Originally Posted by Dywyddyr

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 2: frog can jump in space.

Whut?

can it jump in space , without gravity?

You claimed that all of those "myths" came from the internet.
Can you provide a link?

Lack of gravity doesn't prevent jumping.

http://www.disclose.tv/forum/wtf-frog-captured-jumping-on-apollo11-video-t33076-10.html
may not be exact

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 14: It is impossible to stand an egg on its head.

Um, that's not a myth since there IS a myth about doing that exact thing.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

http://www.disclose.tv/forum/wtf-frog-captured-jumping-on-apollo11-video-t33076-10.html
may not be exact

Crank site.

MYTH: Gebrils are born pregnant

If you know other myths, plz share here.

MYTH: Unicorns can't break-dance.

Myth: the Illuminati are planning on taking over the world.
(It's actually penguins that are working on that).

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH: Gebrils are born pregnant

This isn't a myth, rather it's blind stupidity.

Myth, how a young lady with a lisp describes herself...

Myth: Dogs can't look up.

I know, Big Al told me...

If half of these are myths that "ordinary people" believe, I weep for our future.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 10: Astronauts would explode without their spacesuits.

I used to believe that one for quite a long time, until I decided to look it up.
It turns out that astronauts do not explode: What Happens if Your Body is Exposed to the Vacuum of Space? - YouTube

The other myths you have presented, are quite obvious and I did not believe them in the first place.

Here's one that'll sap all your faith in humanity.

Myth: Ailments can be remedied by taking a substance that causes said ailment and diluting it beyond the point where there is only a small probability of there being a single atom of the substance remaining in the solution, then consuming a dose of that solution.

Myth: The Earth’s shadow causes the phases of the Moon.

Myth: You can see the Great Wall of China from orbit.

Myth: Glass is a slow moving liquid.

Myth: Humans have five senses.

Myth: Dinosaurs lived with people. (common in Kentucky)

How about this myth; Vitamin supplements do something beneficial.

Practically anything posted by Stargate or theorist.

Originally Posted by Lynx_Fox

Myth: Humans has five senses.

My sixth sense is an exceptional sense of fashion.

Since it's Thanksgiving and leaving out the most obvious one:

Myth: There were no cranberries at Thanksgiving because Native Americans had no sweeteners.

Myth: Native Americans were peaceful.

Myth: Most American colonies were established to escape religious persecution.

Originally Posted by Karsus

Originally Posted by Lynx_Fox

Myth: Humans has five senses.

My sixth sense is an exceptional sense of fashion.

I have an impending sense of doom and an amazing sense of occasion.

Originally Posted by Lynx_Fox

Since it's Thanksgiving and leaving out the most obvious one:

Myth: There were no cranberries at Thanksgiving because Native Americans had no sweeteners.

Myth: Native Americans were peaceful.

Myth: Most American colonies were established to escape religious persecution.

How about the myth that the native Americans lived harmoniously with nature (ie, the Pristine Myth).

Myth - the first Moon landing was faked

Myth - inoculations cause anything from cancer to mind control to mental dysfunctions. The real mental dysfunction if of the people who believe it, refuse their children protection while at the same time endangering the kids around them.

Myth - Anything by Bob Lazar

Myth - palindrome spelt backwards is palindrome

Myth - "cat" spelled backwards is "dog"

If you say 'myth' backwards it sounds like 'truth'.

Myth: Pigs can fly.

Originally Posted by sir ir r aj

MYTH 17: People can have "photographic" memory.

Derren Brown

Even though sharks CAN get cancer, I read somewhere that the weight of a shark's liver is 25% of its weight. For a single internal organ like the liver to weigh 1/4th of an organism sounds unlikely. Is this a myth aswell?

I don't have a photographic memory...I can however tell you approximately what section of a book, the side of the page and whether it was top, middle or bottom...and what it said, though not verbatim....sure helps in learning lines!

Originally Posted by Raziell

Even though sharks CAN get cancer, I read somewhere that the weight of a shark's liver is 25% of its weight. For a single internal organ like the liver to weigh 1/4th of an organism sounds unlikely. Is this a myth aswell?

I don't know.....try googling it..

Myths associated with your wisdom teeth.
Wisdom tooth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by Raziell

Even though sharks CAN get cancer, I read somewhere that the weight of a shark's liver is 25% of its weight. For a single internal organ like the liver to weigh 1/4th of an organism sounds unlikely. Is this a myth aswell?

It does not seem to be a myth, according to Wikipedia.
I cannot access the book that states it, so I cannot check it.

Photographic memory:



Of course it is not a surprise that he is autistic.