Myth - Debunk It

Does Gum Really Take 7 Years to Digest? Maybe you couldn't find a nearby trashcan, or perhaps you were enjoying the taste just a little too much. Whatever the case, you did what most of us have done at one point or another: You swallowed your chewing gum . It's only then that a refrain from childhood echoes through your mind: "Don't swallow chewing gum—it will stay in your system for seven years!" Thankfully the legend is false . As gastroenterologist Dr. Rodger Liddle of the Duke University School of Medicine explained to Scientific American: " Nothing would reside that long unless it was so large it couldn't get out of the stomach or it was trapped in the intestine." Chewing gum consists of a gum base, sweetener, flavoring, preservatives and softeners . Sugars and flavoring ingredients such as mint oils break down easily and are soon excreted. Likewise, softeners such as vegetable oil or glycerine don’t present a problem for the

Can a Penny or any coin dropped from a tall Skyscraper kill you? You’ve probably heard people say how if you drop a penny off the top of the Empire State Building , it will accelerate to such a speed that if it struck someone, it would kill them . This simply isn’t true at all , not by a long shot. A penny only weighs about a gram and it tumbles as it falls. Because of the tumbling and the light weight , there's so much air resistance that the penny never really gathers that much speed before it hits its terminal velocity . A gram of weight traveling at a relatively slow speed might hurt a little if it hit you on the head, but it's not going to kill you. Pennies are flat, so they experience a lot of air resistance, and they are light, so it doesn't take much drag to counteract their weight . Thus, if hurled off a skyscraper, pennies achieve their terminal velocity after only about 50 feet (15 meters) of descent . After that point, they flutter to th

Can adults make new brain cells? The traditional view and one that has been taught for generations is that you are born with all the neurons you will ever have and if a brain cell dies, it is never replaced . However in the last decade or so, much has been learnt about the adult brain and it has finally been accepted that this is not the case . For much of the past century, it was thought that the production of new neurons – neurogenesis – was restricted to embryonic development . If this was true, you’d have lost your sense of smell years ago! Not to mention, you’d never be able to form new memories or learn new things. The brain may favor  stability over plasticity . Human adult neurogenesis may be an evolutionary relic, and one that comes at a very high cost . However, unfortunately, some nerves can’t repair themselves or regrow once damaged in adulthood (like those in the spinal column). For now, it’s important to know that this absolute statement is a myth ,

Are Diamonds really rare and valuable? Diamonds are our most popular gemstone . That hasn’t always been the case. It was only in the last century that diamonds became readily available. Prior to that, rubies and sapphires were the most popular gems, especially for engagement rings. All gem grade materials are rare, composing just a tiny fraction of the earth. However, among gems, diamonds are actually the most common. If you doubt this ask yourself; “How many women do you know that do not own at least one diamond?” Now ask the same question about other gems. And the common belief that diamonds are inherently valuable? It’s just not true . In fact, reselling a diamond for top dollar isn’t all that easy. Once you leave the jewelry shop after buying a diamond, it loses 50% of its value. It’s what economists call a thin market. One diamond cartel, De Beers, has artificially driven up the price of diamonds for decades. A 1920s advertising campaign set a cultural ex

Could T. Rex Really Only See You If You Moved? It’s a question that has plagued moviegoers since Jurassic Park was released in 1993: Could a T. Rex really only see you if you moved? Thanks to researchers at the University of Oregon, that question could finally be answered. University of Oregon researcher Professor Kent Stevens began a project called “DinoMorph” in 1993 which set out to generate digital models of various theropod dinosaurs, including the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex and Velociraptors. Theropods were bipedal, flesh-eating dinosaurs with short forelimbs. The idea of the project was to recreate the visualizations of these animals. To do this, Stevens effectively turned a technique used to measure and assess visual fields, called perimetry, inside out. This novel technique, called inverse perimetry, involved the use of taxidermic eyes, a laser and a glass plate which together allowed Stevens to estimate whether a particular object would be visible at v

Will an astronaut explode if he takes off his helmet? Have you ever wondered what might happen to your body in space without a spacesuit? Is it really as dramatic as the movies make it out to be? Would you literally EXPLODE? Could you survive? The most serious dangers of exposure to outer space are a lack of oxygen and ebullism. Ebullism is the formation of bubbles in body fluids due to a reduction in ambient pressure. You’ll swell up pretty bad, perhaps even up to twice your normal size, but you won’t explode as your skin is very stretchy. Your blood will also not boil. You will, of course, be in an immense amount of pain and your blood circulation will be impeded. After around 15 seconds, your body would have used up all of the oxygen in your body and you’d lose consciousness. Some of you may be thinking “But I can hold my breath for minutes!” The situation in space is a little different than here on Earth due to the lack of outside pressure, and if you held y