Myth - Debunk It

Are we really Right Brained or Left Brained? A time-old way of categorizing someone’s personality is to determine whether that individual is “right-brained” or left-brained” — right-brained people are thought to be more spontaneous, creative, and artistic, while left-brainers are associated with being more logical, detail-oriented, analytical . Too bad it's not true . So where did this whole left brain vs. right brain idea start? It was born back in the 60s when a Nobel Prize-winning neuro-psychologist named Roger Sperry cut the hemisphere-connecting brain fibers in a number of epilepsy patients to reduce their seizures. Then he decided to run an experiment to compare how the right and left hemispheres processed information differently , and his study marked the beginning of the right-brain left-brain myth that would persist through the years. Trouble is, science never really supported this notion after that. More recently, brain scan technology has revealed

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

Did Magellan really circumnavigate the globe? The Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan is often credited as being the first person to have circumnavigated the globe, but the reality of his journey is a bit more complicated. First off, he didn't set out to circle the globe, but rather to find a safer way for Spanish merchants to fabled Spice Islands. Magellan's expedition is the first one to accomplish circumnavigation, but poor Ferdinand didn't make it home, since he was killed by natives in the Philippines in 1521, about halfway home. But since Ferdinand was the captain and leader of the expedition, he gets the credit. So if Magellan wasn’t the first human to circumnavigate the globe, who was? This is slightly up for debate. The honor may go to Magellan’s personal slave, Enrique of Malacca, though it isn’t quite clear whether he made the last 1000 or so miles necessary to actually officially complete the trip, or if he did, when he did it. T

Did Queen Marie utter the words, “Let them eat cake”? “Let them eat cake” is the most famous quote attributed to Marie-Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution. Upon being informed that the citizens of France had no bread to eat, Marie Antoinette, Queen-consort of Louis XVI of France, exclaimed "let them eat cake", or "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche". This cemented her position as a airheaded woman who didn't care for the common people of France, and is why she was executed in the French Revolution, which was fueled by this same remark. But did Marie-Antoinette really say those infuriating words? Not according to historians. Lady Antonia Fraser, author of a biography of the French queen, believes the quote would have been highly uncharacteristic of Marie-Antoinette, an intelligent woman who donated generously to charitable causes. That aside, what’s even more convincing is the fact that the “Let them eat cake” st

Does urine help relieving pain from a jellyfish sting? The widespread belief that urine is the best cure for a jellyfish sting is probably the best known from an episode of Friends in which Chandler has to urinate on Monica’s leg after she is stung. But is that really a thing? Jellyfish release stingers which attach to the body part in contact. These stingers contain venom which is highly alkaline and can only be neutralized by an acid. The sting affects the nerves of the skin – causing pain, burning, and tingling. Urine is only slightly acidic, which is not enough to neutralize the alkaline venom. Some studies even say that urine causes the stingers to release more venom. One of the ways to treat a sting is to get out of the water to avoid getting stung again. Once out, slowly pouring seawater over the sting will help ease the pain. Pouring vinegar instead of sea water may be better as it neutralizes the venom in the sting. Avoid using fresh water or solven

Is dropped food safe to eat before five seconds on the ground? Everyone has heard of the 5-second rule. If a food item drops on the floor and you pick it up within five seconds, it’s still perfectly safe to eat. Undoubtedly invented by a child or teenager, the 5-second rule has been accepted and employed by kids and adults just about everywhere. You’ll be dismayed to find out, however, that the rule does not have much scientific credence. Bacteria can contaminate food immediately. "The five-second rule has little effect on the amount of bacteria you would pick up from a heavily contaminated surface," says Dr. Ronald Cutler, a microbiologist from Queen Mary, University of London. "Think about this, if you drop food on a floor, it's better to put it in the bin rather than your mouth. No matter if it’s at home on the carpet, the kitchen floor or in the street, my advice is if you drop it, chuck it." The five-second rule has received som

Can the Great Wall of China really be seen from space? Stretching for some 4,500 miles, the ancient Chinese fortification is the mightiest work of man. Being this long and large, it should be visible from space right?  In 1932, a "Ripley's Believe It or Not!" cartoon called it “the only one that would be visible to the human eye from the moon,” This is not true. The reality is that you can’t easily see the Great Wall with the unaided eye, even from low Earth orbit. And certainly, the Apollo astronauts couldn’t see it from the Moon, even though that urban legend has been widely circulated. First of all, it's not the only object visible (although barely discernible) from Low Earth orbit distance. Human-built structures such as highways, airports, bridges, dams, and components of the Kennedy Space Center are also visible. Now, if we consider space to mean a distance greater than the Earth’s orbit, like from the Moon, the answer for

Did Einstein fail at school? At the end of the 20th Century, Time magazine voted Albert Einstein to be the Man of The Century. He authored four papers that changed our understanding of the way the universe works. Generations of school kids have consoled themselves over their poor school marks with the belief that Einstein failed at school. Some motivational speakers also make this claim - but this is wrong. The truth is, Einstein seemed to relish problem solving, and little else. Despite minor troubles in French and the Humanities, Einstein was a prodigy in math and physics from a young age. He loathed the busy work of a typical school day and dropped out when he was 15. This rumor actually started while he was still alive and even showed up in a particular issue of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not. Einstein reportedly found the article humorous and remarked: ““I never failed in mathematics… Before I was fifteen I had mastered differential and integral calculus.”

Did the Vikings wear horned helmets? We’ve seen many movies and pictures of large men who wore helmets with horns on them, conquering and pillaging nearby lands. These helmets must be real, right? Wrong. Horned helmets were worn by many people around the world, but not by the Vikings. To date, there is no evidence that any Viking warrior wore a horned helmet. In depictions dating from the Viking age—between the eighth and 11th centuries—warriors appear either bareheaded or clad in simple helmets likely made of either iron or leather. The popular image of the strapping Viking in a horned helmet dates back to the 1800s, when Scandinavian artists like Sweden’s Gustav Malmström included the headgear in their portrayals of the raiders. Sure, the helmets could help intimidate enemies and maybe even poke out a few eyes, but they would have been even more likely to get entangled in a tree branch or embedded in a shield. They were practically impractical in close

How many states does matter exist in? From Elementary school we keep learning about 3 states of matter, solids, liquids and gasses. Hence, most of us assume that these are the only ones. Things have changed. There is certain proof that there are more than 3 states of mater, of which, most prominent is plasma. Plasma is not a common state of matter here on Earth, but may be the most common state of matter in the universe. The main difference in the structures of each state is in the densities of the particles. Many other states are known to exist only in extreme situations, such as Bose–Einstein condensates, neutron-degenerate matter and quark-gluon plasma, which occur in situations of extreme cold, extreme density and extremely high-energy color-charged matter respectively. Some other states are believed to be possible but remain theoretical for now. You can click on the last link in the sources for the whole list of different states. Our textbooks con

Is it that difficult to fly through asteroid belts? When you think of asteroid belts, you imagine a region of rock and dust, with asteroids as far as the eye can see, where the spaceships must swerve left and right to avoid collisions. That’s true… only in movies. In reality the asteroid belt is less cluttered than often portrayed. If you were in the middle of an asteroid belt, you probably wouldn’t see any asteroids at all. If the asteroids were big enough and close enough to pose a danger to a spaceship, they would also be banging into each other, reducing themselves to tiny pieces. In fact, if you pull all the asteroids in that belt between Mars and Jupiter and weigh them, together they'd only weigh about 4% the mass of Earth's moon. During 12 missions beyond this belt — most recently NASA’s Juno mission on its way to Jupiter, nothing of significance has ever collided with a spacecraft. To conclude, there is no danger of asteroids colliding wh