You lose most of your body heat through your head
Actually, if you were completely naked you would lose the same amount of body heat everywhere. It’s just that your head is less likely to be covered.
The Great Wall Of China is the only man made object you can see from space
Even from low Earth orbit the wall is extremely hard to spot and there are other monuments that are much easier to see. This myth is hundreds of years old, however, so it’s not hard to understand why people would have thought something like this.
Glass is a slow moving liquid
Although it may seem this way especially when you see those old windows that seem to be really wavy, glass doesn’t “flow”. Its an amorphous solid.
Different parts of your tongue detect different tastes
The truth is that we detect all the tastes on every part of our tongue to roughly the same extent.
People thought the Earth was flat before Columbus discovered it wasn’t
Wrong again. People have known since Greek times that we live on a large spherical ball.
Deoxygenated blood is blue
Although it can appear blue with the right lighting it is actually dark red.
Chameleons change color to match their surroundings
While they do change color, its actually due to physiological and emotional changes.
Humans have five senses
The total number of senses varies depending upon the scientist you’re asking. Nociception and proprioception are two examples of “extra” senses, but one things is for sure…we have more than five.
Mother birds will abandon baby birds if you touch them
Most people think it’s because of your smell but this is wrong. Baby birds don’t get abandoned just because a human touches them.
Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth
Ok, so if you measure height above sea level, Mt. Everest really is the highest. If you measure from base to summit though, it would be Mauna Kea in Hawaii. It’s just that most of it is under water.
You’re never far from a rat in London
Scientists say there are probably 3 million rats in London. That’s about 1 rat every 150 feet…still pretty far.
Cracking knuckles cause arthritis
No, it won’t cause arthritis but after a long time studies show it may lower grip strength.
Toilet doors are dangerously bacteria infested
According to studies at the University of Arizona door handles have the least bacteria in the room. They are too dry and hard for bacteria to survive.
Fish have short memories
Your fish is actually pretty smart and researchers at the Institute of Technology in Israel have trained them to do some crazy things.
Gum stays in your body
Pediatric gastroenterologist David Milov of Nemours Children’s Clinic in Florida debunked this myth in Scientific American. No colonoscopy has ever revealed abnormally old pieces of gum in the gastric system.
A duck’s quack doesn’t echo
Actually, it does. You’ll need a duck and a tunnel if you don’t believe us.
Nails and hair continue to grow after you die
This myth comes from the fact that after death skin recedes from the body making fingernails and hair appear longer.
A penny thrown off the Empire State Building would kill someone
It only weighs a gram and would meet air resistance so it may hurt a bit but it certainly wouldn’t kill you.
The 5 second rule
Even if you picked it up in a fraction of a second, that bit of food would already be infested with bacteria.
Coffee is made from beans
Although it’s a technicality, those little things you see aren’t beans…they’re seeds.
Bats are blind
While most species do use echolocation to navigate, they aren’t blind at all.
Water is a good conductor of electricity
Actually pure water is quite bad at conducting electricity. The water we are familiar with is just contaminated with minerals and other things that really do conduct electricity.
Ostriches stick their heads in the ground when threatened
Ostriches never stick their heads in the ground at all. When they feel threatened they flop over and play dead.
Dogs can’t see color
While common knowledge says they can only see gray, scientists recently proved that they can actually see shades of blue, yellow, and green as well.
Lemmings commit mass suicide
No they don’t. Although they may fall off cliffs during migrations to areas they are unfamiliar with, the suicides are just a myth.