Top 10 Science Myths

Myth

Toilets spin counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.

Coriolis effect

The Earth's rotation means that we experience an apparent force known as the Coriolis effect. The direction of the wind is deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. This is why the wind-flow around low- and high-pressure systems circulates in opposing directions in each hemisphere.
The Coriolis effect was described by the 19th-century French physicist and mathematician Gustave-Gaspard de Coriolis in 1835. He formulated theories of fluid dynamics through studying waterwheels, and realized the same theories could be applied to the motion of fluids on the surface of the Earth.

"Example of the Coriolis effect can be demonstrated by looking at a typical playground roundabout. If you are standing in the center of a spinning roundabout (spinning anticlockwise) and attempt to throw a ball, it will appear to curve to the right, when in fact it is traveling in a strait line to anyone watching who is not on the roundabout. This is similar to what happens in the northern hemisphere of the Earth, where winds are deflected to the right."

The toilet flush is on such a small scale that the Coriolis effects has little to no effect at all. The main contributor to the direction a toilet flushes is the design of the toilet.

Myth

Lightning never strikes in the same place twice.

Proverb -  The same highly unlikely thing never happens to the same person twice.

Origin

The proverb has been traced back to P.H. Myers . First attested in the United States in 'The Man in Lower Ten' by American writer Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876-1958).

Truth

The old saying that 'lightning never strikes the same place twice' is another myth that any veteran storm observer or researcher has seen nature defy. Lightning can strike any location more than once. In fact, given enough time, it is actually inevitable. It may take as little as less than ten minutes within a single thunderstorm, or longer than a million years - but lightning will eventually strike the same spot again and again. A strike to any location does nothing to change the electrical activity in the storm above, which will produce another strike as soon as it 'recharges'. The previously hit location is then just as fair game for the next discharge as any other spot. Building and trees are common targets, the empire state building is hit over 100 times a year. Below are some videos showing skyscrapers being hit multiple times int he same place.

Empire State Building

Burj Khalifa

Myth

You can see the great wall of China from space.

Origin

The myth that the great wall of china is visible from space came from Richard Halliburton's book "Second Book of Marvels" that was released in 1938, This was long before the human race saw the earth from space in 1968. Apollo 8 was the first time humans ascended passed low orbit and saw the earth with their own eyes. Apollo 17 captured the first fully illuminated view of earth in 1972, this image is called "The Blue Marble" and is one of the most distributed pictures of all time.

Taken from Apollo 8, 1968

The blue marble, Apollo 17, 1972

Truth

The great wall of china can be seen from a low orbit as well as many other things. From anything higher than low orbit the only man maid thing that can be seen are lights. 

Resources and facts

The primary purpose was always to protect the Chinese Empire from the Mongolians and other invaders. Most of the Great Wall we see today was built in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In some areas, two walls built in two different dynasties can be seen running side by side.

Myth

The north star (Polaris) is the brightest star in the sky.

Truth

Polaris is the brightest star in the constellation, Ursa Minor, and the 45th brightest star in the night sky. It is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star. It consists of 3 stars all orbiting each other. Polaris A, Polaris B and Polaris Ab.

Sirius (The dog Star) is actually the brightest star in out skies. Sirius consist of two stars, Sirius A and Sirius B

Sirius in the night sky

Myth 

We only use 10% of our brain.

Origin

No-one knows for sure. A popular theory has it that the journalist Lowell Thomas helped spread the myth in his preface to Dale Carnegie’s block-buster self-help book "How to Win Friends and Influence People". 

Truth

Neuroimaging has shown that even basic memory drills result in over 35% brain activity.

For many people, the 10 percent myth sounds both feasible and appealing because they see it in terms of human potential. 

Films that use brain percentage

Flight of the Navigator, 1986 - Claims we only use a fraction of the brain.

Defending Your Life, 1991 -  Claims we only use a fraction of our brain.

Limitless, 2011 - 20% of the brain. A pill can be taken to access the other 80%

Lucy, 2014 - 10%. The main character (Scarlett Johansson) is implanted with drugs to  access the other 90%

Myth

You can kill a virus

Virus - A virus is a small infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of other organisms. Viruses can infect all types of life forms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea.

Truth

You can’t kill a virus you can deactivate it, destroy it, but you can’t kill it. The reason being that it wasn’t alive in the first place. One of the requirements for life is the ability to reproduce and a virus does not have this. A virus survives only by taking over another cell first.

Myth

It takes 7 years to digest chewing gum.

Truth

If gum did take seven years to digest, medical imaging tests like the MRI and procedures like endoscopy and colonoscopy would routinely turn up instances of old gum hanging around. On the contrary, doctors report that when they do find gum, it’s usually because the patient failed to fast and swallowed gum directly prior to testing.

"So what does happen when you swallow gum? It goes the way of just about everything else you swallow. Your swallowing action sends it into your esophagus, traveling down its length until it lands in your stomach. There it mixes with digestive juices before being emptied into your small intestine about 30 to 120 minutes later."

Myth

The dark side of the Moon.

Truth

The moon presents only one face or side to the Earth, this gives idea that there is a permanently dark side of the moon. In fact, the side of the moon that is perpetually turned away from Earth is no more dark than the side we see. It is fully illuminated by the sun just as often (lunar daytime), and is in shade just as often (lunar night).

The Moon’s rotation is tidally locked to the Earth. This means that the Moon always presents the same side to us, completing one orbit around the Earth in the exact same amount of time it takes to turn once on its axis. From our perspective, the Moon never rotates, always displaying the “Man in the Moon”.

The myth was enhanced by Pink Floyd's album, "The Dark Side of the Moon".

Myth

Bulls charge at the colour red

Truth

Bulls do not charge or get angry at the colour red. Instead it is the movement of the flag (any colour) that makes the bull charge.

MythBusters did a test with a bull, people with red, blue and white flags and see if the bull would "see red" and charge for the red flag. The bull gave all the flags the same amount of attention while they were stationary and charged whichever flag was in motion.

"Turns out, the color red isn't what causes bulls to attack. In fact, bulls don't seem to have any color preference at all. They'll charge whichever object is moving the most, which means this old myth can get tossed right out of the ring."

 

Myth

Dolphins have their own language.

Origin

In the 1950s, physician and neuroscientist John Lilly played the crucial role in the elevation of dolphins from the status of stupid, fish-like creatures with excellent swimming skills to that of underwater know-it-all. In eerie-sounding experiments, Lilly attached electrodes to the brains of living dolphins to stimulate neurons. One day, a dolphin hooked up to his equipment began making loud noises as it approached its horrible death. When Lilly slowed down and played back the audio recordings, he concluded the dolphin was trying to communicate with its tormenters.
After further experiments, Lilly became convinced dolphins had a human-like faculty of speech and attempted to establish contact with the marine mammals. His desire to communicate was so great he administered LSD to himself and the dolphins in the hopes of stimulating conversation.

Truth

Dolphins are dimmer than a average chicken. Scientists have been trying to prove the dolphin language exists for years and there is still no evidence to support this.

In some cases, dolphins are even outdone by goldfish. When goldfish are placed in a bowl they at least try to escape by boldly jumping out, whereas dolphins that have been captured in nets won't even think of jumping to freedom.

"We put them on a pedestal for no reason and projected a lot of our desires and wishes on them" Neuroethologist Paul Manger of the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa

“Not only are dolphins dimmer than the average chicken, says Justin Gregg, a zoologist, but they are also capable of gang rape and acts of violence. So don’t be taken in by those winning smiles.”

Colour
Colour provides a bright side to childhood and it’s fascinating to understand why they are so enamored with it. Colour is a big part of their world. The playful, visually stimulating variations of ‘reflected light’ that we see as ‘colour’ provides a dose of happy energy like that of a child. Bright colour aligns with their energy - young kids are drawn to it and desire playful interaction with it.

Children see colour with fresh eyes. They talk of colour as fun, happy, cool and beautiful. They learn how colour makes them feel when it’s close to them, especially when selecting personal items. They learn to use colour to reflect different moods and emotions. Bright colour is often thought to represent energy, happiness, carefree, risk and playful fun.

Inspirations