Archive for Myths in Science

The Great Wall of China is the only manmade structure

Wall of China at Funny Junks

There are several variations on this folkloric statement, and they’re all quantifiably false. Astronauts can spot the Great Wall from low-Earth orbit, along with plenty of other things like the Giza pyramids and even airport runways. But they can’t see the Wall from the Moon.

Comments

Animals can predict natural disasters

Dogs Myths at Funny Junks

There is no evidence that animals possess a mysterious sixth-sense allowing them to predict natural disasters. Their keen senses of smell, hearing, and sharp instincts alone are enough to send them scattering for the hillsides during a hurricane or tsunami. And even so, animals often die during natural disasters, so if they do have some sort of sixth sense, it’s not worth much.

Comments

Hair and fingernails continue growing after death

Dogs Myths at Funny JunksThough hair and fingernails appear to keep growing after death, this is merely a morbid optical illusion at work. In death the human body dehydrates severely, retracting enough skin to expose more nail and hair.

IMAGE CREDIT: www.rosannas.com

Comments

A dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s

Dogs Myths at Funny JunksDespite a habit of licking things no human would dare, Fido’s mouth is often touted as scientifically more sterile. Truth is, oral bacteria are so species-specific that one can’t be considered cleaner than the other, just different.

Comments

Water drains backwards in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth’s rotation

Whater Myths at Funny Junks
Not only is the Earth’s rotation too weak to affect the direction of water flowing in a drain, tests you can easily perform in a few washrooms will show that water whirlpools both ways depending on the sink’s structure, not the hemisphere.
IMAGE CREDIT: Morguefile.com / William Roesly

Comments

« Previous entries