20 science facts that are actually myths

Pique your child's interest with 20 science facts that are actually just myths.

Blind as a bat

Bats are actually not blind at all. They can see even though they use echolocation to navigate.

Corpse growing hair and nails

Hair and nails do not keep growing on corpses. Nothing grows on dead people, at least not human parts. Corpses appear like they’re still growing hair and nails because their skin shrinks.

Green means bacteria, yellow means virus

Your mucous doesn’t work this way. You simply cannot tell whether you have a bacteria or virus based on the colour of your mucous. The colour varies with all sorts of illnesses.

Water conducts electricity

This fact is wrong as long as you’re thinking pure water. The reason why water conducts electricity is because water is usually contaminated with minerals, dirt and other things.

A bashful ostrich…

Is no ostrich at all! Ostriches do not bury their heads in the ground when they feel threatened. Instead, they will simply play dead.

Blue blood

No I am not talking about royalty. I am talking about the ridiculous myth that says blood is blue when it isn’t carrying enough oxygen. Your blood actually becomes dark red (it will always be red). It only appears blue because you see it through your skin.

Sugar rush

Children do not get hyper when they are given sugar. Trials reveal that they are still hyper even without sugar. So it’s back to rewarding them with chocolates and sweets.

Oh stop stressing me out, you’re giving me hypertension

Mmm, not true at all. Acute stress can increase your blood pressure temporarily. But hypertension is caused by genetics, smoking, unhealthy diet and more severe factors.

Lemmings

There is a story that goes like: Lemmings jump off cliffs and commit suicide. They do not do that. They do however sometimes wander to unfamiliar territories during migration, and that is probably how they fall off by accident.

Brontosaurus

This dinosaur is not called a Brontosaurus. But it is okay if you get this wrong because Michael Crichton also did in Jurassic Park. It is actually called an Apatosaurus and the confusion started 130 years ago, between two feuding palaeontologists.

Goldfishes have 3 second memories

Totally false! In fact, they can remember something for months.

HIV from beastality

Probably not very appropriate for your kids. But there is a myth that says HIV got transmitted from monkeys to human beings because human beings had sex with monkeys. It is probably because people used to hunt and eat monkeys for food that led to blood-to-blood contact.

Dogs and cats only see black and white

For all you dog or cat lovers out there, your pets do not only see shades of grey. They also see in shades of blue and green. They do not necessarily have better vision than that of humans. These animals have a wider scope of vision, but we can see further in front.

We only use 10% of our brains

You got that from watching too much Hannibal didn’t you? We use much more than that. We use 90% of our brains for other various processes and we would not survive if that 90% of it was cut out.

The earth is not flat

Obviously, that myth was busted long ago. Or, was there actually a need to bust it at all? In reality, all scholars during the middle ages affirmed that the earth was round, not flat. The myth only started in 1940, by the Members of the Historical Association.

The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible in space

Which part of space? We can only see lights from the moon.

Photographic memory

No one actually has photographic memory, including those people who have extraordinary memory or autobiographic memory. But none can retain precision like a camera does.

McDonald’s burgers don’t rot

Every thing does (someday), with the right temperature and moisture fit for microorganisms to grow.

Shaving your hair causes you to be hairier

Absolutely not true. You appear hairier because shaving makes your hair coarser because your hair becomes blunt and rough.

7 years to digest chewing gum

We don’t really have to worry about this, it’s banned here anyway. But chewing gum is passed out without it being digested.

Written by

Miss Vanda

EducationScience