Thread: Top 10 Ridiculously Common Science Myths

i think you would love
www.cracked.com

I actually didn't even know that one side of the moon always faced Earth.

haha, yeah I recently learned that too when I was reading about the phases of the moon. I still have trouble trying to picture how the earth, moon and sun all rotate and orbit in space. There's got to be some 3D modeled movie clip somewhere online (that's accurate) that depicts this.

How the hell do they consider the 5-second rule "science"?

What about "humans use only 10% of their brains" myth? It seems it's more common in popular culture than myths found in that list.

Yeah that's the one I always think of first.

I actually didn't even know that one side of the moon always faced Earth. I've always heard the term "Dark Side of the Moon," but I just thought it was referencing whichever side of the moon was facing away from Earth at any specific time.

You never noticed how it always looks exactly the same? Lord...

Yeah the lowest energy an orbiting body can have is if it rotates on its axis at the same speed that it orbits the body.

#10 (the one about evolution) is frustrating for me. Living in the Bible Belt, I hear all kinds of misconceptions, uninformed objections, and blatant straw-men regarding evolution. My roommate literally thinks that evolution implies a chimp giving birth to a human baby.

Originally Posted by DuB

#10 (the one about evolution) is frustrating for me. Living in the Bible Belt, I hear all kinds of misconceptions, uninformed objections, and blatant straw-men regarding evolution. My roommate literally thinks that evolution implies a chimp giving birth to a human baby.

This one is for Evolution, I think people should read it and learn something from it.

http://listverse.com/science/top-15-...out-evolution/

Originally Posted by DuB

#10 (the one about evolution) is frustrating for me. Living in the Bible Belt, I hear all kinds of misconceptions, uninformed objections, and blatant straw-men regarding evolution. My roommate literally thinks that evolution implies a chimp giving birth to a human baby.

The hardest part is accepting that it doesn't even make sense to debate those people using logic or scientific evidence because they will just ignore your argument.

Originally Posted by Specialis Sapientia

This one is for Evolution, I think people should read it and learn something from it.

Those who need to read it the most are the same people that will never read it.

Originally Posted by Xei

Yeah that's the one I always think of first.

You never noticed how it always looks exactly the same? Lord...

No. I've never spent that much time looking at it. I look up and see a white orb with craters. Judging by your "Lord...", I'm guessing you've concluded that I'm, at the least, virtually unobservant. If it's all the same to you, I'll simply assume that you've spent more time looking at the moon than I have

There's a massive blotch on the front which looks vaguely like Africa... it's pretty distinctive.

Dunno, I just thought everybody knew that the moon doesn't turn round. Maybe it's because I live in the countryside or something.

Then again my friend was unable to tell me what caused days to happen yesterday. :l

Originally Posted by Xei

Then again my friend was unable to tell me what caused days to happen yesterday. :l

I'm find myself hoping that you're not comparing me to your friend.

And no. Without getting opinions from anyone else on the subject, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that not 'everyone,' or - I'd go so far as to say - not even a majority of the populace - knows that the moon doesn't turn around. Knowing how well-read you seem to be, I have to wonder if it's something that you just realized through observation, or if you've actually read it somewhere, over the years. Whatever the case: no, I hadn't actually noticed.

I'm find myself hoping that you're not comparing me to your friend.

No, just adding a pinch of salt to the wise country-people theory.

I'm pretty sure I first heard it in primary school and many times since, but yes I have read into the physics of it so it's pretty well locked into my consciousness. I'll ask around I suppose.

But yes, an appalling number of people in my experience have no idea what causes a day, or a year, or think that the sun is not a star, and that we are at the centre of reality, and have no distinction between the concept of a galaxy and the universe. They have no concept at all of how old the universe is, how long humans or civilisation has been here, and on top of that, they seem completely disinterested when I tell them. Something like 65% of secondary school students think that electricity is caused by positive charge flowing through wires... these people must literally spend more than a decade of their lives sitting in classrooms and listening to nothing at all.

Is this really the state of the human condition? Is modern society just completely nullifying human curiosity? I'm undecided, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were entirely to blame.

I mean, is it not commonly held that curiosity is the ultimate of human virtues? That which distinguishes us from animals - the thing which has brought us the entirety of human distinction - art, science, civilisation?

Although, perhaps that is myth; what if it is only the case in a tiny minority of people... perhaps civilisation has always been entirely due to an elite brand of human which carries the curiosity gene? The rest seem happy as proles.

Originally Posted by DuB

#10 (the one about evolution) is frustrating for me. Living in the Bible Belt, I hear all kinds of misconceptions, uninformed objections, and blatant straw-men regarding evolution. My roommate literally thinks that evolution implies a chimp giving birth to a human baby.

Your roomate is right though. See?

By the way, about the exploding in space thing... has that been tested..?

I mean, on Earth, our bodies exert an outwards force equivalent to 10 tonnes per square metre, but it's balanced by atmospheric pressure. If we were suddenly dropped into space with that amount of force pushing outwards, why would we not explode..?

I don't think anybody's actually put a mammal in a vacuum before.

Originally Posted by Xei

I don't think anybody's actually put a mammal in a vacuum before.

With all of the animal testing we do in the name of science (or just out of boredom), I wouldn't doubt it in the least.

Chimps and monkeys have been used in vacuum experiements.

Regardig to outer space exposure:

"How long can a human live unprotected in space?"

"If you don't try to hold your breath, exposure to space for half a minute or so is unlikely to produce permanent injury. Holding your breath is likely to damage your lungs, something scuba divers have to watch out for when ascending, and you'll have eardrum trouble if your Eustachian tubes are badly plugged up, but theory predicts -- and animal experiments confirm -- that otherwise, exposure to vacuum causes no immediate injury. You do not explode. Your blood does not boil. You do not freeze. You do not instantly lose consciousness. "

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/as...rs/970603.html

So, as for the moon, I'm still confused. Does it rotate ever? Or does one side of it always face the Earth?

Originally Posted by SnakeCharmer

What about "humans use only 10% of their brains" myth? It seems it's more common in popular culture than myths found in that list.

Actually that myth is horribly untrue. Only 10 percent of the cells in are neurons and the rest are glials. The glials are incapable of performing the same functions as the neurons. Common misconception.

Yeah - I think that's why he referred to is as a "myth," in the thread about science myths.

No one is exactly sure how the ten percent myth originated, but I highly doubt it was based on glial cells. Some have traced it back to a quote by seminal psychologist William James in a 1908 book of his: "We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources." How you get the 10% figure from that is not clear, but this appears to be the best guess at the origin of this myth.

Originally Posted by DuB

Yeah - I think that's why he referred to is as a "myth," in the thread about science myths.

No one is exactly sure how the ten percent myth originated, but I highly doubt it was based on glial cells. Some have traced it back to a quote by seminal psychologist William James in a 1908 book of his: "We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resources." How you get the 10% figure from that is not clear, but this appears to be the best guess at the origin of this myth.

Ah but the ratio that glails outnumber neurons is by 10:1, so there must've been some illinformed guy spreading rumours which reached the internet at some stage Its not like i was accusing him of anything i was just saying... cause you know.... he asked....

the fifth one is refreshing..... but can you regain lost memories?

Well, a "lost" memory, by definition, is one that cannot ever be recovered. If a memory is no longer physically located in one's brain, then it would not be possible to spontaneously reacquire that lost information regardless of how many new neurons one grew.

The more interesting question is whether or not we ever really lose memories permanently or if it's a matter of the memory being "in there" somewhere but unable to be retrieved. I personally believe that we do physically/permanently lose memories on a regular basis, but there are significant problems with trying to confirm this hypothesis. Even if I am never able to recall what shirt I wore on my 5th birthday, that doesn't prove that the memory is not physically in my brain somewhere. This may be a good topic for a new thread...

Originally Posted by juroara

the fifth one is refreshing..... but can you regain lost memories?

If they were just "lost" in your subconscious or whatever I guess, but if you have brain damage I think not.


anyway speaking of nuerogenisis, (for those who don't know from my thread about cancer I am very interested in cannaboids) cannaboids happen to cause neurogenisis http://www.jci.org/articles/view/25509/version/1 a good bit of info there although there are some misleading bits about cannabis.

Originally Posted by SnakeCharmer

The hardest part is accepting that it doesn't even make sense to debate those people using logic or scientific evidence because they will just ignore your argument.



Those who need to read it the most are the same people that will never read it.

Christians say the same about other books.

lol- I always thought humans exploded in space until about a couple of years ago
And until now, I believed the myth about the falling Penny. I *knew* there was gravity in space, I just thought it was so slight it didn't affect people and object the same way as on earth.

Thanks for the link! It was very informative and entertaining