Last week I read in Neatorama a curious article on false beliefs that we hold from childhood. I have rewritten (full enough, he was very vague and brief, and even erroneous), and I used to include some examples. This could be considered the second part of my post Popular Myths in Science .
1. If you bathe after eating will give you a cut of digestion and die
sure that as children remember some of his friends stopped swimming after lunch, while others are not allowed. Currently there are still two camps of parents: those who believe and those who do not believe in the "court of digestion." But is there really?. The truth is that so far no deaths have been attributed by entering a pool too quickly after eating. The problems that can occur when entering the water are more related to other situations with the digestive system. What usually happens is that there is a syncope (loss of consciousness) as a result of the temperature difference between surface water body. So the "hydrocution syncope (scientific way of calling the" court of digestion ") is more common when the individual has been exposed for a long time in the sun and introduced abruptly in cold water. On the other hand (and unrelated), while it is in digestion (about two hours) should not be very strong physical effort, because all the blood goes into the stomach during the process. But this has nothing to do with water ... applies equally to swim, run or ride that bike. In short: If it's a young person who is not going to great physical effort, no need to wait before getting into the water, just do not blow. (Jolines ... I carry a lifetime without showering after dinner for this reason). [+ info ]
2. The Great Wall of China is the only manmade object visible from space
Thousands of man-made objects are visible from space and yet despite its size, the Great Wall China is not among them. And it is not simply because its color is similar to the soil through which it passes, so it is not distinguishable. In 1938, Richard Halliburton in his second book of marvels predicted the Great Wall is the only work of man visible from the moon without vision aids. Several astronauts have said the naked eye, but in May 2004, NASA announced that it was thought that this building was actually a stretch of river between the mountains, and acknowledged publicly that the Great Wall of China is not visible without help from space. [Via ]
3. Lemmings commit suicide en masse
Lemmings not that they are sad and want to kill themselves simply is that they are idiots. The myth dates back to suicide some time ago, at least to Freud, who Civilization and Its Discontents (1929) and compared the human instinct for death with the alleged mass suicide of lemmings. But who really popularized this myth was a documentary on the 1958 Disney: White Hell. Disney transported dozens of lemmings to Alberta, Canada (where they live), and placed next to a cliff. They shot and fell one after another. The real reason is that these deaths are suicides, but the biological instinct of these animals invariably causes them to move in one direction or particular route, without taking into account the topological changes ecosystem to which they are accustomed. Simply followed the path they had learned, and they saw that someone (the magic of Disney) had "put" a cliff in the middle. In its natural environment (the tundra) the same thing happens when there is overcrowding, they run out of space and will explore new lands. Because of his bad sense, some precipitous fall, or just drowned in the sea. They are just stupid.
4. Reading in dim light causes you to stay blind
is backward, people can not see well can not read in low light, but it is not the lack of light cause blindness. Make an effort to reading does not produce deficits in sight, but it means that there is already a problem of visual acuity. The important thing to eye strain, but not because you can blind, but to not get tired or create headaches. [Via ]
5. Camels humps store water in
Camels store fat in the humps, not water. These animals can live up to ten months without drinking, provided they have enough feed on plants and dew. One of the reasons why the camel is well adapted to life in the desert is that they are able to lose up to 40% by weight body. [Via ]
6. When an elephant is ready to die put toward the elephant graveyard
When an elephant is ready to die, just fall and die ... like any of us. The legend about the elephant graveyard cases arose from the fact that the skeletons of these animals are often found in groups near water sources. This is because the elephants with some form of malnutrition instinctively seek the water, hoping that the liquid will help them improve their conditions. I remember seeing in Tarzan movies, right? [+ info ]
7. Walt Disney's cryogenic (frozen)
Disney stopped working on the development of Disneyworld in the last months of 1966, when he was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung after a lifetime of heavy smoking . Finally died a cardiac arrest, and his body was cremated two days after his death. So Walt Disney is not just frozen, but rather the opposite.
8. I was born Rapas more hair if you head (and continues to grow after death)
Much to our regret is not true - but the bald surely would love it so. The hair may appear to grow more dense, but is just an illusion due to the short hair looks darker and thicker. Nor is it true that hair keep growing after death (in death the human body dehydrates severely, retracting enough skin to expose the nails and hair more than usual).
9. Adam and Eve ruined the existence of all mankind by eating an apple
Adam and Eve ruined the existence of all mankind for eating fruit ... yes ... but nowhere that you specify. The exact words in the Bible are: "... but the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden God said, Ye shall not eat of it" (Genesis 3:3)
10. Van Gogh cut his left ear and mailed it to a prostitute
Just chopped off half his left lobe. And do not sent him any prostitute, but it handed to such a Rachel (wife of gay life, yeah) so that it will take him to his friend Gauguin as a sign of repentance in a dispute that had taken that night (it goes without saying that all this happened under the influence of alcohol). What I did was never mailed. Its disastrous financial situation (living only sold a painting) not only should allow or to pay the postage. [+ info ]
11. Chewing gum stays in your stomach for seven years
Gum, like any other food, remains in the digestive system for about 20 hours. Like many other indigestible things people swallow (eg nails), chewing gum gets passed through the gastrointestinal tract as roughage.
12. Humans use only 10% of brain
This myth leads difundidísimo Nearly a century spinning even in the media. Fortunately it is not true. The imaging research techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging have shown that humans make good use of the cerebral cortex even when sleeping.
13. If you do not drink milk you will be boy
Milk is an important food, especially in infants under one year, because it is the best substitute for milk. During this period of growth, provides all the nutrients required. But after the first or second year of life there is no need for compulsory milk to grow. Milk is just an important food in the food pyramid and should therefore be among those who consume. [Via ]
14. The Harlem Globetrotters Harlem originals were
None of them was even in New York. Almost all members of the original Globetrotters were from Chicago, where the team was founded in 1926. Later, while touring the Midwest, became known as "New York Globetrotters" with the idea seem more cosmopolitan, we will replace it in "Harlem" in 1930.
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