2026-08-11
14 Common Myths Busted
Myth: Humans only use 10% of their brain.
- Fact: Brain scans show that we use virtually all parts of the brain continuously, even during sleep.
- Myth: You lose most of your body heat through your head.
- Fact: Heat escapes proportionally from any uncovered part of your body; you lose heat from your head only because it is often left bare.
- Myth: Reading in dim light ruins your eyes.
- Fact: It causes temporary eye strain and fatigue, but it does not cause permanent damage to your vision.
- Myth: Cold weather causes the common cold.
- Fact: Colds are caused by viruses, not low temperatures, though people gather indoors more often during cold months, which helps viruses spread.
- Myth: Swallowed chewing gum stays in your stomach for seven years.
- Fact: Your body cannot digest gum base, but your digestive tract moves it through normally within a few days.
- Myth: Goldfish have a three-second memory.
- Fact: Goldfish can remember things for months and can be trained to recognize colors, sounds, and feeding routines.
- Myth: Bulls get angry when they see the color red.
- Fact: Bulls are colorblind to red; they charge at the matador because of the flapping movement of the cape.
- Myth: Bats are blind.
- Fact: Bats can see quite well, though many species also use echolocation to navigate in total darkness.
- Myth: Daddy longlegs spiders are the most venomous in the world, but their fangs are too short to bite humans.
- Fact: They are not considered dangerously venomous to humans, and they possess mouthparts fully capable of piercing human skin (though they rarely bite).
- Myth: Vikings wore horned helmets.
- Fact: Historical records and archaeological finds show no evidence of horns on Viking helmets; this look was popularized by 19th-century opera set designers.
- Myth: Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
- Fact: Lightning frequently strikes the same location, especially tall, pointed structures like skyscrapers and towers.
- Myth: Dropping a penny from the top of a skyscraper can kill a pedestrian below.
- Fact: Due to air resistance, a penny reaches a safe terminal velocity of about 30–45 mph, which would sting slightly at most.
- Myth: The Great Wall of China is visible from space with the naked eye.
- Fact: Astronauts have confirmed it is generally too narrow to see without magnification against natural surroundings in low Earth orbit.
- Myth: Water flushes down drains in opposite directions depending on the hemisphere.
- Fact: The Coriolis effect does not influence everyday sink or toilet flushes; the spin direction is strictly determined by the shape and angle of the plumbing fixture.