Top 10 Ridiculously Common Science Myths

December 1st, 2014

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

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There is nothing better than a bit of mythbusting (which accounts for
the popularity of the television program of the same name), so here we
are again, presenting you with a new list of terribly common
misconceptions and myths – this time about science.

The Myth: Evolution causes something to go from “lower” to “higher”

While it is a fact that natural selection weeds out unhealthy genes
from the gene pool, there are many cases where an imperfect organism has
survived. Some examples of this are fungi, sharks, crayfish, and mosses
– these have all remained essentially the same over a great period of
time. These organisms are all sufficiently adapted to their environment
to survive without improvement.

Other taxa have changed a lot, but not necessarily for the better.
Some creatures have had their environments changed and their adaptations
may not be as well suited to their new situation. Fitness is linked to
their environment, not to progress.

The Myth: When exposed to the vacuum of space, the human body pops

This myth is the result of science fiction movies which use it to add
excitement or drama to the plot. In fact, a human can survive for 15 –
30 seconds in outer space as long as they breathe out before the
exposure (this prevents the lungs from bursting and sending air into the
bloodstream). After 15 or so seconds, the lack of oxygen causes
unconsciousness which eventually leads to death by asphyxiation.

The Myth: Polaris is the brightest star in the northern hemisphere night sky

Sirius is actually brighter with a magnitude of ?1.47 compared to
Polaris’ 1.97 (the lower the number the brighter the star). The
importance of Polaris is that its position in the sky marks North – and
for that reason it is also called the “North Star”. Polaris is the
brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor and, interestingly, is
only the current North Star as pole stars change over time because stars exhibit a slow continuous drift with respect to the Earth’s axis.

The Myth: Food that drops on the floor is safe to eat if you pick it up within five seconds

This is utter bunkum which should be obvious to most readers. If
there are germs on the floor and the food lands on them, they will
immediately stick to the food. Having said that, eating germs and dirt
is not always a bad thing as it helps us to develop a robust immune
system. I prefer to have a “how-tasty-is-it” rule: if it is something
really tasty, it can sit there for ten minutes for all I care – I will
still eat it.

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The Myth: There is a dark side of the moon

Actually – every part of the moon is illuminated at sometime by the
sun. This misconception has come about because there is a side of the
moon which is never visible to the earth. This is due to tidal locking;
this is due to the fact that Earth’s gravitational pull on the moon is
so immense that it can only show one face to us. Wikipedia puts it
rather smartly thus: “Tidal locking occurs when the gravitational
gradient makes one side of an astronomical body always face another; for
example, one side of the Earth’s Moon always faces the Earth. A tidally
locked body takes just as long to rotate around its own axis as it does
to revolve around its partner. This synchronous rotation causes one
hemisphere constantly to face the partner body.”

The Myth: Brain cells can’t regenerate – if you kill a brain cell, it is never replaced

The reason for this myth being so common is that it was believed and
taught by the science community for a very long time. But in 1998,
scientists at the Sweden and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California
discovered that brain cells in mature humans can regenerate. It
had previously been long believed that complex brains would be severely
disrupted by new cell growth, but the study found that the memory and
learning center of the brain can create new cells – giving hope for an
eventual cure for illnesses like Alzheimer’s.

The Myth: A penny dropped from a very high building can kill a pedestrian below

This myth is so common it has even become a bit of a cliche in
movies. The idea is that if you drop a penny from the top of a tall
building (such as the Empire State Building) – it will pick up enough
speed to kill a person if it lands on them on the ground. But the fact
is, the aerodynamics of a penny are not sufficient to make it dangerous.
What would happen in reality is that the person who gets hit would
feel a sting – but they would certainly survive the impact.

The Myth: Meteors are heated by friction when entering the atmosphere

When a meteoroid enters the atmosphere of the earth (becoming a
meteor), it is actually the speed compressing the air in front of the
object that causes it to heat up. It is the pressure on the air that
generates a heat intense enough to make the rock so hot that is glows
brilliantly for our viewing pleasure (if we are lucky enough to be
looking in the sky at the right time). We should also dispel the myth
about meteors being hot when they hit the earth – becoming meteorites.
Meteorites are almost always cold when they hit – and in fact they are
often found covered in frost. This is because they are so cold from
their journey through space that the entry heat is not sufficient to do
more than burn off the outer layers.

The Myth: Lightning never strikes the same place twice

Next time you see lightning strike and you consider running to the
spot to protect yourself from the next bolt, remember this item!
Lightning does strike the same place twice – in fact it is very common.
Lightning obviously favors certain areas such as high trees or
buildings. In a large field, the tallest object is likely to be struck
multiple times until the lightning moves sufficiently far away to find a
new target. The Empire State Building gets struck around 25 times a
year.

The Myth: There is no gravity in space

In fact, there is gravity in space – a lot of it. The reason that
astronauts appear to be weightless because they are orbiting the earth.
They are falling towards the earth but moving sufficiently sideways to
miss it. So they are basically always falling but never landing.
Gravity exists in virtually all areas of space. When a shuttle reaches
orbit height (around 250 miles above the earth), gravity is reduced by
only 10%.

Inspired by an excellent LiveScience Article. This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.