Tuesday 15th July - 10 Popular Scientific Misconceptions

'Common Science Myths That Most People Believe' via IFLscience

From using 10% of our brains, to lightning never striking the same place twice there are lots of interesting misconceptions out there.

My favourite, which hasn't been mentioned here is...

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...that being cold will give you a cold. I remember the first time I'd heard that after learning that actually, you have to have the cold virus in your system to actually get a cold. My grandmother and I had a good old tear the ground up row about that one. Apparently science means nothing when you're being a cocky teenager. Go figure ;)

There are so many misconceptions out there, the author here has only picked the tip of the ice-berg with this article. Teaching science you can see where they come from. A parent, sibiling, child  misheard something, misunderstood something and BOOM. You have the misunderstanding.

It even reaches into popular media, with misinformed journalists spouting what they think the truth is. Check your facts people. I particularly enjoy the magazine articles informing women that they'll look like oversized michelin-men if they start lifting weights. Way to go ladies. Why do I say ladies? Because most of that type of scare mongering comes from other women. Ludicrous.

Anyway, the 10 misconceptions mentioned here are ones that I've heard many times in both my professional and personal life. The only one I don't *quite* agree with, is the full moon one. This article says that there is a tentative link between the full moon and odd behaviour. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not - but we don't really know enough about these sorts of effects to actually comment on them. Not only that, but the study of things we can't quite explain is often put to one side and/or mocked - think on ghosts. Maybe they exist, maybe they don't but what if there are things that we cannot just study with our scientific means? What if our understanding of the world is far more rudimentary than we think it is? Just a thought.

So, the 10 misconceptions listed:

1. We only use 10% of our brain. It's a comforting thought to think there is more that you're not tapping into. Maybe it accounts for the things we think we can't do....
2. There is a dark side to the moon. Well. We can't see it, so it must be true....
3. The full moon affects behaviour.
4. Sugar makes children hyperactive.
5. Lightning never strikes the same place twice.
6. A falling penny from a tall building could kill someone.
7. Hair and fingernails continue growing after death. This one you can understand, as the fluids move out of the body the skin retracts from the edge of the hair and nails making them look longer.
8. Cracking your knuckles gives you arthritis. Heard this one lots!
9. It takes seven years to digest swallowed chewing gum. We don't digest this. It goes straight through, unless it gets stuck.... ;) kind of links to the misconception that faeces have been inside your body - your digestive tract is sealed at the top and the bottom so in theory, it all remains outside. Aside from the water taken from inside your body....
10. Antibiotics kill viruses. Rudimentary knowledge that antibiotics kill bacteria not viruses and the application to the scenario is required here.

To read more of this article visit IFLscience.com