Funny and Common Science Myths
We are here with the latest collection of some funny and common misunderstanding and science myths.
1. Gravity in Space
The Myth: There is no gravity in space
Absolutely, there is a lot of gravity in space. Since the astronauts are revolving around the earth, they appear to be weightless. They actually fall towards the earth but they move away to miss it. So basically, they frequently fall on the earth, however, they never tried to land on it or landed. Gravity exists in all the areas of space entirely. When a space shuttle reaches an orbit height (it’s about 250 miles above the earth), only 10% of gravity reduces.
2. Lightning
The Myth: Lightning never strikes the same place twice
In fact, it is very common that lightning strikes the same place more than once. Obviously lightning always strikes certain areas such as tall buildings and trees. Until the lightning moves far away from a particular tallest building or place to find another target, the same building or place is likely to be struck several times. And the best example for this is that the Empire State Building is struck almost to 25 times a year.
3. Friction Heat
The Myth: Meteors are heated by friction when entering the atmosphere
When a meteoroid enters the earth’s atmosphere, it becomes a meteor and generally, the speed compresses the air in front of the object which causes the meteor to heat up. The pressure of the air produces a sufficient heat intense that makes the rock so hot that it glows very brightly. It is a truly real myth about the meteors being hot while hitting the earth and when they hit the earth, they become meteorites. These meteorites are always cold and they are found to be covered in frost. The entry heat isn’t sufficient to heat since the meteorites are too cold when hitting the earth’s surface all the way from their journey through space and so they can’t do more than burning off the outer layers of the earth.
4. Pennies from Heaven
The Myth: A penny dropped from a very high building can kill a pedestrian below
This myth is so familiar that this has become an overused bit or scene in movies. When a penny is dropped from the top of a very tall building like the Empire State Building, Obviously it picks up a very high speed while landing on the ground and so the pedestrian is said to be killed if the coin hit them with that speed. But actually, the aerodynamics of a penny doesn’t make it so dangerous to kill a person. In fact, the person who gets hit by the Penny feels a strong sting and however would survive certainly.
5. Brain Cells
The Myth: Brain cells can’t regenerate – a brain cell can’t be replaced if you kill it.
This is a very common myth since a very long time it has been believed and taught by the community of science. However, some of the scientists at the Sweden and the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California found that the brains cells can be regenerated in mature humans. It has been believed for years that new cell growth disturbs the complex brains severely. But the study of them discovered that the learning center and the memory of the brain are capable of creating new cells. And this gives hope for cure possible for those who are suffering from diseases like Alzheimer.
6. Dark side of the Moon
The Myth: There is a dark side of the moon
Sometimes, the sun illuminates each and every part of the moon. This is a misunderstanding which has come about since another side of the moon is never visible to the earth. This is all because of tidal locking which is due to the fact that earth’s gravitational force on the moon is extremely large which is the reason why only one face of the moon can be seen. And therefore the other part of it is said to be dark.
7. Five Second Rule
The Myth: Food that drops on the floor is safe to eat if you pick it up within five seconds
This is an absolute nonsense which may seem true for most of the readers. Assume a case if the food is dropped on the germs (which are negligible to the naked eyes) present on the floor, then those food particles aren’t good for our health. But it is believed that eating germs and dirt isn’t a bad thing always since it helps in developing a strong immunity system. I always prefer food items which are really tasty.
8. Brightest Star
The Myth: Polaris is the brightest star in the northern hemisphere night sky
Sirius is brighter compared to Polaris which has a magnitude of 1.97 whereas the magnitude of Sirius is 1.47. The lower the magnitude of the star, the brighter the star. Polaris is marked to be positioned in the North direction and hence the name “North Star” and its importance. Polaris is declared as the brightest star in the constellation Ursa Minor and most interestingly it is the only current North Star as pole stars keep on changing with time. This is because stars always exhibit a continuous and slow drift with respect to the earth’s axis.
9. Humans Pop In Space
The Myth: When exposed to the vacuum of space, the human body pops
This myth is the result of fiction movies related to science so as to add excitement to the movies. A human can survive to a maximum of 15 – 30 seconds until they breathe out before the exposure. This helps in preventing bursting of lungs and sending air into the bloodstream. After that particular 15 seconds or so, the person losses consciousness lack of oxygen and this leads to death by asphyxiation.
10. Evolutionary Improvements
The Myth: Evolution causes something to go from “lower” to “higher”
Natural selection destroys unhealthy genes from the gene pool, in fact. Even though, there are a number of cases in which flawed organisms have survived beyond this fact. some of the examples of this are sharks, mosses, fungi and crayfish which have remained unchanged over a long period of time. They all have adapted their best to their environment to survive without any improvement.
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