I hate to be the one who breaks it to you, but not everything we have been told since we were little is actually true.
You know how we were told Vitamin C can cure colds or microwaves might give you cancer? Well, science says otherwise.
Move over “facts” — this is a job for the myth-busters.
1. Dogs see everything in black and white
The Laboratory of Sensory Processing at the Russian Academy of Sciences proved that dogs are actually able to see a limited color range and even use this spectrum to distinguish between objects.
2. Microwaves give you cancer
The Cancer Council in Australia confirmed that microwaves are as safe as any other cooking method. They do produce a radiation but it is absorbed by the water molecules in food, making them vibrate and produce heat, which cooks our meals.
3. The tongue has different areas for each flavor
Scientists at Columbia University found that each of the thousand sensors on our tongue can recognise any of the tastes, not just areas. Actually, they also say that neurons in the brain are the ones who decide and interpret taste into flavors and not cells in the tongue.
4. Fortune cookies are a Chinese tradition
Nope, not American either. Researcher Yasuko Nakamachi recently proved that the real origin of fortune cookies tracks back to Japan, in a region near Kyoto.
5. Napoleon Bonaparte’s height
Rumor has it Napoleon was a very short man, but he was actually taller than the average Frenchman at that time! The myth started because he was listed as 5 feet 2 inches tall when he died… but this is in French units. In modern ones, he was about of 5 feet 7 inches. Not that short after all.
6. Bats are blind
Bats may not have the best night vision in comparison to other nocturnal animals, but they are definitely not blind. The Michigan-based Organization for Bat Conservation confirmed that their vision is even three times better than humans, enhanced by the fact that they use echolocation (sound waves) to master their navigation.
7. Yellowstone National Park is going to blow
Many articles have stated recently that in less than 70 years there might be a massive Yellowstone eruption, however, geologists at the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory have stated that there is no reason to panic… the greatest thing we can expect from the volcano, but quite unlikely, is a small one like Mount St. Helens in 1980.
8. Sugar causes hyperactivity in children
In 1973, Benjamin Feingold, M.D., published the Feingold Diet where he suggested a sugar-free diet to treat hyperactivity in children, but in the past few years, studies demonstrated that sugar has no real effect on kids’ behavior.
9. Camel’s humps are for storing water
Those humps are nothing more than a mound of fat, useful to provide them with energy equivalent to three weeks of food. Awesome, but not the real reason why camels can survive up to seven days without water; they can thank that to their oval-shaped red blood cells instead of circular ones.
10. Vitamin C cures colds
Vitamin C is good for everyone, but it is not an actual cure or method to prevent colds. Around 1960, Nobel prize winner Linus Puling published a book where he suggested high levels of vitamin C to prevent colds, since then people embraced the theory. However, The University of Toronto, along with some other researchers, busted the chemist idea by infecting volunteers with the virus while providing them a dose of vitamin C and realizing it had no actual effect against the illness.
11. Caffeine may lead to dehydration
A study performed back in 1928 stated caffeine was a diuretic giving it quite a bad reputation as a dehydrating substance. Recently the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Connecticut demonstrated that although it might have a mild diuretic effect, in moderation will not affect our fluid balance.
Featured Image by Ryan McGuire via Gratisography
