Common Belief: Microwave ovens cook food from the inside out.
Truth: Microwave do not cook food from the inside out. Microwave radiation penetrates food and causes direct heating only a short distance from the surface. This distance is called the skin depth. As an example, lean muscle tissue (meat) has a skin depth of only about 1 centimetre (0.39 in) at microwave oven frequencies.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Great Wall of China is the only human-made object visible from the Moon.
Common Belief: Great Wall of China is the only human-made object visible from the Moon.
Truth: This is false. None of the Apollo astronauts reported seeing any specific human-made object from the Moon, and even earth-orbiting astronauts can barely see it. City lights, however, are easily visible on the night side of Earth from orbit. The misconception is believed to have been popularized by Richard Halliburton decades before the first moon landing. Shuttle astronaut Jay Apt has been quoted as saying that "...the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles up
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Meteorites are hot when they reach the Earth.
Truth: They are not necessarily In fact, many meteorites are found with frost on them. A meteorite has been in the near-absolute zero temperature of space for billions of years, so the interior of it is very cold. A meteor's great speed is enough to melt its outside layer, but any molten metal will be quickly blown off, and the interior of the meteor does not have time to heat up because rocks are poor conductors of heat. Also, atmospheric drag can slow small meteors to terminal velocity by the time they hit the ground, giving them time to cool down.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Bats are blind.
Truth: They are not while many (most) bat species use echolocation as a primary sense, all bat species have eyes and are capable of sight. Further, not all bats can echolocate and these bats have excellent night vision
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Houseflies have only an average life span of 24 hours
Truth: The average lifespan of a housefly is 20 to 30 days. However, a housefly maggot will hatch within 24 hours of being laid.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Bulls become mad seeing red color
Truth: They are not enraged by the color red, used in capes by professional matadors. Cattle are dichromate, so red does not stand out as a bright color. It is not the color of the cape that angers the bull, but rather the movement of the fabric that irritates the bull and incites it to charge.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: chameleons change colour primarily for camouflage
Truth: In reality, they usually change color to regulate temperature or as a form of communication. Some species, such as the Smith's Dwarf Chameleon, do use color change as an effective form of camouflage.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Shaving makes terminal hair to grow back thicker or coarser or darker.
Truth: This belief is based on the fact that hair which has never been cut has a tapered end, whereas after cutting there is no taper. Thus, the cut hair appears to be thicker, and feels coarser due to the sharper, unworn edges. The fact that shorter hairs are "harder" (less flexible) than longer hairs also contributes to this effect does not cause
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Hair and fingernails continue to grow after a person dies.
Truth: It’s false. Rather, the skin dries and shrinks away from the bases of hairs and nails, giving the appearance of growth
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Hair care products "repair" split ends and damaged hair.
Truth: Actually they cannot. But prevent damage from occurring in the first place, and they can also smooth down the cuticle in a glue-like fashion so that it appears repaired, and generally make hair appear in better condition
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Eight glasses of water a day necessary to maintain health.
Truth: Consuming things that contain water (e.g. juice, tea, milk, fruits or vegetables) also keeps a person hydrated. Drinking normal levels of caffeinated beverages
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Alcohol kills brain cells.
Truth: Not necessarily Early temperance writers promoted the idea that drinking causes brain cells to die, but scientific studies have not detected any substantial cell loss as a result of moderate drinking. Alcohol can however lead indirectly to the death of brain cells in two ways In chronic, heavy alcohol users whose brains have adapted to the effects of alcohol, abrupt cessation following heavy use can cause excitotoxicity leading to cellular death in multiple areas of the brain. In alcoholics who get most of their daily calories from alcohol, a deficiency of thiamine can produce Korsakoff's syndrome, which is associated with serious brain damage.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Cracking o knuckles cause osteoarthritis
Truth: Frequently or exercise in the absence of injury does not cause osteoarthritis
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Drowning is often thought to be a violent struggle, where the victim waves and calls for help.
Truth: Drowning is often inconspicuous to onlookers. Raising the arms and vocalizing are even usually impossible due to the response. Waving and yelling (known as "aquatic distress") is a sign of trouble, but not a dependable one: most victims demonstrating the instinctive drowning response do not show prior evidence of distress
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Hydrogen peroxide is a disinfectant or antiseptic for treating wounds.
Truth: It is an effective cleaning agent; hydrogen peroxide is not an effective agent for reducing bacterial infection of wounds. Further, hydrogen peroxide applied to wounds can impede healing and lead to scarring because it destroys newly formed skin cells.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: The black belt shows expert level mastery in martial art.
Truth: Not necessarily. It was introduced for judo in the 1880s to indicate competency of all of the basic techniques of the sport. Promotion beyond black belt varies among different martial arts. In judo and some other Asian martial arts, holders of higher ranks are awarded belts with alternating red and white panels, and the very highest ranks with solid red belts.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Adam and Eve from the tree of life in the Garden of Eden.
Truth: According to Genesis, there were two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge; as a result of this, they were expressly forbidden from eating from the tree of life and to prevent this they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: The forbidden fruit mentioned in the Book of Genesis is an apple
Truth: Bible does not identify what type of fruit it is. The original Hebrew texts mention only tree and fruit
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: The "chubby Buddha" or "laughing Buddha" is actually the real Buddha
Truth: The historical Buddha was not obese. The "chubby Buddha" or "laughing Buddha" is a tenth century Chinese folk hero by the name of Budai. In Chinese Buddhist culture, Budai came to be revered as an incarnation of Maitreya, the Bodhisattva who will become a Buddha to restore Buddhism after the teachings of the historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, have passed away.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Jesus was born on December 25
Truth: The Bible never claims a date of December 25, but may imply a date closer to September. The date may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after Christians believe Jesus, the date of the Roman winter solstice, or one of various ancient winter festivals.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: The virgin birth of Jesus,
Truth: The Immaculate Conception is not synonymous with the Jesus; The Immaculate Conception is the Roman Catholic belief that Mary was not subject to original sin from the first moment of her existence, when she was conceived. The confusion stems from a misunderstanding of the term "immaculate," which means "without stain" (i.e. sinless) and is not a synonym for "miraculous" or "inexplicable" as commonly believed. The concept of the virgin birth, on the other hand, is the belief that Mary miraculously conceived Jesus while remaining a virgin
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: jihad" means "holy war" in Islam
Truth: literally, the word in Arabic means "struggle". While there is such a thing as "jihad bil saif", or jihad "by the sword",many modern Islamic scholars usually say that it implies an effort or struggle of a spiritual kind. Scholar Louay Safi asserts that "misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding the nature of war and peace in Islam are widespread in both the Muslim societies and the West", as much following 9/11 as before
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Thomas Edison invents the light bulb.
Truth: He did, however, develop the first practical light bulb in 1880 (employing a carbonized bamboo filament), shortly prior to Joseph Swan, who invented an even more efficient bulb in 1881 (which used a cellulose filament).
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Guglielmo Marconi invent radio
Truth: He did not, but only modernized it for public broadcasting and communication. No single person was responsible for the invention of radio.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: HIV is the same as AIDS
Truth: This is false. HIV is an abbreviation for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the collection of symptoms, diseases, and infections associated with an acquired deficiency of the immune system. While HIV is the underlying cause of AIDS, not all HIV-positive individuals have AIDS, as HIV can remain in a latent state for many years
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Marijuana causes brain damage
Truth: None of the medical tests currently used to detect brain damage in humans have found harm from marijuana, even from long term high-dose use.
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Danish Pastries come from Denmark
Truth: Danish pastries actually originated in Austria, inspired by Turkish baklava. Their name comes from Danish chef L.C. Klitteng who popularized them in Western Europe and the United States in the early 20th century, including baking it for the wedding of US President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. In Denmark and much of Scandinavia, Danish pastries are called ‘Viennese Bread.’
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Indian dishes are curry based
Truth: Not every dish we eat is curry based. But curry is invariably linked with India. Even sauces like chutney for samoosas is often called curry by many foreigners
* * * * * * * * * *
Common Belief: Worm Clones
Truth: Many people believe that if you cut a worm in two, it will continue to live as two worms. In fact, a worm can survive being cut in half, but only one half can survive the operation; the other half dies.
* * * * * * * * * *
Comments
Post a Comment