We put a lot of trust in our teachers – as pupils we trust that they know what they are talking about, and as parents we trust that they are educating our children. But unfortunately (and no doubt unintentionally) many of our teachers repeat the same myths that they were taught. Through the Internet we pick up the odd myth here and there and even in books and papers we see the same errors being repeated. This is the third in our “fact” debunking lists – the other two are: Top 10 Fascinating Facts That Are Wrong, and 10 More Fascinating Facts That Are Wrong. As always, be sure to add any of your favorites via the comments below.
Myth: high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is making us fat
Since HFCS entered the American food supply in the 1970s, and the rates of obesity started to rise about then. Consequently, many blame HFCS for the fat plague. It’s true of course that the calories HFCS contributes can be linked to the nation’s obesity problems, but its calories are no different from those in refined white sugar: the makeup of HFCS (55 percent fructose and 45 percent glucose) is close to that of white sugar (50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose), which means that our bodies digest HFCS and sugar in very similar ways. Nutritionally speaking, the two are virtually identical.
Interesting Fact: Coca Cola produced in Mexico is still made with sugar (as opposed to corn syrup in the US), and many people claim to be able to taste the difference – refusing to buy the “inferior” American coke. Unfortunately a truly scientific blind test has not been done and the various tests online all vary widely in their conclusions.
Myth: Cell phones cause brain cancer
Lawsuits and news headlines have fueled the myth that cell phones cause cancer, particularly brain cancer, and 30 percent of Americans still believe this myth, according to the Discovery Health/Prevention telephone survey. Consumers could easily have missed the reports showing no danger from cell phones because they didn’t receive alarming front-page coverage like the original reports. A few studies suggested a link with certain rare types of brain tumors, but the consensus among well-designed population studies is that there is no consistent association between cell phone use and brain cancer. [Source]
Interesting Fact:The very first patent for a cell phone like device (wireless telephone) was granted in 1908 to Nathan B. Stubblefield who some people claim invented the radio before Tesla and Marconi. Stubblefield died as a self-imposed hermit by starving to death.
Myth: The number of hooves in the air on a statue of a horse tells us how its rider died
In my research for this list I was very surprised to come across this myth – I, like many others, had always believed it to be true! The idea is that when a statue of a horse has one foot in the air, his rider was wounded in battle but survived. If he has two hooves in the air the rider was killed, and if he has none in the air, the rider survived. While this is a myth – interestingly it does seem to apply to the majority of statues relating to Gettysburg equestrians though not James Longstreet who was not wounded but his statue does have one leg raised (pictured above).
Interesting Fact:A statue of a horse with a rider is called an equestrian statue – which is derived from the latin “eques” for Knight and “equus” for horse. A statue of a horse is called an “equine statue”.
Myth: Christopher Columbus discovered that the world was round
This is a very old myth that is surprisingly believed by millions of people. What we are told is that the Genoese Columbus’ peers doomed his trip to failure because they thought he would fall off the edge of the earth. Now – this was in the 1490s but man has known the earth was round since the idea was first put forth by Pythagorus 2,000 years before Spain even existed. Columbus did fail to reach his original destination, but in so doing he discovered the Americas. Not a bad end to a failed journey really. The round earth theory was so well established that the navigational methods at the time were all based on the fact that the earth was round.
Interesting Fact: At the age of 53, Columbus returned to Spain from the Americas and was promptly arrested with his two brothers for the atrocities he had committed. They remained in jail for six weeks before the King finally released them and restored their wealth and property. Columbus believed that his explorations to the New World would result in the beginning of the Last Judgement of man.
Myth: In ten years there will be no bananas left
There is some basis in truth to this myth (as is often the case) – there is a disease (fusarium wilt, or Panama disease) that is threatening bananas in some Asian countries and it is the Banana most Americans are familiar with (the Cavendish banana) but it is not likely to wipe out the entire world’s stock of bananas – or even the Cavendish banana as it has not infected some of the larger exporting farms. Furthermore, the cavendish is only one of roughly 300 types of bananas that are available and good for human consumption.
Interesting Fact: Bananas don’t grow on trees – the plant that produces the banana is actually a herb.
Myth: Newton devised his universal law of gravity when an apple fell on his head from the tree under which he was sitting
It is always exciting to think of a great discovery happening in the blink of an eye due to a coincidental event – we consider that if it were not for the right person being in the right place at the right time, man would have lost an incredibly significant piece of knowledge. For this reason people have clung to the idea that Newton devised his universal law of gravity because of an apple hitting him on the head. But in fact the first mention of an apple in relation to Newton came 60 years after his death: “Whilst he was musing in a garden it came into his thought that the power of gravity (which brought an apple from the tree to the ground) was not limited to a certain distance from the earth but that this power must extend much further.” (John Conduitt)
Interesting Fact: Though he is better known for his love of science, the Bible was Sir Isaac Newton’s greatest passion. He devoted more time to the study of Scripture than to science, and he said, “I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.” He spent a great deal of time trying to discover hidden messages within the Bible. [Source]
Myth: Typhoid Mary, the most dangerous woman in America, killed hundreds (if not thousands) by infecting them with typhoid
The story is Typhoid Mary is relatively well known and it certainly is true that she (Mary Mallon) carried Typhoid fever without catching it herself. It is also true that she caused human deaths as a consequence. What is not true is the enormity of the carnage she left behind her. In fact, Mary (who worked as a cook) caused 30 – 53 (different sources cite different numbers) people to catch Typhoid, but only 3 of those people died. When it was first discovered that Mary was the cause of these people becoming ill, she was quarantined. This was for a short time only as it was felt that it was unfair to quarantine her as others in a similar situation were not. Mary was allowed to leave on the condition that she stop working as a cook. She accepted the condition but unable to get a job paying as well as cooking, she took on a false name and began working at a hospital as a cook. She caused 25 people there to become sick and one died. For this reason she was arrested and put in quarantine until she died 18 years later. She is pictured above in a bed during her first quarantine.
Interesting Fact: Typhoid is spread by the salmonella typhi pathogen which would normally be killed by the heat of cooking – but one of Mary’s specialty dishes (that was frequently requested by diners) was her peach icecream. Mary’s lack of hygiene when using the toilet enabled the bacteria to transfer from feces to her hands.
Myth: Einstein failed math at school
This is a surprisingly old error which everyone seems to believe. Its origins seem to be a 1935 article in the Ripley’s Believe it or not magazine in which the myth first appears in print under the heading “Greatest living mathematician failed in mathematics.” Many failing students probably take heart in the myth thinking that there may be hope for them if Einstein could flunk math and still become a genius, but unfortunately for them, Einstein showed genius from a very young age – including in the field of mathematics. When he was shown the article from the magazine, Einstein laughed and said: “I never failed in mathematics. Before I was fifteen I had mastered differential and integral calculus.”
Interesting Fact: In 1905, during his spare time, Einstein produced four papers that upended physics. The first showed that light could be conceived as particles as well as waves. The second proved the existence of atoms and molecules. The third, the special theory of relativity, said that there was no such thing as absolute time or space. And the fourth noted an equivalence between energy and mass described by the most famous equation in all of physics, E=mc^2. [Source]
Myth: The Titanic was the first ship to send out the SOS signal
Initially the Titanic sent out the CQD signal (standing for “All stations: distress”) but Britain had recently signed up to the new standard of SOS so one of the crew suggested that it be used as well: “Send SOS; it’s the new call, and besides, this may be your last chance to send it!” It certainly was new to British ships, but the standard had been in use for some years prior and there is even a newspaper article from 1909 which describes its use by an American ship, the Arapahoe.
Interesting Fact: Contrary to popular belief, SOS does not stand for anything. Some believe it means “save our souls” or “send out ships” but in fact, the signal was chosen because it was so simple to send that a person who was unfamiliar with radio equipment could send it in the case of an emergency (… / – - – / … SOS in Morse Code – is far easier than the previous distress signal of CQD: -.-. / – -.- / -..).
Myth: Margarine is 1 molecule away from plastic
Americans eat four times as much margarine as butter every year which seems surprising considering so many people believe this little myth about the chemical spread. While much of the negative stuff we hear about margarine is true, this particular myth is not. Margarine is made by heating vegetable oil and infusing it with hydrogen – in other words saturating it to a point that it remains hard at room temperature. It is then mixed with other ingredients to give a white lump that resembles fat. Yellow food coloring is added and voila – we have margarine. There is not one molecule of anything that you could add to margarine to turn it into plastic.
Interesting Fact: Margarine was invented because Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France offered a prize in 1869 for anyone that could come up with a cheap butter alternative for the army and the lower classes. Hippolyte Mège-Mouriés (a French chemist) won the prize with his oleomargarine. Governments around the world tried to stop people from using margarine by putting heavy taxes on it and banning its coloring. Believe it or not, it is still illegal to sell butter-colored margarine in Missouri [source] and it was illegal in Quebec until July 2008 [source].
I drink the Mexican coke all the time. It really does taste different. It also comes in a cool glass bottle.
Great list =)
All of these I knew were false, but still fun to read!
Strictly from a chemical point of view, the difference between H2O and H2O2 is one atom, not one molecule.
As you rightly say, the myth is impossibly worded – plastics are macro-molecules in any case: really, really stupendously huge molecules, so saying 'one molecule difference' is completely meaningless.
I'm pretty sure some of the vegetable fats in margarine could be polymerised, though – meaning it effectively would be what we commonly call a 'plastic', although it is unlikely it would bear any resemblance to PVC or polythene.
dam it, cell phones don't give you brain cancer?! my plans for world domination are ruined
Number 9 is incorrect, remember, western medicine is not as advanced as eastern medicine, they do not take into consideration the effect the radiation levels do to cells at a quantum level, eventually causing cancer or promoting it, that's the "warm feeling" you get on your ear if you hold the cellphone close to your ear even if the phone is cold. Why do you think we have such a large death rate in America? This is just one of many elements that are not taken into consideration.
Number 9 is incorrect, cellphones do cause/promote cancer if used too much, use cellphones moderately and try to use speaker mode or headphones.
Please show me the peer reviewed study you published to prove this. And where do you get that western medicine is not as advanced as eastern medicine? Are you just plain stupid, or are you pretending?
Eastern medicine is far more supieror than western medicine. People don’t like to accept that because they find it to hard to swallow their pride.
We only deal with a disease after a person gets it. In eastern practices they focus on preventing the disease all together. And if they do get a disease they focus on curing it. Unlike western practices where we wait until someone gets the disease(for the most part) and the only treat symptoms and sometimes make it worst.
Just because someone doesn’t agree it is unwise to call them stupid. People who throw verbal attacks at people calling them stupid,idiot,dumbass ect it’s truly a lack of intelligence being displayed!
And by the Way High furcotose corn syrup,the process it goes through makes it twofold more fattening because it’s a higher concentration. I could go more into depth about it,scientific depth if you’d like! By the way FUN FACT: Fat is not what causes people to be fat it’s carbs, foods that have a high glycemic!
i always thought that the horse statue myth was true
At least, with the statues ive seen the raising leg thing was correct
Actually both may be true. Equestrian statues in Europe must follow how the rider died. I do not know how they do it in the USA… maybe the rule is not followed.
What do equestrian statues with one foot on the ground, or no feet on the ground, mean?
Someone said "The only thing Columbus discovered was that he was lost", but I forget who.
You are right about Columbus. Leif Ericson landed in Newfoundland Canada 490 years before Columbus got here. So as far as I am concerned Columbus did nothing for anyone.
…the horse with no feet on the ground is a carousel horse… get off and let the kiddies ride.. =]
a horse statue with no feet on the ground means it has fallen over
NO feet on the ground? Where could I see this statue?
It looks like Columbus is throwing up the first "westside" hand sign. Representin' since 1492!!
Interesting list, I believed a lot of these :b
Astraya – an equestrian statue with no feet on the ground means you need new glasses
Or that the horse died in battle
Wow, love this list! :p it changed my views about those things..
I have an old history book that my mother inherited when her father died. It lists a lot of neat things about Columbus that arent in any thing I have ever read about him before. I will try to dig it out of storage and make a list.
Am I the only one who learned all these "common myths" for the first time by reading this list?
jf: That's a disappointment. I was hoping for something more deep and meaningful than that.
astraya – sorry I couldn't oblige
Calm_incense – at least you won't get caught out next time one rears its head
E=mc2 ? I think it is E=mc²…
Anyways, great list, until 5 minutes ago, I considered my self a learned person, but this list ruined my conceited view
The upwards pointing arrow is the symbol on a calculator used to represent a power higher than those offered standard on the calculator, so it is correct.
Just saying
I thought it was E=MChammer
Hi, discriminative posts there
through's concerning the gripping word
I have to agree with Yummy_Taquitos on the Mexican Glass Bottle Coke, it DOES taste different, and for some reason, seems to quench my thirst a lot more effectively than its aluminum-canned bretheren. Lol.
mexican coke tastes incredible.. and same with the new pepsi "throwback" series. HFCS really is crap, i don't care what this list says. i can tell you based on firsthand, personal experience that my body responds to it differently.
#7 – Columbus was Italian – Born in Genoa, Italy – NOT Spanish. The Italians refused to finance his Voyage of Discovery; but the Spaniards were more than happy to – particularly Queen Isabella: Hence why he sailed from Spain, making his discovery of the Americas a Spanish and not an Italian one.
hey they never said he was spanish read it again ok
SOS- save on surplus
E=MC2(SQUARE)
I always like these lists! I knew a few of these but haven't heard of the coke one before. Nice list!
My mom belives in the horse statues one. I never believed it when she pointed it out as we passed one. Glad to know I was right. Number 4 grossed me out…not washing your hands…ewwwww!
A few months ago I was diagnosed with a bladder cancer. Doctors said I was too young to have it. I do not smoke so we were quite taken aback by what could've possibly caused it.
I'm telling you this becasue of number 9. One of the many possibilities that I would keep thinking of was that I always carry my cell phone in my pants pocket and due to the proximity with my bladder a tumour may have developed!! Yes it's far fetched but trying to answer the "why me" question always makes you think of all kinds of things. Thanks for confirming that my cell phone is not to blame. If you could only rule to the rest of the 999,999 possibilities I thought of…
Thankfully, the tumour was low grade and has been successfully removed… in case u were wondering.
mild taste on the jalapeno list amigo! but IM sure it was the Chinese who discovered the Americas, at least one of the first before Columbus
yes people of asian decent discoverd america but they werent asian then they well nobody knows what they were called then because it was so long ago
They were Vikings.
Tomo: congratulations on the tumor being removed. I think that quite often when a person is found to have cancer, the medical community look at the various fashionable causes and try to find one to pin on it. For that reason if a person gets lung cancer and they smoke, smoking is immediately blamed – and no further research is done when clearly a huge number of lung cancer sufferers never smoked. In some cases it gets so bad that the doctors will look for a smoker who lived with or near the non-smoking cancer patient in order to blame smoking. Maybe we are barking up the wrong tree…
jfrater lung cancer can be linked to smoking it has been proven already read on it becuase the rate of lung cancer is higher among smokers than none smokers use logic and then you would know this
Margarine is almost unused here in Italy. It is believed to be real rubbish.
Suskis: Then clearly the Italians have more sense than many other Westerners! Why would you eat a chemical replica of butter when you can eat butter? It is very bizarre.
Because margarine contains less fat than butter therefore healthier for you. It tastes just as good, so you don't lose anything by choosing it over butter and consume less calories.
Since when is fat bad for you? A good fats such as butter is what our body needs not a copycat fat as margarine.
this list is very facsinating.apart from the cell phone causing brain cancar, i've also heard it causes low sperm count for men.
"And the fourth noted an equivalence between energy and mass described by the most famous equation in all of physics, E=mc2."
Actually it's E=mc^2
Amazing List Jamie. Didn't know about most of this stuff
You had better check your Morse code again.
You are right about the high fructose corn syrup, its makeup is much the same as sucrose, but sucrose can be metabolized anywhere in the body. High fructose corn syrup can only be metabolized in the liver and after the liver metabolizes a certain amount of fructose, it starts to turn it into triglycerides(fats) and that is what makes it unhealthy.
Our household uses margarine, due to budget and cholesterol constraints.
But I, have not been happy with the declining taste/water content of the margarines available, for the last many years.
For myself, and the education of the 5 yr old in my home, I make my own butter about every two months. We use heavy cream shaken in a jar, and are able to salt it to our taste.
It's very rich but definitely waaay better tasting than the spreads we usually buy.
The Japanese dont eat real butter either. Why – because it tastes too creamy. Thats right – ask them. Butter is also double the price.
However, any type of pastry or pastry-like substance in Japan has so much buttery tasting stuff it is nearly overpowering. Weird for a nation of lactose-intolerants.
BTW Hydrogen Peroxide only has an extra atom. The H2O2 is in fact a molecule all by itself.
Western countries drink wayyy too much soda (poor America having to suffer HFCS – Hersheys chocolate and Budweiser what a tragedy they cant use real sugar) and are wayyy too fat.
As for a banana free world in 10 years – surely youre making this up Frater.
Good list, but it seems to re-state one myth: CQD doesn't stand for 'Seek you – danger'… Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CQD for debunking this fact!
This is going to make me sound like a huge nerd but I was watching some documentary on the banana (I don’t know if the whole show was on the banana but the part I saw was, haha). The reason farmers and such worry about the possible extinction of the Cavendish banana is because every Cavendish is a clone of a sterile banana (similar in the way Naval Oranges are made). Since they are all genetically identical, one disease could essentially wipe out the entire Cavendish variety. They became the mass produced because they are resistant to the Panama disease that destroyed the Gros Michel (the previous banana of choice).
Double checked the documentary info and found this book: http://books.google.com/books?id=ago4AnAMADMC&…
The google book says the threat to the Cavendish is the Black Sigatoka.
Everything you may have wanted to know about the Cavendish and then some.
first
Lol
its funny about the butter-margarine thing that people believed it. I mean, even if it was, changing a molecule will completely change the substance.
Great list!
i bought margarine all day from you.
SOS in morse code is … — …
no Tom it is … – - – …
SOS actually consists of three dots, three dashes, and three dots. I'm wondering if the spaces between the dashes are just not showing up correctly for Tom and JFrater.
26.jfrater: A personal view on cancer..I was hit from behind on my bicycle and suffered head trauma resulting in blood clots in my ear drums. Months later these drained down left side of throat and I experienced pain and coughed up blood, my dentist noticed a 'fistule' at this site and after a quadroscopy, I was diagnosed with cancer at the same area. I know that the accident; due to trauma and shock, weakened my immune system enough to allow cell mutation. Only one Oncologist privately agreed with my view but off record! Most blamed my smoking! I was very healthy and strong and cycled many miles daily I am also a certified scuba diver and my lungs are healthy. The radiation treatments were quite devastating.
We used to have white margarine in plastic pouches with a red button you squeezed to colour it, personally I prefer organic butter!
Another great list!
Wally I must have posted at the same time as you. Your post appeared the moment that I submitted my post. Oops!
Margarine makes you tall. Hehe
Would you mind providing evidence for some of these? A couple on this list are actually educationally shattering suggestions/debunkings, things that are not only believed, but taught in schools. If they are true, you really need to provide evidence for them to support your claim, because people will read this stuff and believe it, and if you're wrong, then you've just contributed to the misinformation of the public (which Wikipedia and Fox News are wonderful at doing).
It's not that I don't think this is a good list, but when you're making claims that shatter preconceived notions, you need to back it up with hard proof…
SOS – MAYDAY ?
Hey SMD, mind PROVIDING EVIDENCE to your claim by citing which ones you think are shattering suggestions and why, before you blast an intriguing list?
I agree about the taste of coke in other countries. It often tastes different and to me better. I have also found the same thing about fast food places in other countries. It seems that mcdonalds and places like that often taste better than they do in America. I think it's because they tend to use different suppliers for their food than they do in the States.
About the Equestrian myth, although Longstreet wasn't wounded during Gettysburg, he was wounded earlier in his career in the Mexican-American War and later on in the Civil War during the Battle of the Wilderness. Could that be the reason for his horse having one foot off the ground? Granting that the statue could only represent Gettysburg.
Great list, but even better comments!
7. joe mama
"It looks like Columbus is throwing up the first “westside” hand sign. Representin’ since 1492!!"
F#ck, that made me laugh!
Great list Jamie.
It's not the high fructose corn syrup that's making us fat – it's the gallons and gallons of soda we drink every year. (although Canadian coke is way better than the US variety – it's not as thick and cloying) I haven't even touched on the ruination that soda performs on our teeth. Ask the dentist; the acid and sugar combo is a recipe for cavities. I don't buy it, don't keep it in the fridge – we have milk and juice and water. Out of the tap btw.
Over here in Texas it is quite common to find soda bottled south of the boarder. There is even a good bit bottled in the state with cane sugar. The difference is subtle but distinct between the cane sugar stuff and the corn syrup stuff. Cane sugar has a more crisp taste that is very clean. The corn syrup lingers and has a slightly oily texture that hangs around for a couple minutes. The food gurus like to say that the flavors are 'brighter' with the sugar sodas. While I can taste the difference on the first sip, my family is full of so called 'super-tasters' which is usually more trouble than it is worth.
Funny thing about butter is how many people think it is somehow bad for you. It's an all natural product that humans have loved pretty much for as long as milk has been available. Really, so long as people go for their foods in moderation almost nothing is really bad for you. Everything in moderation, including moderation itself.
35. Wally: There is actually very little evidence of lactose intolerance in Asians. It's an old assertion that has never been really studied and proven. I have an Asian friend who gets really annoyed about it since about everyone she knows loves cheese and ice cream back in Singapore.
Falsehoodified guns yo. Never can tell, like when a man says he's tight but he aint, whatcha gonna do yo?
usually don't post, but with regards to the high fructose corn syrup your wrong. It's true that the body breaks down glucose/fructose to the same compounds, the differences is that the breakdown of fructose doesn't lead to satiety signals, i.e. that fructose doesn't fill you up. This leads to an increased caloric intake with less satisfaction and by this it can cause an increase in obesity.
I can definitely tell the difference between HFCS and pure sugar; HFCS always leaves an certain aftertaste in my mouth that I can't say I care for. Initially, you can't taste the difference, but the aftertaste gives it away.
#10 is incorrect.
(Yeah, I know! Can you believe it?!)
Statement that makes it incorrect:
"Nutritionally speaking, the two are virtually identical."
Rather than spelling out here why HFCS causes rapid insulin resistance and Metabolic Syndrome, it's easier to tell you and your readers to search for "HFCS PGC-1b". You can't be blamed, really. This is a relatively recent finding and the Corn Refiners Association has hired PR firms to ensure that the facts are pitched as "myth."
Good day! Another debunking list eh? – some nice ones there. You got me wondering just how much better Cola is in Mexico; and I don't even drink it. I used to drink vast amounts of fruit juice instead of soda(pop) or hot beverages until I had a reaction. Appearantly, the acid (or is it alkali?) in the juice had imbalanced my body's natural PH level. I wonder if juice is as bad for the teeth as other sugars? Now I just drink water from the tap (and it's really good water here where I live – no dumb attempts to ruin it with flouride).
I also read all the stuff about margarine and believed it. There are lots of nasty facts about that product – it's a bit like the 'if you saw how they make sausages, you'd never eat em' thing. I one read that because they pour marg into plastic tubs while it's still hot, that it absorbes some plastic residues from them. Sounds plausable to me….?
As far as cell phone side effects go – I believe the jury is still out on that one. We've only had the things since the 80's – so any long term effects may not have shown up yet. Perhaps it's also got a lot to do with the 'increasing risk' factor; i.e. the risk depends on the exposure. Having said that, the human brain as I see it is a bio-electro-chemical tool. Most of us know how to imbalance it with chemicals; caffine, nicotine, alcohol, THC. The brain also reacts to resonant electro frequencies; i.e. sound waves can make the brain calmer or more excited (we dance) – but what about other types of waves on the electromagnetic spectrum? Cell phones don't use harmless radio waves, they use microwaves, and nobody knows what a 60 year exposure to these is gonna be like.
Wonder what fool thumbed this down, you are 100% Correct, specially on the cellphone part, most people aren't even aware of the radiation a cellphone emits next to your ear, thats liek saying cellphones dont cause cancer, radiation does.
@ 58
exactly, you are absolutely 100 % correct
# 34 deeeziner makeing your own butter brings back fond memories of my childhood.
# 34 deeeziner –
Christmas school holidays I was always sent to my grandparents farm, and I can recall after the cows were milked my grandmother made us shake these " canfruit " bottles that was filled with milk and cream.
As kids we used to fight over the butter milk that was left.
That was way back in the early 1960s it was a good era a lot different than todays lifestyle.