11 Things you thought were true, but have actually been debunked by science

Here are a few truth and myths that you may find interesting!



1) There are only three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas

Don't forget plasma. That makes four states. Plasma isn't some gel or goo, it's more like superheated ions and electrons. It's sometimes called “ionized gas.” When cooled, it becomes gas, but then it takes on different properties, too. So it's not quite right to think of it as a kind of “gas.” Plasma is more like a flame. Lightning, fire, the sun, and the tail of comets are all plasmas. Most any element or chemical compound can become plasma if heated high enough, but since plasma is just ions and electrons, the molecules have broken down. Water, for example, can be reduced to plasma, but it's no longer H2O; it's not even hydrogen or oxygen. And You definitely wouldn't want to drink it.





2. Lightning never strikes the same place twice

This myth is not only wrong, it's dangerously wrong. Lightning often strikes the same place twice, at least within a close vicinity. If you find yourself standing around outdoors during a lightning storm, there is no outdoorsman or forecaster who'd recommend you go stand where lightning has already struck as if you are somehow protected at that spot. Instead, you need to find shelter, stay away from windows and avoid touching anything metal or electrical. And it's always a good idea to suspend your golf game or kite-flying till the storm passes.



 3. Bananas grow on Trees

Bananas grow on something the size of trees, but the Banana "tree" is not actually a tree. The banana plant, which can grow up to 25 feet, is actually the world's largest perennial herb. When you carefully inspect a banana plant, you'll notice that it doesn't have woody fibers. It has strong stalks and leaves, yet it lacks the trunk and branches that would qualify it as a tree. Another related fact is that bananas are berries, since they don't produce mature seeds. So does that mean a banana split is a “herb berry” Sundae?



4. The mustard seed is the smallest seed

Many seeds are smaller than the mustard seed including duckweed, watermeal, and poppy seeds. The smallest seed on record is the orchid seed. But even though the mustard seed isn't the smallest, it's still pretty small, especially when compared to other seeds sown by ancient and modern gardeners. This myth has biblical origins. In the biblical account, Jesus is reported as saying that faith is like the mustard seed, which is "the smallest seed on earth" yet it grows to be the largest garden plant giving shelter to birds of the air (Mark 4:30-32). The error may be in the mind of the reader, interpreting literally what was a generalization or hyperbole (exaggerated phrasing common in informal language). Moreover, the mustard seed was quite possibly the smallest seed that that audience would have known, and it could have produced the largest garden plant they would have had in their gardens in ancient Israel.

5. We have five senses

Besides the five empirical senses (sight/visual, sound/auditory, touch/tactile, taste/gustatory, and smell/olfactory), there are at least four other senses that are rarely cited: proprioception—sensing one's orientation in space; thermoception—sense of temperature; equilibrioception—sense of balance; and interoception—sense of one's physiological condition. The next time someone talks about their "5 senses," you can say that you have "9 senses" and then sit back and let them think you have superpowers.


6. Human beings evolved from apes

Even the most rabid critics and most rabid supporters of evolution can agree on this point. The standard evolutionary account is that human beings and the higher apes (gorillas, bonobos, orangutans, etc.) evolved from a common ancestor often referred to as the “missing link.” Humans did evolve from an ancestor that was far more ape-like than humans. But this is far from saying that humans evolved from apes. Humans did not evolve from chimps, rather they shared a common ancestor.


7. Bats are blind

Bats see in black and white. And at night they see better than we do. They lack color receptors; but in low light, we can't see colors either. Try it some time. On a dark night or in a pitch black room, turn on a flashlight and point it at something colorful; then slowly cover the light till that color fades into shades of black and white. Perhaps this myth about blind bats arose from the fact that bats don't see as well as we can in daylight, or because they have sonar and can navigate without sight. They see just fine for their environment. We could say that bats see better than most referees, but that's not saying much.


8. Goldfish have a 3-7 second memory

Of all the sea creatures, the octopus is probably the smartest, blue whales are the biggest, and goldfish are neither. But to be fair to the poor little guy, he's pretty adorable for his size, and he's not as dumb and forgetful as you might have heard. Goldfish can learn basic survival skills and remember them for up to three months. They can even tell time. In lab tests they could be conditioned to push a lever for food at roughly the same time each day. That 3-month memory is much longer than 7 seconds. They need a reasonably long-term memory in order to find and recall food sources and avoid the hideouts of their predators. While goldfish might remember past seven seconds, their attention span still grades pretty low, right around the level of teenagers.



9. A mother bird will reject its baby if it's been touched by a human

Most birds have a poor sense of smell and wouldn't know the difference. So they the mother bird wouldn't know if their baby was handled by a human anyway. If you find a baby bird on the ground, it is probably learning to fly and shouldn't be touched anyway. Perhaps this myth about baby birds arose when well-meaning kids tried to help fallen baby birds back into their nests, or tried to pet baby birds that aren't yet strong enough to handle their clumsy touch. It's also not wise to touch baby birds because an angry mama bird might fly in your face or peck at your head and call you nasty names in bird language. Overall, mother birds are much more loyal to their babies than this myth suggests.

10. Houseflies have a lifespan of 24 hours

Lifespans in the animal kingdom, even within a species, can vary widely. Our average lifespan currently ranges from about 49 years in Swaziland to about 82 years in Japan. The world average, in 2010 was 67.2 years (for details see the CIA World-Factbook). House pets usually have a shorter life span. The oldest dogs cracked 29 years, and the oldest cat broke 38 years. While our unwanted buzzing guests, the common houseflies, don't average nearly as long a lifespan as our's, they can live up to a month. This myth probably mistakes the housefly for the mayfly, which, depending on the species, may have a lifespan between 5 minutes and 24 hours. Time really does fly for mayflies!

11. An apple a day keep a doctor away

Apples are packed with vitamin C and fiber, both of which are important to long-term health, but they aren't all you need.

And if certain viruses or bacteria get into your system, an apple will unfortunately do nothing to protect you.

Go ahead and get that flu shot, even if you eat apples.


Experts say that instead, the carbs, alcohol, and general size of the turkey-day feast are the cause of those delicious holiday siestas.