Myth: Goldfish have three-second memories

Myth: Goldfish have three-second memories
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Fish are smarter than you thought. One study found the freshwater fish African Cichlids could remember the feeding zone of an aquarium after moving to a different tank for 12 days. Lest you think goldfish are any different, another study looked specifically at goldfish and whether they could tell the difference between two different classical songs. They weren’t quick learners, but after more than 100 sessions, the fish would bite a bead associated with the correct song 75 percent of the time. If their memories were really three seconds, that kind of training wouldn’t be possible.

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Myth: A coin dropped from the Empire State building could kill

Myth: A coin dropped from the Empire State building could kill
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The story goes that even an innocent coin dropped from the 381-metre-tall Empire State Building would build up enough speed on the way down to kill a bystander below. In reality, though, it wouldn’t do much damage – if any. First of all, air resistance called “drag force” would mean the coin would stop accelerating at some point, and reach its max speed about 15 metres from its drop point, according to Scientific American. By the time it reached the ground, it would be moving just 40 kilometres per hour. That might sting, but it wouldn’t be enough force to break your skull. MythBusters took the theory to an extreme and shot a coin at 914 metres per second, but even that wasn’t strong enough to break bones.

Myth: Ostriches bury their heads in the sand

Myth: Ostriches bury their heads in the sand
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The birds would die of suffocation if they actually stuck their heads underground when scared. Instead, they actually lie with their head and neck flat against the ground if a predator is approaching. Their light-coloured head and neck blend in with the ground, which could explain why people assumed their heads were underground from faraway, according to the San Diego Zoo.

Don’t miss 45 more interesting facts about your favourite animals. 

Myth: Opossums sleep hanging by their tails

Myth: Opossums sleep hanging by their tails
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You’ve probably seen cartoons – maybe even photos – of opossums lounging upside-down from their tails. While opossum tails are strong enough to grasp branches and even hold the animals’ weight for a short period, adults are too heavy for their tails to support them for long, so they can’t stay like that while sleeping.

These favourite facts that you’ve always believed are also actually false.

Myth: Sugar makes kids hyper

Myth: Sugar makes kids hyper
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Don’t blame the cake if your kid is acting out at a party. The “sugar high” theory started in 1978, when one study found that kids with hyperkinesis, a hyperactivity disorder, had low blood sugar, which, weirdly enough, can be a sign of eating too much sugar. That study was later discredited when researchers realised the “abnormally low” blood sugar was actually considered normal. Since then, double-blind studies have shown sugar doesn’t make kids any more hyper than a placebo. If anything, it’s probably your own expectations. One 1994 study found that after five- to seven-year-old boys took a placebo, the mums who were told their sons had eaten a large dose of sugar were more likely to say their kid was acting hyper. Your kid might also just be excited to let loose with their friends at a party.

Myth: Lightning never strikes the same place twice

Myth: Lightning never strikes the same place twice
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Anyone familiar with lightning rods could probably already tell you there’s nothing stopping lightning from hitting the same spot twice. The Empire State Building, for example, once endured eight strikes in 24 minutes during a storm. Even without a lightning rod, there’s nothing keeping lightning away from the spot that just got hit. In fact, the features that made the spot likely to get hit once – height, presence of standing water, or terrain shape for example – would be just as attractive to a second bolt, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory.

Discover more weird facts about lightning strikes. 

 

Myth: Common belief in the Middle Ages was the Earth was flat, but it’s really a perfect sphere

Myth: Common belief in the Middle Ages was the Earth was flat, but it’s really a perfect sphere
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Surprise! Both parts of this myth are false. Scholars have known the Earth is round for thousands of years. Greek philosopher Pythagoras first suggested the idea around 500 B.C., though his thought process had to do with the fact that he thought spheres were the most perfect shape. Still, Aristotle actually found physical evidence backing up his predecessor’s theory. By the time the first century A.D. rolled around, any educated Greek or Roman believed in a round planet. When Christopher Columbus took on his voyage, the fear was that the oceans would be too big, not that he’d fall off the face of the earth. In perhaps the biggest twist, though, Earth isn’t a perfect sphere; the North and South Poles are flattened slightly.

Don’t miss these other famous moments in history that never actually happened. 

Myth: Genes determine race

Myth: Genes determine race
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You might think people who look superficially different would have big differences in their genes, but that’s not the case. According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, humans share 99.9 percent of their genes with each other. Even that 0.1 percent doesn’t have any racial markers. In fact, a groundbreaking 2002 study revealed there is more genetic diversity between people of African descent than between Africans and Eurasians. You can use your genes to trace your ancestors’ geography, but that doesn’t directly tie in to race. Case in point: Sickle cell anaemia isn’t a general “African” disease, as it’s normally described; it’s more common in West Africans, but also in Mediterranean, Arabian and Indian populations.

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Source: RD.com

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