Space Kitty & Science Myths

Even though this sweater was on the list of items I'm packing for Japan, I couldn't resist wearing it the other day when it suddenly became inexplicably freezing. I was in the mood for a bizarre kind of outfit, so the effect of a kitty being draped over my shoulders went well with the planet stockings. Again, I'm wearing my amazing new t-bar platform shoes from Topb2c which I've been (somewhat impractically) living in for the past few days. wearing sweater - c/o Sheinside skirt - Vintage tights - Ebay bag - Vintage shoes - c/o Topb2c hat - c/o Wholesale Today's science segment is going to be a little different. Rather than teaching you something cool about science, I'm going to give you a list of science facts that you might have thought were true, but are actually very much false (thanks, Snopes!) So here's a list of false science 'facts': - The average person swallows 8 spiders each year - FALSE This "fact" was actually spread by a woman attempting to demonstrate how gullible people are when they hear something on the internet. And it is now one of the most common myths people believe on the internet. - Your hair and fingernails keep growing after you die - FALSE In fact, it's the shrinking of skin and flesh after death that makes it seem like hair and fingernails are still growing, when they are in actual fact staying the same length. - The Coriolis Force (remember the Simpsons episode where they go to Australia?) means that water spins the opposite way down a drain depending on the hemisphere - FALSE The Coriolis effect is real, but it is very small and only influences very large systems like the movement of air. It has no effect on the water in your toilet bowl. The configuration of taps, sinks and bowls is what causes water to "spin" in any one direction and is much stronger than any swirling from the Coriolis force. - You only use 10% of your brain - FALSE This is such a pervasive myth and it irritates me the most out of this whole list (probably because I'm a neuroscience nerd). If you only used 10% of your brain, evolution would probably have worked to remove the 90% we apparently don't use, making childbirth a heck of a lot easier and using the body's resources in a much more effective way. We make use of 100% of our brains. And brain imaging studies show that this is indeed true. What is true is that we don't use 100% of our brain all at once, just like you don't suddenly engage every single muscle of your body in one specific moment. - You can see the great wall of China from space - FALSE You can't.