You can see the Great Wall of China from space, bananas grow on trees and coffee dehydrates you — right?
Wrong. Some facts that make you sound smart are in fact just myths. Thanks to a combination of old wives tales, rumours and repetition over time, they make their way into reality.
To help dispel fact from fiction, London-based data journalist and information designer David McCandless created a handy infographic called Common MythConceptions.
McCandless has included 52 myth busters, but here are some of the best:
1. Different tongue parts:
Many of us believe the tongue’s different areas pick up different tastes, but this is just wrong.
In fact, “there are no different tongue parts.” The tastebuds pick up all flavours equally.
2. The vomitorium:
This isn’t a room for Roman drinking binges but is the name given for the entrance to a stadium, or more technically is a passageway below an auditorium or theatre.
3. Napoleon was short:
OK, the French leader wasn’t exactly tall, but according to Common MythConceptions, at 5’7″ tall he was about average for a French man at the time.
4. Great Wall of China:
Despite long being busted, a myth this old tale is still going around. According to the infographic, it’s not “visible from space. Myth busted. Stop saying it.”
5. Bulls hate red:
Despite the prominence of matadors waving a red flag, bulls are actually colour blind.
As McCandless makes clear: “They actually react to motions of the bull fighter’s cloth as a perceived threat.”
6. Bananas grow on trees:
A common one among us banana loving Aussies, but this myth is totally bending the truth.
In fact, they actually “grow on herbs that resemble trees”.
7. Oil stops pasta sticking:
Any good cook knows this is totally false, yet many of us still get unstuck by this one.
So while adding oil won’t stop pasta sticking together, it will “stop your water foaming or boiling over.”
8. Dogs sweat by salivating:
We’ve probably seen a lot of tongues wagging this summer, but it’s not because dogs are sweating. According to the handy graphic, dogs actually regulate temperature through panting and sweat through their footpads.
9. Bats are blind:
Another falsehood a lot of us have probably been led to believe is true. But as it turns out, not only can bats see but they use echolocation to get about. Oh, and if you think moles are blind, you’re wrong again. They can see but their eyesight is pretty poor.
10. We have five senses:
Yes, most of us can touch, smell, taste, hear and see but we have more than just that. In fact “we have close to 20 including balance, movement, hunger and thirst.”
11. Coffee dehydrates you:
Caffeine fans rejoice. It turns out it doesn’t make us go to the loo as much as we think.
Rather “the diuretic effect of caffeine is offset by the amount of water we have in a caffeinated drink.”
12. Alcohol keeps us warm:
Sorry drinkers, this isn’t true either despite alcohol’s ability to dilate warm blood vessels near the skin. In fact “it can drop our core body temperature.”
13. Alcohol kills brain cells:
While heavy drinking is not good for us, there’s no evidence occasional drinking harms your brain cell capacity. However, it does kill brain cells in heavy users and alcoholics who rely on the drink for calorie consumption.
14. The five-second rule:
It might be easy to think because food was on the floor for such a short time it’s safe, it’s actually not quite the case. The amount of bacteria on the food depends on “how contaminated the floor is, not how long it stays there.”
Why we get it wrong
Last year, when releasing its list of the 50 biggest misconceptions we have about the world, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not in London helped explain how they come about.
Thanks to a combination of old wives tales, rumors and repetition over time, these myths make their way into reality.
A spokesman for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not explained if we are told something often enough it’s understandable some of us may think they’re true.
Among the best myths it released on its list are:
15. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world:
It’s not. While it’s higher than any other point from sea level, Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the tallest when measured from base to summit.
16. Dropping a penny from the empire state building will kill someone:
As Ripley’s uncovered, its light weight combined with the tumbling effect produces so much air resistance that the penny can’t garner enough speed before it hits its terminal velocity. So while it might hurt, it’s definitely not enough to kill you.
17. Peanuts are a type of nut:
They may have the word nut in their name, but peanuts belong to the single plant family — Leguminosae.
18. Toilets flush in different directions because of different hemispheres:
Another wrong myth. In actual fact the water jets point in different directions.
What’s fact?
In releasing his book Is It True in 2014, British-born author Max Cryer said it was easy to get fact and fiction confused.
Speaking to news.com.au he said some people just don’t want to be told something is wrong.
“Just because something appeared to be common knowledge didn’t necessarily mean it was a fact,” he explained.
Among the biggest myths he dispels are:
19. Jingle bells is a Christmas song:
The song was actually written about winter and Thanksgiving, neither of which Australia and New Zealand celebrate during a summer festive season. Yet the song is played everywhere.
20. St. Valentine is all about love:
Not really true either — the Roman Catholic priest St. Valentine was never married or in love and was actually celibate.
21. Smoking causes nicotine stains:
Nicotine is colorless, the stain you see is actually tar.