Myth Busting Monday - Razors in Halloween Candy

MYTH: Razor Blades in Halloween Candy

I thought this myth would be fitting for this time of year with Halloween night fast approaching. I must admit that I had never heard of this myth before I start doing Myth Busting Monday. I am a huge fan of Halloween and trick or treating and all the end of October holiday festivities, but finding tainted Halloween goodies would turn holiday fun into something deader than a zombie.

Here's how livescience.com covers this myth:

Someone ruined the fun for all of us, spreading this cautionary tale about razor blades turning up in apples, candy and other treats given out at Halloween. Intense parental candy-scanning ensued, though actual occurrences of booby-trapped goodies were extremely rare. Most of the fear-mongering developed because of the 1982 Tylenol-tampering scare. [source]

I do remember the rule at my house was that my Dad had to inspect my candy 'haul' to make sure it was safe before I could start eating it, but there was never any mention of 'razor blades.' One year an old lady gave us Nibs for a 'treat'; you might be thinking 'what's the big deal about that?' well the big deal was she had just opened a big bag of Nibs, poured them into a bowl and was handing out individual pieces, needless to say those were confiscated.

In researching this myth I found an actual case of tampering with Halloween candy in central Florida:

The Lake County Sheriff's Department is investigating after a razor blade was found inside a piece of candy. David Mahon, 15, made the dangerous discovery in a Three Musketeers bar. The teen picked up the candy after a night of trick-or-treating.
He said he found the razor blade after noticing the wrapper had been tampered with.

"In light of this incident, we really want to get the word out to the community and ask parents to do very thorough checks of their children’s candy prior to them eating it and if they see anything like this, or anything similar, to contact us," said John Herrell, a Lake County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. [source]

According to the super myth busting website snopes.com they confirm that this myth is True. So even though there have been actual occurrences of this myth being true, the likelihood of this happening to you is very rare. So as far as classifying this myth as true or false, I have to say it is true because it has actually happened.

Conclusion: True

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments?

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Myth Busting Monday - Dog's Mount vs. Human Mouth

MYTH: A Dog's Mouth is Cleaner Then a Human's

By nature I am not a dog person; growing up I never had a dog and even though my parents had dogs and cats when they grew up they always told me that they were 'allergic' so I couldn't have one. No pets was no big deal for me, I was glad that cleaning up after an animal was not part of my chore list. As I look at other people interacting with their dogs I am amazed at the 'bond' between the pet and owner. I always find it interesting when I see someone driving around with their dog sticking its head out the driver's window; to me that seems dangerous, unless the dog is contributing to driving by working the turn signals or something like. And the one thing that I complete don't understand is when owners KISS their dog, but after doing some research on this myth it looks like it might be more sanitary than kissing a human.

A reader wrote into about.com about this very myth: "a dog's mouth cleaner than a human's." They responded to the reader by saying that dogs don't particularly care what goes into their month, here is a quote from the article:

"A dog's mouth contains a lot of bacteria," notes Dr. Gary "Ask the Vet" Clemons. "Remember, a dog's tongue is not only his wash cloth but also his toilet paper." [source]

That was enough to convince me that this myth is totally not true, but here is some more evidence to help convince those of you who are still unbelievers.

ABC News covered this myth and they covered one of the possible origins of this myth:

He thinks the myth that a dog's mouth is clean stems from their practice of licking their wounds.

"And they'll be licking that wound and you'll notice that the wound heals very fast … what that tongue does is it gets rid of the dead tissue," said Becker.

He compares that tongue lashing to the work of a surgeon who cleans out a wound, and said the licking also stimulates circulation. [source]

Here is what livescience.com says about this myth:

Despite a habit of licking things no human would dare, Fido's mouth is often touted as scientifically more sterile. Truth is, oral bacteria are so species-specific that one can't be considered cleaner than the other, just different. [source]

Anything that uses it's tongue for toilet paper has my vote for having a dirtier mouth than someone that doesn't.

Conclusion: False

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments?

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Myth Buster Monday - Chicken Soup Cures Colds

MYTH: Chicken Soup Can Cure the Common Cold

As summer comes to an end and the cool winds of change blow as the fall weather begins to make its presence know; you can smell the newly sharpened pencils, hear the shuffling of papers and watch the children on the playground. Each day at school there is the regular routine of passing periods, passing notes and passing GERMS. It is amazing to me that you can go through the whole summer without a sneeze or a sniffle but two days after school starts you spend the next week recovering from your first cold of the season.

I like how livescience.com  covers this myth:

Cure is a strong word, but science suggests Moms around the world are still right in forcing spoonfuls of chicken soup down their kids' throats. Studies have found that the broth actually contains anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce congestion.[source]

The Lawerance Journal-World goes into more detail how this is tested:

Basically, it worked this way: Rennard and his colleagues collected neutrophil samples from healthy volunteers. Neutrophils are white blood cells that defend against infections. Chicken soups tested by the researchers had anti-inflammatory agents that reduced the movement of neutrophils. Although it’s not completely understood, scientists think reducing movement in neutrophils can help ease the symptoms associated with a cold. “The chemistry is very complicated,” Rennard says. “The chemistry of the soup is probably different than all the different components.”[source]

I always remember having soup when I was sick, but for me it was only thing that sounded good. I am sure that there are good elements to having a warm health meal while you're sick; I would say that chicken soup is a helpful tool to getting over a cold but not a 'cure'.

Conclusion: False

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Myth Busting Monday - Penny Drop

MYTH: A Penny dropped from the top of a tall building could kill a pedestrian

I have visited the Empire State Building a few times; the first time was in 7th grade on a school trip and even in 7th grade I had the thought cross my mind 'what would happen if I dropped something off the top of the building?' While on the observation deck, my best friend and I found an observatory ticket that some one must have dropped, it was the size of a normal raffle ticket. Being a 12 year old, away from home for the first time, on the complete opposite side of the country and being with my group of friends, we threw it off. To our surprise, it just seemed to float through the air; it would fall a little then a gust of wind would blow it higher and it basically just floated away. When it was time to leave the Empire State Building we casually mentioned the 'ticket launching' to our teacher, he grew very concerned and proceeded to give us a lecture on how dangerous that was. If only I knew then what I know now.

The famous myth busting duo, Jamie and Adam from the TV show Mythbusters have tested this myth on their show. Here is their procedure for testing this myth:

the Mythbusters tried to find the terminal velocity (maximum free-fall speed) of a penny compared to a human's by skydiving. They found out that the pennies had a slower terminal velocity than a human's, so they set up an experiment in the workshop. The Mythbusters set up a windpipe testing for terminal velocity (basically a tube facing upright with a leafblower with controllable throttle on the bottom). They found out the terminal velocity, and then fired the pennies at that velocity (with a modified staple gun) into a person's head and a sidewalk. There was no damage to either of them. After, the pennies were shot at their hand, and no real damage was done, a little sore/stinging.
Conclusion: ---- Pennies dropped from a skyscraper cannot fall in a way that they can implant themselves in the ground/ kill someone. They don't have enough mass.[source]

I have actually seen this episode and watched them fire pennies onto their hands. I looks like it hurts but it really doesn't do much damage.

I like how livescience.com covers this myth:

A penny isn't the most aerodynamic of weapons. A combination of its shape and wind friction means that, tossed even from the 1,250-foot Empire State Building, it would travel fast enough merely to sting an unlucky pedestrian. [source]

This is one myth where I have had some actual experience with what the myth is talking about, and although I haven't conducted the exact experiment to test this myth, from what I have experienced I can conclude that this myth is false.

Conclusion: False

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

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Myth Busting Monday - Vanishing Hitchhiker

MYTH: The Vanishing Hitchhiker

This is one of those myths that was probably 'made up' to scare kids from hitchhiking or picking up hitchhikers. I can remember growing up, going to Halloween parties and listening to a variation of this myth. The best description of this myth is as follows:

One of the oldest known urban legends around, this ghostly tale goes back to a time when the mystery hitchhiker was picked up in a horse and buggy. The passenger is often a young girl who, upon reaching the address she has provided, is found to have disappeared from the back seat altogether. The driver discovers his charge to have died several years earlier. Completely unverifiable, but a chilling tale nonetheless.[source]

Looking into this myth it seems that its origins go back centuries; the myth started with horses and buggies and it has evolved to cars.

There is a great version of the story at prairieghosts.com

After reading one of the versions of this myth it can give you the chills, but it is one of those myths that you would have to experience to believe.

Conclusion: False

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

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Myth Busting Monday - No New Brain Cells

MYTH: Adults don't grow new brain cells

I have watched a lot of tv shows lately that delve into the structure and function on the human body; one of the things that I found interesting was that they pointed out that you are born with all the muscle fibers you will ever have, although the fibers may get bigger or smaller new fibers cannot be grown. Examples like this might lead one to believe that a person is born with all the brains cells they will ever have but studies have shown that neurons in the brain grow and change during the adult years. I remember growing and some times enjoying the smell of gas a little too much while filling up the car and thinking that I have a few less brain cells now. Although it may be true that brain cells are lost during such activities, I find hope in the knowledge that I can grow new ones to replace the ones I lost during 'mindless' activities. Here are some quotes from the internet 'tubes' that support the notion of growing new brain cells.

Much of a human's crucial brain development happens during childhood, but it isn't all downhill from there. Studies have shown that neurons continue to grow and change well into the adult years. [source]

Research with mice discovered these results:

The researchers found that while pyramidal neurons didn't exhibit any structural changes—which is consistent with previous reports—a group of inhibitory neurons called "interneurons"did.

The researchers estimate that on average, about 14 percent of the interneurons they observed showed structural modifications.

Approximately 20 to 30 percent of the neurons in the neocortex, the part of the brain responsible for higher functions such as thought, are made up of inhibitory interneurons. These neurons are believed to play an important role in regulating brain activity by delaying or blocking signals from excitatory neurons. [source]

Other research done with rhesus monkeys resulted this way:

Elizabeth Gould and Charles Gross performed their research on rhesus monkeys, whose brain structure is very similar to that of humans. They found that neurogenesis -- the formation of new nerve cells -- takes place in several different regions of the cortex that are crucial for cognitive and perceptual functions. The cerebral cortex is the most complex region of the brain and is responsible for high-level decision making and for learning about the world. The results strongly suggest that the same process occurs in humans. Their report is published in the Oct. 15, 1999 issue of Science. [source]

This discovery of new brain cell growth has opened up new possibilities for combating brain degenerating deceases.

While the adult brain was once thought to be a mostly static structure, scientists have discovered in recent years that some parts of the brain -- most notably, the hippocampus, an area involved in learning and memory, and the subventricular zone, which lines one of the brain's fluid-filled cavities -- continually produce neurons, especially after injury."We know new cells are made and go to the site of new injury, whether it's stroke or Parkinson's or Alzheimer's," says David Greenberg, a neuroscientist at the Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, CA."One strategy to treat neurodegeneration is to boost this response." [source]

As research on brain activity and growth continues I am sure there will be more information about ways to keep our brains active and growing. The first time I was introduced to a sudoku puzzle my wife's mom told me that those puzzles are good for brain activity and preventing Alzheimer's; I don't know about the whole preventing Alzheimer's thing but one thing that I have noticed through a lot of my reading on this subject has suggested to keep your mind active through activities like phsyical exercise and mind puzzles to help keep the mind healthy.

So the final verdict on this myth is that adults can grow new brain cells

Conclusion: False

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Myth Buster Monday - Pee in the Pool

MYTH: There are chemicals to detect pee in a pool

Growing up in Southern California, I spend half of my young life in water; whether it was at the community pool, the high school pool or the pool at my Grandma's house, where ever there was a pool of water I was in it. Surprisingly I never heard this myth growing up, but I remember always being told to not 'go' in the pool. I think the first time I remember hearing this is when I was in college.

I don't know how official this site is, but I found AskAlanAQuestion.com, a 'Resource for Pool & Spa Water Chemistry & Problems' and addresses this myth in his miscellaneous pool chemicals question and answer section, he also discusses the problems that pee in a pool can cause.

The joke's on you! I can tell you that no such product exists. Once upon a time there was a product like that, but it was intended as a joke! It was not intended to be anything else! Urine in a swimming pool is no joke: it can quickly deplete the chlorine level, especially in smaller pools, and will lead to the formation of odorous chloramines. If there is urine in the pool, the odorous combined chlorine level will rise and the free chlorine level will bottom out. Large amounts of shock will probably be required to restore the proper chlorine levels..... I hope that I have debunked the myth [source]

Here is another great resource debunking this myth:

So, is there a chemical that can be added to swimming pools, to change colour and mark out naughty people who wee in the water? According to Prof. Selinger, almost certainly not. Urine is made from water, inorganic salts, urea, creatinine, ammonia, catecholamines, allantoin and the breakdown products of red blood cells, which give it its yellowish colour. There are also many other chemicals in varying ratios, depending on your health and many other factors. Which one of these many chemicals will you choose to react with? If a chemical can react to urine, it might also react to your sweat. This is such a difficult problem, that it seems that nobody has tried to solve it. And if such a chemical did really exist, surely cheeky kids would urinate while swimming past other kids, to put the blame onto them. [source]

My wife took a lot of chemistry classes during her college career so we have talked about the validity of the myth many times. One of the major flaws of this myth that we have talked about is that there would have to be such a huge concentration of the of the 'detecting' chemical in order for the detection to occur. The probable concentration levels needed for something like this to actually work would result in having to swim in more chemicals than water.

Maybe the only cure for the this pool problem is shown in the sign below
For those of you having trouble viewing the picture, this is what the sign says:
Welcome to out OOL (Notice there's no 'P' in it ...) LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY

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Myth Busting Monday - Stolen Kidneys

MYTH: Drugged travelers wake up in a bath tub of ice with a missing kidney

I remember the first time I heard this myth and being totally shocked that someone would go through all that effort to get some extra cash. After hearing about it I would occasionally hear other people talk about it as a joke or tv shows making fun of the situation but I never gave it much thought past that. To give you some more insight into this myth here is a version of the story I found while researching this myth.

"Bob" — was on a business trip alone somewhere in Europe, and went out to a bar one night to have a cocktail. Wouldn't you know it, he woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar hotel room with severe pain in his lower back. He was taken to the emergency room, where doctors determined that, unbeknownst to himself, Bob had undergone major surgery the night before. One of his kidneys had been removed, cleanly and professionally. [source]

In other versions the myth take place in Huston, New Orleans, Las Vegas or other major US cities; but no matter the place all the stories are basically the same, some one wakes up with missing kidneys. The urban legend site snopes.com has the complete email concerning this myth that was passed around the internet back in '97, you can read it here.

Here are some quotes I found that de-bunk this myth:

A drug-induced haze, a bathtub full of ice, a gaping hole where the left kidney should be: you may have heard the main ingredients of this popular legend, which has turned up in various forms. Organized bands of organ-thieves are the usual culprits and students or business travelers their victims. A particularly rampant e-mail outbreak of this (un-true) tale in 1997 prompted law and organ-donor groups to issue press releases debunking the legend. [source]

In fact, it's all but impossible for such activities to take place outside properly-equipped medical facilities, UNOS argues. The removal, transport, and transplantation of human organs involves procedures so complex and delicate, requiring a sterile setting, minute timing, and the support of so many highly-trained personnel, that they simply could not be accomplished "on the street," as it were.
The National Kidney Foundation has repeatedly issued requests for alleged victims of such crimes to come forward and validate their stories. To date, none have. [source]

In my opinion, the criminals in this story go through a lot of effort to get the organs in addition to preforming the surgery in such a way as to have the 'donor' live to tell the tale. If there are criminals out there that are willing to go through all that effort for an organ then there should be poachers out there that put elephants and rhinos to sleep in order to harvest their ivory; but instead, rather than go through all that trouble, the poachers kill the animals and then remove the ivory. I think organ harvesters would do the same that if organization like that really existed; why settle for one or two kidneys when potentially they could harvest an entire body full of organs. I know this is kind of a morbid way of looking at the situation, but the criminals in this myth are just way to nice.

Since you don't hear news stories about someones organ being stolen and that no one has come forward to the National Kidney Foundation to report that something like this has happened to that proves to me that this myth is just that, a myth.

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Myth Busting Monday - Birds & Rice Don't Mix

MYTH: Birds and rice don't mix

Growing up in southern California I went to the beach all the time during summer vacation, and every time I would see a seagull fly by I would wonder to myself what would happen if I brought some rice with me and feed it to the birds. So I have always wondered about this myth.

This is a great quote about birds and rice from livescience.com:

Nothing spoils a wedding celebration like the thought of exploding pigeons. Nuptial guests have been cautioned against throwing handfuls of rice at newlyweds for this very reason, but there is absolutely no scientific backing to the legend. Experts say birds can ingest uncooked rice just fine, with no risk of blowing up. Hmm. Some people might say using love to lose a few pigeons is a perfectly splendid idea.[source]

Here is another great quote concerning 'exploding' birds:

Not true. If it were, there would be exploding bird stories all over the national press every June. Think about it. Lots of birds feast in rice fields every year, irritating rice farmers to distraction. If eating rice caused birds to explode, most rice fields would look like a popcorn machine in the harvest season, with little puffs and explosions providing constant entertainment. Quite a vision, and one that the press would never miss.[source]

The bird watchers digest always discusses another bird exploding myth; this one involves seagulls and Alka Seltzer:

If it were true, it would be a big story. I can see the coverage now: Dan Rather in his safari jacket, standing on the windswept coast, hair blowing in the wind, gull feathers raining down in the background; PBS specials (who can resist the vision of a gull, cheerfully flying along and then suddenly exploding, right in front of the camera?)

In researching this myth I found that there are a lot of supporters for both sides of this myth but looking to the urban legend explaining site snopes.com has reported that both of these exploding birds myths are false. So I fell that that can be the final word on that.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

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Myth Busting Monday - Poppy Seeds & Drug Tests

MYTH: Eating poppy seeds mimics opium use

Purveyors of this urban legend call on a popular Seinfeld episode for support. It turns out there's truth behind the comedy: tests suggest ingesting just two poppy seed bagels may produce a positive result for opiates on a drug screen.[source]

Just recently going through the job hunting process in the past year, this topic has been something that I thought about when employers have required a drug test as part of the interview process. As soon as I walked in the door for one interview the first thing I had to do was to take a drug test and I remember thinking to myself that I was glad that I didn't have that poppy seed bagel for breakfast that morning.

The popular myth and urban legend site snopes.com actually confirms that this myth is in fact True.

I find it very interesting that most of the myths that have been covered in Myth Busting Monday have been false, but this one is actually true.

Here is another interesting quote I found while searching for more information about this myth:

Yes, ingestion of poppy seed bagels or poppyseed cake can indeed cause a false positive on a urine test for opiates. Ingestion of poppy seeds can result in a positive drug test as long as two days after ingestion.[source]

With having the possibility of having two days of positive drug test you have to be really careful about eating poppy seed anything during job interview season. My advice is if you are looking and interviewing for a new job avoid all thing poppy seed, your future job ma depend on it.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

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Myth Busting Monday - Alligators in the Sewers

MYTH: Alligators in City Sewers

This favorite supposes that colonies of alligators are milling about the NYC sewer network, released there by people when they realized the cute baby 'gators they bought in Florida do, in fact, grow bigger. Experts say it's unlikely an alligator could survive in the cold of New York, however, let alone the toxic bacterial stew of its sewers.[source]

I am a big super hero fan and there have been occurrences where a hero finds himself in a sewer and ends up battling sewer gators, so the whole notion of alligators in the sewers has definitely entered into pop culture.
Looking into the history behind this myth I found that there have been 13 stories in the New York Times related to alligators in the sewer.

The New York Times itself lists 13 stories involving NY alligators between 1905 and 1993, 12 of which are in a veritable rash between 1927 and 1942. All 13 reports total up to 16 gators found in the New York area, dead or alive, in the sewers or elsewhere, most of them fugitives from various zoos and private collections. One 1933 report gives a little extra credence to the idea that Benny Profane (the Pynchon character) could possibly get paid to hunt alligators -- it reports a squadron of riflemen being organized to hunt down an alleged 6 escaped alligators.[source]

I think it is more believable that the alligators found were escapees rather than victims of the porcelain whirlpool. One of the news stories that I found that I enjoyed was from 1935.

An article dating back to 1935 helped feed the legend. According to New York Times on Feb. 10, 1935, two boys found a six-foot-long alligator as they were shoveling snow into a manhole near East 123^rd Street in Harlem. They dragged the animal out, but ended up killing it [by beating it with their snow shovels] after the alligator tried to attack them.[source]

Even though it may seem plausible that there could be colonies of alligators surviving in the NY sewer system there some major factors that makes this story dead in the water (quite literately).

For all its power as a rumor, though, the alligator colony in the sewer couldn't survive for long. The NYC sewers get too cold -- alligators survive well at temperatures from 70 to 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Plus, they don't do so well when exposed to salmonella and E. coli as are commonly found in sewers.[source]

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

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Myth Busting Monday - Yawning is Contagious

MYTH: Yawning is "contagious"

I have always wondered 'what is the purpose of yawning other than a sign of being tired'. In doing research about this myth I found that yawning is a reflex of deep inhalation and exhalation associated with tiredness, stress, over-work, lack of stimulation, or boredom.[source] I also found out that many parts of the body that are in action when you yawn. First, your mouth opens and jaw drops, allowing as much air to be taken in as possible. When you inhale, the air taken in is filling your lungs. Your abdominal muscles flex and your diaphragm is pushed down. The air you breath in expands the lungs to capacity and then some of the air is blown back out. [source] Yawning is just one of those strange things that people and animals do that no one can quite explain, but one of the most interesting things about yawning is that is seems to be contaious.

Empirically, this is tough to deny; perhaps you'll yawn while reading this. The real question is whether there's actually something physiological at work here, and the answer is likely yes: even chimpanzees mimic each other's yawns.[soucre]

One of the episodes of the TV show Mythbusters tested this myth. They concluded that this myth is plausible. Here is what they did:

In a test pool of 50 people those who were influenced into yawning by the MythBusters yawned 29% of the time. However, those who were not influenced yawned only 25% of the time. Despite this supportive evidence, the 4% difference between the experimental and control groups was not large enough to constitute a statistically significant difference (at alpha = 0.05), and therefore no definitive conclusion could be reached based on these results.[source]

I have been yawning a lot while I have been writing this post. I decided to conduct an experiment, as suggested by the howstuffworks article on 'What makes us yawn'. At the beginning of my Monday morning engineering meeting last week I was planning on yawning in front of everyone to see if it would make anyone else yawn; I was waiting for the right moment when one of the other guys in the meeting yawned, which made me yawn but no one else. I guess I was really tired that day because I continued to yawn throughout the rest of the meeting but it had no affect on anyone else, I was the only yawing.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

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Myth Busting Monday - Hearing Sound in Space

MYTH: You can hear sounds, like explosions, in space

I found the answer to this myth on a blog entitled Tell Me Why? that answers a lot of interesting questions on a vast verity of topics. Here is what the author says about sound in space:

Sound can only travel through a medium (solid, liquid or gas) by making their molecules vibrate. This therefore means that sound need any one of the three states of matter (solid, liquid or gas) in order to travel. Space being nearly a perfect vacuum, means sound waves can not travel from its vibrating source through the vacuum to another point in space or to the ear of an individual. In order for one to hear sound it must travel through gas particles which space has very few per cubic centimeter. This is very much less than that in the Earth’s atmosphere. So, can you hear sound in space ? or does sound travel in space? The answer is no, space is silent.

So do not be fooled by space movies where you can hear the loud explosion in space of a space ship or planet, spaceships engine giving off sounds or the firing of guns. This myth of sound in traveling in space, is spread mostly by Hollywood space movies and also by TV. This is only added for special effects as sound effects and music greatly enhance the psychological effects that movies have on an audience thus, making the movie a lot more interesting and entertaining.[source]

The Tell Me Why blog goes into more detail about sound in space here.

Before I read this article I never really thought about being able to hear sound in space; I am a huge Star Wars fan and after I read about this I imaged what it would like to see the Death Star explode without the big explosion sound and concluded it wouldn't be as spectacular.

Lynn Carter, a graduate student in astronomy at Cornell University has this to say about hearing sound in space:

We wouldn't be able to hear the sound because our ears aren't sensitive enough. Maybe if we had an amazingly large and sensitive microphone we could detect these sounds, but to our human ear it would be silent.

Although it is true that there is enough gas in space to propagate sound, but not enough for us to hear the sound. So even though space movies are propagating the falsehood of being able to hear explosions and laser cannon fire, I am glad they do it; otherwise space movies would be dull and boring, and Star Wars wouldn't have been the second highest grossing film of all time.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

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Myth Busting Monday - Seven Years to Digest Gum

MYTH: It takes seven years to digest gum

This is one of my favorite myths. I have believed this myth for as long as I can remember.

Here is a statement about swallowing gum:

While it may prove a bit more difficult to break down than organic foodstuffs, chewing gum gets no special treatment from the digestive system. Doctors figure this old wives' tale was invented to prevent kids from swallowing the rubbery substance.[source]

Here is a quote from the myth busting website snopes:

This oft-repeated claim may stem from genuine confusion over a term commonly applied to chewing gum: indigestible. Although gum resists the body's efforts to break it down (hence the 'indigestible' designation), it does not linger in the stomach. Gum is eliminated as human waste in the same way - and at the same rate - as any other swallowed matter. Granted, it comes out the far end relatively unchanged by the trip, but it does come out on schedule.snopes

Although this myth mainly originates by parents telling it to their children, I don't ever remember my parents saying this to me. But I do remember playing soccer growing up, before a game we would always get asked if we were chewing gum and if we were we would have to spit it out, due to the fact that it could be a choking hazard.

After testing this myth myself I am 98% sure that this myth is false.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments

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Myth Busting Monday - Reverse ATM PIN

MYTH: Entering one's PIN in reverse at any ATM will summon the police

Which was actually not too long ago, I thought it was totally awesome that the banking world would provide such an innovative feature like this to help out all the 'poor' people that get mugged at the ATM. But in finding out about this myth I also found that it was not true and that there are a lot of reasons why a system like this would never work.

Even if police could be summoned via the keying of a special "alert" or "panic" code, they would likely arrive long after victim and captor had departed. There is also the very real possibility that victims' fumbling around while trying to trigger silent alarms could cause their captors to realize something was up and take those realizations out on their captives. Finally, there is the problem of quickly conjuring up the accustomed PIN in reverse. Even in situations lacking added stress, mentally reconstructing one's PIN backwards is a difficult task for many people. Add to that difficulty the terror of being in the possession of a violent and armed person, and precious few victims might be able to come up with reversed PINs seamlessly enough to fool their captors into believing that everything was proceeding according to plan. As Chuck Stones of the Kansas Bankers Association said in 2004: "I'm not sure anyone here could remember their PIN numbers backward with a gun to their head.[source]

I don't know if I could come up with my PIN backwards in a situation like that, and most times I type in my PIN based on the button locations and not the numbers. There is also a problem when if comes to people with numbers that are palindromes; such as 2442, 8778 or 1111, numbers that are the same backwards or forwards. I also found that some people use this myth as a scam:

This may just sound like someone's stupid story but there are fraudsters who will try and use it to their own greedy ends. For instance, one variation they will use is to tell you that you can get cash for free using this method.
Once you have entered your PIN incorrectly a few times (and NOT got any cash!) your card will be retained. Sheepishly walking away thinking what a fool you were, the scammer then retrieves your card from the device they had attached to the ATM in advance.
Having watched you enter your PIN in reverse a few times they quickly switch the numbers around and use your card to make a large withdrawal.[source]

That is just another example of a way for scammers to get your money.
There have been many people that have tried to get their state legislature to pass laws requiring banks to setup the reverse PIN feature but it has never come through. I think this whole concept of having a 'panic' code at the ATM is a good idea but I also think that it would never work; plus, when was the last time you heard about someone getting mugged at an ATM.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments.

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Myth Busting Monday - Catching a Cold

MYTH: You can catch a Cold by being cold

I am sure that every mother has told every child, at one time or another, that they will catch a cold if they don't wear a jacket or something warm out in the cold.

According to the American Lung Association:

Myth: You can catch the flu or a cold from going outdoors in cold weather.Fact: The flu and colds are more common in the winter months because that is when the viruses spread across the country. It has nothing to do with being outside in cold weather.[source]

On a related note, here is another popular myth about cold cleared up by the ALA (American Lung Association):

Myth: "Feed a cold and starve a fever (flu)."

Fact: This is definitely not a good idea in either case. You need more fluids than usual when you have the flu or a cold. Drink plenty of water and juice, eat enough food to satisfy your appetite, and drink hot fluids to ease your cough and sore throat.[source]

The general consensus on Yahoo! Answers about this myth is that the cold is a virus, something that you have to catch from someone else. Also, most people agree that being cold can influence getting a cold, being cold weakens the immune system thus making you susceptible to catching the cold virus. If you want to read more responses click here.

According to the web site commoncold.org, here are some facts about catching the common cold:

1. Healthy people with normal immune systems are highly susceptible to cold virus infection the virus enters the nose. In volunteers studies, approximately 95% of normal adults became infected when virus as dropped into the nose.
2. Of people who become infected, only 75% develop symptoms with a cold. The other 25% have virus growing in the nose but have no symptoms. They have an "asymptomatic infection".
3. Why people sometimes become infected but do not develop cold symptoms is a mystery. One clue is that in such instances the person may not be producing the normal amount of certain inflammatory mediators, the natural body chemicals which cause cold symptoms. If this theory is correct, then people with active immune systems may be more prone to developing cold symptoms than people with less active immune systems!One study has looked at this question.
- It was found that colds were no more frequent or severe in volunteers who were chilled than those who were not.[source]

I guess once the cold virus gets in your nose it's all over and you are pretty much guaranteed that you are going to get a cold. So in order to avoid a cold everyone should wear nose guards to keep the cold virus from entering your nose.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments.

Technorati tags: catching, cold

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Myth Busting Monday - Brains

Humans use only 10 percent of their brains

I have often thought about whether or not this one is true. My thought process as been if we only use 10% of our brain what is other the 90% of our brain for? This first quote shows how easy it is to believe that myths like this one is true.

That tired Ten-Percent claim pops up all the time. Last year [1998], national magazine ads for U.S. Satellite Broadcasting showed a drawing of a brain. Under it was the caption, "You only use 11 percent of its potential." Well, they're a little closer than the ten-percent figure, but still off by about 89 percent. In July 1998, ABC television ran promotional spots for "The Secret Lives of Men," one of their offerings for the fall season's lineup. The spot featured a full-screen blurb that read, "Men only use ten percent of their brains."[source]

Thanks to modern technology, scientists have been able to prove that this myth is undeniably false.

This media darling has been around for at least a century. Fortunately, it's just not true. MRI imaging clearly demonstrates--with fancy colors no less--that humans put most of their cerebral cortex [the brain] to good use, even while dozing.[source]

I was able to find a statement that atempts to justify what people are talking about when they say 'we only use 10% of our brain'

Perhaps when people use the 10% brain statement, they mean that only one out of every ten nerve cells is essential or used at any one time? How would such a measurement be made? Even if neurons are not firing action potentials, they may still be receiving signals from other neurons.[soucre]

I know there are some of you out there that think you know someone who proves this myth to be true, but remember just because someone can use most of their brain it doesn't mean that take advantage of it. I know I have moments when I only use 10% of my brain, but my wife quickly knocks some sense reminds me to use more of my brain.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments.

Technorati tags: brain, neurons

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Myth Busting Monday - Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space

I have always thought this one was true; I thought something that extended for 1500 miles would obviously be viewable from space, but I never realized that other structures could be visible as well.

There are several variations on this folkloric statement, and they're all quantifiably false. Astronauts can spot the Great Wall from low-Earth orbit, along with plenty of other things like the Giza pyramids and even airport runways. But they can't see the Wall from the Moon.[source]

Here is quote from astronaut Jay Apt:

We look for the Great Wall of China. Although we can see things as small as airport runways, the Great Wall seems to be made largely of materials that have the same color as the surrounding soil. Despite persistent stories that it can be seen from the moon, the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles up![soucre]

And for those of you that have heard the variation of this myth that say you can see the Great Wall from the moon, here is quote from Astronaut Alan Bean:

The only thing you can see from the moon is a beautiful sphere, mostly white (clouds), some blue (ocean), patches of yellow (deserts), and every once in a while some green vegetation. No man-made object is visible on this scale. In fact, when first leaving earth's orbit and only a few thousand miles away, no man-made object is visible at that point either.[soucre]

This myth is busted straight from the horse's astronaut's mouth.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments.

Technorati tags: Great, Wall, of China, outerspace

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Myth Busting Monday - Water Drains Backwards

I wanted to start Myth Busting Monday with my all time favorite myth:

Water drains backwards in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth's rotation

Here is one quote I found while researching this myth:

Not only is the Earth's rotation too weak to affect the direction of water flowing in a drain, tests you can easily perform in a few washrooms will show that water whirlpools both ways depending on the sinks structure, not the hemisphere. [source]

In researching this myth I found out about something called Coriolis force, here is the wikipedia entry which gives a big, long technical definition and explanation. Basically the Coriolis force is the force that one spinning object has on another object in motion; an example of the Coriolis force is the spinning earth causes tornados and hurricanes in the northern hemisphere to spin counterclockwise and clockwise in the southern hemisphere. This might lead one to think that the same effect occurs with draining water but here is a quote I found about the relating the Coriolis force to draining water:

The Coriolis force is so small, that it plays no role in determining the direction of rotation of a draining sink anymore than it does the direction of a spinning CD. [source]

Here is an explanation from snopes as to why water draining in the direction is does:

Toilets and sinks drain in the directions they do because of the way water is directed into them or pulled from them. If water enters in a swirling motion (as it does when a toilet is flushed, for example), the water will exit in that same swirling pattern; as well, most basins have irregular surfaces and are not perfectly level, factors that influence the direction in which water spirals down their drains. The configuration of taps and drains is responsible for the direction of spin given to water draining from sinks and bathtubs to a degree that overwhelms the slight influence of the Coriolis force.[source]

I have always wanted to call someone in Australia and ask if their toilet bowl flushes down clockwise or counter clockwise, but now I can avoid the huge phone bill that would result by knowing that a toilet bowl flushes a certain direction depending on how it is made.

What are your thoughts about this myth, let us know in the comments.

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