Misconceptions of the era. Myth: Bulls hate the color red

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The ancient Romans did not build special rooms called vomitoria where they could vomit to their heart's content after eating a large meal. Vomitoria were the passages through which visitors entered and exited stadiums.

There is no evidence that Viking helmets had horns

There is no evidence that Iron Maidens were invented in the Middle Ages or were ever used for torture. They were collected at the end of the 18th century to attract blood-hungry and spectacle-hungry publics to museums and exhibits." medieval horrors".

The European belief in a flat earth was not an obstacle to Christopher Columbus's Indian Campaign. Since the times of Plato, Aristotle and Aristophanes, who more or less correctly calculated the diameter of the earth for 240 years BC. enlightened people were familiar with the concept of a spherical earth. Sailors and navigators used this knowledge every day, and quite correctly disagreed with Columbus in his estimates of the distance to India, which he underestimated by 6 times. If America had not been on his way, he simply would not have had enough supplies to sail to Asia.

Marie Antoinette did not say “let them eat cake” when she heard that the peasants were starving due to lack of bread. The phrase first appeared in Rousseau's Confessions when Marie Antoinette was 10 years old, and most researchers believe that Rousseau either invented it himself or it belongs to Maria Theresa, the wife of Louis 15th. And even Rousseau (or Maria Teresa) did not talk about cakes. In the original the phrase sounds like Qu"ils mangent de la brioche- let them eat brioche (French sweet bread). Marie Antoinette was a very unpopular ruler, so the phrase "let them eat cake" was taken up by many people as an illustration of her reputation as a cruel and out-of-touch ruler.

The signing of the Declaration of Independence occurred on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4. On July 4th the declaration was approved by the Second Continental Congress. On July 4th and 5th it was printed and distributed.

Napoleon was above his nickname "little corporal". He was not short and did not have a Napoleon complex. His posthumous height in 1821 was 1.686 meters. Not big, but quite average height for a late 18th century Mediterranean.

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini did not "make the trains run on time." Most of repair work on railway was completed before Mussolini came to power in 1922. Witnesses also claim that the running of Italian trains on schedule was more of a myth than a reality. Service was often disrupted due to Mussolini's conflicts with trade unions.

The Polish cavalry did not launch saber attacks on German tanks in 1939. This clean water The fascists' war, which may have appeared after one of the battles in Northern Poland, when a Polish cavalry brigade suddenly attacked German infantry and retreated only under the pressure of armored units. Despite the fact that the saber was part of the equipment of the Polish cavalrymen, they also had firearms, including light anti-tank weapons.

During World War II, the Danish King Christian X did not interfere with the Nazis' attempts to identify Jews by wearing clothes with a yellow Star of David sewn on it. This was never required of Danish Jews. Nevertheless, by the end of the war, the Danes still helped most Jews flee the country.

According to various polls, from 11 to 24% of Americans are confident that President Barack Obama is a Muslim. The White house describes Obama as a fairly devout Christian who prays daily.

Food and cooking

Some chefs believe that hot dishes prepared with alcohol will end up being non-alcoholic because the low boiling point of the alcohol will cause it to evaporate very quickly. However, studies have shown that alcohol still remains in dishes even after intensive heat treatment: 25% after an hour of stewing and 10% after two.

Sushi does not mean "raw fish" and not all sushi is made from raw fish. Sushi is “vinegar” rice prepared according to a special recipe. It is made from sumeshi - rice, with the addition of vinegar, salt and sugar solution. Traditionally served with raw fish, other (cooked) seafood, caviar, avocado, etc. The term sashimi is a little closer in definition to raw fish, but still not enough. Sashimi can be any raw meat, fish or vegetable, and the term refers to the style of presentation of the dish rather than the contents.

Microwaves do not heat food from the inside. Microwave radiation penetrates food and directly heats it only to a small depth. For example, muscle tissue (what we call meat) is directly heated to less than a centimeter in depth.

The presence of metal in a microwave oven cannot damage the oven electronics. However, metal has other problems. For example, an electric arc. Or heating the metal to such an extent that it can burn through the inside of the furnace in a certain way. Some metal items (like the foil on the rack under a frozen pizza) are microwave safe.

Swallowed chewing gum passes through the digestive system in the same way as all other foods, and does not remain digested in the stomach for 7 years. It would seem to be obvious nonsense, hardly worthy of refutation, but if up to 20% of people are sure that Obama is a Muslim, you never know what other nonsense they will believe :)))

Astronomy

It is "widely known" (yup) that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from the moon. Lies. None of the participants in the lunar expeditions were able to see a single man-made object on earth. Shuttle astronaut Jay Apt said: " Great Wall practically invisible from an altitude of 180 miles." However, the lights of large cities are visible from orbit without any problems. It is believed that the misconception was popularized by Richard Haliburton several decades before the start of flights to the moon.

Contrary to their sinister image, black holes do not necessarily suck up all the surrounding matter. In a sense, they are space vacuum cleaners, but not as much as they are credited with. The collapse of a star into a black hole is an explosive process, therefore the resulting object will have less mass and, as a result, less gravitational force. If you replace the sun with a black hole of the same mass (which is physically impossible), the orbits of the planets revolving around it will remain unchanged.

The change of seasons is not caused by the earth's proximity to the sun in summer and distance in winter. The earth is further away from the sun during summer in the northern hemisphere. The change of seasons is the result of a change in the angle of the earth's axis.

Biology

The claim that duck quacks have no echo is a lie. Although under certain circumstances it may be difficult for the human ear to hear.

DNA is not made of protein. DNA is an acid. Although DNA and protein are very closely interconnected.

The statement that a goldfish's memory lasts only a few seconds is not true.

Lemmings don't throw themselves off cliffs in a fit of mass suicide. However, sometimes, during migrations through territories unfamiliar to them, they can accidentally fall off cliffs. The misconception was popularized by Disney, but its roots go back to the 19th century.

The bats- sighted. Majority bats uses echolocation, but despite this, all types of bats are quite sighted.

According to a popular misconception, a worm cut in the middle turns into two worms. In fact, only a limited number of worm species are capable of such regeneration. In most worms, only the front severed half survives.

According to urban legends, harvest spiders (Pholcus phalangioides) are the most poisonous spiders in the world, but the structure of their jaws prevents them from biting humans, which makes them technically harmless to us. In fact, they can still bite through the skin and a microscopic amount of their venom can cause a burning sensation for a couple of seconds. No more.

The aerodynamics and mechanism of bee flight are remarkably calculated and understood, despite the fact that urban legends claim that according to calculations bees should not fly. In the 1930s, a German scientist, using incorrect calculations, came to false conclusion that bees theoretically should not fly, although he later admitted his mistake. However, the false hypothesis grew into the belief that “scientists believe that theoretically bees cannot fly.”

Sharks can get cancer. The nasty myth was popularized in 1992 by the book "Sharks Don't Get Cancer" and was used to sell a variety of anti-cancer drugs based on shark extracts. Reports of cancer in sharks are widely known and the unequivocal information available makes speculation on this topic nothing more than nonsense.

Transferring from place to place (for example, back to the nest) is completely safe for the chicks, contrary to the popular misconception that such chicks will be rejected by the mother.

Bulls are not irritated by the color red. Cattle are dichromatic, and their vision is unable to distinguish the color red (or orange, when worn by a hunter). The bull is irritated not by the color, but by the movements.

Evolution

The word “theory” in the concept of “theory of evolution” does not mean that the scientific mainstream doubts it. The concepts of theory and hypothesis have special meanings in a scientific context. In an everyday context, theory may imply uncertainty and speculation, but in a scientific context, theory is nothing more than a set of principles that explain the results of observations.

Humans did not evolve from chimpanzees or other modern primates. Humans and apes, however, share a common ancestor who lived about 40 million years ago. The common ancestor gave rise to several evolutionary lineages. Old World monkeys, New World monkeys and great apes. Humans are classified as hominids, a family that also includes chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. The common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees lived 5-8 million years ago, eventually splitting into two branches - humans and two species of chimpanzees.

Evolution does not mean progress from simpler to more complex organisms. A population can evolve towards a simpler genome.

According to the California Academy of Sciences, approximately 41% of American adults believe that humans and dinosaurs coexisted (and I was also making fun of the Obama disbelievers). However, the last dinosaurs became extinct about 65 million years ago, while those who can be considered pre-humans appeared 2.3-2.4 million years ago.

Evolution does not violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Opponents of evolution argue their position by the fact that according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, entropy increases with time, therefore evolution cannot cross a certain threshold of complexity. The second law of thermodynamics says nothing about complexity and applies only to closed systems, while the earth, absorbing Sun rays is an open system.

Evolution does not improve an organism's ability to survive. For example, it would be an incorrect description of the evolution of the giraffe to say that over time their necks extended to reach the foliage of tall trees. Evolution is pre-lightbulb and it does not react to such things in any way. This erroneous theory is known as Lamarckism. A mutation that causes an elongated neck would be beneficial to an animal living among tall trees rather than among short ones. Therefore, this animal is more likely to survive and pass on its genes to its offspring. Tall trees do not cause long necks and have no bearing on the number of animals born with long necks.

Body and health

The difference in taste can be detected by any part of the tongue, with sensitivity varying slightly depending on the area and the individual. Contrary to the popular belief that specific areas of the tongue are responsible for recognizing unique tastes. The original "map of language" is a mistranslation of a work written in 1901 by Edwin Boring. By the way, not 4, but 5 tastes are recognized. In addition to the well-known sweet, salty, sour and bitter, a person is able to recognize umami - the taste of meat.

People are able to recognize more than 5 senses. Depending on the definition, their number varies from 9 to 20. In addition to the canonical vision, smell, taste, touch and hearing described by Aristotle, man has the senses of balance, acceleration, pain, position of the body and limbs, and relative temperature. Other feelings often include feelings of time, hunger, thirst, fullness of the stomach, pressure, etc.

Hair does not grow darker or thicker or faster after shaving.

The hair and nails of the dead do not grow. Their skin becomes dry, resulting in a false impression of growth.

Hair care products cannot “cure” split ends. However, they can prevent damage as well as seal damaged ends and generally make your hair look healthier.

A person does not need to drink 8 glasses of water a day to maintain good health. Sufficient consumption of foods containing water - tea, milk, fruits and vegetables - compensates for under-drinking water.

Alcohol doesn't warm you up. Under the influence of alcohol, paralysis of the skin vessels soon occurs, they expand, and more blood flows to the surface of the body. It seems to a person that he has warmed up, but in fact this is a deception: only the skin heats up, which very quickly gives off the resulting heat outside. At the same time, the body temperature decreases, which is easy to verify both theoretically (using the law of conservation of energy) and practically (by carrying out systematic measurements).

Alcohol does not kill brain cells. At one time, the idea was promoted that brain cells die under the influence of alcohol (as well as the claim that alcohol in the blood can cause spontaneous combustion). According to research from the Queensland Brain Institute, there is no evidence of a direct link between alcohol consumption and the death of brain cells. Moreover, when consumed in moderation, alcohol has a positive effect on the body. Alcohol can indirectly affect the death of brain cells only in chronic alcoholics.

Vegetarian and vegan diets contain adequate protein. The typical diet of ovolacto-vegetarians and vegans more than meets the body's daily protein needs. Despite the lack of protein compared to meat diets, vegetarianism has a positive effect in the fight against cancer. However, a vegetarian diet is not a panacea, and a strict vegan diet requires supplemental vitamin B-12.

It is a common belief that men think about sex every 7 seconds. In fact, this has never been measured and researchers claim that this figure is a gross exaggeration.

Another popular myth- sex before sports competitions worsens the athlete’s performance. Numerous studies have shown the absence of any physiological prerequisites for this. Moreover, it turned out that sex within 24 hours before a competition can improve results by producing additional testosterone.

Thinking abilities are not completely divided between the hemispheres of the brain. Some functions, such as speech and language, gravitate toward one hemisphere when performing certain tasks. However, if one of the hemispheres is damaged at a very early age, these functions are restored partially or completely in the undamaged hemisphere. Other abilities, such as motor skills and memory, are distributed equally between both hemispheres.

Vaccines do not cause autism. A bogus study by Andrew Wakefield showed a link, but repeated attempts to replicate the results failed.

People don't use only ten percent of their brain. While the brain only fires a small number of neurons at a time, passive neurons also play an important role. This myth was spread in American culture over the last century. Its authorship belongs to William James, who used this statement as a metaphor.

Warts on human skin are caused by the papillomavirus, which is unique to humans. Warts cannot be contracted from toads or other animals. The growths on toads are not warts.

Mathematics

Contrary to popular perception, the number 0.999(9) with an infinite number of nines after the decimal point is still equal to one.

Physics

The Coriolis effect does not determine the direction of rotation of the water in the toilet or sink. The Coriolis effect, caused by the rotation of the earth, becomes noticeable only on larger scale phenomena. Such as atmospheric systems or ocean currents. In addition, water in modern toilets is usually supplied at an angle and at an initial speed that is too high to be affected by the Coriolis effect.

Gyroscopic forces are not required for the cyclist to balance. They are a factor to some extent, but balance is primarily maintained by inertia, steering geometry, and the rider's ability to control lean angle by turning the handlebars.

The concept of lightning not striking the same place twice is one of the oldest and wackiest misconceptions about lightning. There is no reason why lightning cannot strike the same place twice. During a thunderstorm, lightning will strike the same objects of the required combination of height and conductivity with most likely. For example, lightning strikes the New York Empire State Building approximately 100 times a year.

A one-cent coin thrown from a skyscraper will not kill a passerby or break the asphalt. A one-cent coin has a maximum fall speed of 30-50 miles per hour, which, given its mass, is completely insufficient to cause any serious damage.

Psychology

There is an opinion that anger and rage during catharsis should not be driven inside, but should be released onto an inanimate object to relieve tension, so that aggression is not relieved at the expense of another person. However, experiments have shown that the subject's aggression only increases after negative energy has been released onto an inanimate object.

Ability to remember pictures maximum attention attention to the smallest details is called photographic or eidetic memory. However, such a gift hardly exists, because there is no evidence of it. Many people claim to have a photographic memory, but they simply have very good memory thanks to training, but not natural ability to remember the smallest details.

Sport

A black belt in martial arts is not necessarily proof of skill. The black belt was first introduced into judo in the 1980s as a demonstration of an athlete's competence in basic techniques. Further ranks of a fighter after receiving a black belt may vary. In judo and some other martial arts, masters are more high level wear belts with alternating white and red colors, and the strongest fighters have red belts.

Religion

It is generally accepted that the biblical Forbidden Fruit was an apple. It is this form that has been popularized in Western art, despite the fact that nowhere in the Book of Genesis is any specific fruit mentioned. Early translations from Latin contain the word "mali", which can be translated as either "evil" or "apple". Beginning in the 12th century, German and French artists depicted the apple as the forbidden fruit, and John Milton's pamphlet (Areopagitica, 1644) explicitly called the forbidden fruit an apple. Jewish researchers suggest that the forbidden fruit could have been grapes, figs, citrus fruits, or even wheat. The Koran mentions the forbidden "tree", also without specifically identifying it. In light of which, grapes and wheat clearly disappear.

"Everyone knows" that Noah's Ark there was “a pair of every creature.” In fact, the figure is based on Genesis 6:19, while Genesis 7:2 mentions very specific instructions to Noah - to bring 7 pairs of “clean animals” and one pair of each of the others.

There is no evidence of the birth of Christ on December 25th. The Bible nowhere names this date, but indirectly points to a date closer to September. This date may have originally been related to the date when conception occurred according to Christian beliefs (+ 9 months), or to the date of the Roman solstice or one of the ancient winter festivals.

The canonical Buddha was not fat. “Fat Buddha” or “Laughing Buddha” is a character in Chinese folklore of the 10th century named Budai, who, according to Buddhists, was one of the reincarnations of Bothisattva.

Buddha is not a god. Only in late Buddhism did Buddha become a prophet and receive the status of a savior, but even this does not make him a god in the general understanding of the word.

A fatwa is a non-binding decree of Islamic experts, made by them on the basis of Sharia - the laws of Islam. Many believe that a fatwa is a death sentence, based on the fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989 against the writer Salman Rushdie. This event, in fact, attracted the attention of the Western press to the very concept of fatwa.

The word "jihad" does not necessarily mean "holy war." Literal translation This word means "struggle" in Arabic. Despite the existence of concepts such as “jihad by the sword,” many modern scholars of Islam argue that jihad is an internal, spiritual struggle.

Technologies

Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb. However, he developed the first practically working light bulb in 1880. A year before Joseph Swan invented an even more efficient light bulb.

Henry Ford did not invent the automobile or the assembly line. As an engineer, he participated in the development of the conveyor, but by and large it was his employees who did it.

Guillermo Marconi did not invent radio. He adapted it for public broadcasting. The laurels of the inventor of radio do not belong to anyone in particular.

Al Gore never said he "invented the Internet." He literally said that “the Internet appeared thanks to my initiative while serving in the US Congress.” It was Gore who initially drafted a bill that provided significant funding for supercomputer centers, which in turn led to an upgrade of the NSFNet system that had already existed by the early 90s and the development of Mosaic, a browser that opened Internet access to everyone.

Misconception is a characteristic of our knowledge, expressed in a relative and limited nature. Individual delusion means a discrepancy between our subjective ideas and the objective state of affairs; this delusion can arise as a result of some errors, both in the process of our thinking, the information received, and irrational activity.

Read about popular misconceptions

You can get tetanus by stepping on a rusty nail with your heel. Tetanus is transmitted by the bacterium Clostridium Tetani, which thrives in the intestinal flora of herbivores. If, of course, the nail was lying in manure, and then its point got into the heel, you can get tetanus, but rust has nothing to do with it.

Married people prolong their lives. In fact, the relationship here is the opposite: they have a life partner because they can live longer. That is, they are instinctively chosen as the most tenacious.

You should not make love before important competitions. It seems that we owe this mistake to Sigmund Freud, who convinced that each person has a strictly defined amount of energy: if you spend it on one thing, you won’t have enough for another. In fact, sex has no effect on athletic performance. It's another matter if you didn't sleep well.

You need to have a good breakfast. The legend about the usefulness of breakfast was born in the 40s, when volunteers were tested how well they tolerated stress depending on the time of eating. To be honest, the results of the experiments did not give an unambiguous result, but the American concerns that paid for these studies - manufacturers of corn flakes - trumpeted the benefits of a hearty breakfast to the whole world.

Reading at dusk is harmful to the eyes. Nothing like this. Of course, in order to see the letters in poor lighting, we need to strain our eyes more and the result may be a headache, but this does not harm the eyes.

Swimming after eating is harmful and dangerous. This tale was propagated 50 years ago by the American Red Cross, which published a pamphlet advising against swimming after eating because it could cause stomach pain and could lead to drowning.

The famous midlife crisis actually affects only 5 percent of people. This includes those who, on the one hand, set themselves the task of, say, becoming the president of the Mercedes-Benz company and by the age of 35 discover that he did not become one, or over-cautious people who kept hoping for something and ran away from everyday difficulties.

A person turns 40 and suddenly sees a huge mountain of problems in front of him. For the remaining 95% of the population, this is age as age. website

The Chinese have yellow skin color. A typical Chinese is no yellower than a typical Frenchman. First mention of yellow color skin appears in the 18th century, when they began to divide humanity into races. At the same time, an intermediate race was “required” between the whites in the north and the blacks in the south.

That's how the Redskins came into being. The Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus, dividing people into 4 types (European white man, American red man, Asian yellow man, African black man), did not take into account that the red complexion of American Indians is often associated with the color of their war paint. The natural complexion of Indians is pale brown.

Eating fish is good for the brain. This myth was born as a result of pseudo-research by the German physician and natural philosopher Friedrich Buchner, who discovered phosphorus in the human brain and came to the conclusion that this substance is supposedly a catalyst for thinking. In fact, our body does not need fish at all as an indispensable source of phosphorus. There is enough of it in eggs, meat, milk and vegetables, but phosphorus is not needed at all for good brain function. It’s really good for the brain to eat not fish, but caviar, which contains amino acids and vitamin A.

Arabic numerals were not invented by the Arabs. In fact, they came to us from India. The Arabs simply brought this form of writing numbers from there.

Poker is not American card game. Poker originated 3 thousand years ago in Ancient Persia. The game was called “ace”, but already included all the basic combinations, such as pair, three of a kind, four of a kind, etc. And even then bluffing existed as the main technique of this game. The game was brought to Europe by the Crusaders.

The death of the Invincible Armada was not so fatal for Spain. In fact, this disaster was very minor in its consequences for the Spaniards. Within a few years, the Spaniards commissioned new ships, and in the 15 years after the death of the armada, Spain brought more silver and gold from America than in any other period.

Medicine was terrible not only in the Middle Ages, but even more recently. Up to late XIX century, the doctor was, as a rule, much more dangerous for the patient than his illness. In 1910, medical historians estimated that the average patient had no more than half a chance of improving his health if he came into the hands of the average doctor. Only very strong organisms tolerated the treatment prescribed by the doctor.

Mozart did not live his whole life in poverty and squalor. In fact, he received very decent fees. For one hour of piano teaching, he billed 2 guilders. For comparison, his maid received 12 guilders a year. For performing at the concert he requested, according to him in my own words, “not less than a thousand guilders.”

Henry Ford didn't invent the assembly line. Back in 1902, i.e. 6 years before Ford's first Model T, his competitor Ransom Olds used a conveyor belt - his cars moved around the factory floor on wooden carts. The Olds factory made up to two and a half thousand cars a year.

Napoleon lost the war against Russia not because of severe frosts. In fact, the weather during almost the entire Russian campaign was perhaps even warmer than usual. Eyewitness accounts have been preserved who claim: the average temperature in October, when the French had already begun to retreat to Kyiv and Warsaw, was 10, in Revel and Riga - 7 degrees above zero. Napoleon lost due to his own strategic mistakes.

They put crosses instead of signatures not because of illiteracy. For many hundreds of years, educated Europeans put a cross instead of a signature, and to the right or left of it they already wrote full name. Since the 16th century, the opinion has spread that it is inappropriate to use the cross of God for commercial purposes, and people began to sign documents with their name and initials.

Scalping is not an Indian invention at all. The custom of removing the skin from the head as a trophy and symbol of triumph was among the Scythians and the peoples of Western Siberia. The American Indians were not so cruel. Some historians even doubt that the Indians resorted to scalping before the arrival of white people.

It was the whites, and not the redskins, who began to skin the heads of defeated enemies, since in order to receive the assigned bonus it was necessary to present a scalp.

The Statue of Liberty is not in New York. Moreover, neither city nor state. Liberty Island (Liberty Island, and formerly Boudleau Island) geographically belongs to the state of New Jersey.

Popular misconceptions about alcohol

People often make up excuses for their behavior, particularly when they drink alcohol. You can hear from different people (your relatives, friends, neighbors) about how alcohol affects the human body, what you need to do if you drink too much, and the like. I want to believe them. But in most cases, what they say is not true, and we want you to know the truth.

Hangover. Many are convinced that in a hangover it is necessary to drink a small amount of alcoholic beverage in order to recover. The liver can remove only 10 ml of alcohol from the human body in 1 hour.

By drinking additional amounts of alcohol, a person only increases the load on the already “overloaded” liver.

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No additional alcohol, no coffee, no cold shower, no Fresh air do not lead to real sobering. The truth is that the only cure for a hangover is time. Alcohol is eliminated from the body only after certain time. A person with a hangover should avoid drinking alcohol for 2 days to give their body a chance to “rest” and recover.

Alcohol is not a help in solving problems. Some people believe that alcohol helps them forget and not think about problems. However, you can forget about your problems for tonight, and in the morning they will remind you of themselves again.

If you always return to alcohol to forget about problems and grief, then this is a direct path to alcoholism. And then, next to the problems that I would like to forget about, another problem will appear - alcoholism. The truth is that alcohol will not solve problems, but will lead to new ones - alcoholism and neglect of others.

Beer. Some people believe that you can drink beer in unlimited quantities without risk to health, because beer is low alcohol drink. The truth is that 330 ml of beer (that's one can), 150 ml of wine (that's one glass) and 40 ml of vodka (that's one shot) contain the same amount of alcohol. So think about it, is it possible to drink as much beer as you like?

You can die from alcohol. Some people believe that you won’t die from alcohol: just drink and drink. The truth is that a person can die from a dose of alcohol that his heart cannot handle or his liver cannot handle.

About the measure and amount of alcohol consumed. Some, especially teenagers, sincerely believe that alcoholic drinks They will not cause harm if you know when to use them in moderation. However, they cannot determine this measure in any way: neither in grams nor in milliliters.

They think that moderation is when you don’t get so drunk that your friends take your drunken drinking buddy home with them. The truth is that, firstly, a state similar to that when friends of an overindulgent drinking companion drag themselves home cannot be considered a measure, and secondly, the effect of alcohol on the human body depends on the person’s weight and age. Children and teenagers weigh much less than adults. Consequently, young people who have not reached physical maturity cannot drink as much alcohol as adults.

IN European countries The measure is determined by a unit of alcohol, which, in turn, is determined in grams and milliliters. 1 unit of alcohol = 10 ml of pure alcohol. A 330 ml can of beer with a strength of 4%-5% contains 1.5 units of alcohol. A 150 ml glass of wine with an alcohol content of 11%-12% contains 1.5 units of alcohol. A 40 ml shot of vodka with a strength of 40% also contains 1.5 units of alcohol. If an adult regularly drinks more than three units of alcohol, he is harming his health.

About mixing alcoholic drinks. Some people believe that you can mix different alcoholic drinks. The truth is that mixing different alcoholic drinks with each other, especially of surrogate origin, is life-threatening.

We will continue to publish the section “Popular Misconceptions” on this page of our website, because there are a great many misconceptions in the world and we definitely want to “dispel” them, we will try to select and place on this page all the most interesting things from the world of misconceptions!

Popular misconceptions about facts, events, alcohol...

From delusions that can arise unintentionally, unintentionally, it is worth distinguishing from delusions caused intentionally, which are self-deception or deception of another person.

The sources of misconceptions can be several reasons - prejudice, self-confidence, imperfection, or lack of knowledge in a person, sometimes haste, lack of concentration, or stability of thinking. There are also such reasons for misconceptions as - insufficient cognitive material on the essence of the issue under discussion, subjective moods, prejudices and predispositions, addictions to this issue, disorderly processing of the problem under discussion, poor knowledge of the source, and therefore a misconception.

A misconception can be characterized as an idea, thought or train of thought, regarding which, although there is confidence that they are correct, nevertheless, they do not correspond to reality, i.e. factual circumstances, the nature of the subject, or simply contradict logical laws, which may be a formal error.

Science is called upon to penetrate into the essence of natural phenomena and present people with a correct picture of the world. And the majority modern people accustomed to trusting official science, considering generally accepted scientific theories to be truisms. In fact, as history shows, the development of science to this day is more a path of trial and error than a direct path to the truth. This post contains examples of common misconceptions and mistakes in science.

1. Misconceptions of Aristotle

The ancient Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle was, without a doubt, a great man. He became the founder of logic and summarized his contemporary knowledge about the world. For many centuries, Aristotle was an unquestioned authority in science and philosophy. The works of Aristotle were studied not only in ancient times, but also in the Middle Ages. But at the same time, his authority also served to preserve the misconceptions that were set forth there.

For example, Aristotle believed that heavy bodies fall faster than light ones, and in order for a body to move at a constant speed, a force must be applied to it. More than one and a half thousand years passed before these misconceptions were refuted by Galileo and Newton.

2. The search for the philosopher's stone

The study of substances and their transformations has a long history. But the craving of scientists of the past for chemical experiments had slightly different motives than today. For thousands of years, alchemists conducted experiments with the transformation of substances in order to discover the philosopher's stone, in the existence of which they were firmly convinced.

Philosopher's Stone, according to their ideas, had the following properties. First, it allowed base metals (such as lead) to be converted into gold. Secondly, when taken orally, they prolonged life and cured diseases. Finally, the philosopher's stone could help plants grow at astonishing speed, so that they would bear ripe fruit within a few hours.

Obsessed with the idea of ​​finding the philosopher's stone, alchemists conducted many experiments and studied all possible substances that came to their hands. The philosopher's stone, of course, was never discovered, but the works of the alchemists were not in vain - they formed the basis of modern chemistry.

3. The theory of four liquids

The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is known as the “father of medicine,” to the development of which he truly made an invaluable contribution. Trying to explain the cause of human diseases, Hippocrates formulated a theory according to which the balance of four fluids - blood, mucus, yellow and black bile - is of primary importance for human health. If any of the fluids is lacking or in excess, this becomes the cause of the disease.

This theory dominated medicine for more than 2,000 years, until the 19th century. Guided by it, doctors, for example, tried to treat many diseases with the help of bloodletting, in other cases they gave them plenty of water, fed them with food that stimulated the production of bile, etc.

4. Theory of spontaneous generation

For a long time, scientists and philosophers were convinced that living things could spontaneously arise from non-living things. Of course, they knew how animals and plants reproduce, but they were sure that small organisms - insects, worms, mice, fish, etc. could spontaneously arise from damp soil, garbage and dirt. The writings of medieval scientists contain many examples of the spontaneous generation of living beings.

True, even in the Renaissance, the theory had opponents who tried to prove by experiment that no “spontaneous generation” occurs if the nutrient medium is boiled and hermetically sealed, which means that the larvae of life enter it from the outside. But the majority did not take such arguments into account, and the theory of spontaneous generation prevailed until the 19th century, until it was finally refuted by the carefully staged experiments of Louis Pasteur and others.

5. Phlogiston theory

In the 17th century, chemists tried to explain combustion processes. The most suitable explanation, from a point of view, was the following - in all combustible substances there was a certain element - phlogiston, and during combustion it was released and evaporated. At the same time, many simple flammable substances were mistakenly considered complex, and vice versa. At the beginning of the 18th century. all major chemists shared the theory of phlogiston and tried to discover it. Various gases, such as hydrogen, were taken as phlogiston. The phlogiston theory dominated chemistry for about 100 years, until oxygen was finally discovered, the combination of which with flammable substances actually caused combustion.

6. Caloric theory

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the dominant theory with which physicists explained thermal phenomena was the theory of caloric. It was assumed that all bodies contain caloric - a certain weightless substance, the amount of which determines the degree of heating of the body, and upon contact, caloric can transfer from one body to another. Despite the fact that a number of scientists doubted the theory of caloric and expressed the correct opinion that heat is due to the movement of the particles that make up the body, these arguments were not taken into account by the majority. From the theory of caloric a whole branch of physics grew - thermodynamics. Only at the end of the 19th century was it clearly shown through experiments that the theory of caloric was erroneous, and the nature of heat was really connected with the movement of the particles that make up the body - molecules and atoms.

Most likely, in the near future, many of the modern scientific theories will be recognized as erroneous and replaced, but it is too early for us to judge this.

A list of the most common and well-known points that are actually deceptive.
We think that this or that situation arose under one circumstance, but in fact, everything happened differently.
Let's find out the truth and show off our erudition.

1. Big Ben is the clock tower in London

Would you be offended if you learned that the British call the chimes the policemen on Red Square who beat someone on New Year's Day? For sure. And Londoners have long ceased to wince when they hear “Big Ben Tower” from tourists. Although in fact Big Ben is the largest of the six bells of the Westminster Abbey clock tower. It is he who beats the time, hence the confusion. It was christened that way on May 31, 1859, the day the clock was launched. The name was chosen by parliament. The loudest shouter at the meeting on the clock was Forestry Supervisor Benjamin Hall, a direct and vocal man. There were more jokes about him than about Putin, and behind his back Hall was called “Big Ben.” After another particularly stupid remark from Hall, a voice was heard from the audience: “Let’s call the bell Big Ben and go home!” The hall burst into laughter, but the nickname stuck. That's it. And the tower in which the bell hangs, by the way, is called Saint Stephen.

2. Cirrhosis of the liver is the lot of alcoholics

Not only. Cirrhosis is generally caused by intoxication - for example, if a lot of copper enters the body (it is, in particular, found in cod liver). Cirrhosis also often occurs as a complication of any form of hepatitis and a lack of protein in the diet.
By the way, just so you know: delicious foie gras is the cirrhotic liver of geese. But most geese don’t drink.

3. Having sex on a waterbed is cool

This is usually said by those who have never done this. However, we can say with authority: not cool, no. The water mattress is too soft, it is almost impossible to fix even the simplest pose on it. In addition, the masses of water underneath you move back and forth and, due to their inertia, do not allow you to keep your rhythm. This water inertia can even throw particularly temperamental individuals to the floor. This kind of sex occupies the penultimate place in our ranking. The only thing worse is sex in an anthill. All the other 1,378 tested types of sex are undeniably better.

4. Galileo was burned for the phrase “But still it turns!”

Let's go in order. The first person to make a serious contribution to a school astronomy textbook was Nicolaus Copernicus. He lived in the 16th century, often looked at the sky and one day realized that the Earth revolves around the Sun. He died a natural death at the age of 70 because he did not shout in the squares: “The earth is turning, boys!” - and quietly wrote down formulas that no one understood in a notebook. But the poet and mystic Giordano Bruno, who was next, was burned. From the works of Copernicus, he only understood that the Earth is a small planet, of which there are many in the Universe, and this idea fit well with the religious doctrine he invented. In 1584, Bruno began touring cities preaching, and he was burned for heresy 16 years later. Galileo was third. A great scientist, he discovered mountains on the Moon and spots on the Sun. In 1632, he wrote a book in which he developed the teachings of Copernicus, and a year later he was summoned to court. There he agreed that he was mistaken and was released under house arrest.
“But still she spins!” – the old man did not speak, otherwise he would not have returned to his villa in Florence in good health. At the end of the 17th century, one of his students wrote the phrase on a portrait of Galileo. This is how the misconception arose.

5. Fish day in Soviet canteens was introduced for health reasons

Yes, concern for health sometimes took on alarming proportions in the USSR. However, the fish day is not associated with it. In the 1930s, pig farming began to decline in the country due to collectivization. On September 12, 1932, People's Commissariat for Supply Mikoyan signed a decree on replenishing the meat shortage with fish, since lakes and seas happily escaped dispossession. A fish day was introduced in all canteens: hake and capelin replaced meat on Thursdays. It was unusual to dine on fish. The Caucasian Mikoyan himself suffered the most, according to his memoirs: “At first it was disgusting to even touch her, but then I liked it.” However, only a person with a phosphorus deficiency in the brain would deny the benefits of fish. So there was still some healing effect.

6. Some cell phones have better connection than others.

“I have one stripe!” - “And I have two!” Not only girls during a delay, but also people with mobile phones sitting in a basement cafe like to have such dialogues with each other. For some reason, it is believed that phones from different manufacturers have different sensitivity to base station signals. On the Internet, entire forums are devoted to choosing the model that “keeps the connection” better. Meanwhile, according to phone tester Eldar Murtazin, GSM phones have no concept of sensitivity at all: they all receive the signal the same way, or at least they should. “It’s just that companies flash their devices differently, so a signal of 20 dB will be assessed by one phone as two bars, and by another as three. But they will accept it equally. Tell your readers that.” That's what they said.

7. “The Lonely Sail Whitens” was invented by Lermontov, and “Genius” pure beauty» – Pushkin

In fact, the Decembrist A. Bestuzhev composed a line, which Lermontov then borrowed (presumably out of respect, or maybe just out of envy):
The lonely sail is white,
Like a swan's wing
And the clear-eyed traveler is sad;
There is a quiver at your feet, an oar in your hands.
Well, V. Zhukovsky came up with:
Oh! Doesn't live with us
A genius of pure beauty;
Only occasionally does he visit
Us from heavenly heights.
Pushkin at one time wrote the phrase in italics, indicating that it was a quotation. The italics disappeared from later editions.

8. Mustangs are beautiful and graceful horses

Before Columbus, there were no horses in America at all. And mustangs are wild and degenerate descendants of horses brought by the Spaniards. They weren’t medal winners anyway, but having gone wild, they became completely short, maned and clumsy. The same were the cowboys - illiterate shepherds, busy day and night with grazing cows on the prairies. So carefree guys prancing along saloons on horses of elite breeds are an invention of writers and directors. The Indians almost never rode mustangs. They ate them.

In fact, the Finns began using Molotov cocktails in 1939. And they called it “a cocktail for Molotov,” because they believed that the Russian-Finnish war was started by the evil People’s Commissariat of the USSR. The British, who really liked the mixture, did not understand what was intended for whom, and threw out the word “for”.

This is not food. The videos are made not by chefs, but by filmmakers. They don’t like to work with products, because chocolate melts under the spotlights, caramel sticks to white background, and the ice cream does not want to hold its shape. Therefore, they are filmed in advertising instead professional actors: brown paint, paraffin and mashed potatoes. Plus elements computer graphics so that you don't notice the forgery. And it is right. Everyone should mind their own business: the paint should shine on the screen, and the chocolate should melt in the mouth.

11. Cactus protects from harmful computer radiation

There is no accounting office whose inhabitants would not place a cactus near the computer so that it protects them from radiation. Anyone who has opened a physics textbook will appreciate the absurdity of the situation: it is impossible to create darkness in a room with the help of a thing that “absorbs” light. Invisible radiation cannot be absorbed either. The myth was created by physics students (including the now famous Alex Young) during the years of perestroika. They wrote a pseudo-article about protective properties cactus. The opus was angrily rejected everywhere, and only “Rabotnitsa” trustingly published it. Even the public confession of comedians made three years ago could not dispel the myth.

12. Ostriches bury their heads in the sand

It seemed so to the Roman scientist Pliny the Elder, and he entered the fact into the encyclopedia. His works were not at all accurate, but this myth lasted longer than others. But an ostrich doesn’t bury its head in the sand - it doesn’t know how, and it will suffocate. But he often lies down and puts his neck on the ground to give it rest. Sensing danger, he also lies down and presses his head to the ground - listens to who is coming. So feel free to scare ostriches in enclosures with concrete floors: nothing will happen to them.

13. A frigid woman is one who does not experience orgasm.

The absence of an orgasm is nothing, a matter of everyday life, as Carlson said to Miss Bok (though for a completely different reason). Many women do not experience it (most often due to lack of experience), but this does not in any way prevent them from enjoying sex. Their problem is called anorgasmia and has nothing to do with frigidity. Sometimes a simple consultation with friends or a change of partner helps women cope with anorgasmia.
Another thing is frigidity. This is a fairly serious mental disorder that needs to be treated. Frigid women do not enjoy sex at all and are not interested in it. Previously, such people went to a monastery, but now they go to see a sex therapist.

14. Jihad is a holy war

Apart from a handful of fanatics, the Arabs are a rather relaxed and contemplative people. The word “jihad” exists to denote paranormal states. Literally: “to strain, to make an effort.” Building a house, planting a tree - all this is jihad. If this word were in Russian, we would say: “Without jihad you can’t take a fish out of the pond,” “Patience and jihad will grind everything down,” “He who does not jihad does not eat,” “It’s time for jihad, it’s time for fun.” And any foreigner, knowing only about our class jihad for the cause of communism, would still swallow validol upon hearing this word.

15. Othello did not strangle Desdemona, but stabbed her with a dagger

Those who have mastered Shakespeare like to brag about this fact to those who have not mastered it. Meanwhile, Othello stabbed Desdemona only in the translation by Pasternak, who generally liked to correct the classics to his taste. In the original Othello stifles his wife, and this at all times meant “strangle”. So those who haven’t read Shakespeare are right. And hence the moral: the less you know about the details, the more accurate your knowledge of the essence.

16. Guys shouldn't cry

Why exactly? Any in the body natural mechanisms they don't just launch. Timely tears remove excess corticosteroids – stress hormones. If you don't cry (at least sometimes), you'll lose sleep and appetite. Remember, in Ancient Rome There was a saying, “Slaves don’t cry.” Crying was considered a privilege there free man. And on the pages of the Caucasian heroic epic“The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin” horsemen often shed tears, and this does not at all deprive them of their masculinity. The main thing is not to confuse tears with hysteria. This is really not a man's business.

17. In the USSR, apartment doors opened inward to make it easier for the KGB to break them down

International building codes require doors to be built so that they can be knocked down easily and quickly - but from the inside, in the event of a fire. And only in Russia do doors open inwards. It is in vain that this tradition is associated with the work of the Soviet intelligence services: it is much older than the USSR. The point here is solely in the peculiarities of the Russian winter. If the doors peasant huts swung open to the outside, the very first serious snowstorm would have locked them in until spring, no matter how much you waved a shovel in the entryway. Soviet designers of high-rise buildings maintained this tradition only out of habit and thoughtlessness. As for the Cheka, NKVD and KGB, it is not difficult to guess that apartment doors have never been a problem for them.

18. You can’t urinate in the cold

It is possible and necessary. Otherwise, the body will urinate in its pants without your help, which in the cold will lead to loud consequences. Don’t worry about your health: you can’t even freeze a finger in a couple of minutes, especially an organ with such powerful blood flow and internal heating. You can't urinate on an electrical cable, but that's a completely different story, and the time of year doesn't play a role here.

19. In Swedish families there are many either wives or husbands

This misconception is spreading not only throughout Russia, but where it came from is not remembered anywhere. In Europe, however, 60 years ago there was an expression “Swedish marriage”, which meant unregistered cohabitation. But how this concept became synonymous with group sex, etymologists do not know. The Swedes themselves, quiet and faithful people, are shocked when they are asked if they really love group sex and engage in it right at the buffets.

20. You should eat soup every day

“It’s not that it’s necessary,” says nutritionist Alexei Pospelov. – We usually recommend eating it because people nowadays drink very little water, preferring soda or beer. As a result, the body becomes dehydrated, and this is precisely the problem that soup is designed to combat.” And in itself, a decoction of vegetables is quite useless: all the vitamins in it decompose. Therefore, if you drink enough, you can avoid choking on soup.

21. Beer is a good sleeping pill

Yes, it fogs your mind and makes you want to lie down for a minute. However, you won't be able to sleep after drinking beer. Firstly, the putrescine contained in beer depresses the nerve center of sleep, and secondly, within an hour after going to bed, the brain will dream that you will wake up as soon as possible and go to the toilet.

22. Soda is a good thirst quencher.

She could, if not for the main component of any fizzy drink - phosphoric acid. By irritating the taste buds of the tongue, it stimulates the production of saliva, which quenches thirst. But once salivation returns to normal, you’ll want to drink again. Therefore, although soda quenches thirst, it does it poorly. Water is usually much worse.

23. If a person grinds his teeth, it means he has worms

In fact, this means that a person has bruxism, a syndrome associated with the functioning of little-studied areas of the brain. Unless, of course, the person in front of you is a child – they generally grind their teeth in their sleep to form a bite. So don't wake the person up by screaming in horror. Moreover, bruxism sometimes goes away on its own.

24. Magnetic storms can be predicted

It is forbidden. At the Institute of Applied Geophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, we were told that the last device capable of this sank along with the Mir orbital station. Magnetic storm forecasts in newspapers are a type of horoscope.

25. The monkey was the first to think of picking up a stick.

On our planet today there are several hundred creatures, including primates, who use sticks as tools. For example, chimpanzees, crows and sea otters are sea otters. In general, since time immemorial, they have been using sticks and stones to open the shells of sea urchins. But this still has not made them human and, most likely, it never will. Of course, the question of what made humans out of monkeys still remains open. But scientists agreed that it was not a stick. This thesis was simply a figure of speech from Engels’ books.

26. The poem “Luka Mudishchev” was written by Barkov

When there was no Internet yet, we all rewrote a dirty poem under our desks. And they thought that it was written by Barkov, a classic of non-print literature. Yes, he wrote many other terrible horrors, but not Luke. After all, he died in 1768, and in the poem there are clear indications of the 19th century: firstly, the pimp Matryona lives on Polyanka (the street appeared in Moscow no earlier than 1801); secondly, in payment, the widow gives her four “rainbow notes,” which is the common name for hundred-ruble banknotes issued in 1843 after the reform of the Kankrin Ministry of Finance. Therefore, either Barkov is a brilliant science fiction writer, or he did not write the poem.

27. Frame 25 is a dangerous thing

No more dangerous than the “radiation” of a monitor. The joke about the 25th frame was invented by American film distributors. They allegedly published the results of experiments, from which it followed that it was possible to force a person to buy popcorn by inserting a sign every 24 frames calling “Eat popcorn!” This news shocked ordinary people so much that even after the jokers admitted everything, the delusion continues to live. In different countries, including ours, even a law has been passed against the 25th frame. This is especially funny considering that there are still no videos with the 25th frame in the world, no confirmation that the mythical technology even works.

28. Monkeys look for fleas in each other’s fur.

This spectacle is so unpleasant that few people manage to take a closer look at it. Hence the misconception. After all, a person who has watched monkeys for at least half an hour will probably notice that their fur is too sparse for fleas to live in. So, in fact, primates look for salty sweat crystals in each other’s fur, which are considered a delicacy (among monkeys).

29. Belka and Strelka – the first dogs in space

There were dogs in space like uncut dogs. Some died in accidents, others were luckier. There were three dozen flights in total, and the first to rise to a height of 100 km (formal space) were the mongrels Dezik and Gypsy in July 1951. But Laika was the first to enter real space orbit on November 3, 1957. They didn’t yet know how to return ships from orbit, so Laika was fried in the capsule. That’s probably why they prefer not to remember this shameful fact.

30. Mice are crazy about cheese

Mice are crazy about everything that is edible. Butter, grain, ham, sausage - mice will eat any organic matter with equal appetite. It’s just that in the old days, cheese was stored open in pantries more often than other products, and mice took advantage of this. This is how the myth arose. In general, if given a choice between cheese and lard, two out of three mice will choose the latter. Do an experiment. If your neighbor in the country likes to play loud music and reacts poorly to threats, go to him to talk about the weather, and when he turns away, discreetly rub grease on the wires of the music center. After that, you can sleep peacefully: mice are crazy about lard. But they are indifferent to music.

31. Hairy women are the most temperamental

Women from the south are more temperamental than northern women (this fact has been confirmed many times, last time– Durex, which conducted a global sex survey in 2005). On the other hand, Southern women tend to be hairier. But those who conclude from this that hairy women are temperamental have a problem with formal logic. Moreover, the misconception is easily debunked if you know a little anatomy. The male hormone testosterone is responsible for hairiness, including in women. And for temperament and sexuality - estrogen. Of course, coincidences are possible, but there is no direct relationship between the two phenomena. Especially now that epilators have taken over the world.

32. Chifir is a very strong tea

A question of terminology, of course. However, if we consider brown water with the alkaloid tannin dissolved in it as tea, then chifir has nothing in common with this definition. This is no longer tea, but rather soup. More precisely, an infusion obtained through long manipulations with tea leaves, a mug of water and an open fire. In this case, the solution turns into a suspension, and the alkaloids turn into psychotropic compounds.

33. Lemon has a lot of vitamin C

The logic of the misconception is simple: vitamin C is sour and lemon is sour - which means there is a lot of the other in one. In fact, lemon contains even less vitamin than cabbage, and tens of times less than kiwi. And the sour taste of lemon is given by minor substances (they are called that not because they make you sad, their concentration is simply low).

1. Einstein got bad grades in school

Several generations of children were warmed by the myth that the famous physicist, laureate Nobel Prize had problems with school performance. Adults whose children did not make much progress in school also consoled themselves with this. However, in reality this was not the case at all: Albert Einstein studied very well at school, especially in science and mathematics, which, however, is not surprising given his genius abilities. According to the publication, the misconception is explained by the fact that since the physicist’s childhood, the grading system in Germany has been reformed, and “fours” began to be perceived as “twos.”

2. Mice love cheese

In all cartoons, mice go crazy for cheese, there is a saying about free cheese in a mousetrap - in general, most people are sure that mice really like this dairy product. However, this is not true - mice prefer sweet food, as well as peanut butter and products with cereals.

3. Napoleon was short

Behavior of an aggressive ambitious person vertically challenged often explained by the so-called Napoleon complex. At the same time, short men themselves really like the parallels with the Emperor of France. The myth about the commander’s height appeared after an incorrect translation; in fact, his height was approximately 170 cm - in XVIII-XIX centuries for a man it was average height. After this myth was debunked, Napoleon did not rank among the shortest rulers in the world, as he turned out to be too tall for this list.

4. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb

Edison invented many wonderful things, he was one of the most brilliant inventors of all time, but the light bulb still has nothing to do with him. The light bulb was invented by Englishman Joseph Suen.

5. Lemmings throw themselves off cliffs to commit suicide.

This misconception entered the minds and went for a walk around the world after showing an old Disney film about life wildlife. In fact, this is just a myth that has nothing to do with reality, and these animals do not commit group suicide.

6. In different hemispheres, the water in the funnel swirls in different directions

How often children watch in fascination as water goes into a drain hole, for example, in a bathtub, spinning into a funnel. Many adults are convinced that in the other hemisphere the water will spin in the other direction, but this, alas, is not the case.

7. Humans evolved from monkeys

Darwin's theory does not confirm this at all - the scientist only proved that primates had a common ancestor in the distant past.

I’ll add one more popular misconception about Darwin’s theory. Allegedly, his theory of evolution says that the fittest survive. In fact, Darwin spoke about the survival of the fittest.

8. Vikings wore horned helmets

This may upset a lot of people, but it is pure fiction. Scientists explain this misconception by the fact that the Vikings were buried with their military helmets, and animal horns were also placed in the graves, intended for drinking strong drinks. When the first Viking graves were excavated, some archaeologists suggested that these horns were on helmets and simply fell off. However, not a single Viking Age battle helmet with horns actually attached to it was found, nor was there any other evidence of this myth (on the Bayeux carpet, for example, there are no horns on Norman helmets).

9. Columbus believed the earth was flat

According to The Times, many Britons, like people in other countries, think that Columbus believed the earth was flat, but then it is unclear why he took a roundabout route to India.

10. Different parts of the tongue respond to different tastes

Humans do have different taste buds on the tongue, and some are more sensitive to bitter or sweet than others. But they are not at all divided into sections in the language.