Recently in Science Category

Why are animal myths so pervasive? That's hard to say, given that we should know better by now. After all, we've been sharing this world with our furry, feathery, scaly, and finny friends for some time now. Fortunately, science is lending a hand in dispelling these myths!

Some people might argue that science is actually just making life boring by taking the wonder out of the world. Au contraire; there's more than enough wonder in true facts to make up for all the fantasy! So let's dispense with a few myths about animals, shall we?

Science myths can be surprisingly sneaky, penetrating popular culture in subtle and surprising ways. Remember Popeye the Sailor singing "I'm strong to the finish 'cause I eats me spinach"? That's one example of a science myth.

Dinosaurs have held a special place in the public imagination for more than a century, so it's to be expected that certain myths about dinosaurs are common. Some of them are pure silliness, while others are based on scientific misunderstandings that have long since been rectified.

Have you been taken in by common myths about birds? Many of us have been, because although birds are common and most of us encounter them on a daily basis, we don't exactly fly in the same social circles. It's almost like we live in different worlds... and in a way, we do.

Now, birds often figure prominently in legends and superstitions; but that's grist for another mill. In this article, we'll take a look at a few everyday misconceptions about our fine feathered friends.

It's true. We can't escape death but while we're still here in the here and now, we might as well learn to tell the difference about what's true and what is simply a myth. See which myths you've believed all your life and what information is true.

Going on a diet is difficult enough. Don't make it harder than necessary by sabotaging it and believing these common food myths. Learn the truth and stay on the right track for successful weight loss

Know any myths about precious metals? If not, we're happy to share

Few inanimate things get our imaginations running quite as hot as silver, gold, and their relatives, which is probably why there are so many myths about precious metals. This is a good thing for us here at Mythbusters, since it gives us a chance to take part in our favorite activity: setting the record straight!

As we mentioned in Part I, precious metals aren't limited to the two or three big ones we usually think about -- that is, silver, gold and platinum. Rhodium is worth far more than all three. Nor are they useful only as coinage and bullion. Ever wonder what other precious metal myths you're misfiring on?

Few things are more obvious or mysterious than the stars, so it's no surprise that myths about stars are rampant in human culture. Here's the truth about a few

How common are myths about stars? Well, there are more than 6,000 true stars visible to the naked eye on a clear night, and it sometimes seems that each has spawned its share of myths. Why? The reasons are complicated, and mostly boil down to the fact that we've only just begun discovering the truth about stars.

Sure, we know now that stars are basically huge fusion reactors in the sky, big balls of flaming plasma that have lives and lifespans of their own, and that in fact our sun is just an average star. But that's the fruit of the last century of science, and before then people came up with some pretty interesting ideas about them.

Gold, silver and platinum are more than just pretty things to look at, so join us as we debunk a few myths about precious metals in this two-part article.

Few things draw human attention more than shiny useful things, which is probably why there are as so many myths about precious metals. A lot of those myths center around lost mines and other ephemera, but there are quite a few that pertain directly to the metals themselves. Here are 3 in our first part of the discussion.

In a recent article, we explored general science myths -- that is, myths concerning the study of science itself.

This time, we'll take a look at a few specific myths that are commonly accepted as truth. If you've ever found yourself befuddled by science myths, don't feel too bad. It's a complicated world, and oftentimes the myths we accept as reality are passed on to us by authority figures and school textbooks. Take, for example, the myth that glass is really a very slow-flowing liquid, or polar bear fur is fiber-optic. Nope.

As 19th century humorist Josh Billings once said, "It's not what we know that's the problem, it's what we know that ain't so."* Or, in the immortal words of Yoda to Luke Skywalker, "You must unlearn what you have learned." In this article, we'll try to help you do just that.