Episode idea: Stuff you think is hokum but isn't
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EeneyMinnieMoe
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A million things that sound like urban legends but aren't. That the handcuffed hands of a flight attendant were found in the WTC rubble, that Thomas Edison really was afraid of the dark, that Fidel Castro really was a baseball player in his college days, that Alexander Graham Bell really had a deaf mother, that pirates really did pierce their ears to improve their vision and that Ben Franklin really did eat breakfast naked every day.
They all sound like something Snopes.com would debunk- but they aren't.
They all sound like something Snopes.com would debunk- but they aren't.
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TaoMacGuy
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Two come to mind immediately:
1. Too much salt is not as bad for as everyone thinks (I have no personal idea on this, but know a few skeptical friends who have claimed thus),
2. Phil Plait has claimed we have no evidence of anyone going completely blind by staring directly into the sun.
I'd post the URL to #2 (it is Google-able), but I haven't attained the requisite 15 posts to the forums yet.
1. Too much salt is not as bad for as everyone thinks (I have no personal idea on this, but know a few skeptical friends who have claimed thus),
2. Phil Plait has claimed we have no evidence of anyone going completely blind by staring directly into the sun.
I'd post the URL to #2 (it is Google-able), but I haven't attained the requisite 15 posts to the forums yet.
Safe-Keeper
My avatar is not a Drumpf hat
The first thing that sprang to mind in my case would be the giant squid.
"Don't stare into the sun, you could go blind" does sound like a wives' tale to kids, akin to "don't play with the lights, you could start a fire".
EeneyMinnieMoe
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You'd be better off doing things that you take so granted as being true but turn out to be hokum. Legends like snuff movies, soldiers being spit on coming from Vietnam, feminists burning their underwear, the old wives' tale about not swimming 30 minutes after eating, etc.
I thought that pirates wore eye patches 'cause they did stuff like this. Looking at the sun and causing damage.
I remember watching an American film about a civilians need to get themselves fit for WWII. Advice given to cure bad eyesight included looking at and around the Sun.
So if it is not the Sun making people go blind it must be the other cause.
He looks in more danger from the end of that stick!
THAT'S why they wore patches. Solved!
Cool
AtheistsareGod
New Blood
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Swine flu
There's some great top tips here to keep you safe, I'm sure it's not hokum...
When I say 'sure', I mean I have a tickly feeling inside that tells me I'm sure.
(these tips were sent to me by people who believe it)
______
Please have all these on hand to protect yourself from the Swine Flu.
1. Miracle Mineral Supplement...MMS....you can google it and see the benefits. It alkalizes the body and kills pathogens. You do not need thecitric acid just use lemon.
2. Colloidol Silver...Get a strong one...many parts per million....According to clinical trials...No Virus or Bacteria can live in the presence of colloidol silver
3. Lots of Vitamin C...of course...You should start right now working up to 10 Grams a day.
4. Golden Seal root powder....Golden seal is the strongest antibiotic herb. Can be used very effectively for Flu and Bacterial infection....Put 1 tsp. in a cup of hot water 2/3 x a day.
5.Alpha Lipoic acid to boost the immune system
6. Go to Biomgscience at order their Wellness Kit. I can be used for everything...They are amazing for the price....You can use them to strengthen the immune system, pain....and all neurological disorders....to give you energy, to calm you down...to help you sleep...There's a book that comes with them....Also used for Cancer...OUr dog has a tumor on her foot and I put one on for a few days and it began to get smaller....I finished it off with Myrrh oil....great for tumors.
7 Buy Robert Young's phour salts....from his website PH Miracle Living....
8. Keep your immune system strong by staying away from sugars of all kinds....limit your fruit intake. Eat Green and have a green juice daily......Sugars of any kind including fruit sugar slow down white blood cells....they become very inactive and this allows virus' and bacteria to take over...It takes over 2 hours for your white blood cells to wake up after any kind of sugar. (watch the grains as well. either don't eat them or eat them in moderation. Grains turn right into sugar in your mouth)
9. Eat lots of garlic if it doesn't bother you. Russian Scientists have proven nothing lives in the presence of Garlic juice...
10. Plant essences derived from herbs, seeds, and leaves were the first medicines of our ancestors. In the modern world, we often look to pharmaceutical drugs instead of the tried-and-true natural remedies that work more slowly, but usually more effectively, than drugs and antibiotics – but when it comes to cold and flu, essential oils such as oregano, cinnamon, frankincense, lemon, eucalyptus and peppermint are prized by healers and naturopaths.
11.. Stay calm....meditate or do relaxation exercises. Use calming essential oils such as Lavender and lemon grass. Stress lowers your immune system
Everything's going to be alright. Fear can destroy your health...
Mary & Richard
p.s. Warning: FLUE SHOTS CAN BE DANGEROUS, EVEN DEADLY. BE CAUTIOUS
There's some great top tips here to keep you safe, I'm sure it's not hokum...
When I say 'sure', I mean I have a tickly feeling inside that tells me I'm sure.
(these tips were sent to me by people who believe it)
______
Please have all these on hand to protect yourself from the Swine Flu.
1. Miracle Mineral Supplement...MMS....you can google it and see the benefits. It alkalizes the body and kills pathogens. You do not need thecitric acid just use lemon.
2. Colloidol Silver...Get a strong one...many parts per million....According to clinical trials...No Virus or Bacteria can live in the presence of colloidol silver
3. Lots of Vitamin C...of course...You should start right now working up to 10 Grams a day.
4. Golden Seal root powder....Golden seal is the strongest antibiotic herb. Can be used very effectively for Flu and Bacterial infection....Put 1 tsp. in a cup of hot water 2/3 x a day.
5.Alpha Lipoic acid to boost the immune system
6. Go to Biomgscience at order their Wellness Kit. I can be used for everything...They are amazing for the price....You can use them to strengthen the immune system, pain....and all neurological disorders....to give you energy, to calm you down...to help you sleep...There's a book that comes with them....Also used for Cancer...OUr dog has a tumor on her foot and I put one on for a few days and it began to get smaller....I finished it off with Myrrh oil....great for tumors.
7 Buy Robert Young's phour salts....from his website PH Miracle Living....
8. Keep your immune system strong by staying away from sugars of all kinds....limit your fruit intake. Eat Green and have a green juice daily......Sugars of any kind including fruit sugar slow down white blood cells....they become very inactive and this allows virus' and bacteria to take over...It takes over 2 hours for your white blood cells to wake up after any kind of sugar. (watch the grains as well. either don't eat them or eat them in moderation. Grains turn right into sugar in your mouth)
9. Eat lots of garlic if it doesn't bother you. Russian Scientists have proven nothing lives in the presence of Garlic juice...
10. Plant essences derived from herbs, seeds, and leaves were the first medicines of our ancestors. In the modern world, we often look to pharmaceutical drugs instead of the tried-and-true natural remedies that work more slowly, but usually more effectively, than drugs and antibiotics – but when it comes to cold and flu, essential oils such as oregano, cinnamon, frankincense, lemon, eucalyptus and peppermint are prized by healers and naturopaths.
11.. Stay calm....meditate or do relaxation exercises. Use calming essential oils such as Lavender and lemon grass. Stress lowers your immune system
Everything's going to be alright. Fear can destroy your health...
Mary & Richard
p.s. Warning: FLUE SHOTS CAN BE DANGEROUS, EVEN DEADLY. BE CAUTIOUS
Mashuna
Ovis ex Machina
I hear that bleach is quite effective at killing bacteria too. . .
jasonpatterson
Philanthropic Misanthrope
I'm really hoping that this is a sarcastic post, but if not, as long as you're sure, we should all believe it too... (<-- That was a sarcastic post...)
What about the mold that grows all over garlic (the little black dots on the bottom of the bulbs?) More importantly, how does garlic live in the presence of garlic juice?
Also, though I don't have any evidence of someone COMPLETELY losing their vision due to looking at the sun, a kid at the school I teach at stared at the annular eclipse in 1996 (? 1995?) through the wrong kind of welding filter and burned an annulus into his vision. It's definitely possible to destroy large portions of your vision using the sun.
Matt the Poet
Critical Thinker
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- Jun 30, 2007
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How about something on Neuroimmunology? Sounds dangerously close to hokum on first pass, probably gets misused to justify hokum, is actually proper – if currently newish and sketchy – science.
It is kind of pointless to say that "no one has gone completely blind by staring into the sun." It is demonstrably true that people can and do greatly harm their vision by staring into the sun. So even if you couldn't go completely blind, which I'm pretty sure you can if you do it long enough, it is clearly not a good thing to do.
I asked for examples of things that
A. seem like hokum
and
B. are not, in fact, hokum.
That list you posted does not fulfill both of those characteristics. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to decide in which area those items come up short.
Monketi Ghost
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Evidence? I mean, our eyes were evolved under this star's light, limit the amount of light coming in, and I've never heard of anyone being blinded by the sun, or even so much as damaging their eyes by looking at it. If you stare at the sun and don't turn away, maybe, but then you're trying to damage your eyes...
We are indeed talking about staring at the sun, which many people have done to their detriment. Yes, we evolved under the light of our sun, but we also evolved the "stop doing this" reaction when staring into bright light. And no other animals go blind from staring into the sun. And by the way, who said evolution produces the best results? Moths fly into our light bulbs and I don't think it is a positive innate behavior for them.
If you have never personally heard of people being blinded by the sun, a simple search will show many examples.
Perhaps we are really wondering if casual glances at the sun have long term effects. I would think not, but this is one of those times where a pascal's wager type of argument makes sense, as you really have nothing to gain from looking at the sun and you could potentially damage your retinas.
foxholeatheist
Graduate Poster
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- May 7, 2009
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I would love to hear an Acupuncture episode. I don't really know much about it but I have seen it done here in an Aid Station in Iraq for back pain.
I'm sure it's no "energy" or anything crazy if there's anything at all to it.
I'm sure it's no "energy" or anything crazy if there's anything at all to it.
Skeptic Ginger
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With current events in mind, lots of people think the flu virus is unremarkable when in reality it is one of the deadliest viruses known in terms of number of people it kills.
Skeptic Ginger
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Eye damage looking at solar eclipses is a real possibility. People are misled as too how much light is entering the eye.
Same with looking at the Sun through a telescope without a proper filter, especially when people put the filter at the eye when it should be at the telescope opening. If the Sun's rays are magnified before they are filtered it can increase the risk of eye damage. You need to filter the light before it is magnified.
Here's a very thorough article addressing the myth and the reality of eye damage from the Sun.
Galileo, solar observing, and eye safety
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I only found out recently that Mussolini was a schoolteacher, but that's just not enough to blow me away. So I googled a little and came up with these purported truths (don't ask me ):
* The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
* Your body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second
* The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad!
* Tablecloths were originally meant to be served as towels with which dinner guests could wipe their hands and faces after eating
* Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!
* One car out of every 230 made was stolen last year
* The Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts three naked men with their hands on each other's shoulders
* It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times
* Forest fires move faster uphill than downhill
* Skepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing
* The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable" (which proves that English is very much inferior to Chinese)
* No piece of square dry paper can be folded more than 7 times in half (I'd be skeptic on that one...)
* The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is over 5000 years old (h**p://w*w*w*.metro.co.uk/news/62207-worlds-oldest-chewing-gum-found)
* In space, astronauts cannot cry properly, because there is no gravity, so the tears can't flow down their faces (could be alleviated by using TESA power strips)
* A sneeze travels out your mouth at over 100 m.p.h.
* Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails
* Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin!
* Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women (God is redressing the balance)
* The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby' (cute)
* More Monopoly money is printed yearly than real money throughout the world
* People photocopying their buttocks are the cause of 23% of all photocopier errors worldwide
* A dentist invented the Electric Chair
* A cockroach can live nine days without its head before it starves to death
* Cockroaches break wind every 15 minutes
* On average, every chocolate bar contains at least three insect legs (Bon appetit!)
* Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
* Alfred Hitchcock did not have a belly button. It was eliminated when he was sewn up after surgery.
* One in ten people live on an island (...larger than ...?)
* 3% of all mammals are monogamous
* 40% of all people who come to a party snoop in your medicine cabinet
* 43.7% of all statistics are made up right on the spot
* 55.1% of all US prisoners are in prison for drug offenses
):* The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds
* Your body is creating and killing 15 million red blood cells per second
* The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad!
* Tablecloths were originally meant to be served as towels with which dinner guests could wipe their hands and faces after eating
* Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!
* One car out of every 230 made was stolen last year
* The Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts three naked men with their hands on each other's shoulders
* It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times
* Forest fires move faster uphill than downhill
* Skepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing
* The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable" (which proves that English is very much inferior to Chinese)
* No piece of square dry paper can be folded more than 7 times in half (I'd be skeptic on that one...)
* The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is over 5000 years old (h**p://w*w*w*.metro.co.uk/news/62207-worlds-oldest-chewing-gum-found)
* In space, astronauts cannot cry properly, because there is no gravity, so the tears can't flow down their faces (could be alleviated by using TESA power strips)
* A sneeze travels out your mouth at over 100 m.p.h.
* Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails
* Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin!
* Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women (God is redressing the balance)
* The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby' (cute)
* More Monopoly money is printed yearly than real money throughout the world
* People photocopying their buttocks are the cause of 23% of all photocopier errors worldwide
* A dentist invented the Electric Chair
* A cockroach can live nine days without its head before it starves to death
* Cockroaches break wind every 15 minutes
* On average, every chocolate bar contains at least three insect legs (Bon appetit!)
* Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
* Alfred Hitchcock did not have a belly button. It was eliminated when he was sewn up after surgery.
* One in ten people live on an island (...larger than ...?)
* 3% of all mammals are monogamous
* 40% of all people who come to a party snoop in your medicine cabinet
* 43.7% of all statistics are made up right on the spot
* 55.1% of all US prisoners are in prison for drug offenses
Safe-Keeper
My avatar is not a Drumpf hat
I love this.
It seems to be true. Try
.(Though I didn't know that it had to be square and dry)
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Update: I've so far managed to fold a cigarette paper 7 times (might get to 8 if I employ tweezers and a hammer) and a page of DIN A4 paper - slightely smaller than letter - 6 times (plus one with hammer and anvil). Not beaten the challenge so far without meeting the special requirement that the paper be square.
Still, it is *BS*. Give me a a slice large enough and I will fold the earth. All I need is a few volunteers and a sheet of cigarette paper 1 km (kilometer) square. After folding it nine times, we'll be able to shake hands. I'll pay for the beer.
Still, it is *BS*. Give me a a slice large enough and I will fold the earth. All I need is a few volunteers and a sheet of cigarette paper 1 km (kilometer) square. After folding it nine times, we'll be able to shake hands. I'll pay for the beer.
Mark6
Philosopher
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- Mar 17, 2008
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- 6,261
Given that fire always moves up, that's hardly surprising.
Probably because most women are not dumb enough to horse around in heavy rain.
What kind of error CAN you get when photocopying your buttocks?? Copy vulva instead?
Yes, and I'd also think that thermals/ridge lift plays a small role in this - if the fire is on the more windy side of the hill.
I leave that to you to investigate.
Safe-Keeper
My avatar is not a Drumpf hat
Not exactly. From various Google results:
Doesn't matter how big the paper is. I've seen it tried (on an old BBC schools maths program) with a piece 10m2, and they only got 6 folds iirc.
ETA: went looking for it and found this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRAEBbotuIE
Stamds corrected :S
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10 m2 is barely large enough, I'm not surprised. It also depends on the size/thickness ratio and, as seen in the video, the air that gets trapped in the pack.
So they did it with a football field size. I only wonder what kind of "paper" that was.
A cigarette paper (the hand-rolling kind) folded 7 times is about 5 mm thick. The rest is maths. A 1000 m wide sheet folded 8 times ends up 4,6875 m wide, minus X bit for the bulge and trapped air.
If you manage to fold it without tearing it.
If only they would keep their volcanoes to themselves.
For Mark6: Why not photocopy your butt at work?
http://www.tressugar.com/Why-photocopy-your-butt-work-70458
iBum: The arse is the window of the soul
This new chair allows you to photocopy your butt when you sit on it:
http://www.walyou.com/blog/2009/07/26/photocopy-your-butt/
So they did it with a football field size. I only wonder what kind of "paper" that was.
A cigarette paper (the hand-rolling kind) folded 7 times is about 5 mm thick. The rest is maths. A 1000 m wide sheet folded 8 times ends up 4,6875 m wide, minus X bit for the bulge and trapped air.
If you manage to fold it without tearing it.
If only they would keep their volcanoes to themselves.For Mark6: Why not photocopy your butt at work?
http://www.tressugar.com/Why-photocopy-your-butt-work-70458
iBum: The arse is the window of the soul
This new chair allows you to photocopy your butt when you sit on it:
http://www.walyou.com/blog/2009/07/26/photocopy-your-butt/
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Silly Fat Git.