Truth and misconceptions in science - Deception in science

1. Term 1: Illusion and trick 40 years
2. Term 2: The globe swells like a ball

American science magazine Live Science has deciphered some of the most popular mythological scientific concepts. It turns out that not all of this transmission is myth . But why are things so misunderstood? No one can know!

Chickens can still live? - It's correct

In fact, a few minutes after being cut off, the chicken is still "alive". It can run, even try to fly. The reason is that after losing the head, a part of the brain's plant nerve part controls all reflexes that remain intact. People used to know a healthy guy who lived without his head for 18 months.

Human brain only works 10% of capacity? - False

This mistake has existed for centuries. Luck (or unhappiness) instead, the truth is not so. Studies of the magnetic field of the brain show that most of the cortex is active in human life. The brain works even when we sleep.

In the universe there is no gravity? - False

This mistake is due to the existence of generic terms such as 'zero gravity' and 'zero gravity'. In fact, gravity is everywhere, acting equally on all people. Astronauts on the trajectory feel the state of vacuum just because they have to constantly fall freely towards Earth with their ship. Even the assumption that the universe is a vacuum is also wrong. In fact, in interstellar space full of atoms and molecules, only the distance between them is farther on Earth.

Eating a poppy is also equal to smoking marijuana? - It's correct

Although a seed of poppy does not give us a few minutes in the "floating world" as drug users know, they still cause problems for you. Because shortly after you swallow a grain and go for a blood test, the blood drug result will be positive!

Coins fall from a building that can kill people? - False

A common currency cannot be a weapon from a movement perspective. Because of the wind and the resistance of the air, a coin that is large and thrown from an Empire State skyscraper, 380m high, cannot fall so quickly that it gives someone an injury.

Adult brain cells do not develop? - False

Although the human brain is actively growing and experiencing major stages of development in the early stages of human life, however, the development of brain cells continues as humans mature.

Can chicken soup cure the common cold? - Almost right

It is impossible to treat colds with chicken soup, but the scientists support arresting patients to use some chicken water, because in this soup there are some substances that have anti-inflammatory properties, making the disease worse.

Can yawning spread? - Almost right

Experience shows that when a person starts yawning, he "spreads" that yawn to those around him. It is difficult to say how accurate it is from a scientific point of view, but some anthropologists believe that reflexes imitate others are inherited from their ancestors - gibbons.

Lightning never hit a place twice? - Dangerous mistake

The reality is the opposite. Lightning has its 'priorities'. Everyone knew thunder struck high places, so it was not advisable to hide lightning under a tree that had been struck by lightning. Empire State was hit by lightning on average 25 times / year.

Hair and nails continue long after people die? - False

After people die, all body processes immediately stop. So are hair and nails. This mistake appears simply because of illusions. After death, the body becomes dehydrated, the skin becomes dry, hair and nails seem to be long.

Law five seconds? - False

Some people believe that food fell to the floor but promptly picked it up in a few seconds, especially fried food, will not catch the virus. The fact proves that toxic bacteria can stick to food whenever they come into contact.

Can creatures sniff before natural disasters? - It doesn't seem right

There is still no evidence of a 'sixth sense' in animals. But the sense of smell, hearing and vision, the animal's innate instincts are more developed than those in humans - helping them to smell the danger. So animals never because of curiosity and ran to see storms or tsunamis. Moreover, animals also die a lot because of natural disasters. So if there is a sixth sense, it doesn't help.

Is the Great Wall the only artificial wonder that can be seen from the universe? - False

Astronauts can see many wonders from the low cosmic orbit - like pyramids, even runways of major airports. But in fact to see the wall without knowing exactly where it is is more complicated than other points. I can't see the Great Wall from the Moon.

Every 7 seconds, men think about sex? - Incorrect

Of course, think about creating a race that is in each person's instincts. But scientific control of the frequency of these thoughts is impossible. According to some sociological studies, every 7 seconds is an exaggeration.

Memorable deception

The case of "ghost patients"

A few months ago, the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet was caught in a "trick": a full oral cancer study signed co-authored 14 international scientists. The researcher is the Norwegian doctor Jon Sudbo, 44, who later confessed to having created hundreds of medical records to fill his research. The signatories were completely impersonal because they were 'pierced'.

Homosexual genes

In 1993, Dr. Dean Hamer (American National Institutes of Health) published an article in Science magazine which stated that he had discovered 'homosexual genes', or more accurately, a strange sign on chromatin. X-type is often seen in most gay men. Information is too shocking because it is not considered a pathology but a genetic substance. But when calmly reviewed, it was discovered that many of the results in the study were overblown, not to mention problematic research methods.

Cold cooperation

In 1989, at a time when people were wondering whether the ITER (International Fusion Test Reactor) project was capable of performing nuclear reunification in a giant reactor. Stanley Pons and his colleague Martin Fleishmann - two chemical chemists at the University of Utah (USA), announced that they had achieved a controlled fusion reaction at normal temperatures (producing helium from hydrogen atoms) by giving In the water weighs a needle with palladium.

Out-of-market palladium prices soared like rockets and all laboratories around the world rushed into the 'cold cooperation'. Of course they never did the same experiment as Pons and Fleishmann announced because the two scientists had faked the data.

Department of prehistoric tribes

In 1972 Manuel Elizalde, a young civil servant under the Marcos movement, was 'discovered' by a prehistoric tribe in the Philippines. This tribal feather tribe, named Tasaday, immediately went to the cover of National Geographic magazine, and NBC Television did not hesitate to immediately sign a $ 50,000 check for Elizalde to produce a documentary. about that unique community. Three years later, it turned out that the wild pink tribe was actually local aboriginal people who were invited to play the prehistoric people living in caves.

TRAN DUC THANH - N.NAN