Archive

Topic: Things that are false

Fact Shakespeare did not coin as many words as you were told He is the first recorded use of many words. That is a different claim. 1 min read Fact QWERTY was not designed to slow typists down The jamming story is repeated everywhere and rests on very little. 1 min read Fact We only use ten per cent of our brains is completely false Scans show essentially all of it active over the course of a day. Damage anywhere causes deficits. 1 min read Fact The Great Wall of China is not visible from space It is long, but it is only a few metres wide and the same colour as the ground. 1 min read Fact Glass is not a slow-moving liquid Old cathedral windows are thicker at the bottom because of how they were made. 1 min read Fact The tongue map is completely made up Sweet at the tip, bitter at the back. It was a mistranslation, and it has been in textbooks for a century. 1 min read Fact Hair and nails do not keep growing after death The appearance is real. The explanation is not. 1 min read Fact Your ears and nose are not still growing They are sagging. Which looks identical and is not the same thing. 1 min read