50 Science Misconceptions - mental_floss on YouTube (Ep.18)

Scientific misconceptions can be the result of new, better data coming out, or simply a matter of the wrong belief being more fun to spread than the truth. In this episode, we debunk 50 science misconceptions.

The List Show is a weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, Hank Green discusses 50 common science misconceptions about topics such as bats, dog years, and dinosaurs.

Watch Scishow for more science-based fun.

Artist acknowledgements for this episode:

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[MentalFloss]

Love fun facts? Of course you do, why else would you be here? Join us for our LIVE trivia show this Friday to test your fun fact expertise:

[FuckingFuckShitBitch]

I was really hoping you would address the fact that a lot of people seem to think a scientific theory is just an unproven, untested idea. This is without a doubt, the most infuriating scientific misconception.

[MissClockwork]

"Brontosaurus never existed"

-A Year Or So Later-

"Brontosaurus existed"

[MrBanzoid]

Everyone knows that the dark side of the moon is an album by Pink Floyd.

[LukasCoyne]

I feel they've done a great disservice to Rosalind Franklin who contributed so much to the discovery of DNA that she deserves the recognition more than Crick and Watson

[StudioOfBugs]

and the beautiful thing is... that in some years, we'll be correcting this video, pointing out what is really true

[pranamd]

2:06 - I don't know Russian, but I do know some of the Cyrillic alphabet, so I was very confused about why the cosmonaut's speech bubble said "pervyy". Turns out, the Russian word for "first" is "pervyy". I find this amusing.

[Andyjpro]

My problem with this video is that some of these aren't misconceptions, just pedantic nitpicking. The only ones I didn't know where about the first people in space, but that's not technically science that's historical trivia.

And whoever is saying that angle and distance are not related, well you're wrong. If you think of an right triangle with some angle theta, and you change that angle theta, you alter the proportions of the two legs to keep the hypotenuse the same.

[shockwave]

I know a woman who is part of a campaign to get Pluto reinstated.  She is such an avid campaigner that (she claims) even the space program people know about her.  I for one think she's being a nuisance.
As for flies, I remember one particular fly that was hanging around my house for such a long time that in my head, I actually started to write a musical from the fly's point of view.  But I'm sure you'll never see this musical, and even if you did you'd find it really weird and disturbing.

[akshayrathore]

"The light from stars is refracted as they passes through atmosphere distorting the image that reach our eyes"
eh well thats what is called twinkling.

[charlotteroberts]

Orcas might be the largest species of the dolphin family, but all dolphins are toothed whales.

[Silverstroke]

51st Science Misconception
Pluto was never voted back into being a planet.

[wishtopublish]

The tongue one bothers me so much because it's SO easy to disprove. The second I heard this as an 8-year old, I took a piece of candy and rubbed it all over my tongue. I tasted sweetness all over, and after several tests I called BS on it.

[kensmith]

I counted 5 mistakes
--brontosaurus is back
--Fusion is often referred to as burning. "On fire" may be wrong but "burning" isn't.
--They now say that there may well be a 9th planet way out there.
--The first person in space was likely the pilot of an X15. It matters where you say space starts.
-- "amorphous solid" is "solid" . A "delicious apple" is an "apple"

[masterofelements]

Since this episode has aired, at least one of these things has changed.

[xGrayx]

THANK YOU FOR #50. EVERY NEWS ARTICLE EVER SHOULD LEARN THIS ONE. I once read an article that noticed the correlation between couples that were in a good relationships and the positions that they sleep in. They then made the very wrong conclusion that this means the position you sleep in with your partner has a strong impact on the quality of your relationship.

[BackfallGenius]

I've noticed a correlation between the amount of time I spend watching your videos and the amount of facts in my head. Clearly, your videos are causing me to become smarter.

[ljmoulton]

I think this would have been more enjoyable if some of the facts were explained further and to keep the video from being too long, split the video into two (or more) parts.

[void_mayonnaise]

sorry, but for the first female astronaut (who happened to be russian) her speech bubble should've said "первая!" not "первый!" because she's female.

[MminaMaclang]

As a statistician, 50 was my favorite. THANK YOU. IT NEEDED TO BE SAID.