19 Facts That Sound Like Lies

Have you ever been convinced that something was true, only to be shown it wasn't? How about the opposite? Have you ever been positive that something was absolutely untrue but found out later it was actually true?

There are many reasons why we sometimes come to the wrong conclusion on whether something's true or false. Much of it seems to be just the way human beings are built.

A fact heard for the first time can sound untrue

For one thing, a fact heard for the first time often sounds untrue. Especially if it contradicts a commonly-held view. Imagine the first time someone said the earth was round instead of flat.

Untruths told often enough can sound true

It's also true that if you hear an untruth often enough, it can sound like the truth. Especially if it seems to fit with common sense. For instance, the "fact" that the origin of the term "blue moon" refers to months in which two full moons occur. In fact the original meaning of the term was the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. The "two full moons in a month" credit only came about in 1946 and was actually the result of an error. You can read more details at the following link.
http://skytonight.com/observing/objects/moon/3305141.html

New evidence can change our beliefs

Then there are the things that we believe based on current evidence that turn out to be untrue later when more accurate evidence turns up. This happens all the time in science. In fact, it's the very nature of science that this will always be the case. A recent example is the re-classifying of Pluto from planet to dwarf planet with asteroid number 134340.

Beware of "always" and "never"

Another case is the things we speak of in sweeping terms like "always" and "never." Such as "all things shrink as they get cold." Most things have an exception which makes the statement untrue. In this case, water is the exception. Water expands as it freezes.

Watch out for traps

We have to watch out for the tricksters as well. "Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of lead?" will often catch the unwary. Feathers, I often hear. But didn't the question say a pound of each? The trickster who asked was hoping you'd picture a bucket of each and choose feathers.

Sometimes we fool ourselves

There are also times when we trip ourselves up by speaking incorrectly. I can't count the number of times I've heard someone say something like, "salt water is heavier than fresh water." This is a meaningless statement. You can't say if it's true or false unless you know what volume of water you mean for each. For instance, you could say, "A gallon of salt water is heavier than a gallon of fresh water." This would be true. Because the underlying truth is the fact that salt water is denser than fresh water, not heavier.

Is it only true sometimes?

A last case is things that are true only under certain circumstances. In my experience, these are the stickiest cases. Consider the statement, "At the north pole you can throw a cup of water into the air and it will freeze before it hits the ground." If the water is hot enough and the air is cold enough, this is true (+100 deg F and -32 deg F respectively). So if it's true, but only under special conditions, is the statement true or false?

My Favorite "Lies"

Here's a list of some of my favorite facts. Perhaps they're my favorites because they've gotten me into the most arguments!

1. glass is not a solid
2. freshwater fish pee more than saltwater fish do
3. lightning strikes occur from the ground up
4. a can of soup left in your cupboard for several weeks becomes a magnet
5. the water at the bottom of Lake Michigan on January 1 is always 39 deg F
6. fish don't drink water
7. water in your sink can drain in either direction in either hemisphere
8. the largest organ of the human body is the skin
9. a raisin dropped into a glass of fresh champagne will bounce from bottom to top of glass for several minutes
10. the piano is a percussion instrument
11. polar fish have a kind of antifreeze in their blood so they can survive freezing temperatures.
12. hot water freezes faster than cold water
13. water can exist in a liquid state below 32 deg F
14. fish can fart
15. cats don't always land on their feet
16. it's the male seahorse who gets pregnant
17. dry ice does not melt
18. cats can't see in total darkness
19. fish can drown

Glass is not a solid.
The debate rages on about this one. Common sense says of course glass is a solid. For a time many in the scientific community believed glass was a very viscous liquid because it lacked the crystalline structure many hold is a requirement of a solid. Evidence was cited in the form of glass windows in European buildings that are hundreds of years old. The glass at the bottom of the windows is slightly thicker than the glass at the top of the window. Proof, some said, that over time the glass was flowing downward ever so slowly. Current thinking says the thickening is due to the process used to make windows at that time and claims the windows are not changing. There's no clear-cut answer to the question of whether glass is liquid or solid. The most common belief right now seems to be that it is neither because it has some properties of both and lacks others. There's even talk of creating a new category of matter for it!
http://math/ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/glass/glass.html

Freshwater fish pee more than saltwater fish do.
Yes, they do. By a substantial amount. But it's a very dilute urine.

Lightning strikes occur from the ground up.
This is a hard one to swallow because most of us have seen lightning strikes occur. To our eyes, they definitely look like they start in the sky and reach down to the ground. According to lightning experts, what happens is that a small "leader" stroke of negative electrons goes from cloud toward ground. Once it gets close enough to the ground (or other object, like tall building), a rush of positive electrons leaps from the ground to meet it. When they meet, an electrical path is created. It happens too fast for the eye to see. Once this path is established, a powerful electric current roars down it and this we can see.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/tg/wstroke/wstroke.htm

A can of soup left in your cupboard for several weeks becomes a magnet.
To believe this one, you have to know what a magnet is. It's a device that produces a magnetic field and has one or more pairs of opposing magnetic poles (north and south). This is a fun fact because it's one you can verify yourself. Get a compass and hold it in a level position. Touch it to the side of the can. See what the compass reads. Move the compass to the highest point on the can's side. See what the needle does. It will point directly to the can, indicating the presence of a pole. Now move the compass to the lowest point on the can's side. You'll see the compass needle swing about until its opposite end is pointing to the can, indicating the presence of an opposite pole. The can is a magnet! In fact, most metal objects that are left for several weeks without being moved become magnets in this manner. I've verified it on filing cabinets and wrought-iron railings, to name a few. It happens because these objects are sitting in an unchanging orientation in the Earth's magnetic field (did you know the Earth itself is a magnet?). This magnetic field is very weak, but given enough time, it aligns domains in the metal, creating poles and hence a magnet. Do try this at home!

The water at the bottom of Lake Michigan on January 1 is always 39 degrees F.
I first saw this as a question on a physics test. It read, "What is the temperature at the bottom of Lake Michigan on January 1, 1939?" Good grief! But after the initial moment of panic subsided, I realized I did know enough physics to answer it. It requires making a couple of very reasonable assumptions. Is Lake Michigan a deep lake? Yes, I believe so. Does Lake Michigan usually get some ice on it in winter? Yes, I think so. Okay. I know that water is densest at 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, the temperature in any body of water that's cold enough to have ice on the surface but is not frozen all the way to the bottom will always be 39 degrees F.

Fish don't drink water.
Next time you hear someone say, "He drinks like a fish," be sure to inquire whether they're referring to a saltwater fish or a freshwater fish. If he drinks like a saltwater fish, he drinks a lot. Pretty much all the time. However, if he drinks like a freshwater fish, then he doesn't drink at all. That is, if you define "drink" as ingest water into the stomach and digestive system. Freshwater fish take in water through their mouths, but none of it goes to the stomach. It all leaves via the gills.

Water in your sink can drain in either direction in either hemisphere.
Many well-meaning people have told me that water in your sink or your toilet can only go down the drain in one direction. And that direction is opposite in the other hemisphere of our planet. The more scientifically-inclined even go so far as to tell me it's because of the Coriolis effect, which is why hurricanes always spin in one direction. Oh, my. It's simply not true. The Coriolis effect is involved in hurricane formation, but in your sink or toilet that effect is completely swamped out by other forces. Try it for yourself. Fill a sink with water. Pull the plug as gently as you can. Then put your hand in the water and give it a gentle push in a clockwise direction. Let it continue to empty and you'll see that the water drains in a clockwise direction. Now try it the other way. Fill the sink with water again. Pull the plug as gently as you can. Now put your hand in the water and give it a gentle push in a counter-clockwise direction. You'll see it empties in a counter-clockwise direction. You have defeated the Coriolis effect! You are a super-hero! Toilets, on the other hand, empty depending on how they are designed. Good luck trying to change that.

The largest organ of the human body is the skin.
This could be one of those trick questions. You can look it up anywhere on the internet and you'll see it stated as a fact. But lately I've been wondering about another organ. There's an organ in our abdomens called the omentum which stores fat. On morbidly obese people, is this organ actually bigger than the skin? Of course, large people have more skin as well, so maybe the skin retains its ranking as the largest organ.

A raisin dropped into a glass of fresh champagne will bounce from bottom to top of the glass for several minutes.
Here's another fun one to prove to yourself. Carbon dioxide bubbles from the champagne form on the raisin, making it more bouyant. It then rises to the surface, where some of the bubbles burst, causing it to lose bouyancy. It then sinks and more bubbles form, so it starts rising. The process continues for quite a long time; usually until you can't resist anymore and guzzle the bubbly.

The piano is a percussion instrument.
Percussion instruments are those that are played by being hit, shaken, or scraped. It might seem odd that the piano is grouped with drums and xylophones. A piano has strings, doesn't it? Yes, but grouping it with violins and cellos doesn't make much sense either. If you look inside a piano, you'll find that it has hammers that strike the strings, so that's one reason why it gets classified as a percussion instrument. Another reason is that the piano often plays a rhythmic role.

Polar fish have a kind of antifreeze in their blood so they can survive freezing temperatures.
Strange but true. Not true of the goldfish in your pond, however. Research is being done to figure out how these fish produce this substance and whether it can be used to help store human blood products for longer periods.
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/nsf50/nsfoutreach/htm/n50_z2/pages_z3/04_pg.htm

Hot water freezes faster than cold water.
I've had many people assure me that hot water does in fact freeze faster than cold water. "Have you tried it?" I ask them. "Well, no," they always say, "But I read it somewhere." Water that has been previously boiled can actually freeze faster than water that has not been boiled. If you put two similar quantities of water (same volume, same starting temperature) into two identical freezers, the water that has been previously boiled will freeze faster than the water that was not boiled. This is due to the fact that boiling removes some dissolved gases, which can allow water to freeze at a slightly higher temperature. But there is some fascinating evidence that under certain specific conditions hot water can actually freeze faster than cold water. See the following link for details.
http://math/ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/hot_water.html

Water doesn't necessarily freeze at 32 degrees F.
We learned in school that water freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. A more correct way to put it is that ice begins to thaw at 32 deg F. Water can exist in a liquid state below 32 F for a number of reasons. When it does, we call it "supercooled." Dissolving salt into water until it's saturated (can hold no more salt) moves the freezing point of water down to -6 deg F. If you keep water moving fast enough, you can keep it from freezing indefinitely. Pond keepers use this fact every winter. I've read cases of supercooled water happening in bottles of water left in a cold garage. The water has to be pure, in a smooth container, and left undisturbed. The neatest thing about this is that once you disturb the bottle, it freezes up in seconds. I'm definitely going to try this one myself! See the following link for the procedure.
http://digg.com/general_sciences/Supercooled_Water:_watch_as_bottled_turns_into_ice_in_seconds

Fish can fart.
I've been keeping fish for 37 years and I can vouch for this one. A fart is defined as intestinal gas expelled through the anus, for those of you who didn't know that. The first time I saw a bubble of gas come out the vent of an Oscar in one of my aquariums, I couldn't wait to tell someone! Big fish who eat a lot seem most prone to it in my experience. Hmm, any parallel to humans there? I recently read an article about biologists claiming their research suggests herrings use underwater farts as a means of communication. A number of responses to that occur to me, but I'll let you read it yourself at the following link.
http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/Week-of-Mon-20031103/009618.html

Cats don't always land on their feet.
It takes the average cat about 2-1/2 feet of free fall to have enough time to right themselves in order land feet-down. If the cat falls from a lower distance, he will not land on his feet.
http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=709

It's the male seahorse who gets pregnant.
Tell this to men and they usually have a reaction. I don't blame them. But the argument that if the male gives birth, then you're mistaken to call him the male doesn't hold water. The female seahorse produces the eggs. She deposits them into a special pouch on the male's abdomen, where he fertilizes them, incubates them, and then gives birth. Sorry, guys.

Dry ice doesn't melt.
That's one of the reasons it's used for shipping certain products. No wet mess to deal with. That and the fact that it has a surface temperature of -109.3 deg F. It doesn't evaporate either. Evaporation is when something goes from a liquid to a gas. Dry ice never goes to liquid. It goes directly from a solid to a gas in a process called sublimation. It's not really ice as we know it either. Instead of frozen water, dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. You've probably seen the vapor coming off dry ice. It doesn't melt. You suppose that's why they call it "dry?"

Cats can't see in total darkness.
They see well in dim light, but there must be at least a small amount of light present for them to see. Also, their eyes don't project light at night, in case you've also heard that myth. Their eyes can shine at night by reflecting even dim light off a special membrane inside their eye.
http://lookd.com/cats/anatomy.html

Fish can drown.
Here's another that requires a definition. What does it mean to drown? How about to die of suffocation while under water or other liquid. I've seen people suffocate their fish in at least three different ways. One way is to let their water quality get so high in ammonia or other toxic substances that it damages the fish's gills. If the damage is too severe, the fish can no longer absorb oxygen and it suffocates. A second way happens sometimes in the winter for pond fish. If a pond freezes completely over and stays that way for more than a few days, you risk suffocating your fish. I've seen entire pond populations wiped out this way. The fish may be dormant, but they're still using oxygen and giving off carbon dioxide. If the surface of the water is completely blocked off from the air, the fish can use up all the oxygen in the water and suffocate. The third cause is one I haven't often. Certain types of fish, including the common betta or Siamese fighting fish, have what's called a labyrinth organ. This organ enables them to breath directly from the air. Some of these fish are so dependent on this organ that if they don't have access to the surface of the water, they will drown because their gills can't provide enough oxygen. Fish taken out of water also suffocate, but that's not drowning.

You could win some beers

You may wonder what value these various facts have for you. Well, I've used them to win bets. Thirsty, anyone?