The list over at wikipedia is much better: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions
this post was submitted on 02 Aug 2023
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The part about evolution being a theory is wrong.
The term they describe is a hypothesis. A theory is actually the highest level of understanding we have to.
We have basic data. Then we have Laws, which describe how that data behaves. Finally we have Theories, that describe WHY the data behaves like that.
Conversely a hypothesis is an idea to be tested. First by logic, then by experimentation. Hypotheses produce data, Theories explain and predict data.
Einstein didn't excel in maths. He was a physicist. He knew maths to do physics, but he wasn't mathematician. He also had his calculus checked by someone else, because that's what any reasonable researcher does. And when you work with people like Dirac, Shrodinger, Heisenberg or Feinman, you really feel like you're bad at maths. You'd probably feel like an idiot too if you didn't already have a Nobel prize.
IIRC, it was Schwartzchild (sorry butchered spelling) that solved equations about black holes, Einstein maybe wasn't able to?
I doubt it was a question of ability. It's more a matter of working on a problem for this. Einstein worked more on quantum physics after he made the relativity theory on which black holes are based.
But the matter is that physics is not done by one person, even at this time. The relativity for example is based on Minkovsky space iirc and refine ideas from Poincaré and a few others. Some guys do the maths and some others exchange ideas, and experience proves who is right or wrong.
Einstein was definitely a genius, but not for maths. He understood physics, and he understood what the equations meant for physics. I heard Dirac was a true math genius. He invented a new way to calculate quantum physics (the bra-ket thing I don't remember much), among other things.
Since it`s a bit misleading. Salty water boils slower since a higher temperature is needed. Also if you boil pasta you should get the water to ~sea water saltieness Edit: It seems I was quite wrong (about the saltieness not the boiling point). The upper tollarable limit seems to be aroud ~2 % salt while the sea has around 3.5 % salt.
You absolutely should not boil pasta in sea water saltines levels, it would be ridiculously salty.
It seems I was wrong. Sorry.
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Something that always confused me, as the water seems to react with bubbles when I throw salt into it. My theory is that little amount of energy gets released when the ion grid structure is broken up, but still boiling point is higher for salted water. Could absolutely be bullshit... maybe someone can explain?
Edit: Thank you all guys for taking the time to explain!
It's likely nucleation. Basically, the water wants to boil, however it can quite get over the hump to produce a gas bubble. When you add salt, the surface acts as a nucleation point. Once the bubble forms, it grows rapidly, often splitting and forming more.
You see this effect at the other end too. Supercooled water will remain liquid, until something becomes available to crystallise around. When this happens, the whole lot will freeze in seconds.
It's just adding a bunch of extra surface area so the bubbles form on it. Like mentos and coke. https://youtu.be/QW7r2RHt6tY
The salt can help "seed" the boiling, by providing nucleation sites for the bubbles to form. So, you end up with more bubbles, but they are smaller. Of course, this effect is only applicable before the salt finishes dissolving, so you're only going to notice it if you throw salt in when the water is already boiling or close to it. Chemists will use boiling-chips (little rocks that don't dissolve) for a similar reason to ensure a smoother boil (smaller bubbles means less splatter, assuming you put them in at the beginning... you definitely don't want to add boiling chips after things are already hot or you're gonna end up with even more splatter than doing nothing).
There are certainly energetic effects caused by the dissolution of salt crystals, but unless you're starting with deionized water or using a crazy amount of salt, the effect is gonna be pretty negligible.
A small amount of salt has a nearly negligible effect on boiling temp. Salting pasta water is for flavor.
Doesn't it seem that in context, jihad can still mean holy war? It seems the vast majority of jihadists are religious fanatics.
Do Muslims refer to difficult homework as a jihad? Do Muslims refer to living in poverty as a jihad? I've only ever seen it used in connection with a holy war, but I'm not Muslim so maybe I'm just fed propaganda and I'm ignorant of the true use.
The banana statment is complete nonsense. Herb nor Tree has any scientific meaning. The whole sheet is a bunch of petty pedantic gotcha at best and just wrong at worst.
What are you talking about? The literal difference between a herb and a tree is the presence of wood. This isn't referring to the culinary term for herb, it's referring to the short version of the botanical term "herbaceous", which are plants that aren't lignified, aka they don't have a woody stem like trees or shrubs do. The terms absolutely do have scientific meaning. Banana plants do not have woody stems, hence they are herbs, aka herbaceous plants. In general terms we call them trees, but in a botanical sense they aren't the same thing.
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@atheist
It's not just the insufficient velocity that makes the penny non-lethal. It's the combination of the velocity together with its low mass. A 30 to 50 mph fast and 10 lb heavy penny could definitely kill you.
Humans and dinosaurs do coexist right now, today: birds are (technically) dinosaurs.
Birds are decendants of dinosaurs but saying that birds are dinosurs makes Aa much sense as saying humans are fish Dinosaurs are a defined group of reptiles
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Left brain right brain.... Language? Surely as black and white as it gets.
Ditto the sugar /ADHD thing, that's in heavy research and is more about sugar -> inflammation -> neurological changes -> ADHD symptoms.
The wording is really specific and frankly misleading though technically true in what it seems to be claiming.
It is technically possible for brains that had something go wrong to develop language competency in the right hemisphere's real estate as long as the person was young enough.
But it is absolutely wrong in portraying this as if the two hemispheres aren't functionally different in practice (even if not in potential).
Sugar causes inflammation? I mean I know it's not healthy, but...
Yeah, lots of ROS and inflammation from excess sugar, especially when ingested without fibre.
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I would say the pasta one is debatable. The starch in the pasta is supposed to make the sauce thicker and thus more sticky. This won't happen when the starch is trapped in oil.
That is not what a theory is in science. Gravity is a theory and it's still very real.
Didn't take long for the reddit garbage memes to migrate.
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If gum took anywhere near 7 years to digest, regularly swallowing it would put you in the hospital within weeks. The gastrointestinal tract does not like obstructions.
Black holes may not be holes, but an up-close view of the event horizon would certainly look like one.
Iron maidens may be fake, but plenty of other ancient torture implements aren't. Humans are awful.
Fun fact: you have an entire separate sense solely for knowing whether you need to shit.
If fan death was wasn't a myth, I would have died a very long time ago.
Birds aren't idiots. They know perfectly well the difference between a human and their own baby. If they could smell human, they still wouldn't reject their babies because they'd also be able to smell baby bird.
TIL getting laid is a performance-enhancing drug.
Maybe not all dairy, but I definitely turn into a phlegmmy boogie goblin after eating larger amounts of some dairy foods.
I shall continue to tread carefully, even if science is on my side!
The Coriolis one is generally true, but it's been proven to have an effect on draining water in highly controlled environments using water that has been allowed to settle for at least 18 hours.
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