[s]Goal: 100,000 New Goal: 200,000[/s] New Goal: 250.000

[Smiley73]

Warts on human skin are caused by viruses that are unique to humans (human papillomavirus). Humans cannot catch warts from toads or other animals; the bumps on a toad are not warts

[Smiley73]

Frequently cracking ones knuckles or exercise while in good health does not cause osteoarthritis

[Smiley73]

People do not use only ten percent of their brains. While it is true that a small minority of neurons in the brain are actively firing at any one time, the inactive neurons are important too.^[269][270] This myth has been commonplace in American culture at least as far back as the start of the 20th century, and was attributed to William James, who apparently used the expression metaphorically.^[271] Some findings of brain science (such as the high ratio of glial cells to neurons) have been mistakenly read as providing support for the myth

 

 

Frequently cracking ones knuckles or exercise while in good health does not cause osteoarthritis

 

those two annoy me when they come up

[Smiley73]

When a sequence of independent trials of a random process is observed to contain a remarkably long run in which some possible outcome did not occur (for example, when a roulette ball ended up on black 26 times in a row, and not even once on red, as reportedly happened on August 18, 1913, in the Monte Carlo Casino^[283]), the underrepresented outcome is often believed then to be more likely for the next trial: it is thought to be "due".^{[284][285][286]} This misconception is known as the gambler's fallacy; in reality, by the definition of statistical independence, that outcome is just as likely or unlikely on the next trial as always—a property sometimes informally described by the phrase, "the system has no memory". If the event is physically determined, and not perfectly random, the repeated outcome may be more likely. For example, a die that has rolled ten consecutive 6s may be loaded or controlled by hidden magnets.

[Smiley73]

Gyroscopic forces are not required for a rider to balance a bicycle.^[292][293] Although gyroscopic forces are a factor, the stability of a bicycle is determined primarily by inertia,^[293] steering geometry, and the rider's ability to counteract tilting by steering.

[Smiley73]

A penny dropped from the Empire State Building will not kill a person or crack the sidewalk.^[297] The terminal velocity of a falling penny is about 30–50 miles per hour, and the penny will not exceed that speed regardless of the height from which it is dropped. At that speed, its energy is not enough to penetrate a human skull or crack concrete, as demonstrated on an episode of Mythbusters. As Mythbusters noted, the Empire State Building is a particularly poor setting for this myth, since its tapered shape would make it impossible to drop anything directly from the top to street level.

[Smiley73]

It is a common misconception that the color of water in large bodies, such as the oceans, is blue due to the reflections from the sky on its surface. Reflection of light off the surface of water only contributes significantly when the water surface is extremely still, i.e., mirror-like, and the angle of incidence is high, as water's reflectivity rapidly approaches near total reflection under these circumstances, as governed by the Fresnel equations. While relatively small quantities of water are observed by humans to be colorless, pure water has a slight blue color that becomes a deeper blue as the thickness of the observed sample increases. The blue tint of water is an intrinsic property and is caused by selective absorption and scattering of white light. Impurities dissolved or suspended in water may give water different colored appearances

[Smiley73]

Photographic or eidetic memory is the ability to remember images with extremely high precision—so high as to mimic a camera. However, it is highly unlikely that photographic memory exists, as to date there is no hard scientific evidence that anyone has ever had it.^[300] Many people have claimed to have a photographic memory, but those people have been shown to have good memories as a result of mnemonic devices rather than a natural capacity for detailed memory encoding.^[301] There are rare cases of individuals with exceptional memory, but none of them has a memory that mimics a camera. In recent years, a phenomenon labeled hyperthymesia has been studied, where the individual has superior autobiographical memory—in some cases being able to recall every meal they have ever eaten. One example is actress Marilu Henner.^[302]

[Smiley73]

The black belt in martial arts does not necessarily indicate expert level or mastery. It was introduced for judo in the 1880s to indicate competency of all of the basic techniques of the sport. Promotion beyond black belt varies among different martial arts. In judo and some other Asian martial arts, holders of higher ranks are awarded belts with alternating red and white panels, and the very highest ranks with solid red belts.^[306]

[Smiley73]

The forbidden fruit mentioned in the Book of Genesis is commonly assumed to be an apple,^[307] and is widely depicted as such in Western art. However, the Bible does not identify what type of fruit it is. The original Hebrew texts mention only tree and fruit. Early Latin translations use the word mali, which can be taken to mean both "evil" and "apple". German and French artists commonly depict the fruit as an apple from the 12th century onwards, and John Milton's Areopagitica from 1644 explicitly mentions the fruit as an apple.^[308] Jewish scholars suggested that the fruit could have been a grape, a fig, wheat, or etrog.^{[309][310][311]} Likewise, the Quran speaks only of a forbidden "tree" and does not identify the fruit.

[Smiley73]

Nowhere in the Old Testament or the New Testament is Satan described as dwelling in or ruling over hell

[Smiley73]

The Bible does not teach that humans can or will become angels after death.^{[314][315][316]} This myth has been propagated by films such as It's a Wonderful Life (1946) and Unlikely Angel (1996).

[Smiley73]

The historical Buddha was not obese. The "chubby Buddha" or "laughing Buddha" is a tenth century Chinese folk hero by the name of Budai. In Chinese Buddhist culture, Budai came to be revered as an incarnation of Maitreya, the Bodhisattva who will become a Buddha to restore Buddhism after the teachings of the historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama, have passed away.

[Smiley73]

The Buddha is not a god. In early Buddhism, Siddhārtha Gautama possessed no salvific properties and strongly encouraged "self-reliance, self discipline and individual striving."^[318] However, in later developments of Mahāyāna Buddhism, notably in the Pure Land (Jìngtǔ) school of Chinese Buddhism, the Amitābha Buddha was thought to be a savior. Through faith in the Amitābha Buddha, one could be reborn in the western Pure Land. Although in Pure Land Buddhism the Buddha is considered a savior, he is still not considered a god in the common understanding of the term

[Smiley73]

There is no evidence that Jesus was born on December 25.^[320] The Bible never claims a date of December 25, but may imply a date closer to September.^[320] The date may have initially been chosen to correspond with either the day exactly nine months after Christians believe Jesus to have been conceived,^[321] the date of the Roman winter solstice,^[322] or one of various ancient winter festivals

[Smiley73]

• Nowhere in the Bible does it say exactly three magi came to visit the baby Jesus, nor that they were kings, rode on camels, or that their names were Casper, Melchior and Balthazar. Matthew 2 has traditionally been combined with Isaiah 60:1–3.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

²

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

³

And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Three magi are supposed because three gifts are described, and artistic depictions of the nativity after about the year 900 almost always depict three magi.^[324] Additionally, the wise men in the actual biblical narrative did not visit on the day Jesus was born, but they saw Jesus as a child, in a house as many as two years afterwards (Matthew 2:11 ).^[325][326]

[Smiley73]

A fatwā is a non-binding legal opinion issued by an Islamic scholar under Islamic law. The popular misconception^[332][333] that the word means a death sentence probably stems from the fatwā issued by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran in 1989 regarding the author Salman Rushdie, who he stated had earned a death sentence for blasphemy. This event led to fatwās gaining widespread media attention in the West

[Smiley73]

The word "jihad" does not always mean "holy war"; literally, the word in Arabic means "struggle". While there is such a thing as "jihad bil saif", or jihad "by the sword",^[335] many modern Islamic scholars usually say that it implies an effort or struggle of a spiritual kind.^[336][337] Scholar Louay Safi asserts that "misconceptions and misunderstandings regarding the nature of war and peace in Islam are widespread in both the Muslim societies and the West", as much following 9/11 as before.

[Smiley73]

The Quran does not promise martyrs 72 virgins in heaven. It does mention virgin companions, houri, to all people—martyr or not—in heaven, but no amount is specified. The source for the 72 virgins is a hadith in Sunan al-Tirmidhi by Imam al-Tirmidhi.^[339] Hadiths are sayings and acts of the prophet Mohammed as reported by others and as such not part of the Quran itself. Especially the hadiths that are weakly sourced, such as this one,^[340] must not necessarily be believed by a Muslim. Furthermore, the correct translation of this hadith is a matter of debate.

[Smiley73]

The character Sherlock Holmes never used the phrase: "Elementary, my dear Watson" in the works of Arthur Conan Doyle.^[341] The first use of the phrase was in the 1929 film "The Return of Sherlock Holmes." Also, Holmes' smoking pipe is never described in Doyle's writings as a Calabash style pipe. The Calabash pipe which is large and easily visible, yet lightweight was first introduced into the Sherlock Holmes genera through the theatrical adaptions of the Great Detective starring William Gillette.^[342]

[Smiley73]

Henry Ford did not invent either the automobile or the assembly line. He did improve the assembly line process substantially, sometimes through his own engineering but more often through sponsoring the work of his employees.^[348][349] Karl Benz is credited with the invention of the first modern automobile,^[350] and the assembly line has existed throughout history.

[Smiley73]

Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb.^[347] He did, however, develop the first practical light bulb in 1880 (employing a carbonized bamboo filament), shortly prior to Joseph Swan, who invented an even more efficient bulb in 1881 (which used a cellulose filament).

[Smiley73]

It has been widely believed that Macintosh computers are immune to malware, such as viruses,^[359][360] though recent developments are correcting this belief.^[361][362] Although much less frequently than computers running Microsoft Windows, they can and do get malware.

[Crimson_Ayla]

Boo

[Mrs. Cindy Gill]

boo