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Science is constantly being rethought and reworked. Lately, it seems, nothing is sacred. From heavenly bodies to our how our brains relate to the ultimate heavenly being, science is being turned on its head.
Last week we were told Pluto is not really a planet. Today, contrary to previous research, a study reveals there is no “God spot” in our brains. And this one will really get under your skin: Sunscreen can damage your skin!
Crazy stuff, yes. But in many ways this is what we have come to expect from the Newly Exciting World of Science (NEWS). Dot com. Do what you want with that.
To celebrate all this inexactness, also referred to as “scientific progress,” it is our continuing mission at LiveScience to constantly surprise you with little-known scientific facts (as we understand them!) and routine debunkings, all in addition to the daily cool news. To that end, each weekday you will now find another of Life’s Little Mysteries explained (find them on our Home Page, and let us know what you are wondering about).
We’ve also delved into the science (or lack of it) behind urban legends and popular myths. We’ve only scratched the surface so far … the number of fictitious tales ingrained in our culture exceeds even the quantity of planets that would exist in our galaxy were Pluto to have been embraced along with the all the other round things out there.
What actually got me thinking about all this is a background piece we posted yesterday on How Planes Fly. Turns out I had it wrong and had to revise the article, after a handful of astute readers pointed out that I’d fallen victim to a bad explanation that’s been around for decades and is still in textbooks. (Oh, and our Bad Medicine columnist Chris Wanjek reminds us today that those textbook maps of the tongue’s four taste regions are bogus, too.)
Stick with us long enough, and we’re liable to shake just about every scientific notion you’ve ever had. Meantime, shoot me a note whenever something’s got you puzzled. We’ll stick it somewhere in the huge “need to explain this now” pile and do our very best.
August 29th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Even worse — Karl Rove did NOT ‘out’ Valery Plame and won’t ever be frogmarched to jail. Now, THAT has broken a lot of hearts!
August 29th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
i think everyone been biased against pluto,
everybody say pluto’s the ‘bad’ one, crossing into Neptune’s orbit, thus making itself a dwarf
well from another point of view, we could also said Neptune’s the one to be accused because it crossed over Pluto’s orbit.
thus it only would make sense that Neptune be demoted because it hasnt ‘clear the neighborhood’ around it
the bottom line is that the new definition is stupid, laughable and just simply pathetic wiht the last clasue ‘cleared the neighborhood’, sicne there are also asteroids near Earth and Jupiter’s orbit.
August 30th, 2006 at 1:42 pm
On the issue of Pluto, I think it is an epistemic issue. I wrote about this on my blog, SmokeyMonkey.org:
http://smokeymonkey.org/geeklog/public_html//article.php?story=2006082409103037
September 1st, 2006 at 1:27 pm
You wrote:
>What actually got me thinking about all this is a background piece
>we posted yesterday on How Planes Fly. Turns out I had it wrong
>and had to revise the article
Oopsie, the article still needs some tweaking.
“If this were all there were too it…” Too it?
“The planes propeller or jet engine, meanwhile, has to work to provide enough thrust to overcome drag.” Where’s that apostrophe?
Well, enough pedantry. Great article! I learned a lot. Now if I could only figure out how bumblebees fly….
September 6th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
As I age some of my most enjoyable are when I discover that a long-held belief is mistaken or when I surprise myself by discovering some prejudice that I didn’t know I had.
I would hope that all the regular fans of this site understand the tenuous nature of scientific knowledge and hope that they enjoy it as much as they do.