When a well known paediatrician boastfully exhibited his less than average knowledge about neurology, I decided it was time to write the top 5 myths that have persisted among learned adults.
1. Visible light is made up of seven colors
There are infinite colors that actually light is made up of several colors. It was Newton who gave it the number 7, inspired by 7 notes of musical scale and came up with VIBGYOR. There are as many shades of a single color as there are numbers between 1 and 2 – infinite.
2. Astronauts are Weightless because there is no Gravity in Space
There is gravity everywhere. One atom placed at the end of the universe will have it’s pull to the other end of the universe ( if there is an end). The gravitation pull will keep getting weaker ( by the inverse square law) but it would never be zero. Astronauts weight zero because they are constantly in a free fall towards earth.
3. Brain stops to develop new cells after the age of 5 or 6
I bet you have heard it before, but recently one paediatrician took it too far and told me that the future intellect of my daughter will depend on the size of the brain that she possess at the age of 5 ! I never went back to him ever again, and tossed all his prescriptions in trash can. Fact is that the brain keeps developing new cells throughout life and keep making new connections. How do you think an adult acquires a new skill ? Maybe Mr Paediatrician could learn something about neurology.
4. Tongue has different regions to taste sweet, sour and bitter tastes
In Reality every single taste bud is capable to tasting infinite variants of tastes. There was some translation error that has persisted somehow in millions of textbooks around the world, and that’s why many kids are taught about 4 regions of tongue.
5. You can catch cold by going out in Cold
Common Cold has nothing to do with the weather. It’s caused by a virus, not by going out in cold. If that was the case, people living at cold places would catch cold more easily. I hear you asking Why people get it more often in Cold ? Well that’s a question that nobody seem to have an answer for.