Blame the term "zero-gravity" for this common misconception. Gravity is everywhere, even in space. Astronauts look weightless because they are in continuous freefall towards the Earth, staying aloft because of their horizontal motion. The effect of gravity diminishes with distance, but it never truly goes away. Oh, and while we're at it, it's also untrue that space is a vacuum. There are all kinds of atoms out there, albeit sometimes far apart (and this thin gas adds to the collective gravity budget, too!)IMAGE CREDIT: NASAClick here to reveal the truth behind more SCIENCE MYTHS listed below:
Adults don't grow new brain cells
Eating a poppy seed bagel mimics opium use
Yawning is "contagious"
A falling cat will always land on its feet
A penny dropped from the top of a tall building could kill a pedestrian
Water drains backwards in the Southern Hemisphere due to the Earth's rotation
Lightning never strikes the same place twice
Humans use only 10 percent of their brains
The Great Wall of China is the only manmade structure visible from space
It takes seven years to digest gum
Hair and fingernails continue growing after death
You get less wet by running in the rain
The five second rule
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i eat gum in your class!!!
ReplyDeletehe let's you so you keep quiet!!!
ReplyDeleteha
ReplyDeleteYawning is 'contagious' is a myth! Not according to a recent Australian study. Although its not contagious in the true sense of say a disease there is nevertheless a kind of 'group priming' in which an individual can initiate yawning amoungst the group. It is now belived that this evolved as a co-ordinating role to get people to sleep at the same time as each other. In doing so this avoids the attraction of a predator.
ReplyDeleteTha capacity of the adult neurons to divide is very limited. There is however significant development of the schwann cells that surround the axons of the neurons (white matter). The point I think is confused with the significant reduction in the number of neurons from birth to adult. Yet, thre is an increased brain mass associated with the degree of connections between the neurons and the addition of the schwann cells. In fact this 'myelination' process is not complete until the end of adolescence at about 20-21 years of age.
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