Science Versus Myth
Are vampires real? What is an out-of-body experience? Are crop circles proof that aliens exist? HowStuffWorks explores what is real and what is urban legend with this collection of Science Versus Myth articles.
Top 10 Ghost Tours
Top 10 Hotels That Will Scare the Daylights Out of You
What's So Scary About The Winchester House Story?
The Pyramid in Antarctica Isn't Actually a Pyramid
The Spiritual Awakening Signaled by the 757 Angel Number
8888 Angel Number Meaning: Prosperity, Abundance, and Spiritual Growth
234 Angel Number Meaning: Unlocking Spiritual Guidance, Harmony, and Divine Messages
311 Angel Number: Meaning, Symbolism, and Guidance
Nine of Pentacles Meaning: Unlocking Abundance, Independence, and Refinement in Tarot
Squonk: Cryptid Crybaby With a Damp Disappearing Act
Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus: The Internet's Favorite Fake
Black Demon Shark: Baja California's Aquatic Cryptic
Do Marfa Lights Come From UFOs, Cars, the Military or Ghosts?
Solfeggio Frequencies: Healing Tones or Pseudoscience?
Is Sacred Geometry Related to Science or Is It Simply Beautiful?
What If Cows Didn't Exist?
What If Earth's Magnetic Field Flipped?
What If Humans Could Breathe Underwater?
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The speed of light is like that annoying friend who beats you at every game. What would happen if humans one day surpassed the cosmic speed limit?
It's one of those fantastic things you may have wished for at one point, like, say peace on Earth, but would a world full of cures be radically different from the one we know, or not so much?
While organizations around the world are fighting to end famine, so far, no one has come up with a game-changer. Why does famine happen in the first place, and what would a hunger-free world be like?
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Would we stick flowers in our hair and dance in the street? Or twiddle our thumbs and wonder what to do with all that new free time? Join us as we ponder a world without war.
By Robert Lamb
Would a world with ample water for all mean less disease? Fewer wars? Globally improved health and finances? Sip along with us as we wonder what if.
It's a crazy thought, but what if cancer didn't exist? And malaria, schizophrenia and every other illness that disrupts our normal functioning? Come along as we investigate what such a world might look like.
Unless you've been living under a rock (one not appearing on Google Maps' Street View), you're probably intimately familiar with the behemoth and its many services. But what would the world look like if this powerhouse company had never existed?
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Before leaving work, you'll need to check the traffic report. Lately, a disruptive T. rex has meant some adjustments to your commute. What other changes would be in store if dinos roamed the Earth?
You may know that the ancient Egyptians used embalming in mummification. But they weren't the first to embalm their dead, nor were they the last. In fact, it's still being done today.
Matches work by combining flammable chemicals with heat from friction. Learn whether you can light a match with sandpaper in this article.
Forward and back, left and right, up and down -- most of us are familiar with these spatial dimensions. We might even pinpoint our location in time. Is that all there is to dimensions? No way, say the scientists who have a theory for everything.
By Robert Lamb
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It opened the door for numerous technological advances, from nuclear power and nuclear medicine to the inner workings of the sun. It even appeared in the title of a Mariah Carey album. Really. Can you define those three key variables, too?
By Robert Lamb & Yara Simón
It could be that the hunt for the Higgs is a little like Christopher Columbus' famous 1492 voyage, full of surprising discoveries that take particle physicists to places they never anticipated. How's that voyage going anyhow?
By Robert Lamb
Superman has his Bizarro planet, Alice tiptoes through the looking glass. For scientists, that world where normal rules and laws fail to explain what's happening is quantum physics. What's so weird about it?
By Robert Lamb
If the colonists hadn't eked out a victory against the mighty British Empire, what would have been their fate? Would leaders like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have been executed?
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Black holes have serious pull, and they're not afraid to use it. Could one of these skulking bad boys ever arise in our home, sweet (solar system) home?
It's all fun and games when you're on a deserted island. But eventually you're going to get really thirsty. How bad can glugging seawater be?
You can say goodbye to the seven continents and hello to days that seem infernally long. What else awaits you on a spin-free Earth?
Would the people of the world get along better if they spoke the same language? Or would it just be easier for us to hate each other?
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Decapitation is a surefire way to deliver a quick and painless death, right? In actuality, an increasingly large body of historical and scientific evidence suggests that beheading doesn't, in fact, deliver instant death.
By Josh Clark
How great would it be to reconcile general relativity with quantum theory and truly have a theory of everything? That's what a band of theoretical physicists and their trusty hypothetical strings have been working on for decades.
By Robert Lamb
Once upon a time, our universe was born. Was it all just luck that it evolved in a manner compatible with life? Or are such "coincidences" all in a day's work for a universe?
By Robert Lamb
Let's assume that it's possible to create a complete loop in time travel -- that time travelers could travel into the past and then return to the future (or vice versa). What could we do with our time machine, and how would time travel affect our lives?
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Wood, grass and food scraps undergo a process known as biodegradation when they're buried. They're transformed by bacteria in the soil into other useful compounds, but those same bacteria typically turn up their noses at plastic. Luckily, that's not the end of the story.
Plastics that aren't recycled tend to hang around our planet like houseguests who have worn out their welcome. Can biodegradable plastics, which may break down in fewer than 90 days, change that scenario?