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.
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Sans gravity, would we all just bounce up and down like astronauts on the moon? No. It would look a little more like a Michael Bay movie.
By Chris Opfer
Our planet's path around the sun defines life on Earth. What would happen if it changed?
By Chris Opfer
Climate change and industrial activity are wiping out large sections of the world's largest rainforest.
By Chris Opfer
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In the classic film "Cool Hand Luke," the title character gulps down 50 hard-boiled eggs in less than an hour. Is this a trick you can (or should) try at home?
By Debra Ronca
If you've ever been to a slumber party, you know the drill. Place your fingers under someone's body, chant "Light as a feather ... stiff as a board ..."and they'll magically rise up into the air. Is this old trick a true ghostly phenomenon?
By Debra Ronca
Walking down a city sidewalk, you protect your valuables and weave through crowds. Should you also beware of falling pennies?
Chicago has long been known as "The Windy City." It's a pretty cool nickname, but does it live up to it?
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Rainy, dreary, Seattle, right? Everyone says it's the rainiest city in the United States. However, Seattleites are keeping a secret from you. Find out if their rainy reputation is real - or if the rumor's all wet.
Summertime fashion - light in weight and light in color. Are these pastel colors a designer's choice? Or do light colors actually keep you cooler, as some say? Read to find out if you should ditch the goth wardrobe this summer.
Of all the cosmetic problems to worry about waking up to - dark under-eye circles, a blemish on your nose, new stubble on your chin - a headful of white hair ranks pretty low on your list. Should you be more concerned?
Star jelly sounds like it could be some sort of cosmic spread for toast -- complete with a flashy label boasting, "Now with 50 percent more universe!" Unfortunately, the real story of star jelly is far less tasty -- and far more terrestrial.
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The "angel hair phenomenon" sounds like a best-selling pasta dish from your local Italian restaurant. Or maybe we're just hungry. But if this phenomenon isn't related to tasty cuisine, what's it all about -- and are angels actually involved?
The Zone of Silence is Mexico's own Bermuda Triangle, a place where radio signals don't work and an alien might just turn up. But what is the real story behind it?
Ancient caves! Mysterious stones! Tiny little beings with strange heads! Sounds like the plot of an Indiana Jones movie, doesn't it? The legend of the Dropa stones has persisted for over half a century now, but is any of it actually true?
Humans riding dinosaurs: Sounds like a kid's dream come true! History tells us this couldn't possibly have happened, but the Ica stones say otherwise. So is there any truth to these allegedly ancient carvings, or are they just an elaborate hoax?
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Whether in "King Kong," "Journey to the Center of the Earth" or "The Lost World," humankind has long held out hope of discovering a secret land filled with prehistoric beasts. But is that even possible? Are dinosaurs still alive?
Fans of the Super Mario Bros. series know that enemy fish can attack from above. And fans of the film "Magnolia" know that sometimes frogs do rain from the sky. But this is purely the realm of pop culture. Things like this don't really happen, right?
Singing monuments sounds like the premise of an enchanted Broadway musical -- or a scene straight out of "A Night at the Museum." So did the Colossi of Memnon actually sing at one time? And if so, why don't they sing anymore? Stage fright?
Is the world really connected by an intricate, invisible web of knowledge-expanding energy waves? Sure, it's called the Internet -- and you're channeling it right now! Oh, you were asking about the ley lines? We've got an answer for that too.
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Long before crop circles captured the world's imagination, a Peruvian culture called the Nazca went about creating a series of intricate lines -- sometimes in the shapes of animals -- on the desert floor. But how'd they do it -- and why?
Obviously, if we had more evidence of the existence of ghosts, we wouldn't all spend so much time debating the matter. Believers in the supernatural, however, are convinced a substance called "ectoplasm" proves ghosts are real -- but are they right?
When reeling off dubious facts (like lemmings plunging off cliffs en masse), there's no better retort to a skeptical audience than calmly explaining that it's not just true - it's science...right?
By Kate Kershner & Sascha Bos
CERN is a European research organization dedicated to the study of very tiny particles. Could they discover time travel?
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The best photograph can't touch one. A death mask, in all its 3-D glory, is the last likeness of a loved one that a family can own. After all, it vividly preserves what some consider to be the very essence of a person -- the face.
By Erin Wright
Some malarkey is so believable that it's turned many of us into inadvertent purveyors of hogwash. What are 10 bits of malarkey that tend to slip through the "hey, wait a minute" filter?
By Julia Layton