THINGS EVERYBODY SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SCIENCE

REFLEXES

They don’t use any brain activity. Even brain dead people

have them. This is because they originate in nerve

centres found in the spine.

LANGUAGES

This isn’t hard science, but linguistics falls under the science

umbrella nonetheless. Whether it is the Queen’s English or

a rural dialect from the deep south, both languages have

an equally complex grammar/syntax. In fact, as soon as a

language evolves passed being a dialect, the only thing

separating it from longer standing languages is

vocabulary, and that can easily be assimilated.

LAWS VERSUS THEORIES

In simple terms, a law is what something does. It is observable

and demonstrable. A theory is why something happens.

It is testable and if it fails any test, it is discarded.

ALCOHOL

It doesn’t make you warmer. It only causes more blood flow

to be directed towards your skin (which makes you feel warmer)

while in reality it cools down your internal temperature.

Don’t be fooled by this one. People have lost their lives,

or at least their frostbitten appendages.

GMO’S

Almost all the food you eat (if not all of it) has been genetically

modified in some way. In fact, millions of people would have

died in the last several decades were it not for GMO’s.

TIME

It is not the same everywhere. Since space and time are both

aspects of the same thing, the faster you move through space,

the slower you move through time. This means that a clock on

the space shuttle would be a few nanoseconds behind a

clock that stayed on Earth upon the space shuttle’s re-entry.

 In fact, if it weren’t for the Theory of Relativity, many things,

including GPS would not function as well as they do right now.

QUANTUM MECHANICS

There are some pretty weird things that happen at a

quantum level. In fact, the regular laws of physics

break down and get a little blurry.

SCIENCE IS A PROCESS

It is not a collection of facts. This goes along with the idea

that scientific knowledge changes over time.