Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy.
3
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0answers
185 views
Did Einstein's brain weigh less than the average?
Many web-sites claim that Einstein's brain was smaller than average. For example, in this 2005 phys.org article:
Einstein’s brain weighed only 1,230 grams, less than the average adult
brain which ...
6
votes
1answer
430 views
Do vaginal tightening creams work?
From a billboard in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (population 1.4 million)
Vagina Tight
залуужуулах цогц эмчилгээ [Google translate from Mongolian into English: comprehensive rejuvenation treatment]
(I ...
6
votes
2answers
726 views
Is the majority of the human body water?
I've always been skeptical about claims that the majority of the human body is actually water.
I've heard and read estimates that anywhere between 55% to 70% of the human body is water. Which I take ...
5
votes
0answers
278 views
Do homemade pregnancy tests with sugar work?
There are a lot of claims on the internet (like this one) that it is possible to test for pregnancy by just putting sugar in a glass and urinating on it. The hormones in the urine supposedly cause the ...
3
votes
0answers
337 views
Will plant-life on Earth end due to too little CO2?
According to a 2013 Daily Mail article :
greater evaporation and chemical reactions with rainwater will take away more and more carbon dioxide.
In less than a billion years, its levels will ...
4
votes
1answer
337 views
Is the average temperature of a healthy human adult 98.6F/37C?
Everyone knows that...
Human body temperature - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_body_temperature
In humans, the average internal temperature is 37.0 °C (98.6 °F), though it varies ...
52
votes
2answers
20k views
Are human fetal cells used to produce Pepsi?
A friend just came over and apparently Pepsi is made from people.
Or, more specifically:
The aborted human fetal cell line is known as “HEK-293,” and it is used to see how the human palate will ...
8
votes
1answer
887 views
Have paleontologists systematically ignored dinosaur DNA that does not match the evolutionary model?
A 2009 paper from Institute for Creation Research claims that the reason no DNA has been successfully extracted from dinosaur remains is because any results that don't fit the evolutionary model are ...
15
votes
0answers
6k views
Did the BBC fake scenes in Planet Earth 2 with composite shots and CGI?
This YouTube video with over 100,000 views makes the claim that the BBC faked the iguana-snake chase scene in its recent documentary, Planet Earth 2.
It makes the claim that the bundle of snakes was ...
1
vote
0answers
224 views
How do I refute skepticism towards radiometric/carbon dating? [closed]
A frequent criticism I hear among creationists is that the methodology of radiometric dating is flawed because tests show different dates (and by their logic, might as well throw out all the results.)
...
4
votes
0answers
191 views
Are our gut microbes responsible for 50-90% of our behaviour-regulating neuro-transmittors?
I have always concidered this channel serious, but they are making very bold claims.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3Ftj5E90tY
50% of our dopamine and 90% of our serotonin is created by microbes ...
0
votes
2answers
410 views
Do pathogens have a negative ORP and beneficial bacteria a positive?
As claimed on page 33 of this MMS book:
All pathogens (poison producers) have a negative ORP.
All beneficial bacteria have a positive ORP.
In other words:
The beneficial bacteria are ...
6
votes
1answer
850 views
Has the Orca infant mortality rate been 100% since the Fukushima disaster?
This has been going around Facebook lately. All accounts seem to stem from this NaturalNews article. I don't tend to see them as a reliable source of information, but I also haven't found any proof ...
20
votes
1answer
2k views
Do humans share 50% of their DNA with bananas?
It's widely claimed that we share 50% of our DNA with bananas. Does this have actual basis or is it a myth?
Example claims The Mirror (UK), NHGRI
12
votes
2answers
3k views
Has the synthetic bacteria Synthia become a rogue flesh-eating disease?
I spotted this on Facebook:
Cynthia [sic]: Flesh-Eating Synthetic Bacteria that has Gone Wild
In 2011, Cynthia was unleashed in the Gulf of Mexico and in its initial stages of life it was ...
4
votes
3answers
587 views
Does men's testosterone increase with age?
It is generally thought that men's testosterone decreases with age.
However, according to Des Tobin, Professor of Cell Biology at the University of Bradford:
Surprisingly the levels of ...
67
votes
1answer
14k views
Do drop bears exist?
A drop bear is a carnivorous bear that is known well for hanging in the tops of trees, and dropping down on potential prey to attack, hence the name. They eat medium-large mammals, often times many ...
1
vote
0answers
125 views
Would a fingerprint scanner still work as you age [closed]
Fingerprint scanners are known to record a portion of your finger in order to be accessed. What would happen if you age? Your hands grow and eventually even get wrinkles on your fingers. Would a ...
24
votes
1answer
4k views
Is this Indonesian man, Mbah Gotho, 145 years old, as he claims?
Apparently a person in Indonesia is claiming he is 145 years old.
The world’s oldest man has been named as Indonesian Mbah Gotho, who is 145 years old, with documentation that says he was born in ...
6
votes
0answers
469 views
Do scorpions sting themselves to death if they can't escape a threat? [closed]
When scorpions are unable to escape (e.g. surrounded by fire), they apparently will sting randomly and eventually hit themselves, and die.
There are videos that show them stinging themselves and ...
4
votes
1answer
1k views
Is biochemical transmutations of elements possible?
According to a recent press conference Russian scientists have made a breakthrough so astounding it could change the universe as we know it in fundamental ways.
The essence of this discovery and ...
5
votes
0answers
331 views
Was there a molecular test of Lanciano and Buenos Aires Eucharistic miracles?
Some roman catholic sources like this March 2012 US Roman Catholic Journal article This Is My Body–This Is My Blood
claim there was an investigation performed about the eucharistic miracles in ...
3
votes
0answers
338 views
Can this Indian teenager resist 11kV electric shocks without dying?
Many online sources report on the Indian teenager Deepak Jangra (Daily Mail, Mirror) who claims to be able to resist 11kV electric shocks.
They include images of him touching an exposed mains wire ...
1
vote
1answer
337 views
Does Asclepias gigantea cause blindness?
It is a widespread bilief that Asclepias gigantea or the "Arka" or "Jilledu" tree is poisonous and causes blindness.
The general belief is that
If the milk of the plant falls into the eye, you go ...
10
votes
1answer
616 views
Do EnChroma glasses “cure” color-blindness?
A few news stories have been circulating around about glasses that "cure" some forms of color-blindness:
CNBC - Glasses that let the color blind see color
Today.com - Watch these brothers' emotional ...
9
votes
1answer
458 views
Does preservative and pesticides in food prevent corpses from rotting?
In this 2003 article it is said that in Germany, the time before a coffins collapse and crumble into the soil is expanding
Previously that process would take from eight to 10 years - but now in ...
6
votes
1answer
273 views
Does fluoridation and chlorination in the US cause thyroid issues?
From an answer in Travel.SE with a net score of 10:
Mains water is typically laced with chlorine and fluoride by law, to the point that you step out of the shower smelling [like] you just stepped ...
12
votes
2answers
598 views
Has a bone marrow transplant caused confusion in criminal investigations?
Dr. Azita Alizadeh wrote an 'Ask a geneticist' column about how patients with a bone marrow transplant will end up with at least two different sets of DNA in their body - DNA from their blood (which ...
0
votes
1answer
138 views
Someone told me elephants can be mean to each other. Are they? [closed]
I was told that elephant in a herd can be mean to each other. Are elephants known to be mean to each other?
14
votes
2answers
721 views
Can a person lose weight by being cold?
I encountered a person not wearing a jacket in cold weather. He said he does this to lose weight.
He explained his theory: By allowing his body to lose calories (heat energy) to the environment, his ...
13
votes
3answers
750 views
Do antibiotics weaken your immune system?
Recently, my friend told me that antibiotics will weaken your immune system. Their reasoning is that:
Antibiotics remove the harmful bacteria from you, but they also remove the natural disease ...
14
votes
1answer
3k views
Is Michelle Obama a transgender woman?
Many of my friends claim that the wife of Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, is a transgender woman.
In 2014, comedian Joan Rivers made the claim in a street interview:
Rivers: You know Michelle is a ...
2
votes
0answers
72 views
Do overpopulated rats have extremely high infant mortality rates caused by competition and stress?
Dr John B. Calhoun conducted a series of experiments in the 1960's on the effect of over-population on Norway rats.
Wikipedia explains:
The conclusions drawn from this experiment were that when ...
0
votes
0answers
23 views
Denser Atmosphere in the Mesozoic? [duplicate]
Wouldn't the denser atmosphere postulated by David Esker as an explanation for gigantism in the Mesozoic, as it would cause more pressure, go against the evolution of large sizes and masses in ...
7
votes
1answer
588 views
Are 1 in 12 men color blind?
The Colour Blind Awareness website claims that:
Colour (color) blindness (colour vision deficiency, or CVD) affects approximately 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women in the world.
This claim ...
15
votes
1answer
1k views
Has the Gympie Gympie tree driven humans to commit suicide because of the pain from its sting?
I often see the Gympie Gympie mentioned in fun facts or as an answer to "what are the scariest plants in the world?" or "What's the worst pain?"
The plant is covered in stinging hairs that once ...
4
votes
0answers
534 views
Did Russian scientists manage to remove black skin from a man?
I noticed a clickbait article around facebook; A Russian Laboratory Has Invented A Way To Remove The Black Skin Layer Of Black People .
Evidently these things have to be taken with a massive ammount ...
28
votes
2answers
947 views
Does taking birth control pills alter your preferences for a partner?
It has been reported (and repeated) several times that women who use the typical birth control pill (with both estrogen and progestin) show different preferences for men, depending on whether they are ...
10
votes
1answer
588 views
Can the human sense of touch work at the atomic scale?
One of the initiatives to provide a new international standard for the kilogram is the International Avogadro Project. Essentially this involves producing extremely perfect spheres of silicon atoms. ...
4
votes
1answer
351 views
Do people's backs arch when receiving an electric shock?
PathologyExpert.com says of bodies that have been electrocuted:
May arch back and neck backwards.
Many times in movies and TV shows, actors arch their backs when exposed to electricity.
Is this ...
1
vote
0answers
198 views
Does copper react differently with different people? [closed]
One of my friends and I have developed a habit of drinking water from only copper vessels as I have read several benefits of drinking from that. But I observed one strange phenomenon during past few ...
12
votes
1answer
4k views
Does locking one's knees lead to fainting?
I have been told that locking one's knees can lead to fainting or passing out, and if you need to stand for an extended period of time you should always avoid standing and not lock your knees.
I just ...
6
votes
1answer
694 views
Is the poison of the Giant Monkey Frog one of the strongest antibiotics ever found?
The website Kambo Medicina claims that Kambo, the poison derived from the poison from the Giant Monkey Frog (Phyllomedusa bicolor) is
one of the strongest natural antibiotics and anesthetics found ...
13
votes
1answer
230 views
Does lavender repel moths?
On Wikipedia, it is said that
Dried and sealed in pouches, lavender flowers are placed among stored items of clothing to give a fresh fragrance and to deter moths.
I know many people do it. Has ...
30
votes
3answers
111k views
Is this what “happiness looks like”?
This gif has been widely distributed on imgur/reddit/twitter/media and it is meant to represent
Molecules of the protein myosin drag a ball of endorphins along an active filament into the inner ...
14
votes
1answer
804 views
Is this chart of eye colour inheritance accurate?
This image is circulating on social media (e.g. Pinterest).
It implies that if you have green eyes, then you can't possibly have one biological parent with blue eyes and the other with brown.
The ...
2
votes
0answers
144 views
Does injecting Bacillus F improve one's health? [closed]
In a Siberian times report,
a Russian scientist Anatoli Brouchkov claims that 3.5 million year old bacteria Bacillus F
improves longevity and fertility of fruit flies and mice
stimulated the growth ...
14
votes
2answers
21k views
Is this comparison of wedge tailed eagles and bald eagles accurate?
From https://twitter.com/dannolan/status/665409197685764096 (408 RTs, 495 likes), though another comparison between the two exists in Australian Popular Science
[US flag, picture of American Bald ...
6
votes
1answer
763 views
Has a human baby's heart started beating only 18 days after conception?
I saw billboards like this driving around Florida:
18 Days from conception my HEART was beating
[...] Prolife Across America
Is this true?
7
votes
1answer
2k views
Do saliva glands emit urine?
I've heard from "fun fact" sources that there is urine in human saliva:
When you urinate, a small amount of the urine enters your mouth through the saliva glands. But that’s okay – fresh urine is ...
