8 Terrible Science Takes

[@SciShow]

Visit brilliant.org/scishow/ to get started learning STEM for free. The first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription and a 30-day free trial.

[@littlemissmisses2981]

Correction : alpha wolves

[@particle7246]

Did the magnetar wave that hit earth on Dec. 27, 2004 add to the growing climate change?

[@thexanderthemander]

"The first 200 people" but will everybody after that? Seems like you're using FOMO to get people to subscribe. You've been using the same link for years so those first 200 people must have already occurred.

[@thingthing899]

11:00 the warning clearly says theres danger from intramuscular injection and intravenous. Right after you day theres no worry because they only use intramuscular?

[@mustwereallydothis]

​@thingthing899 I re-watched that portion of the video and re-read your comment several times, but I can't seem to understand what you're trying to communicate. Perhaps you could help me out by wording it differently? Also, was that a typo, or do you really not understand the difference between intravenous and intramuscular?

[@Aqua_Xenossia]

I’m begging you guys, PLEASE make this a regular series

[@um2913]

This needs to be top comment bc this needs to be a series desperately

[@dmaikibujin]

Indeed!

[@willcooper8028]

Yeah for real I was unaware of like half of these

[@2a2777f2g]

Second that! ❤

[@tkline4728]

Agreed!

[@underthedice1231]

Correction: Alpha wolfs are so debunked that even the guy who made the initial study debunked it with a study. Not just denounced it.

[@clintonbehrends4659]

ah the JAWs effect

[@tiffanysandmeier4753]

Sadly or not, the alpha dynamic will remain a thing in paranormal romance.

[@robomonkey1018]

Yeah, this one is persistent and annoying. Almost daily I have to explain to people in conversations about dog training. That wolves don't have "alphas" and dogs aren't wolves don't even think like that. Dog training is about gaining trust.

[@pirobot668beta]

It's like going to a SuperMAX Prison to study human behavior.

[@altromonte15]

Most wolves can't even speak greek, anyway

[@firefly4f4]

Semi-related: Whenever i hear some guy say, "Im an alpha male," or some variation thereof, my first thought is always confusion about why anyone thinks that announcing themselves as being buggy, unstable, not feature complete, prone to crashing, and not ready for full public use is a good thing.

[@emyra_3293]

lmao I mean I like to think that I'm at least a beta, but I'm still prone to crashing randomly so I'm definitely not a full release

[@tycathedrawer]

Lol yea

[@pscof]

I have known many people that could do with a day one patch

[@Deadpool3E]

The fact that these people come up with terms like "Sigma male" or whichever Greek letter from the list is proof that they acknowledge how flawed their idea is.

[@alexanderbusch8014]

Another good one is; "Oh, like the radiation? The weakest, least powerfull and the one with the least penetration capacity?"

[@onorebakasama]

The idea that a period contains baby bits is such an unbelievably ridiculous failure of not just reproductive education, but also logic.

[@UGNAvalon]

Well, considering how 3/4 of all fertilizations self-terminate, resulting in a late period that includes said failed-baby…. I can kinda see how that logic would start?

[@clawsoon]

@@UGNAvalon That's true, but on the other extreme I've heard from a kid who was raised fundamentalist that her mother told her that every time she had her period, she was aborting a baby. It wasn't until she got to college that she got some proper facts from her roommates.

[@davidwuhrer6704]

​@@clawsoonIt almost makes sense if her mother reproduced asexually.

[@AroundTheBlockAgain]

Thanks to the depressing state of sex education in the USA, probably

[@theoptimisticskeptic]

@@AroundTheBlockAgain Probably?

[@leftcoastfunk]

As a neonatal nurse, the Vitamin K one pisses me off more than ANYTHING else!!! I've seen too many infants literally DEVASTATED simply because some "instagram-smart" granola mother refused a simple shot. And when I say "devastated", I mean devastated. The kind of devastated that nobody should ever have to see or "live" with. It's just the the most no-brainer decision and yet more and more mothers are choosing not to. It blows my mind and hurts my soul

[@ClimateDS]

Indeed. That's super cruel. Feels like society is evolving backwards.

[@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x]

And there are people "raising" their newborn to be raw vegan from birth, without mother's milk. Or to eat light and prana. And they are upset when they go to prison for that... There is no punishment imaginable that is commensurable or equal to their horrific deeds.

[@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x]

And we know about these few thanks to the news. This is the worst thing. Out of 7 billion there are twice monsters but even if I avoid being about what one of them does in three other side of the world, a relative or coworker sure will bring it to my attention...

[@michellehoth5415]

I had a similar reaction to the vitamin K one. NICU mom here, my son had the vitamin K shot and I can't imagine how bad his grade 4 bleed would have been without it! Also, thank you for being a nurse, people like you are why my son is alive today!

[@turkeyman100]

@@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x You're telling me...that people thought it was smart...to not give their babies THE MILK NEEDED FOR SURVIVAL WHEN THEY'RE LITERALLY AT THEIR MOST FRAGILE. bruh

[@jarod1875]

Based purely on the thumbnail I am going to assume you are here to tell me that there are NOT two wolves inside of me?

[@garethdean6382]

There are two wolves inside of you. That.. that's not good. The physician-recommended number of wolves is zero.

[@Ahrpigi]

"There are two wolves inside you. Late night at the furry convention is going unexpectedly well!"

[@sofiamn_05]

LMAO ​@@Ahrpigi

[@Hurricayne92]

There are 2 types of people 🤣

[@coleblack784]

There are two wolves inside you? You drank something suspicious at a furry convention didn't you?😢

[@beezlgauze9362]

The vitamin K myth is the worst. My mother is a midwife and has dealt with some people like this. New mothers are often anxious and concerned for the babies health and sometimes buy into crazy conspiracies like this. Misinformation spread about medical interventions proven to save lives are disgusting and lead to deaths.

[@FerralVideo]

Yep. My own bio-mom bought the vaccine autism bull@#$% hook line and sinker and blames the MMR for me being on the spectrum. Nevermind all the other unfortunate and unpleasant implications involved here that go against her own reassurances when I was growing up....

[@ClimateDS]

Indeed. That's so terrible and inhumane. Infants are already very fragile and this vitamin K shot dramatically reduces the risk of sudden infant death. Which sane person wouldn't want that?

[@glitteryroses]

Let's not even start about the vaccine hysterias that are rife in the Western world. One of the best things about science channels is that I can never find the fearmongers here.

[@JaniceinOR]

​@overlordfemto7523 Please give us some sources for your claims.

[@JaniceinOR]

​@overlordfemto7523 I keep trying to respond, and I do not see either of my two responses.

[@Lady8D]

I've grown up around a bunch of guys that can't even _hear_ about _anything_ related to periods without getting _extremely_ uncomfortable and cutting the convo off. It's refreshing to see a man talk about it without doing that. Thank you!

[@kittimcconnell2633]

You might like Doctor Karan Rajan, he's a British medical doctor and KZbinr, who works to undo medical misinformation. He absolutely discuss menstrual topics and brings in experts for better information.

[@Lady8D]

@@kittimcconnell2633 Thank you for the suggestion! I've actually been watching him for a while now but am happy to see him being recommended as I think he's a great creator/informer

[@Lady8D]

​@@kittimcconnell2633 Odd, I remember replying to your comment but don't see my reply here 🤷‍♂️ As I recall I said something close to: Thanks for recommending him! I love his videos/channel too and hope others will too.

[@cedricl.marquard6273]

As if it isn't a natural part of life?? Some people just baffle me.

[@ucantSQ]

Maybe it's just jealousy. I'm fascinated by the subject and listen attentively because I'll never get first hand knowledge.

[@TrueWolves]

I rescue abused high anxiety dogs. Someone tried the alpha and "beat aggression into them" acts on my GSD as a puppy. Now she's terrified of people as an adult. Not gunshots, thunder, or new experiences either, *just* people. Thankfully 5 years later and she at least approaches people who avoid eye contact and keep a low profile for butt scratches and she's an absolute snuggler with me and my family.

[@GreyException]

You're confusing "alpha" with abuse. Beating a dog isn't alpha.

[@spvillano]

@@stephaniestephers4586 plenty of room for humans that do that on Mercury.

[@stifflered]

People take that "dominance" thing too far, but having raised a number of dogs myself who are often complimented on being incredibly friendly, social, and well-behaved, there's an element of "I am the boss" that has to be there. A simple finger snap to break their momentum when getting out of hand, a quick "No" the moment they grab something to tear it up, a gentle push back when they jump up on someone's legs. There's a balance a lot of folks struggle with in either direction. Positive reinforcement + quick correction are needed, rubbing your dog's face in the pee spot in the living room is not I simply can't understand how people will abuse dogs so much that they become anxious around people. They seem pretty unstable to me. Thanks for your hard work with these anxious pups!

[@jochentram9301]

Ours are galgo espanol, rescues from Spain. Amongst those, fear of *men*, specifically, is fairly common, as is a more generalised fear of humans. Once you overcome that, they're incredibly cuddly and goofy hounds . . . but you do need to teach them that you are a human who need not be feared.

[@mattmower6370]

Agreed, a similar belief is that a dog shouldn't eat before you. I always feed my dog before I eat, simply out of convenience. He will never eat without the ok, never steals my food, never reacts when I remove his food. Kindness, compassion and positive reinforcement will always be the best approach to dogs or any other being! The alpha, dominant approach is beyond wrong and is just plain ineffective.

[@Splizacular]

As far as bad takes that need straightening in science, I'd say you could do an entire episode solely on the dangers of correlations and how often they're mistaken as causations. This even extends well beyond just science

[@reverse_engineered]

Yes please, this! So much skepticism of science and medicine starts with a misunderstanding of what's even involved and how we can say that we do or don't know something. Even many researchers and other professionals forget from time to time that correlation does not imply causation.

[@bramvanduijn8086]

Not true! This one time I encountered a correlation and it turned out to be a causation! This proves that correlations are causations! /s :P Illicit conversion -> check Anecdotal evidence -> check Emphasis as argument -> check

[@jd190d]

@@bramvanduijn8086The annoying thing represented by your farcical reply is that there are many people who, like looking at a broken clock, will actually use that as confirmation.

[@AroundTheBlockAgain]

I feel faint just thinking about the comment section of a "actually weight gain is a symptom of a lot of the diseases and disorders we blame on weight gain" correlation vs. causation video

[@eliyahzayin5469]

Not only do wolves not have alpha's but, just like humans, they will absolutely revolt against a parent/pack leader that's too abusive if given the chance.

[@777Looper]

Alpha and abusive are opposites. An alpha is capable of leadership and protection. An abuser is only capable of deception and harm.

[@stiffori]

The pack leader is the mother and the father of a wolf pack, wolves don't turn on their pack leader, why would they do it? For the right to have intercourse with their own mother or sisters? When wolves get tired of following their parents, they just leave the wolf pack, become lone wolves and try to find another lone wolf frim the opposite gender to form a new wolf pack, we call that maturity... Wolf packs in the wild are usually just a nuclear family unit, more rarely they get to be a family unit with 3 generations. It's very rare to find wolf packs that don't follow this system in the wild, but when we do find it, the leader of the pack is just the most senior member.

[@solsystem1342]

​​@@777Looper Ok, it's still not a thing in wolves though. That sounds really cute though❤

[@777Looper]

@@solsystem1342 It is in packs bigger than a single family. Like the Yellowstone pack. Or other canines. Dingos, Coyotes, Street dogs.

[@jeremygreen2883]

I love how the furries have to race to the comments to defend the whole alpha thing because it being debunked kind of turns their make believe world on its head. 😂😂😂

[@jnzkngs]

I only feel the wifi sickness when I'm on social media.

[@CelestialAnamoly]

🤔 i have noticed an increased nausea with certain websites, now that you mention it...

[@omegahaxors9-11]

"There is no problem that can't be solved by getting off twitter"

[@nikkiewhite476]

Ha! You are right!

[@margaretgarana911]

Ha ha ha

[@barbatloosenutproductions2027]

🤣🤣🤣

[@1One2Three5Eight13]

I wonder if the "period blood contains baby parts" person had heard about the high rates of "chemical pregnancy", where you basically just have a really early miscarriage, and frequently didn't know you were pregnant. Because the aftermath of a very early miscarriage looks pretty much the same as regular menstruation they may have added one and one and gotten three. (Or, more likely, someone up the misinformation chain had done so.)

[@deawinter]

Or like, sometimes periods do come out in fleshy clumps because it’s shedding tissue and clotted blood, and people are not super aware of how women’s body’s work. It could just be as simple as someone expecting period blood to just look like normal blood and when they saw clumps of tissue they were like “oh my god it’s a baby”

[@cartoonraccoon2078]

@@deawinter This is a good explanation. Also, it is one of the most mythologized parts of human biologym anbd we have been making crap up about it forever.

[@Horticarter41]

My thoughts as well.

[@jacko666]

I wondered if the myth came from things like decidual casts. Because when I shed one I fully panicked!

[@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x]

I never heard of this myth until this video. And 'baby parts' is so vague. I mean babies are made up of amino acids, proteins, DNA, RNA, living cells but they are considering those baby parts then baby parts come out of me when I cut myself or defecate... And the basic logic of it. Period blood means no fertilisation and no baby. So how could it have baby parts? Human stupidity is mind boggling.

[@DogBehaviorGuy]

The "who would have guessed?" response describes literally everything I teach my clients. Dog training is remakably simple, but that doesn't mean easy.

[@Beryllahawk]

Someone said the thing about "Wi Fi poisoning" to me and I couldn't help but stare at them for a minute. And then point out that EVERY electronic device attracts dust like crazy. Allergies are a far more likely cause of all those symptoms, my friend. Maybe dust a lil bit and take a Benadryl?

[@metacob]

I think it would be best to not just debunk the wifi thing, but also figure out exactly why people feel that way. I don't think dismissing them will make the problem go away, and it's not like they are trying to be difficult - they have health issues. Maybe it's allergies, maybe it's psychological, maybe something else entirely... the problem is that when people get dismissed (I'm guessing that's what happened before they even heard that wifi myth), some blogger or quack will happily preach to them how electronics are evil.

[@UGNAvalon]

@metacob I’m reminded of that one poor person who was actually allergic to wifi &/or electric fields. Life was a living hell PLUS everyone thought they were crazy.

[@spindash64]

​@@UGNAvalonfirst you need to explain how his body was able to sense those fields

[@davidwuhrer6704]

There are those who believe that power lines cause cancer or interfere with sleep.

[@AGW99-df3yg]

@@metacob what's te problem? There's too many electronics in the world even if the radiation isn't dangerous

[@lisanorwoodtreefarm]

On the sea level rise issue: I have found some folks just didn't know the difference between glaciers and ice bergs and would use the terms interchangeably, and once that confusion was cleared up, they got on board.

[@glenndennis6801]

But to be accurate, icebergs are glaciers that fell into the sea. Sea ice does not form icebergs normally, though snowfall on a static ice shelf may build up very thick. Also, pressure ridges in large ice fields can sort resemble them.

[@juliabliss8145]

I have a question about rising ocean levels from melting ice. I've seen reports that when land covered by ice loses a significant amount of weight through melting, the land raises up. It probably wouldn't save Florida (oh well) but is that rise being factored in somewhere?

[@Jesse-ri5ud]

@juliabliss8145 I haven't heard about that before, so I googled it and here's what I think is a good place to start with research: oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/glacial-adjustment.html#:~:text=Though%20the%20ice%20melted%20long,constantly%2C%20if%20slowly%2C%20changing. In my opinion, articles like this are a great place to start because they introduce you to the terms and definitions used to describe the subject. That way, you can search for other sources and compare info. Always remember to be wary of which sources you trust, and most importantly: have fun (I know I will)! Learning is a gift :)

[@pirate1234567891]

@@juliabliss8145 Yes! Glacial rebound definitely can have a bigger effect than the global rise in areas that where covered by glaciers during the last glacial period. I believe there are several sites on the Norwegian coast that see sea level drop fast enough to be measured year to year. It can even be seen as terraces in the local geology where the sea level used to be, and even cooler imo, in the fact that there are historic boat docks that are now tens of meters above sea level! I want to say Tom Scott did a video on this some years ago, but it might have been someone else. Point is, there are lots of places where the terrain is still rebounding from the removal of glaciers sufficiently to cancel out and reverse the effect of global sea level rise, but those effects are, obviously, restricted geographically to where glaciers used to be, and temporally--this occurs over timescales of 10s to maybe 100s of thousands of years, so glaciations older than that won't have measurable effects now and will probably be obscured by the most recent glacial period anyway. I think many (I won't say most, but many) of the cases of misinformation specifically about sea ice, glaciers, and sea level rise stem from the fact that ALL of those terms have sub-categories and definitions that don't get reported--science communication in general is hard, it's very hard to get right, and is very VERY easy to get wrong. The global MEAN sea level rise that is observed, and usually what is being reported when discussing 'rising sea levels,' averages out the effects over the whole surface area of the ocean to see the overall trend. Local effects like glacial rebound or even just quirks of topography or geology will matter more for those specific areas than the global trend in some contexts, but that's the kind of nuance that's just not possible/profitable/clickable enough for a lot of science communication.

That's a great question. I didn't know the answer so I did some research. The short answer is, yes, it is being taken into account, and no, it doesn't counteract the effect of melting land ice on sea levels. It's actually waaaay more complicated than that tho. One article made the comparison to a mattress when you get off of it, with dents and bulgy parts that relax slowly back into shape, but the description made me think more about a verrrryyy slow waterbed, with ripples. These reactions actually mean some land will end up going DOWN when glaciers melt. As the weight is taken off the dented parts and they slowly rise a little, the bulgy parts sorta ooze very slowly down. Apparently the earth's crust is still showing reactions to the melting of glaciers from the last ice age 16,000 years ago. Predictions say the Chesapeake Bay area will sink as much as half a foot in the next 100 years. But to bring in some even more complicated things, scientists measured the surface rising 41mm (1.6 inches) per year in one place in Antarctica and said this was ridiculously fast and wrote a whole paper on why. They said the rise may actually help preserve the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. But if that bit is rising, the bulgy regions around the edges will be sinking too. Also, it sounds like we may need to think about increased volcanic activity in places that used to have glaciers and earthquakes at the boundaries between those plates. The articles I liked best were one from NOAA titled "What is glacial isostatic adjustment?" and the Wikipedia article on "Post-glacial rebound". The paper is "Observed rapid bedrock uplift in Amundsen Sea Embayment promotes ice-sheet stability" by Barletta et al 2018.

[@Greenhourglass]

everything about the period blood tweet is so funny. "im not against periods but" like someone was going to accuse them of opposing it like its something women just chose to do?? 😭

[@garethdean6382]

I have met men who believed that, as well as those who believed it could be controlled like urination.

[@chey7691]

So they are mad at *reads again* an actual bodily function. I wish I was still surprised at the level of ignorance. 😑

[@kashiichan]

​@@chey7691This is why it's so important to fund education. It's not an individual failing so much as it's a societal one.

[@wavion2]

@@garethdean6382 No you haven't.

[@kittimcconnell2633]

Boys get left out of sex education for girls, so they have no clue what menstruation is or why it happens. Such ignorance should be shameful, but too many parents keep supporting the ignorance.

[@FrozEnbyWolf150]

Not only can you not draw conclusions about wolf behavior by studying wolves in captivity, you also can't draw conclusions about human behavior by studying humans in captivity, i.e. prison. Nor should you use the behavior of prisoners as a prescriptive model for how all of society should be run. I don't think that's the kind of world you want to live in.

[@EnigmaticLucas]

Even if alpha-beta-sigma stuff were an actual part of normal human psychology, it wouldn’t matter because we aren’t cavemen anymore. We have the ability to ignore our instincts; that’s what makes us more than just apes with thumbs.

[@jonahblock]

we can and have studied apes in the wild and they clearly have alphas and humans are apes

[@janesullivan692]

​@@jonahblock that depends on the ape species. Chimps operate within a patriarchal dominance-based hierarchy enforced with violence, but bonobos are actually matriarchal and solve their problems with sex instead of fighting. We are equally related to both species.

[@FrozEnbyWolf150]

@jonahblock Wrong. Only specific species of great apes living in environments where they compete over scarce resources exhibit this behavior. Other ape species do not, so you can't make this generalization, nor can you use the alpha ape as a prescriptive model for human society. Evidence from paleontology shows that human ancestors survived by cooperating, not fighting amongst themselves for dominance.

[@cartoonraccoon2078]

@@jonahblock Given you are now incapable of not speaking like a meathead Joe Rogan, I don't think this coversation has any purpose.

[@Koresaurus]

Here is a persistent myth that I think has even cropped up in a SciShow video: that mantis shrimp can see some brilliant array of colours unknown to humans, because they have 12+ types of colour cones, and humans have a mere 3. They (likely) can't. In fact, they're not very good at distinguishing colours. This was tested *more than a decade ago.* Probably what's going on is that humans' colour cones overlap to form a spectrum, and mantis shrimp cones are instead more specialized to alert to their specific frequencies faster. *(edit)* They can see different types of polarized light, though. Mantis shrimp vision is neat, and I would encourage you to look it up! Colour _variety_ just isn't what's neat about it.

[@Horticarter41]

Oh that's super cool as a comment! Please forgive my instantaneous fact checking ritual I go through before I actually tell anyone I know the same factoid, but thanks!

[@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x]

Well what you say is half truth. First, cone types ranges from 12 to 16 depending on the species in question. They are indeed bad at distinguishing nuanced colors, if my memory serves right, wavelengths less than 25nm apart are deemed indistinguishable by them. However, it is a trade off. They get super high processing speed and better accuracy in exchange. They not only see polarized light but can distinguish different kinds of polarization, unlike any other animals. Some distinguishing between intensities is also suggested. So yeah, they don't see like super awesome multi trillion+ color paintings in 32K definition or anything close to that. But they process information much faster and they CAN see brilliant colors unimaginable to us. Except if you can Imagine your brain processing right and left circular and multi directional linear polarized lights, far red and deep UV light and process it super duper fast with trinocular depth perceiving eyes. So the way they see the world is still mind boggling and awesome. And honed to perfection to their needs.

[@Koresaurus]

​@@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x Mantis shrimp vision is indeed very cool, but seeing polarized light is not unique to them. Distinguishing certain types of polarization (circular?) might be? Not sure. Either way, I maintain that they do not see any crazy cool *colours* of light. So far as I know, they see "far red" (~700nm), which is still called red (and not infrared) because it is still within the range of human vision (~750nm). The ultraviolet light that they see (~300nm) is not super deep in the spectrum, either; quite a few other animals can see it, and humans cones actually can detect about that far into ultraviolet, but it is not normally seen because of the eye lens filtering it out.

[@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x]

​@@Koresaurus Nah, AFAIK no other animal can see that many different types of polarized light. Not even close. And the combination of those? Unique to this clade. Also some species see with 16 different cones... as i told you earlier. And no creature other than them can distinguish between clockwise and counterclockwise circular polarized light and all types of linear polarizations. Not only at once but by themselves. If you know any other animal can distinguish between clockwise and counterclockwise circular polarized light. But if you think otherwise please release your research papers and books and be rich and famous! I am aware of the capabilities and limitations of our sight. Also read all research papers about these cool shrimps as they have appeared (but not since respective first publications). We also have blind spots for example and a limited flicker rate (fps). They are quite the opposite, don't 'hallucinate their surroundings as much as we do and see with super fast (but more crude) processing. That can be a huge advantage. No tons of optical illusions and mistakes. I've mentioned trinocular vision before. We cannot even conceptualize it. They have depth perception even with a single eye! Independently movable eyes. Do you have any ide how a double trinocular, thus hexacular vision with awesome depth perception looks like? If you do, please let me know. They absorb an incredible amount of visual information. And not to get into their awesome biomechanics, especially their forelimb structure as i don't want to write a novel. I think you don't know enough about them thus you are heavily suspect to the Dunning-Kruger effect. Everything is on balance of course and tradeoffs must be made. For example human vs. chimpanzee musculature differences (fiber types and distribution), cognitive and memory differences (they have superior short term memory), etc. etc. But as I told you they are perfectly adapted to their habitat and niche. Like all life after billions of years of evolution. Whether you think they are cool or lame is your opinion. You know what they say about opinions. I my view all life is beautiful, fantastic, beautiful and unique in its own way. Full of surprises and tons of hidden secrets. All kingdoms. I never suggested the clade itself is overall superior to any other since that is nonsensical (and I have never claimed to do). But to not acknowledge how truly unique and superior are they is even more so. Much more so. And I am afraid you may do. Hope I1m wrong. Have a nice week!

[@Koresaurus]

​@@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x Distinguishing circular polarized light is possibly unique to them, yes... like I said. It does not make sense to sarcastically tell me to present papers to prove myself wrong. And I don't know where you're getting this idea that I think mantis shrimp are lame, when the word I used was "cool". What a dismissive and pretentious post.

[@AM-qc4qt]

If SciShow started a bad science debunking channel or just a channel to counter misinformation, I'd subscribe right away and watch every week!

[@katherinepagan4860]

I second this! I feel like with the proliferation of bad science and information, we need a place where we can get the truth explained clearly and succinctly, so that we can spread correct info to counter the bad info. And SciShow is really good at explaining things clearly and succinctly :)

[@haggielady]

YES, YES, YES! Please do more of these because the rest of the Internet is contributing to lower test scores and outright lies.

[@enigmalfidelity]

Lol. Ask them about vaccines....

[@katherinepagan4860]

I actually came to the comments to say just this!! I feel like with the proliferation of bad science and information, we need a place where we can get the truth explained clearly and succinctly, so that we can spread correct info to counter the bad info. And SciShow is really good at explaining things clearly and succinctly :)

[@mmcleod06]

I enjoyed Mythbusters "back in the day." I'm glad that SciShow is here to bust more myths that have surfaced.

[@ninaexmachina]

Periods aren't baby bits, they're baby blanket bits.

[@Irondragon1945]

Next you'll tell me baby powder isnt made of real babies either

[@casjean8904]

awww

[@telegramsam]

It's not even that, and Hank isn't quite accurate calling the endometrium "cozy" - the unusual thickening of the endometrium in humans actually makes implantation MORE difficult, and is a protection against what is the most invasive placenta type (hemochorial) among mammals (most other mammals' placentas don't burrow directly into mom's blood supply, but have a shallower contact with the uterine wall). It's difficult for humans to expel (miscarry) a failing pregnancy at a later stage, due to the higher risk of fatal bleeding. So the endometrium builds up thickly before conception can even happen, basically to weed out weak or genetically defective embryos before the pregnancy can progress. It's not baby blanket bits, it's wussy embryo keep-out sign bits

[@telegramsam]

(frankly the only mammal with a more dangerous reproductive process than humans is probably the spotted hyena, but i'll let you google that at your own risk)

[@sherisutherland1416]

​@Irondragon1945 no it's made of cancer cells....

[@GingerBread1004]

Do one about the gut microbiome and how we don't understand nearly as much about it as wellness influencers want to pretend we do.

[@advaitrahasya]

Don't do that. People might notice that we know even less about the virome, and real fortunes are made on a whole other scale by pretending we do. Debunkers have to be careful not to go very deep, because, when one does, things always get complicated, because the truth is usually complicated.

[@jzthegreat]

I was in a hospital where my sister in law was admitted. One of the nurses was obsessed with gut health and eating yogurt. My sister in law had tuberculosis and all the 10+ antibiotics she was taking was causing her to lose her appetite... It was wild

[@hiddenlawyer]

To your own point, there is nothing to debunk if you have no evidence to debunk with. Sure, you can debunk the confidence level, but that isn't going to be impactful, and if people stop eating McDonalds because some rando made a video about better gut health that was wrong, then I call that a win.

[@SaraevKS1985]

Close to it their recent video about antibiotics

[@kierianiis]

I got an ad about the gut microbiome on the mid roll of this video. And then one about how the “water purification industry” is a scam at the end 🙄

[@CuriousMisterG]

We just had our baby 2 days ago. They gave him the Vitamin K shot. My wife was so out of it she said oooo is that the special K? The nurse without hesitation said "Oh now I'm hungry!" Had to explain to my wife 5 minutes later why we were laughing so much xD

[@TheGremalin]

why the hell didn't they ask and inform about that before hand?

[@violentthespian9483]

@@TheGremalin It's a standard treatment measure and would have been covered during the consultation appointments the mother went to during her pregnancy.

[@Llortnerof]

@@TheGremalin I'd argue that this shouldn't even be asked about. Informed, sure, but there is no evidence they weren't, that's just you making assumptions.

[@XOguitargurlOX]

No. 6 reminds me of the microwave scare back in the day. When my sister was diagnosised with Leukemia, some people thought it was because we had recently moved blocks away from the *new* microwave tower. Why my other sisters and I were not impacted was never explained to me...

[@theninja4137]

My town had a new 4G tower that gave people headaches... until it was revealed it hadn't even been switched on yet

[@zxzxzzxx7396]

Also, photosynthesis efficiency decreases as temperature rises, because Rubisco is less eager to grab CO2 when it's warm, and not everyone is a C4 chad maize

[@wezul]

Also, plants just growing bigger doesn't necessarily mean they're more healthy (for themselves OR us).

[@braindecay9477]

C4 plants go boom (by efficiently gathering Biomass)

[@lyndsaybrown8471]

Maybe everyone should be a C4 Chad maize

[@vitaeve]

@@wezul It is healthy for the wallets of folks selling them by weight.

[@Irondragon1945]

My ex left me for a C4 chad maize

[@firefly4f4]

WRT the CO2 myth and the need for nitrogen, i think it's important to mention that the nitrogen plants need WILL NOT be coming from the air as I can see many of the conspiracy pushers saying nitrogen isn't a problem because it's ~70% of the atmosphere. Plants need to get their nitrogen from compounds in the soil, so if those compounds aren't being replenished, eg due to deforestation, then plants will also end up dying leaving even more CO2 hence exacerbating the issue.

[@tiffanysandmeier4753]

That is what makes nitrogen fixing plants so cool. It isn't something that all plants can do, and it is a symbiotic relationship with specific bacteria. Legumes are cool, but they won't fix our problems with nitrogen in the soil.

[@tomholroyd7519]

When we plant new trees in logged areas, we also need to dump a bunch of mushrooms on the tree stumps, and some bacteria in the soil

[@therealspeedwagon1451]

Also add in the fact that the vast majority of plants cannot perform nitrogen fixation on their own, even though it is essential for plant growth. The vast majority of plant species have symbiotic bacteria or fungi in their roots which do the nitrogen fixation for them.

[@matthewrayner571]

You need iron in your diet Well I work in a factory so I breathe it in all of the time. I should be fine. This is the kind of logic that people who say plants can get nitrogen from the air are using.

[@Pfhreak]

"Applying that outdated Alpha logic to your own personal dog pack isn't just flawed, it can do some real harm." Such as killing your 14 month-old dog for being "untrainable"?

[@SomeoneExchangeable]

The "more CO2 equals more plants" myth is trivial to show false: if the CO2 was the limiting factor, *the levels would not rise* in the first place. Instead, more plants and algae etc. would grow, and consume all the new CO2 down to the level at which lack of CO2 limits their growth. We kinda know what limits algae growth, and it's not CO2.

[@bramvanduijn8086]

Oh good point!

[@DonaldDeCicco]

Maybe that hasn't happened because co2 hasn't really gone up in any significant amount? What percentage of the air is Co2? What was that percentage 100 years ago?

[@SomeoneExchangeable]

@@DonaldDeCicco The CO2 amount in the atmosphere increased by 30% in the last hundred years. It is now the highest it has been since about 60 million years or so.

[@SaraevKS1985]

​@@DonaldDeCiccosee Veritasium's video on CO2 and plants. 150-years old grains gave much bigger ones.

[@energizerwolf5574]

​@@SomeoneExchangeable poor you. The level of stupidity is amazing when some ppl think they know what was happening 60 million ys ago.

[@the.masked.one.studio4899]

Y’all need to do one of these a week with all the misinformation out here!

[@jeffmcdonald101]

Unfortunately, if you read through the comments section you can see why they don't. The Dunning-Krueger effect in full force. I wouldn't wish that on Hank or the team.

[@Candlemancer]

​@overlordfemto7523 We can tell you don't suffer from it, but only because that would require some modicum of intelligence and understanding.

[@katherinepagan4860]

I second this! SciShow is really good at explaining things clearly and succinctly, and we need more of that to combat all the bad science across the Internet :)

[@LunDruid]

Honestly at this point, anything that unironically calls any group of people "idiots" in all caps like one ice meme that is an automatic red flag.

[@triangulum8869]

Thinking that an elementary school experiment somehow disproves decades of thorough research and analysis is an automatic red flag

[@johnyliltoe]

To be fair I'm almost certain that happens on both sides. One side just has a valid point.

[@sinisterdesign]

Okay...but have you *seen* people? Not the brightest, tbh

[@wezul]

I paused the video as soon as I saw the measuring cup with the ice. Clearly this person failed to understand how much ice is locked up ON LAND. *double facepalm*

[@fizzyoddcod]

Not to mention that the glaciers in the ocean have ice above the water level, ice that isn’t displacing water.

[@solsystem1342]

​@@fizzyoddcod Actually that's wrong. An object floating in water can't increase the height of water by melting/throwing things overboard. It can technically decrease the water level slightly if it's like a steel boat that sinks (because the water displaced while floating is larger than the amount of water displaced while it's on the bottom of the ocean). Anything less dense than water is already fully displacing its weight in water and therefore even melting won't change the height. It's still a huge concern for the earth's climate (higher light absorption at higher longitudes might lead to bigger shifts in the climate). Just not for your particular reason.

[@alolol1000]

​@@solsystem1342 melting ice cubes in salt water does increase the water level slightly.

[@solar0wind]

​@@alolol1000 What kind of flag is that in your picture?

[@jaghatarkebab2020]

Glaciers in the water are not *necessarily* floating. If they’re not floating, the ice cube in the cup is less than applicable.

[@RedundantDan]

I like how the period blood person was like "How do you act like this is normal?!" to literally one of the body's normal functions. Like regardless of what's in it or how you feel about it, it's normal by virtue of its existence? Such a weird take lol

[@aliengeo]

You gotta wonder what the alternative would be to acting like it's normal. Ancient Greek-style wailing in the streets for every one week in four?

[@kiranaun9593]

Just found out voices deepen during puberty from testosterone production??? How do you act like this is normal?!

[@thewatcherinthecloud]

OP was probably a boy that found out the pain of being a woman. Seriously, sex education needs to be improved

[@chelseawhite7117]

9:34 not the guy thinking women “bleed out fetuses” every month as if …. we’re in a constant state of mitosis-pregnancy….? 🤦‍♀️ the scary thing is that I’m sure he votes, too

[@aliengeo]

@overlordfemto7523We get it. You have nothing better to do with your time than harass this entire comment section. Log off and take up a more productive hobby.

[@Candlemancer]

​@overlordfemto7523apparently you don't think people who bleed monthly from their uterus are women, so I think you may be the one with that issue

[@UGNAvalon]

@overlordfemto7523 So how did you miss the OP saying “WE are in a constant state of mitosis-pregnancy” ??

[@MLennholm]

I'm pretty sure I know who he votes for, too

[@tlhIngan]

Using '"tweet" is OK. Twitter allows deadnaming on their platform now, so "Twitter" and "tweet" are valid terms to refer to that platform

[@icreatedanaccountforthis1852]

Amazing comment

[@fischmann1746]

Im pretty sure that twitter being okay with it has nothing to do with people still calling it twitter. 😅

[@VxV631]

Also "deadnaming" is a dumb concept altogether so I too support using the actual name for twitter lol

[@jessicatymczak5852]

@@VxV631not to people who are transgender and have had there name changed, it’s used to harass and degrade a group of people by bigots

[@lowtech42]

@@VxV631 why?

[@GardenUPLandscape]

Can you guys look into the study that claims cardboard contains forever chemicals? I follow a bunch of scientist, including some doctors in botany who are absolutely screaming that gardeners need to stop sheet mulching with cardboard because there are forever chemicals in the cardboard. But the study they are quoting is not about gardening, or even strictly about cardboard. It was a study on the use of mixed paper on a chicken farm. I haven't had time to dive into this myself, but if you guys could do a video on it that would clarify things for a lot of gardeners other than myself. Love you all! Keep up the good work!

[@AmyMcLean]

Yes, this please ☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️

[@caydennormanton9682]

Seconded (thirded?)

[@ExplodingDarth]

I am only commenting to say I enjoy videos like this! I think topics like essential oils (as a means of curing disease or improving health through topical application or ingestion), acupuncture, and chiropractic care (as a means to cure disease or achieve more than temporary effects) are all good topics! For a more light-hearted topic, those dog buttons that let them "speak"

[@nobody.of.importance]

In case anyone's curious re: why injections in the muscle vs in the blood matters, the tl;dr version is that it releases into the blood more slowly when it's injected into the muscle. Gives it a weaker but longer lasting effect.

[@TJF588]

Morbidly, I have to wonder how many parents who reject the Vitamin K shot for their babies also push forced circumcision on them. There's just no bleeding out quite like unnecessary genital surgery.

[@nedludd7622]

It's a shame that a certain governor from South Dakota did not have access to the facts about dogs. "Foggy, irritated, dizzy, itchy, or nauseous" seems to be a requirement for running for president these days.

[@tomholroyd7519]

I also laugh at people who worry about the radiation from cell phones. They have clearly never lived in places like Hawaii or Florida. You get a way bigger dose of radiation just by taking your hat off when the sun is high in the sky.

[@garethdean6382]

It's not TV that will irradiate you, its microwaves...I mean cellphones...I mean wifi...I mean 4G...I mean the next tech thing to com along!

[@Deinobi]

​@@garethdean6382 Duh it's obviously AI and ChatGPT that makes you sick!!

[@darcieclements4880]

Well there were some papers that suggest that there were some problems with some of the early phones because people would be getting a specific type of growth just on the ear that they listened to their cellular phones with, but I don't think it held up long-term and they're supposed to put shielding on phones now to help prevent that just in case anyway. It wasn't the major signals though It was an extra thing that is produced well amplifying the signal on the way out that they were concerned about but I'm pretty sure the follow-up showed that it was just luck in the original study. The Wi-Fi one is funny because that would actually came from a classroom of school children who put plants on top of their Wi-Fi box and noticed that the plants died. The teacher had to spend a lot of time after the initial report when she realized it was because it was warmer in that spot and the plants had dehydrated😂

[@timhyatt9185]

you'll get bigger doses in the plane flight getting to hawaii or florida...

[@kittimcconnell2633]

different wavelengths of radiation have different effects. Humans are largely made of water, and microwaves warm water faster than other materials. But it has to be a concentrated exposure to have that effect. I bet that is where the misinformation came from...that and the fact that people are naturally afraid of new things they don't understand. Microwave has been used for communication (like radio) for decades. It hasn't harmed anyone.

[@boraxmacconachie7082]

@SciShow : A myth I would love scishow to debunk is that everybody should eat more protein. I see high protein diets touted as healthy all over the internet, but my understanding from studying food chemistry at university is that on average, people already eat way too much protein and it's unhealthy. My lecturer said that if you eat too much protein, some of it makes it through the small bowel undigested, so the bacteria in your colon break down the left-over amino acids into carcinogenic by-products! Why are health blogs always telling people to eat more and more protein if it gives you cancer? The thing modern people are actually lacking in their diets is complex carbs/fibre, and yet I also see influencers claiming that healthy foods like oats are bad for you just because they're high in "carbs". Carbs are not all equal, bruh

[@tsm688]

oats are a particularly weird grain which is actually high in **fat**. Otherwise I'd be happy to eat a lot more of them :D Fad diets are being pushed for the same reasons fad diets always are.

[@FlyingFox86]

People will make up anything about food as long as it isn't "eat more vegetables".

[@rikorobinson]

I'm pretty sure Sci-Show has already addressed this, but I think it needs to be addressed frequently: The Double-Slit Experient does NOT prove that consciousness collapses the waveform of the particle going through the slits. It's the interaction between the particle and whatever is being emitted by the detectors that causes the waveform to collapse. There's A LOT of woo-wooo shenaneganry going around about this and it kind of drives me crazy.

[@tsm688]

that is not about the double-slit experiment specifically, but the idea that "any experiment is changed by the observer" meaning "any HUMAN observer" meaning "WE HAVE SPECIAL PSYCHIC POWERS!" no, it does not mean "human observer", a single damned particle can be an "observer" for this purpose, you're not special. blergh

[@quickmythril2398]

@@tsm688 i actually saw a good video that explained WHY the planck measurements exist. basically the idea is that any form of measurement requires bouncing some signal or energy and checking the reflection of that. at planck sizes, any amount of added energy destroys the thing you are trying to measure. or something along those lines.

[@Candlemancer]

"Observed" is an unfortunately misleading term in this context. It's not the consciousness observing it that causes it to collapse, but that any observation requires interaction and any interaction causes it to collapse.

[@rikorobinson]

@@Candlemancer Exactly 🙂

[@Dandelion_Stitches]

@@Candlemancer Yeah, whenever I'm trying to explain it to students I generally use 'measurement' rather than 'observation', because it immediately removes the assumption of a human consciousness being involved.

[@JustinDeneschuknorris]

This is the best SciShow I've seen. Thank you all, keep up the fight for truth

[@justayoutuber1906]

Do more of these please. The zombies (people without brains) have taken over the internet and social media.

[@jeffmcdonald101]

Because the people with brains have mostly just have more valuable things in their life than listening to morons all the time. This entire comments section is a great example of why only the crazies seem like they are growing in number. More like they are being abandoned because it seems they cannot be helped. Were I not in bed with the flu, you can be sure I've got better thing to do than hang out and argue pointlessly with uninformed people.

[@MoonThuli]

The cold myth is probably because if your head gets cold it has the most severe effects. As long as you're swimming fast enough most people can last in almost freezing water for at least a few minutes, but if you put your head under it causes instant disorientation and shock.

[@tsm688]

It's better to lose a toe in the arctic than a head in the arctic!

[@themr_wilson]

3:21 a couple buddies were talking about dog training and one said, _"Sometimes, you gotta do what they wanna do."_ Every family member gets input, right?

[@csmith2662]

3:36 “let’s talk about something NEW and wrong.” The excitement there is just awesome! 😂

[@crewdat]

Please make this a series. I think this is what we need in the world right now.

[@rfldss89]

I really like that you didn't just debunk myths that have running rampant for decades now, like the alpha male myth, but also ones that have entered the zeitgeist particularly recently, like the misinformation surrounding seed oils.

[@poultryinmotion5721]

@overlordfemto7523 Make your own food and you get to decide what goes into it. So, not all American food has seed oil in it. Maybe the food YOU choose to eat does.

[@poultryinmotion5721]

@overlordfemto7523 That depends entirely where you live. I live in a state with lots of agriculture and fresh ingredients can be very reasonably priced when in season. So, yes, in a grocery desert you could be correct that "poor" people can't afford to cook most of their food. But that still wouldn't be "all American food" as you stated. You're the one showing your privilege. The privilege to blindly believe that your view/opinion/experience is the ONLY view/opinion/experience. It isn't. BTW, I've been so poor all I could afford was rice, maybe rice and beans if I were lucky. And neither have seed oil. So....

[@celticnoble5650]

@overlordfemto7523 I pity you.

[@finnopolis]

@@celticnoble5650 he's in every thread on this video being a troll, it really is sad

[@Tinil0]

@overlordfemto7523 Why do you even watch this channel if you are so pro-ignorance and anti-science?

[@hrpdrp97]

I see people try and claim that an alpha is just a good leader and that people dont know what an alpha really is, and these people really dont realise they are perpetuating confusion and misinformation with miscommunication. An "alpha" is not the same as a elected "leader" or the same as a "parent" figure, an "alpha" is an individual that gains social power through fighting for dominance over that position. Its an incredibly uncommon and rare social hierarchy in nature. Most highly social animals use an elected leader, as in the leader is an individual that can be trusted to protect and feed the group, usually consisting of older individuals with more experience and strength for defence, or they have parental leaders, as in they simly are a group consisting of the parents and their offspring. "Parent" "leader" and "alpha" are not completely interchangeable terms when talking about social structure in animals, lest it cause confusion. So please, stop lying trying to rewrite what "alpha" means, because we already have words for leaders that dont lead with fear and dominance.

[@FelisImpurrator]

On top of that, dominance hierarchies are notoriously unstable and incredibly bad long term.

[@hrpdrp97]

@@FelisImpurrator its the most annoying when people see one or two incidents of wild animals using dominance hierarchies and claim that that is how those species are when its just a few individual groups. I.e. chimps, there are a few troops that use dominance, mainly common with captive ones, but because of this people assume that's common in the wild too and how humans should act because they are our closest relative, when in reality most wild chimp troops have leader roles not obtained with dominance or fights. Its so bad the Wikipedia page for chimps state that chimps have alphas and link a source that literally says they don't on that statement. Reason why i believe wikipedia is a good research tool but NOT a good source for actual facts.

[@bramvanduijn8086]

@@hrpdrp97 You know you're free to update wikipedia, right?

[@hrpdrp97]

@@bramvanduijn8086 i never figured it out so i never bothered. I dont care to anyway. Any issues i see get fixed pretty quickly by someone else usually

[@dmitripogosian5084]

I always thought that alpha is who get the choice of ladies while the beta's stand in linе hoping for a chance

[@slevemcdichael4481]

oh my god PLEASE make this a series. misinfo, conspiracy theories, so rampant these days. it'd be so helpful to have these bite sized videos to send to people who believe them

[@holliealexamoxham2589]

Thank you so much for including "alpha theory" in this 🤩🤩🤩 Our dogs deserve better!

[@dreadpiratedan]

paused at 0:20, i was so sure you were going to say "doozies and don'tzies"

[@thecraftycyborg9024]

I have lung issues and have really had success wearing my old cloth Covid masks in the cold. They’re thin enough to breathe through easily but thick enough to trap a lot of heat.

[@glenndennis6801]

Been there, you got to hate it when the air makes you face hurt. 🥶

[@tsm688]

you might be interested in a new 21st century technology called "the scarf". ...seriously I have no idea why they went out of fashion they're ducking useful

[@thecraftycyborg9024]

@@tsm688- I do use scarves. However, I’m on oxygen. My cannula gets tangled up if I wrap a scarf around my face. Plus most of my scarfs are fuzzy and I don’t want that fluff in my mouth. So I wear a scarf around my neck and the face mask on my face. I also find the mask stays in place better than a scarf wrapped around the whole face.

[@FerralVideo]

It's kinda hilarious. I'm a wolf lover and even I took until a surprisingly recent time frame before I was able to learn the truth about the Alpha myth. Not helped by circles such as Wolf RP and Furry both still clinging and contributing to its perpetuation, and the fact that dominance/submissive behaviors are still observed in wild packs. The big thing here is that in that case it's just a conflict resolution. The "submissive" wolf is literally just going "Okay, you win" to defuse an argument. People can barely even tell the diffference between a yawning wolf and a snarling wolf, let alone the difference between (rough!) play, an "argument", and an actual fight. Honorable mention to the Omega myth. This also came from the same flawed study as the Alpha myth. The actual "rank" that we called Omega is better called a Jester. Their role is just to play. They're the family's pressure relief. When everyone else is stressed out because, say, a hunt went south, this member may come out of nowhere and start pouncing on wolves, wrestling, and bouncing around and generally being a clown to try to cheer their family back up. There are documented cases where the "Omega" wolf died, which sent the entire pack into a week-long depression. Howling mournfully, refusing to eat, and just laying around. As I noted above though, people struggle to identify the difference between rough play, arguments, and fights, though this wolf's attempts to play may be refuted by a grumpy sibling. Although I probably shouldn't even call it a "rank". It's more of just a particularly playful wolf among the pack. And no, it doesn't have to be a yearling or growing pup, frequently a playful adult will fill this role. Footnote: Full scale fights basically never happen between members of a healthy pack. Play? Definitely. Arguments? For sure. Actual fights? Almost never. The most common cause of a fight between wolves is between packs, over territory. Which I shouldn't downplay - the most lethal thing to a wolf in Yellowstone is a wolf in Yellowstone. It's fun watching the arguments relating to the colloquial "Alpha male" in context to humans down here in the comments. That whole thing has long ago transcended canids. Oh, and was flawed from the start as an oversimplification of complex factors in human personality. Of course, some humans really are simple minded enough to let a single label define their entire existence, and then either deliberately or subconsciously, alter their behavior to comply with that label. Doesn't matter whether that label is "Alpha Male", a political party, or a subculture.

[@JaniceinOR]

Thank you for the details about the jester/omega role. 😊

[@sapphiresupernova]

I wonder if that's my dog's role, the jester. We have 5 unrelated dogs and they formed an unofficial "pack" where the oldest female acts like the mom of the group and gets onto everyone much like a mother would when they get on her nerves. My dog is still a puppy and he likes to cheer everyone up by playing with them and he always wants to play.

[@swekiwi4517]

Thanks guys. You don't understand how good this is. I keep telling friends and classmates about how inaccurate some things they state are (based mostly on twitter or Instagram posts). This helps me (and everyone else) to spread evidencebased science. Not twitterposts.

[@Amokhunter]

The heat thing was coming from toddlers afaik. And it makes more sense there, as their heads are proportionally bigger than an adults noggin. The Alpha Wolf thing came from observation of a pack of wolves in a zoo and it applies there and only there. When the same guy, years later, had the opportunity to observe a pack, or rather family of wolves in the wild he realized his mistake.

[@enbeeMe]

as someone who is studying to become a dog trainer, the alpha myth does so much damage but is soo persistant 😭 even lots over vets don’t know it’s wrong (I don’t live in the US, hopefully it’s better there) 😢

[@hrpdrp97]

Im sad to say, it's actually worse here, depending on the area, it is a bit of a state by state thing, but there isnt much if any regulations on dog trainers, so anyone can become a "professional dog trainer" overnight and many people push the same alpha mentality, mostly following methods from cesar milan, and some using the same methods used to train fighting dogs. Its really sucks, no one here who is a dog trainer has actually studied much if anything, its just as bad as the back yard breeder problem. Like, my mom was a hairdresser and had to go through more to be able to legally cut someone else's hair for money, she had a requirement of i think 4 years of beauty school and had to take a teast to get a license that she had to do more tests to renew every one or two years. Why is it so hard to do something like that for dog trainers? I dont understand how things are ran here anymore, its all dystopian as hell. Hate it, wish i had more power to change it, but i do what i can.

[@BackYardScience2000]

Another common myth is that when you throw sodium in water it is the hydrogen that explodes. Yeah, the hydrogen will burn off as it's created, but that's not why sodium explodes in water. You can completely submerge a chunk of sodium where there is no oxygen for the hydrogen to react with, and it will still explode. You can also do this in an inert atmosphere and it will still explode. It's a coulomb explosion, not a hydrogen explosion.

[@tsm688]

LOL no, you cannot extract electrons fast enough from a substance to cause it to "coulomb explosion"... If you could, desktop fusion would be a reality. There are two much easier answer. Number one, SODIUM FLOATS! Number two, Hydrogen has a very specific range of flammability, it kind of waits for stoichometry then goes off like a bomb. In short it is its own thermobaric.

[@willythemailboy2]

@@tsm688 It's possible that the very end of the reaction is a Coulomb explosion, but certainly not of a bulk metal. The research done on it involved only very small droplets of NaK, not the more substantial pieces of pure sodium usually used in demonstrations. When using a macroscopic piece of sodium, it will burn as it floats on/above the water until the end of the reaction when the very last bit explodes with a pop.

[@Lionesse-z41553]

"... so the uterus decides to redecorate..." 💀💀💀

[@rogerking7258]

I guess that explains the expression we have in the UK "She's got the painters in again".

[@Lionesse-z41553]

@@rogerking7258 🤣🤣🤣

[@coldlogic800]

Finally this is gaining traction. Any person that describes themselves as, "alpha" = ignorant.

[@PxNxWxGxW]

I bet you have blue hair

[@yellowsock13]

Hank being grim reaper going door to door ending science myths.

[@themr_wilson]

Not only raising water levels, but quick melting and all that sudden fresh water in salt water wreaks havoc on ecosystems

[@johnyliltoe]

GMOs. If I have to explain to one more person that genetic modification doesn't involve poisoning the food supply I'm gonna have an aneurism.

[@johnyliltoe]

Related and topical: Cellular Agriculture.

[@PhantasmalBlast]

It sucks cause that fear mongering takes away from the discussion of actual GMO issues like ownership and monoculture risks.

[@johnyliltoe]

@@PhantasmalBlast Right?! There are real risks that can be mitigated if we'd look at them more seriously. And on the flip side the potential good is huge. Like crops that are naturally resilient to fungus and insects, can grow in harsh climates, are more nutrient dense and just overall provide more food. Instead we're letting it go largely unnoticed, minimally regulated and tragically underutilized. Like monoculture risks should never be a thing... you can literally build the diversity; but that would be harder and more costly than giving everyone the same strain -.-

[@johnno4127]

Working at a garden center I had a customer call in asking whether our apple trees were GMO. I'd never heard of such a thing and told her that if they existed we weren't carrying them. She was pissed because I didn't absolutely denounce GMOs and declare our trees "natural". I looked it up afterward, there are--or were--two varieties of GMO apples, a red and a green, they don't produce the protein required for the Maillard reaction which makes cut apples turn brown. They are grown for use in pre-packaged sliced-apple products since they don't discolor.

[@johnyliltoe]

​@@johnno4127 Oh, that's an interesting case! If she was worried about the nutritional content of the apples and knew they didn't produce protein the same way I'd say that was a very reasonable question. Judging by the extreme reaction I suspect she hadn't thought it through that far...

[@oasntet]

Fearmongering about phytoestrogens in soy is also a great terrible science take worth debunking.

[@tsm688]

as if soy is the only plant with those.

[@JaniceinOR]

I would definitely be interested in learning more accurate information about that.

[@jimshotfirst4887]

​@@JaniceinOR Hbomberguy has a really good video about it

[@JaniceinOR]

@jimshotfirst4887 Thank you for the suggestion. Is it one of those with "Soy Boy" in the title?

[@tsm688]

@@JaniceinOR almost certainly. that's a pejorative associated with this myth

[@nlpascal]

I would love to see more specific debunking videos. For instance debunking chemtrails and the bad science "evidence" for it.

[@tsm688]

chemtrails are pretty fringe fortunately. a few dedicated believers but not mass hysteria.

[@reverse_engineered]

The thing with chemtrails, flat earth, and all that crap is that it's trivial to debunk it and extremely difficult to support it, and that's half the reason that those people claim to believe it. Many great videos have been made about the strange communities built up around flat earth, Q anon, and various other bizarre conspiracies and they have much to do with rejecting society and finding their own group identity. Whoever claims to believe the most ridiculous thing demonstrates that they are most committed to the group. It's become increasingly more common in politics too - just watch the circus that has occurred in the US Congress over the last decade.

[@herisuryadi6885]

​@@tsm688Seems to have gone mainstream now

[@tsm688]

@@herisuryadi6885 na.

[@jesusarreola3169]

A common misconception i see in people starting to go into the gym to lose weight is that doing all these twists and sit up type exercises will burn belly fat and shred your waist but that's not how it works. In order to lose weight its as simple as doing a caloric deficit and if anything doing core workouts potentially builds muscle there which would lead to size that isnt gonna go away so long as you continue to exercise it

[@trevinbeattie4888]

It’s not that simple. If you reduce your calorie intake by too much the body goes into “starvation mode” where it reduces the amount of energy spent on base metabolism. And part of that strategy is reducing muscle mass, since muscles contribute to your metabolic rate; hence “use it or lose it.” The calories burned during moderate exercise is just a small fraction or your base metabolism, _but_ using those muscles signals your body to look elsewhere for additional calories if it needs them … at which point it turns to releasing the energy stored in fat. That’s why it’s important to both exercise and eat a proper diet (i.e. one that doesn’t drastically increase your blood sugar level).

[@jesusarreola3169]

@@trevinbeattie4888 i dont think you understood what im saying. Weight gain and loss isnt the problem. I know that its about balance and consistency. Im saying the misconception is that certain workouts will "trim" body fat in certain places which just isnt how it works. Ofcourse i want the scishow to go into depth with it to clear it up. Ive been skinny all my life so maybe ill learn something new too

[@cfromnowhere]

There are people losing their homes, communities and sacred places where they have lived for thousands of years due to rising sea level. Yet other people are still dismissing it is true...

[@TheSwauzz]

Where are people losing their homes exactly? I tried to look it up, but couldn't find anything.

[@cfromnowhere]

@@TheSwauzz Small island nations like Maldives, Kiribati and Tuvalu. You must be searching in the wrong place: climate refugees are very likely from developing countries where English is not spoken.

[@matthewrayner571]

​@@TheSwauzzWatch Tuvalu's address to Cop26.

[@JM87Fly]

@@cfromnowhere don’t worry, Ben Shapiro fixed it. He just said if your home is at risk from rising sea levels, you can just sell and buy somewhere on a hill 🤡 😂

[@dmitripogosian5084]

So what if ? Things change, humans need and will adjust. Change in geography is the least thing I would worry about

[@thenoodledragon6007]

It's always interesting when people still think Alpha dogs are a thing. Its wild what we learn over time!

[@elizaalmabuena]

it got so bad that at first it was 'dogs are like wolves and since wolves have alphas then dogs must have alphas' and then over time as it got harder for them to defend that position since study after study showed the alpha thing was wrong they shifted to 'dogs aren't like wolves, wolves don't have alphas but dogs do and they need alphas'.... smh

[@victoriaeads6126]

There's a whole thing with werewolf and werewolf romance novels that really perpetuates this myth, it's infuriating.

[@joshclark756]

@@elizaalmabuena dogs arent even close to wolves dogs came from pluto

[@Nico-od4yv]

The whole Alpha thing says more about human Society than it says about Wolf Society.

[@blackkittycat15]

It's funny finding out they're just the parents, because I still stand by that it's still a good role to raise dogs. You love and care for them, but sometimes you assert authority and they WILL get their nails trimmed.

[@pantalonesdemuerto7960]

“I’m an alpha” I say, removing my mask to reveal the helium nucleus beneath.

[@Varz-w8y]

It’s sad how people on tiktok just take things and roll with it without doing any research at all.

[@quickmythril2398]

or how people just believe whatever the "science" video tells them. :D

[@eileen7303]

I really love these debunk videos that you guys do. I also wish I had a list of Hank- approved science websites. I'm pretty clear the PBS related sites are good. and of course the complexly group. but who else outside that universe makes a top 10 list for you guys? I really can't get enough science content so lead me to more! thanks for what you do!

[@kaecatlady]

Don't forget that microwaving any kinds of food utterly kills that food's "life force", and therefore, its nutritional value...

[@dustmybroom288]

I can totally understand what would led to someone thinking that

[@tsm688]

the microwave phobia is getting seriously bad in north america. what the hell is up with that

[@dustmybroom288]

Let’s be honest, the only thing a microwave is good at is convenience and drying out food

[@tsm688]

@@dustmybroom288 ngl sounds like you have no clue what the hell you're doing with one. Would you shove food into a pot on a stove without oil and complain when it burns?

[@dustmybroom288]

@@tsm688 I use a microwave to reheat food everyday. Sometimes the results are not always all that good. If I used the reheat setting on my toaster over it would take way longer but I think it would do a better job.

[@blackkittycat15]

It's funny how each myth does have a grain of truth blown out of proportion. Though I also never get why people are so scared of medication anaphylaxis warnings. They're less common than peanut reactions.

[@matt566]

IV medication anaphylaxis is the most lethal type though. Your body can’t flush the thing out when it’s in the veins everywhere. So you just going to go sky.

[@4124V4TA-SNPCA-x]

Most dangerous and best lies rely on half truths.

[@slwrabbits]

Especially since if a reaction starts to happen, your baby is already in the best place to have one - in the hospital or otherwise under the care of a medical professional. Should something bad happen, then they take action!

[@joeleoleo]

I recently responded to a friend who posted a meme of two different types of Quaker Instant Oatmeal claiming falsely that difference was that one was sold in the US and the other the UK (they’re both sold here, one is the simpler more expensive one with real freeze dried strawberries) and their ingredients claiming we should all be alarmed. I had to explain the American listed additives as well as the difference in food labeling laws as well as pointing out the difference in products. The main difference between them in an actual side by side comparison is the food labeling laws (the US labels all the fortifications, anti-fungal agents, anti-caking agents, and emulsifiers) and Red Dye 50 which is not allowed in the EU or UK because it’s linked to hyperactivity in children.

[@quickmythril2398]

well, we should be alarmed that we have garbage in our foods that is banned in other countries...

[@Drekromancer]

@@quickmythril2398 Yes we should. I have ADHD, and I've found that Red Dye 40 makes my symptoms WAY worse every time. It gives me a wicked headache, makes it hard for me to concentrate, and generally makes me feel sick and stupid for at least half the day. At this point, I just avoid it entirely. But I worry about what we're doing to our society when a single ingredient that destructive is allowed into common foods that are given to children. And that's just a single ingredient. Imagine how many similar cases there are!

[@tomholroyd7519]

I can say with certainty that sometimes I get sick to my stomach and turning my phone off really helps. Probably not the frequency of the radiation, or the intensity. More the information contained in the patterns of the waves.

[@eroraf8637]

Sounds more like placebo plus regression to the mean. Sometimes, just doing something that you think will help alters the chemical balance of your brain in a way that alleviates the symptoms. More importantly, transient bouts of nausea often resolve with minimal or no intervention, and the information content of telecom radio waves is completely and utterly irrelevant to any putative non-thermal effects on living tissue. Actually, here’s a little experiment you can try next time you have one of those nausea bouts: instead of turning your phone off, just put it in airplane mode, and make sure WiFi and Bluetooth are off as well. You could also try doing nothing, or do something else that doesn’t involve your phone. Be sure to record your findings over multiple trials, and try to account for confounding variables and your own cognitive biases.

[@chey7691]

​@@eroraf8637 Bud they clearly don't believe in the bad wave stuff. They are talking about unplugging from looking at upsetting information.

[@pinkace]

You absolutely, positively, need to do more mythbusting videos. People are DYING.

[@quickmythril2398]

from...?

[@sciencewithfun2052]

​@@quickmythril2398your stupidity just reading your stupid takes sent me to the ER in critical condition

[@theeyeofomnipotent]

​@@quickmythril2398 caused by; vit k avoidance in video, indirect and direct effect of alternate medicine, bad conflict management caused by alpha worldview stuff, etc, Critcal thought will save you and is the most critical to our civilization, and us as the individual

[@pinkace]

@@quickmythril2398 drinking bleach to cure Covid? From measles because parents didn’t vaccinate? Malnourishment from eating only seaweed because someone on the interwebs said it has all the necessary nutrition & all other food exists only because the guh’vmint wanted to control our brains with high fructose corn syrup? Take your pick.

[@hunger4wonder]

@@quickmythril2398 Ignorance...

[@CarbonatedBorger]

Vitamin K is a hill I will die on. I work in a hospital lab. I have never felt such fear as I did when I ran a infants coagulation study. Poor baby couldn't clot and needed to!!

[@andrewduff2048]

I was told the one about water and ice in a measuring cup by a substitute teacher when I was in the fourth grade. That was like 20 years ago. It was very convincing to my 10 year old self. It’s very stupid.

[@Wyllwho]

😮 to me it was at my 7th grade with a math teacher. She spoke that with such a confidence...

[@mathewfinch]

An oft overlooked aspect of the Alpha wolf myth: dogs also aren't wolves.

[@l.zevicreations]

Exactly. They may be close enough related genetically to breed but... There's a huge nuance. You'd be surprised the amount of people who don't realise how HUGE wolves actually are, they think maybe husky sized :D

[@hrpdrp97]

​@@l.zevicreationssome neighbors at one point, in the subburbs of taylor michigan, had yelled out for me to be carful because a cyote was in my yard. It was my aunts sweedish vallhund, i dont think they ever saw a real cyote 😂

[@theninja4137]

​@@hrpdrp97aren't swedish vallhunds like corgi-sized and corgi-shaped?

[@hrpdrp97]

@@theninja4137 i really wish i was lying. They also tried to get my dog put down cause they couldn't tell the difference between a small dog being bitten on the snout by a much larger dig, and the small dog biting its own lip on the fence. Thankfully they lost that battle.

[@Grond112358]

Do one about all these . . . people . . . who use urine as a health thing. Like, in their hair, on their skin, etc. And eating placenta. Barf.

[@Nazuiko]

PLEASE do more debunks and bad science takes!

[@hannahstraining7476]

I'm a dog trainer and behavior consultant, and I cannot thank you enough for debunking the dominance myth!!! You got it all exactly right. So, everyone, PLEASE DO NOT listen to The Dog Whisperer!!!

[@francinesmith1889]

SciShow crew busting science misinformation. Milo Rossi busting history misinformation. Lmk who else I should subscribe to.

[@tsm688]

how about **THE RECTIFIER** aka electroboom he hasn't done debunking lately but that's mostly because every thing everyone shows him is the same as stuff he already debunked. Scams have not been terribly creative recently.

[@UGNAvalon]

idk, William Spaniel for geopolitics misinformation? Legal Eagle for legal misinformation? I’ll admit, my exposure to educational channels is extremely limited, so there are likely better ones out there.

[@FourthRoot]

The sea level thing is an example of a double strawman fallacy. Global warming causes sealevels to rise by thermal expansion of the ocean and by melting ice over land. But some people misinterpret this fact as "the ice caps will melt and cause sea levels to rise dramatically." Examples of absurd exaggerations of sea level rise are depicted in Waterworld and Cloud Atlas, and some ignorant people take these depictions seriously. So others will point out correctly that the vast majority of ice, the float ice, won't have any effect on sealevels. And then more educated alarmists cry "strawman" while ironically committing the strawman fallacy themselves.

[@dmitripogosian5084]

Are you sure vast majority of ice floats ? I always thought vast majority of ice is in Greeland and Antarctica, and does not float

[@FourthRoot]

@dmitripogosian5084 You know what? You're right. I was thinking in terms of area, not volume. Arctic sea ice is only about 3 meters thick. The ross ice shelf is about 300 meters thick. But the landlocked ice of antartica and greenland are 2-3 km thick. So yes, the vast majority of ice on earth is supported by land. That said, sea ice is more sensitive to climate change than land ice.

[@dmitripogosian5084]

@@FourthRoot All, on all, Google says that if all ice on Earth melts, sea levels will rise somewhere around 70 meters and at 25 C it will take something like 5000 years to do that

[@FourthRoot]

@@dmitripogosian5084 There's no point in worrying about anything more than 100 years out. Both the population and technology will have changed so dramatically by then that it's impossible to predict the outcome and predicting further than that is exponentially more difficult.

[@msdusmcd]

Please look into and address "gluten sensitivity." While we lived in Germany, we never experienced or heard of it. When we returned to the States, oh my goodness, it seemed like everyone was gluten sensitive. Is the EU-banned and US-allowed potassium bromate the culprit? Please advise.

[@reverse_engineered]

There are people that are definitely sensitive to it. Celiac disease is an immune response of the body against gluten proteins which is a result of a gene abnormality. There's also gluten intolerance, which is clearly documented and can be tested for, but the reasons for it aren't understood. It may not be the gluten itself; it could be an intolerance of some associated carbohydrates or of wheat specifically. There is also a much larger portion of people who believe that gluten is simply bad for you. They also tend to associate any kind of digestion issue with gluten, whether or not its even present, while overlooking instances where they feel fine even though they've eaten gluten. It's a combination of the nocebo effect (if you think you will feel bad, you will) and the frequency illusion (once you become aware of something, you start noticing it more often). Gluten-free has become a recent fad diet.

[@AnimeShinigami13]

At some point a plant's ability to take in carbon dioxide gets overwhelmed. Like seriously. Also the thing with alpha wolves is so prevalant that there's a whole sub class of fanfiction setting where people have secondary genders based on it. When I started writing that setting I knew the myth wasn't true so I had absolutely no qualms about deciding what parts of the usual setting to punt into the stratosphere. Instead, I borrowed the bonobos more egalitarian approach to sex and social units and had the instincts focusing more on building a pack as an extended family unit or loose confederation of families and less on rigid heirarchy.

[@Sanicle]

Well, "snip it in the bud" is a new one for my collection of eggcorns. It's "nip it in the bud", Hank! 😅

[@saintjimzo]

Looking sharp Hank!

[@michellecoleman5577]

How about just the most basic of anatomy lessons. It's truly depressing how many people, especially depressing when they're afab, who don't understand how you can pee with a tampon in. I know you'd think like everybody has explained that one but seriously!

[@georgedunn320]

Not exactly a Science mistake, but maybe it can fit in under "Medical Terminology": If a person suffers from Nausea, he or she feels NAUSEATED. if something (or someone) is NAUSEOUS, it, he or she CAUSES nausea.

[@DeputatKaktus]

Re: Nocebo effect Here in Germany, a group of people claiming to be very concerned about a cell tower having been put up in their neighbourhood wrote a letter to the carrier. They described all manner of symptoms that they experience the tower was put there. The response from the carrier was along the lines of “Guys, we are so sorry this causes you so much distress. We of course don’t want any harm to come to people - therefore we will make sure to take all required precautions once the tower takes up operations.”

[@diegofernandez4789]

Would like to see a similar episode but debunking conspiracy theories. Especially the one that says there are some classified documents from Nikola Tesla "too advanced for humanity" Thank you guys.

[@TheOnlyPunklord]

Wolves deserve more respect, they're often depicted as angry aggressive canine that will ruthlessly kill you with their hierarchy due to edgy kids and "alpha males"(aka neglected kids) making everyone think them in that way so when they compare themselves to wolves they appear "stronger" and "cooler", wolves are literally just wild dogs, just a floof ball who unlike dogs, hunt on their own for food instead of waiting to be served, they're also very caring of each other and if a human helps them in a life or death situation, they'll remember it and respect the human(there are many stories of them, my favourite one is the one about a man saving a mama wolf and letting her see her cubs again after she got caught in a bear trap and after a couple years the saviour came back to check on them, got scared by a bear into a tree and the mama with the cubs came to save him)

[@emeliesolli5773]

About the k-vitamin shot. I just find it frustrating that it’s even a thing people opt out of. I don’t have medical training but I like to read about facts and make my own opinion. So when I was pregnant k-vitamin was something I read about critically, which concluded in me landings firmly on the notion that there was no way I would skip that for our kid. Iirc it was something around 4 infants each year who died of brain bleedings before they started giving everyone k-vitamin shots (note I live in a smaller country in north Europe). It was something like some babies couldn’t absorb k-vitamins given orally (combined they don’t have the microbe to produce it themselves when born) which explains why k-vitamins where given as a shot, as you don’t know which babies would be affected by this bleeding beforehand and wouldn’t benefit from a oral dose. And neither a normal birth or breastfeeding offer any protection from it occurring. It’s just random and if the bleedings starts your kind of screwed. Yet this mom groups just keep sticking their head in the sand and claim their normal birth and exclusive breastfeeding protected them from the risk, and the anecdotal “evidence” of all moms in the group who forego the shot and could report their baby didn’t have any bleeding after their unmediated natural birth etc. It’s that normal adults on mass can’t differentiate between anecdotal attests and the statistical risks a large medical study describes. It’s like they can’t fathom that what the studies prove is it’s rare, random but detrimental for the few affected. That those studies also describe how the majority didn’t suffer those consequences, so just anecdotally having 100 mom in a Facebook group describing they weren’t affected doesn’t disprove the study of the rare consequences only spontaneously affected a handful out of a whole population. As a mom I don’t get why people are so interested in gambling with their kid’s health. For me a minuscule risk of my baby dying of bleeding is something I won’t choose over 0% risk my baby dies from that bleeding. So reading mom forums can be so incredibly depressing sometimes. Critical thinking and fact checking is good, but you can’t just read mom groups, blogs or tiktok before deciding in care decisions, all those can be a part of information collecting as long as you also read some of the studies. I mean you don’t need to read the whole paper row by row if you like me lack the special medical training to fully understand, but read what the study studied, about their findings, and what they tried to prove and what they could conclude. Meta studies can be good as they aggregate a lot of studies and explains what they collectively seems to describe. Mom groups, TikTok and KZbin can be correct, so when you read the studies they can back those claims up. It’s not all doom and gloom. You just need to use the studies to evaluate how to interpret information, like checking if things like breastfeeding or formula feeding are a protective strategy for the described risk, before deciding it is.

[@arxaaron]

Love this! More More More, please! Dismantling fear mongering misinformation and disinformation is hugely valuable to maintaining a sane world!

[@WinslowVS]

I love how right after this video was an ad for EMF Cleansing and EMF Poisoning in your own home.