Mental Floss video: 50 common misconceptions

A weekly show hosted by John Green, where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John debunks 50 common misconceptions that most people have about topics such as vikings, exploding birds and peanut butter.

(Via The World's Best Ever)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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rvernon

I disagree about the battery in the fridge thing. Now, it doesn’t matter if the fridge is ON, but the insulation of the fridge keeps the battery from thermal cycling in areas with extreme temperature variations like the desert. Thermal cycling will kill a battery faster. Simple mechanical failure.

“Temperature cycling between extreme high and low temperatures can cause expansion and contraction of the battery components. Over time, extreme temperature cycling can cause a failure of the battery seal integrity thereby increasing the potential for leakage. ”

http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/alkaline_appman.pdf
- theophrastvs
  
  of course it might be worse if it were “on” as that would allow it to auto-defrost which would be worse, given your explanation, than just leaving it outside the refrigerator.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Somewhat problematic in Palm Springs to have battery-based yard equipment unless you want to install an AC system for your garage. Car batteries have a very short life here, too.
Benjamin Palmer

Oh I love things like this!

All my (soon-to-be-former) friends and acquaintanceship thank you for all the future “Actually…” corrections I make.
And yes, I’m totally that guy who posts snopes.com links on all the stupid stuff people post on Facebook.
- RadioSilence
  
  I’m that guy too!
  I think it’s a fairly safe bet to say you’re a fan of QI?
  - Benjamin Palmer
    
    I’d actually never heard of it until just now. QI.com? This looks … rather… interesting. Thank you!
    - RadioSilence
      
      That’s it. It’s a British comedy/quiz show about interesting stuff. An awful lot of the useless knowledge in my head came from that show. There’s tons of clips, and whole shows, on youtube; an easy way to waste an hour :)
http://www.lamidesign.com/plans lava

Yea! John Green! Caught him on Craig the other night, stayed up late with my daughter.
fnc

But, batteries are delicious.
- Graceless
  
  Seriously. What am I supposed to do with all this battery chunks ice cream now?
- Petzl
  
  In all seriousness, one slim lithium battery will kill the child that consumes it. Of concern, when children 9-15 months old practically eat anything they can touch.
thekinginyellow

cool video…i enjoy the photo of coop and the llama in the background.
Snig

Harpo Marx smuggled secret messages into the Soviet Union for the US state department in the 1930′s (Also thought to be true).
- SamLL
  
  There’s a big long story about this in his autobiography, Harpo Speaks, which is well worth reading. I don’t think it was a regular habit, though.
annoyingmouse

Is that “chester drawers” one actually common? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it before. Is it a US thing?
- Purple-Stater
  
  Drove me nuts, when I was living in Alabama, and the furniture stores all advertised on TV/radio (i.e., verbally) “bedroom suites”, pronounced as suits instead of sweets.
phlavor

Depends on the battery. Alkaline batteries see no benefit being stored at anything below room temperature.

NiMH and NiCd batteries self discharge at a MUCH faster rate than alkaline batteries. In fact, at “room temperature” (about 70 degrees F) NiMH and NiCD batteries will self discharge a few percent PER DAY. Storing them at lower temperatures will slow their self discharge rate dramatically. NiMH batteries stored at freezing will retain over 90% of their charge for full month. So it might make sense to store them in a freezer. If you do, it’s best to bring them back to room temperature before using them. Even if you don’t freeze your NiMH batteries after charging them, you should store them in a cool place to minimize their self discharge.

From http://www.greenbatteries.com/batterymyths.html#Freezer
SamSam

Does anyone actually pronounce Don Juan to rhyme with “ruin?” (Apart from Byron, of course.)
SumAnon

CGP Grey did it first.
el capullo

“Don Juan” does NOT rhyme with “ruin”
- millie fink
  
  Just in the title of Byron’s poem.
  
  Which, actually, I’ve always heard pronounced “Jew ahn.”
timquinn

. . .
and how do you know that interesting fact?
A guy on the internet told me.
I see, and did he explain, at all, why it is true?
No.
I see.
- millie fink
  
  “Well you see, at some point, someone actually did measure Napoleon’s height.”
Model Citizen

And foil food wrap is made of aluminum, not tin.
http://twitter.com/Steven_Patz Steve

I swear when i was a kid we’d take dead alkaline a put them in the freezer overnight for a few more minutes of power the next day.
bryin abraham

To correct one “myth” busted: John Kennedy said “Ich bin ein Berliner”, and not “Ich bin Berliner.” Thus, due to simple German grammar and usage, and despite the fact that everyone knew/knows what he meant (“I am a Berliner”), what he did indeed say is: “I am a jelly-filled doughnut.” (Jelly-filled doughnuts are called Berliner here.) You could argue that by rules of English grammar, he didn’t call himself a doughnut; but he said it in German, which requires German grammar, so he called himself a doughnut. Case closed.
- alienllama
  
  What you stated above is only true in a very literal reading of “Ich bin ein Berliner”. What he did convey was “I am one you, people of Berlin”. The “ein” really emphasizes that he thought of himself (or others should think of him) as member of the Berlin population.
  
  If, on the other hand, he said, “Ich bin ein Krapfen!”, well then, no ambiguity at all ;)
  
  And yes, I am a native German speaker.
Petzl

As for the Napoleon complex, Napo was always around his Imperial Guard who were selected to be above average in strength and height. Thus, there is some historical basis for the eponymous complex– it didn’t just come out of left field.
drabkikker

So… the Eskimo thing turns out to be true after all?