February 2010
24 posts
4 tags
Vending machines kill four times more people each...
Plausable - the chances of death by vending machine are 1-in-112,000,000 where as the odds of death by shark attack are 1-in-251,800,000. A person is about 2.25 times more likely to be killed by a vending machine than a shark; death by shark attack is typically recorded at zero incidents annually, where as death by vending machine occurs around 2 to 3 times annually. There could conceivably be 4...
5 tags
Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a 50,000 word novel,...
True - impressively Ernest Vincent Wright was able to pen 50,110 words into a grammatically correct lipogramatic novel in 1939 without the use of the letter ‘e’ as well as avoiding any abbreviations where the letter would be omitted (but present upon expansion) such as Mr. or Mrs.
p.s. we briefly entertained the notion to write this fact-check as a lipogram, but were quick to realize...
6 tags
The longest English word, at 45 letters, is...
False - that title belongs to the Chemical name of titin, the largest known protein, at 189,819 characters:
Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl[…]isoleucine (full name)
Second place goes to a 183 character word transliterated from Ancient Greek:
Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhy- potrimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokich- ...
4 tags
The Statue of Liberty is made out of copper. When...
True - the green hue we recognize today covering the Statue of Liberty is known as patina, which is the result of a chemical reaction between copper and oxygen (oxidation). Patina, unlike rust (which forms when iron oxidizes), actually protects the underlying copper.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: wikipedia
6 tags
‘Typewriter’ is the longest English word that can...
False - ‘teetertotter’ is the longest unhyphenated word that can be spelled on a single row of a typewriter keyboard (QUERTY layout), coming in at 12 characters. There are four (4) other 10 character words that can be spelled out on a single row of a keyboard: perpetuity, proprietor, repertoire, and shakalshas.
update: out of our own curiosity, we looked up the longest word that can...
6 tags
Earth is the only planet not named after a God.
True - the exact etymology of the planet “Earth” is a tough one as it’s likely something to have developed over most of human history, Lynn Carter goes more in depth into this in her January 2003 article.
The related link over at omg-facts.com is a bit misleading:
Saturn was actually named after a Titan, the father of Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune. He is famous for having...
3 tags
In England, the Speaker of the House is not...
False - the Speaker of the House does in fact speak; otherwise the speaker would not be able to accomplish the task bestowed upon them. The speaker’s task is to remain impartial and moderate the discussion. Interestingly, @OMGFacts’ own link contradicts the claim.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: wikipedia
6 tags
“Almost” is the longest word in the English...
False - “Aegilops” is the longest word in the English language with all its characters in alphabetical order with eight (8) characters. Aegilops is a genus of plants generally known as goatgrasses and belonging to the grass family, Poaceae. ”Almost” shares second place with several other six (6) character words: biopsy, chinos, chintz, bijoux, abhors, begins, and chimps....
5 tags
Women speak about 7000 words a day. The average...
False - an article published in Science (one of the most prestigious peer-reviewed scientific journals in the world) in 2007 found:
Women are generally assumed to be more talkative than men. Data were analyzed from 396 participants who wore a voice recorder that sampled ambient sounds for several days. Participants’ daily word use was extrapolated from the number of recorded words. Women and...
4 tags
In the 40’s, the Bich pen was changed to Bic for...
False - the company Société Bic (founded in 1945 - then known Société PAA) shortened it’s name and the name associated with its products from the family name of the founder Marcel Bich to the phonetic “Bic” in 1953, in line with the post-war trend of companies renaming to easier-to-remember and globally pronounceable names. Sure the United States was a consideration in the name...
6 tags
The Bible is the number one most shoplifted book...
Plausible - but, being that the Bible is also one of the largest selling and longest running books in history, this claim doesn’t seem all that odd. We couldn’t find any statistics on book theft, but we did come across the opinion of one book store owner in an article in the New York Times. When asked what the most frequently stolen title was:
“The Bible,” he said, without pausing.
...
9 tags
A lump of pure gold the size of a matchbox can be...
True - gold can be rolled thin enough to be translucent, so thin that it is used as a filter on the helmets of astronauts. According to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), a little gold goes a long way:
Gold is malleable, so it can be flattened into extremely thin sheets. […] Gold leafing—also known as gilding—is an ancient technique. Traditional artisans beat raw gold between...
4 tags
Over 2500 left-handed people a year are killed...
Unverifiable - now, one would expect this data would be relatively easy to come by, statistics are collected on all sorts of accidents [pdf]. A quick (by quick we mean: more time than we intended to spend) internet search reveals a lot of results from fact-aggregating web sites that list this claim as fact almost verbatim. Unfortunately none of these sites provide any statistics, sources of...
6 tags
There are two golf balls sitting on the moon.
Needs further verification - amazingly, there are two credible sources citing two different numbers. Starting with what is universally agreed: the Apollo 14 mission (the 8th manned Apollo mission, and the 3rd to land on the moon) did bring Alan Shepard, Stewart Roosa, and Edgar Mitchell to the moon (Shepard and Mitchell would walk on the surface, Roosa remained aboard the command module) along...
7 tags
Iguanas, Koalas and Komodo dragons all have two...
True - this is known as a hemipenes (plural for the pair, singular: hemipenis), and is a trait of of male squamates (scaled reptiles e.g. snakes, lizards), and some species have hemipenes that are forked at each tip. The hemipenes are typically held inverted in the abdomen of the squamata, and due to this inversion hemipenes do not contain a fully sealed sperm channel like in a mammal, but rather...
4 tags
In the US, an estimated 1 billion birds die each...
Plausible - the actual estimate from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is between 100 million and 1 billion annually, and accounts for up to 5% of the fall bird population. With urban sprawl and development, this is becoming an increasing issue. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service also offers some tips to help prevent these collisions.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: U.S. Fish &...
9 tags
Sheep can recognize each other through pictures.
True - and it even comes with a citation! An article published in the peer-reviewed journal, Nature, in 2001 states:
The human brain has evolved specialized neural mechanisms for visual recognition of faces, which afford us a remarkable ability to discriminate between, remember and think about many hundreds of different individuals. Sheep also recognize and are attracted to individual sheep and...
6 tags
The distress code “Mayday” comes from the French...
True - well, almost! How should we count spelling mistakes? Although, my french is rusty.
It derives from the French phrase venez m’aider, or m’aidez, meaning “(you) come (and) help me”
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: wikipedia
8 tags
The poison-arrow frog has enough poison to kill...
False - Poison Dart Frog (formerly Poison Arrow Frog) is a name that refers to over 175 species of frogs in the family Dendrobatidae (some of which are critically endangered). Of these, only three are known to be lethally poisonous to humans, and of those, each frog on average produces enough poison to kill 10 grown men.
original claim: @OMGFacts; sources: wikipedia, National Geographic,...
3 tags
In ancient China, people committed suicide by...
Plausible - Wikipedia has a reference to this claim (ahem, citation needed), but it is not out side the realm of possibility. Salt is toxic in large quantities, roughly 1g/kg of body weight. A pound of salt would be lethal for up to 1000lbs of body weight.
Remember readers, suicide is no laughing matter: SAVE.
original claim: @OMGFacts; sources: wikipedia,The Physical and Theoretical Chemistry...
8 tags
Blue whales have large enough aortas (the main...
False - A blue whale’s aorta is 9 inches in diameter; although several otherwise reputable sources also make this claim as fact, none of them are backed up with any numbers. Perhaps some humans (infants?) could crawl through a blue whale’s aorta, a majority of humans could not.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: Ms. Blue’s Measurements (UCSC Seymour Marine Discovery Center at...
4 tags
85% of all Valentine's Day cards are purchased by...
Likely - although no definite numbers are available the Greeting Card Association, an organization representing the greeting card and stationery publishing industry, claims that 80% of all greeting cards cards (e.g. everyday, seasonal) are purchased by women. The GCA also finds Valentine’s Day cards account for 12.5% of all greeting card sales, whereas birthday cards account for 30% of all...
6 tags
Lake Nicaragua in Nicaragua is the only fresh...
False - while original thought that the sharks found in Lake Nicaragua were their own species that were stranded and branched millions of years ago during the formation of the lake, these sharks were found to be the widespread Bull Shark, and were able to jump along the rapids of the San Juan River which connects the lake to the Caribbean Sea. In turn, the Bull Shark has quite a tolerance for...
13 tags
Spiders have transparent blood.
False - Spiders have blue blood. In human blood oxygen is bound to hemoglobin which contains iron, giving it the blood a red color. In spiders, as well as other Arthropods and Molluscs, oxygen is bound to hemocyanin which contains copper, giving its blood a blue color.
The same interaction that causes oxygenated blood to color, also causes iron rust to appear reddish and the oxidized copper to...
January 2010
37 posts
6 tags
Each day, up to 150 species of life become...
Impossible to verify - the problem is that we still don’t have a complete grasp of how many species there are in existence, at any given moment; to say that nature is diverse is an immense understatement. There are estimates of 5 to 100 million species of life on this planet (both plants and animals), and we have only identified 2 million of them to date. Take into account how quickly some...
6 tags
Rain contains vitamin B12.
False - there’s the technical interpretation and the practical interpretation of this claim. The technical would say: yes, vitamin B12 is a water soluble vitamin that is produced by bacteria and ends up in some (tiny) concentration in bodies of water and therefore when evaporated, it is not out of the question for some B12 makes its way into rain clouds. The practical interpretation would...
6 tags
Reno, Nevada is actually west of Los Angeles,...
True - Reno, NV sits at Longitude 119° 81’ W, where Los Angeles, CA sits at Longitude 118° 15’ W, you can also see this on Google Maps.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: Google Maps (Reno, NV; Los Angeles, CA)
4 tags
Donkeys are commonly used by the Iraqi Military to...
False - Donkey carts have been used on occasion by insurgents, but not the formal military (with any regularity); we’re not saying that this has never happened our could never happen, but it is definitely not a common occurance.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: CBS News
5 tags
The energy of a discharge of an electric eel could...
False - The amount of energy an electric eel is capable of discharging varies due to species, but roughly speaking, an electric eel can produce an instantaneous burst of 500 Volts at 1 Ampere (500 Watts). An electric car starter requires 12 Volts and a minimum of 100 Amperes (1200 Watts) to start a small car, this type of output would also need to be sustained for a longer period than what an...
5 tags
Diet Pepsi was introduced as Patio Diet Cola in...
True - Patio Diet Cola was introduced by Pepsi-Cola in 1963 in response to Diet Rite Cola which was the first diet cola on the market.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: wikipedia
6 tags
The Yo-Yo originated as a weapon in the Philippine...
False - the earliest yo-yos can be traced back to 500BC, the Greeks made these toys out of wood, metal, or painted terra cotta. The name yo-yo, however, is likely to be Filipino in origin; Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary states that it is probably derived from the northern Philippine Ilokano language word “yóyo”.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: Duncan Toys, wikipedia
4 tags
Almost 100,000 kids in the United States bring...
False - this common claim is rather popular, but has never been cited or sourced properly, a book published in 2006 takes an in depth look into this rumor, its origins, and the math behind the claim.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: School Violence: Fears versus Facts [Google Books]
4 tags
Earthworms have five hearts.
False - technically earthworms don’t have hearts; they have a very primative version of the organ called an aortic arch, which does pump blood but don’t have the chambers and valves that we would recognize as a heart, these arches are often referred to as hearts for the sake of simplicity. The number of aortic arches in an earthworm varies by species, the typical and most common...
5 tags
Footprints of astronauts who landed on the moon...
True - with no wind, rain, or residents (yet), footprints on the moon will stay until an external force disturbs them; such as a meteorite or space tourist.
orignal claim: @OMGFacts; source: NASA
6 tags
And with that, @OMGFacts is no more.
True - on January 18th, 2010 @OMGFacts tweeted the latest in its series of unverifiable and unsubstantiated rumors (not surprising); in an attempt to come up with a topical “fact” for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday @OMGFacts tweeted the following:
@OMGFacts Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spent his last night on Earth having sex with two women. http://bit.ly/5CuCHL #omgfacts [google...
7 tags
The Germans saw Coca-Cola, and came up with the...
False - there are quite a few rumors circulating about Fanta’s beginnings in relation to Coca-Cola; in a nutshell: Fanta was created during WWII when Coca-Cola’s bottling operations in Germany were effectively cut off from it’s parent company in the United States. Max Keith, the head of Coca-Cola’s German Operations (43 bottling plants and over 600 local distributors)...
4 tags
Honeybees never sleep.
False - sleep behavior has been observed in honeybees, and has been found to vary between castes; there have even been studies on the effects of sleep deprivation in honeybees.
original claim: @OMGFacts; sources: Journal of Experimental Biology, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press
4 tags
Eagles mate in mid air.
False - while the courtship includes elegant arial acrobatics, the actual fertilization of the egg does not.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: Hinterland Who’s Who
5 tags
The oldest dog died at the age of 29.
False - according to wikipedia
The dog widely reported to be the longest-lived is “Bluey,” who died in 1939 and was claimed to be 29.5 years old at the time of his death; however, the Bluey record is anecdotal and unverified. The longest verified records are of dogs living for 24 years.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: wikipedia
4 tags
One California law states that sunshine is...
False - at first glance on Google it may seem to be true, lots of sites mentioning this law in their top list of silly laws, but none of these sites cite any sources; further investigation into California Codes, Constitution, and Statutes turns up nothing. The closest thing we could find that could be misconstrued as a sunshine guarantee, would be the Sunshine Act, which many states have and...
3 tags
People who chase after rare birds are called...
True - the term originates from bird watchers that travel large distances to see rare birds and check them off a list. Not to be confused with tweakers.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: wikipedia
11 tags
There are more pyramids in Peru than in Egypt.
False - as of 2008 there have been 138 pyramids found throughout Egypt; as best we can gather, there have been 39 pyramids found throughout Peru (10 along the coast, 26 in Túcume, 1 in Cahuachi, 2 in Sipán). The terrain in both regions have overgrown and covered up many of the pyramids that are beginning to be uncovered, documented, and explored today. The most recent discovery in Peru was the...
8 tags
Coffee beans aren’t beans; they are fruit pits.
True - the beans that we are so accustomed to seeing in coffee shops and chains today is the dried seed of a fruit known as coffee cherries or coffee berries, and they quite literally look like cherries. Turning it into the product that ends up in our brewers involves removing the the pulp and drying the seeds contained within; which are then roasted, ground, and brewed. The most common drying...
5 tags
Everyday, 15 billion cigarettes are smoked...
True - which is particularly disheartening considering the world wide population was 6.7 billion in 2008 according to the World Bank, and in 1995 only 29% of the population smokes world wide (47% of Males and 12% of Females).
original claim: @OMGFacts; sources: World Health Organization [pdf], World Bank, World Development Indicators [via Google Public Data], World Bank, Economics of Tobacco...
7 tags
Sharks lay the biggest eggs in the world.
False - the ostrich holds the title to laying the largest eggs of any living animal on the planet (there are extinct animals that laid larger eggs: e.g. elephant birds of Madagascar, giant moa of New Zealand). Although sharks do lay some funky eggs, the best that we can tell, the larger of the shark eggs are roughly a shaftment in length, whereas ostrich eggs are easily a span in length.
...
6 tags
Any free moving liquid in outer space will form...
True - and not just in outer space; this phenomenon can also be observed in low earth orbit, as well as here on the ground.
Surface tension is caused by the attraction between the liquid’s molecules by various intermolecular forces. In the bulk of the liquid, each molecule is pulled equally in every direction by neighbouring liquid molecules, resulting in a net force of zero. At the...
5 tags
There are about 540,000 words in the English...
False - According to the Oxford University Press, publishers of the famous Oxford English Dictionary - which is often considered to be the definitive record of English in its current-modern usage, the question of counting words is nonsense:
It is impossible to count the number of words in a language, because it is so hard to decide what counts as a word. Is dog one word, or two (a noun meaning...
5 tags
“Rule of thumb” is derived from an old English law...
False - this very popular (and discredited) claim even made it to Hollywood in the movie The Boondock Saints, which happens to take place in and around our fair city.
The exact origin of the phrase is uncertain: either it is derived from the use of the thumb as a measurement device (“rule”), or it is derived from use of the thumb in a number of apocryphal “rules” (law,...
3 tags
If you keep a Goldfish in the dark room, it will...
Half-truth - “The short answer […] is ‘probably not white, though the color will become much paler’,” says Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.
original claim: @OMGFacts; source: About Chemistry
8 tags
The parachute was invented by Da Vinci in 1515.
False - The earliest rudimentary designs that we would today recognize as a parachute first appeared during the Renaissance in an anonymous Italian manuscript, could have been Da Vinci, dating back to the 1470s; but Da Vinci did not start really getting into Math and Science until a little later. Later, as in 1485 when Leonardo’s parachute appears in his Codex Atlanticus.
original claim:...