February 10, 2010
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 attempted to eat all of his children. However, astronomers have identified thousands of planets outside of our own solar system, to the point where we likely have run out of good god names for them - that’s why we have planets named “2M1207 b”.

Titans were also gods, predecessors to the Roman and Greek gods we think of today, whom are collectively called the Olympians.  Uranus was also a Titan.

Regarding naming conventions: it’s true that astronomers have moved to a systematic catalogue style naming convention; this is less due to running out of “good god names” but rather, to make research easier internationally and remove ambiguity.

Naming still occurs though (along side the systematic designation); Eris, discovered in 2005, is one such example; the dwarf planet also goes by “136199 Eris” and “2003 UB313”.  Eris was also the Greek Goddess of Strife, we haven’t run out of god names yet!

original claim: @OMGFacts; source: Ask an Astronomer - Cornell

10:28am  |   URL: http://omgfactcheck.tumblr.com/post/381922871/earth-is-the-only-planet-not-named-after-a-god
(No. OF NOTES: 23)
  
FILED UNDER: OMGFacts Science Astronomy Space Mythology Naming Conventions 
February 5, 2010
Women speak about 7000 words a day. The average man? 2000.

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 men both spoke about 16,000 words per day.

original claim: @OMGFacts; source: Are Women Really More Talkative Than Men? — Mehl et al. 317 (5834): 82 — Science

1:47pm  |   URL: http://omgfactcheck.tumblr.com/post/372668281/women-speak-about-7000-words-a-day-the-average-man
(No. OF NOTES: 23)
  
FILED UNDER: OMGFacts Science Psychology Language Battle of the Sexes 
February 1, 2010
Lake Nicaragua in Nicaragua is the only fresh water lake in the world that has sharks.

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 freshwater and can be found in many lakes and rivers throughout the world.

original claim: @OMGFacts; source: wikipedia

8:13am  |   URL: http://omgfactcheck.tumblr.com/post/365070285/lake-nicaragua-in-nicaragua-is-the-only-fresh-water
(No. OF NOTES: 1)
  
FILED UNDER: OMGFacts lmgtfy Sharks Animals Nature Science 
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 appear green.

original claim: @OMGFacts; source: NEWTON Ask A Scientist

8:02am  |   URL: http://omgfactcheck.tumblr.com/post/365058816/spiders-have-transparent-blood
(No. OF NOTES: 1)
  
FILED UNDER: Argonne National Laboratory Biology Blood Chemistry Department of Energy Insects NEWTON Nature OMGFacts Science Spiders lmgtfy circulatory system 
January 31, 2010
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 say: no, there is no measurable amount of vitamin B12 in rainwater.

From the studies we were able to find, the amount of vitamin B12 in pond water ranged from 60 to 2,000 nanograms per liter and seawater ranged from undetectable (less than 10) to 200 nanograms per liter.  A nanogram is 1.0x10^-9 grams, or 0.000000001 grams, and a liter of water weighs 1000 grams (or 1,000,000,000,000 nanograms), and in comparison the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of Vitamin B12 is 2,400 nanograms (2.4 micrograms).  So potentially, in a liter of very potent pond water, the typcal human adult could take in their RDA of Vitamin B12 (not a recommended method), but we’re talking rainwater, not pondwater.  Now a single rain drop ranges in mass from 0.5 mg to 70mg with larger drops upwards of 100-300mg, since we’re working in nanograms: the average raindrop ranges 500,000 nanograms to 70,000,000 nanograms; you’ll quickly see that we’re talking about some very minute amounts here.  Even if we were to assume that all the Vitamin B12 from a potent pond were to move into the clouds with the water vapor, but that’s not how the cycle works.  Without veering too far off track, this myth is fueled by the fact that Vitamin B12 is not something that is synthesized by plants or animals (rather by bacteria), and with such concentrations in ponds and the sea, it must come from somewhere.  Studies have shown that runoff from soil is the significant source of Vitamin B12, the rain aids in this cycle after it has hit the ground.

original claim: @OMGFacts; sources: Bioassay of Seawater. III. Distribution of Vitamin B12 in the Northeast Pacific Ocean, by A. F. Carlucci and S. B. Silbernagel © 1966American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. page 642, Monthly Survey of Vitamin B12 Concentrations in Some Waters of the English Lake District, by K. W. Daisley © 1969 American Society of Limnology and Oceanography. page 224, Rain as a Source of Vitamin B12, Dietary Reference Intakes: Vitamins [PDF], Mass of a Raindrop

11:14am  |   URL: http://omgfactcheck.tumblr.com/post/364463429/rain-contains-vitamin-b12
(No. OF NOTES: 10)
  
FILED UNDER: OMGFacts biology chemistry rain science SI 
January 30, 2010
Footprints of astronauts who landed on the moon are expected to last at least 10 million years.

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

2:43pm  |   URL: http://omgfactcheck.tumblr.com/post/361785842/footprints-of-astronauts-who-landed-on-the-moon-are
FILED UNDER: OMGFacts Science NASA Moon Space 
January 16, 2010
Any free moving liquid in outer space will form itself into a sphere, because of its surface tension.

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 surface of the liquid, the molecules are pulled inwards by other molecules deeper inside the liquid and are not attracted as intensely by the molecules in the neighbouring medium (be it vacuum, air or another liquid). Therefore, all of the molecules at the surface are subject to an inward force of molecular attraction which is balanced only by the liquid’s resistance to compression, meaning there is no net inward force. However, there is a driving force to diminish the surface area. Therefore, the surface area of the liquid shrinks until it has the lowest surface area possible.

Surface tension ends up forming spheres, as opposed to other shapes, due to spheres having the smallest possible surface area to volume ratio.

original claim: @OMGFacts; source: wikipedia

10:53am  |   URL: http://omgfactcheck.tumblr.com/post/337549399/any-free-moving-liquid-in-outer-space-will-form-itself
(No. OF NOTES: 8)
  
FILED UNDER: OMGFacts space liquids surface tension wikipedia science 
January 15, 2010
It is now possible to print human skin with an inkjet printer.

False - don’t expect to be able to walk into your local computer store and buy a cartridge of skin for your photoprinter.  What the claim is probably refering to is work covered by the media in 2005 where researchers were able to manufacture human skin cells using a device similar to an inkjet printer.

original claim: @OMGFacts; source: live science

8:30am  |   URL: http://omgfactcheck.tumblr.com/post/335783637/it-is-now-possible-to-print-human-skin-with-an-inkjet
FILED UNDER: OMGFacts Science Technology Research Medical