Common Misconceptions In Science. Part 1 - Science/Technology - Nairaland
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| Common Misconceptions In Science. Part 1 by Nobody: 1:43am On Aug 18, 2015 |
Earlier this year, I was chanced to speak with an art student. Not that I don't speak with lot's of them, I'm not THAT nerdy.  However, this encounter was . . . well, enlightening. We talked about some stuff and then, we moved into the realm of science. He said that science was magic. That ERM, science was simply the white version of the voodoo magic that witch doctors of Africa did. And he told me a story to back up his claims. HE said, that his brother, who was an engineer, had a problem at his working place with a certain machine. And er, the Nigerian engineers at the premises tried all they could to resuscitate the dead machine. All to no avail. So, foreign engineers were called in. And so, these engineers entered the room where the machine was, locked the door behind them, and began to recite incantations. We may laugh at the guy for his extreme ignorance, but in some ways, we are similarly like that. We sometimes. Believe things we should not, and say things that are not correct. So, I have decided to start a series . . . highlighting common misconceptions in science, and the correct versions. So, let's get to it! Science is the white. Man's thing. Well, don't give me that face.  You want to tell me you've never said, "oyinbo is deceving us" when watching action movies? Or "these oyinbos are mad" when you see an amazing tech? Or literally designating EVERY piece of tech as a product of "oyinbo" minds? Even the more proactive of us would rather stick to REPAIRING things. Rather than building them. This is not cool. We actually started science. When we were building the pyramids, when we were inventing quadratic equations. The whites simply built upon that advancement. Something that we are now obliged to do. Science is simply a field. A skill or interest. Completely open to whoever cares to tap in.  mermaids exist. Okay, only girls will actually believe this . . . meanwhile, it's absolutely ludicrous. If a mermaid were to exist, of would be unable to survive both in water or land. Basically because it would not be able to breathe underwater, nor would it be able to swim at any reasonably fast speed.  all that fish you eat, they're muscles. Look how thick they are. Human muscles are hoplessly thin compared to that structure. Also, their skin would look awful. The human skin cannot survive constant immersion for more than two days.Also, even if they managed to defy all these laws, mermaids, by definition,(they are as smart as humans, right?) They would be explorers and scientists. They would build underwater civilizations. They would have civilizations and religions, there would be terrorist mermaids.  There would be wars between humans and them. But this does not happen, so . . . someone should sue barbie for lies. scientists have been to other planets. Okay, no. Except mars, and recently pluto . . . and Jupiter . . . okay, fine. Outside the solar system, we haven't been within four light years of ANY planet. I recall the recent thread on the earth like planet that NASA discovered. And some people actually thought the pictures added were from the actual planet.  Haba! We can't even see these planets. Not to talk of taking pictures of them.  What we see is their effect on their stars. Their shadows, their radiation, speed, stuff like that . . . which are then used too create mathematical models. Then computer models are generated, which fit onto those characteristics! In fact, the real versions of these planets may be WAAAY different from what we think it was, but those are just ideas gotten from the mathematics. So, those of you crying to be astronauts because of the Pandora you saw, sorry. You'll have to stick with mars. our skin measures heat *face palm* One devastating consequence of this foolish idea is when people have fevers. They feel cold. So, that means they're cold, right? Cover them up. In the process, the person dehydrates under five blankets he requested for himself.(note: if this were to really happen, I suggest a cold shower and IMMEDIATE medical attention) Okay, so what really happens? Here, let's do a really cool experiment. Take three cups. Fill the first with very cold water, the second with reasonably hot water, and the third with water at room temperature. Okay, now, dip your right hand in the first, and your left hand in the second cup for five seconds. After this, remove them and immediately put them both in the third cup. So, now, your right hand is hot, and your left is cold. Which to believe? None. Because all your body records is temperature difference between your nerve cells and their immediate environment. It measures positive (hot) and negative (cold) gradient. And that's all. And here's a cool trick to go with that, you can peel hot eggs under very cold water The egg is still hot. It's just that your hand measures no difference in heat, because of the cancelling out and hence thinks your the egg is cooling down(actually, it is, just not that fast.) The end . . .  . . . . of part one . . . Cheers! |
| Re: Common Misconceptions In Science. Part 1 by RobinHez(m): 4:30am On Aug 18, 2015 |
Ha! Bros...no be lie o...those oyibo people are crazy ehn.., only dat they use their winch to do good. Even a Lecturer believes that crap I wrote up there...! I had a video on FP showing 2 guys flying over Dubai in Jetpacks...and here's one of the 'numerous comments I got.. Marvyx: And I'm like WTF  |
| Re: Common Misconceptions In Science. Part 1 by johnydon22(m): 9:30am On Aug 18, 2015 |
[b]Science is as old as humanity itself because Science is simply a way of knowing. In the ancient world SCIENCE was not differentiated from the Almighty Philosophy, it was a branch of philosophy known as Philosophy of Nature and this simple philosophy was present in everywhere around the world. They observed the stars, sumers divided the day into seconds ans minutes and gave us the wheel, Egypt knew how to make glass, african civilizations also were at their own pace in Natural philosophical knowledge.. They knew the right herb to mix together to cure a particular illness a mixture of what we now know as botany, pharmacy and medicine. They read the stars, observed the seasons and knew the revolution of earth's seasons took 365days even the ancient igbos knew this. Science even now as we know it is a global thing, we only let people overtake us and trail in their opaque shadow catching only the little glimpse of what is there to know. . .if we don't go to space, space aint gonna come to us. . The myths, legends and stories around mermaids buttered into immerse superstition makes me want to punch any 21st century homo sapien that buys that story.. Man have only step on the moon, only a robotic machine is in Mars now, no human have ever stepped foot in mars though we could be seeing that in less than 20years. We have only visited the other planets with satellites but we have not crossed into the atmosphere of any with the satellites or ourselves except for Messenger that crashed and fell into mercury after elapsing it's service expectancy Good work Teempakguy and RobinHez i see you [/b] 1 Like 1 Share |
| Re: Common Misconceptions In Science. Part 1 by johnydon22(m): 9:50am On Aug 18, 2015 |
Cc. Seun, lalasticlala, ishilove and anybody that can move this to front page.. 1 Like |
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