# When good adults believe bad science (share your stories) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738 "2005-12-30T16:52:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nic2004](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4491bb/32.png) [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/81 "2005-12-31T02:49:12Z")
Oh, oh! I had someone explain the full moon thing to me by saying it is obviously because the moon is _bigger_ when it is full and therefore the gravity would be so much more. And this extra gravity pulls at the water in your head. I started to explain that the moon isn’t actually getting bigger and smaller; then the water thing got to me. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/82 "2005-12-31T03:06:34Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > The only possible reasoning I can think behind this is that he thinks if there is a full moon, it will “pull” more dirt to the surface. It’s an old folk belief. I believe it goes along somehow with planting by the signs, and certain crops going with certain signs and that sort of thing. I’m sure he never really put much thought into tidal forces or anything; I’ve heard more than one older person mention it down here. And as for the can thing, yeah, I think it used to be true, but not now. And anyhow, weren’t the olives in the can for months anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/83 "2005-12-31T03:09:42Z")
My wife’s grandmohter insists that there is no global warming, in fact the earth is getting colder. Why? Because satallites are reflecting all the sunlight away. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/84 "2005-12-31T03:27:06Z")
> [@Odinoneeye](#): > > Because satallites are reflecting all the sunlight away. Explain to her that satellites get really hot in space and transfer all that heat back to earth when they get old and burn up in the atmosphere. The fact that they “burn up” when they are that high should be proof enough. Ask her if it is hot or cold on top of a mountain. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/85 "2005-12-31T03:50:59Z")
I knew a middle-aged man who believed that gravity came from “the wind caused by the Earth’s rotation.” He later clarified this to mean the downwards “atmospheric pressure” caused by the Earth’s rotation. According to him, this was something obvious that everybody knew – after all “there is no gravity on the moon,” due to its lack of atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/86 "2005-12-31T03:55:12Z")
> [@JustAnotherGeek](#): > > Short Version: I have no idea what he could have possibly showed. It was a complete and total fake. The magnitude change of the coriolis force from 50m north of the equator to 50 m south would be infinitesimal. > > Slightly Longer Version: the magnitude of any acceleration due to the apparent Coriolis force is 2\*(omega)_(sin[latitude])_(velocity). Omega is the rotation of Earth (once per sidereal day~7.292x10-5rads/s). Sine of the latitude at 50m away from the equator is ~4.492x10-4. Any vibration from walking will be orders of magnitude higher than the effect from the earth’s rotation. > > ::starts looking for Micheal Palin:: You got some 'splainin to do! :mad: learn something new every day. Snopes: [http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.htm](http://www.snopes.com/science/coriolis.htm) search on Michael Palin coriolis effect and you get a lot of hits. Here’s an excerpt: "There are charlatans operating at a tourist trap in Nanyuki, Kenya. In this little town, located right on the equator, a local mountebank works for tips as he glibly cons busloads of tourists into believing that the rotation of the Earth causes water draining from a container to spin clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. (Yes, you read that correctly, the charlatan fakes it backwards. You would think that if he were going to sucker people, he would at least get his directions the same as what really happens in large weather systems.) This man’s nonsense was captured (and endorsed) by Michael Palin in one episode of his BBC TV special, From Pole to Pole, which is often aired on PBS." ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/87 "2005-12-31T04:12:09Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > He’d “learnt it at school” apparently. [that all rivers flow south] Not a school that pays much attention to the Nile, it would appear. Nothing worth studying there. ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/88 "2005-12-31T07:05:29Z")
A coworker insisted once that helium was a very explosive gas. I bet he saw a hydrogen demonstration in high school chem class (like taking a match to a balloon filled with hydrogen) and just confused it with helium. No amount of explaining convinced him of the error. So I printed out a blurb on helium from a web periodic table, and hi-lighted the “inert” “noble gas” parts before pinning it to the bulletin board. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/89 "2005-12-31T16:32:10Z")
(I’m a HS chemistry teacher) When talking about helium and noble gases, I like to say, "You know how everyone tells little kids to be really careful with helium balloons? ‘Don’t put that next to the stove!!!’ " Blank, thinking looks from kids. “Me neither, because it doesn’t happen. A kid would have to choke on the rubber to hurt himself with a helium balloon.” ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/90 "2005-12-31T18:24:21Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > “Me neither, because it doesn’t happen. A kid would have to choke on the rubber to hurt himself with a helium balloon.” You never jumped off a roof when you were a kid? The balloons, they do nothing! ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/91 "2005-12-31T19:54:01Z")
I think the solution there, in typical male fashion, is just to add more balloons. Did you see Letterman hoist Paul Newman with big bunches of helium balloons? It would be really fun to be tied to just enough so that you fell slowly. You could jump off of tall buildings and kind of glide in. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/92 "2005-12-31T20:09:42Z")
Don’t you need to take a bb gun with you, so you can shoot a balloon occasionally to keep yourself from flying into the stratophere? ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/93 "2005-12-31T20:43:35Z")
Mythbusters did that one too. Filled enough regular-sized balloons to lift a little kid a few feet off the ground. It was in the thousands, IIRC. Adam also tied 55 weather balloons to recreate ‘Lawnchair Larry’s’ flight, and flew to 100 feet. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/94 "2005-12-31T22:29:15Z")
> [@Garfield226](#): > > Mythbusters did that one too. Filled enough regular-sized balloons to lift a little kid a few feet off the ground. It was in the thousands, IIRC. Nah, this page: [http://science.howstuffworks.com/helium2.htm](http://science.howstuffworks.com/helium2.htm) says that a 3-foot diameter balloon will lift .9 pounds. So a 50 pound kid would only need 56 3-foot balloons to get him gently floating up. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/95 "2005-12-31T22:33:44Z")
This all reminds me that you can convince quite a number of people that fish are separating the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the water molecules. Most people have never thought about dissolving a gas in a liquid, even after they’ve seen so many sodas fizz over. I like to tell kids the fish are separating the water, and when they agree, I say, “and that’s why on Animal Planet, you see the big hydrogen bubbles trailing along behind huge sharks.” Them: Blank stares, trying to remember/picture that. Me: “Oh, no it doesn’t. Because it’s not true.” ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/96 "2005-12-31T22:35:43Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > Nah, this page: [http://science.howstuffworks.com/helium2.htm](http://science.howstuffworks.com/helium2.htm) says that a 3-foot diameter balloon will lift .9 pounds. So a 50 pound kid would only need 56 3-foot balloons to get him gently floating up. Regular party balloons don’t have a 3-foot diameter, do they? That’s what they filled to lift the kid, IIRC. Plus you’d have to factor in the weight of the balloons and strings (probably non-negligible once you have to use so many. . .) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/97 "2005-12-31T22:37:08Z")
Oh, man. Ok, you guys know [Lilith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith)? Adam’s first wife? You know she’s supposed to have descended from demons? Well, I know a couple who firmly believes that Lilith & her people were actually aliens, and are responsible for everything in this world. The pyramids? Lilith’s people. The Hanging Gardens? Lilith’s people. The state of the world today? Lilith’s people. Crop circles, probes-up-your-butt, alien abductions, The Straight Dope? Lilith’s people. I questioned the hubby for a long time and was forced to conclude…it wasn’t a joke, and he really truly believed it. He even had a name for her race, something that started with a P, and I can’t remember what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/98 "2005-12-31T22:54:58Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Oh, man. Ok, you guys know [Lilith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith)? Adam’s first wife? > > You know she’s supposed to have descended from demons? > > Well, I know a couple who firmly believes that Lilith & her people were actually aliens, and are responsible for everything in this world. The pyramids? Lilith’s people. The Hanging Gardens? Lilith’s people. The state of the world today? Lilith’s people. Crop circles, probes-up-your-butt, alien abductions, The Straight Dope? Lilith’s people. > > I questioned the hubby for a long time and was forced to conclude…it wasn’t a joke, and he really truly believed it. He even had a name for her race, something that started with a P, and I can’t remember what it was. It isn’t just him. There were references to the same thing on Cheers and later Frasier. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/99 "2005-12-31T23:38:20Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > I think the solution there, in typical male fashion, is just to add more balloons. > > Did you see Letterman hoist Paul Newman with big bunches of helium balloons? It would be really fun to be tied to just enough so that you fell slowly. You could jump off of tall buildings and kind of glide in. FYI, it was the Mythbusters guys who did the balloon thing for Letterman out on 53rd Street. Newman happened to be a guest that night, and volunteered to go up. I think the original plan was for Dave to do it. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738/100 "2006-01-01T00:14:47Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > This all reminds me that you can convince quite a number of people that fish are separating the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the water molecules. Most people have never thought about dissolving a gas in a liquid, even after they’ve seen so many sodas fizz over. That reminds me of an old room mate of mine. She said that the reason that you had to regularly change the water in the gold fish bowl was because the fish would breathe all of the oxygen out of the old water. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-good-adults-believe-bad-science-share-your-stories/337738.md?page=6)