If you think that coffee is made from beans, sweets make you hyper and Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world…you’d be wrong!
No, really! These are just a few of the many misconceptions most of us have about the world around us, but fear not, a team of experts have come to the rescue and we’re going to go through the top things you thought were true but aren’t.
Sit tight…
Let’s start with coffee beans
Most people (me included) believe that coffee comes from beans, however, they’re in fact made from seeds which are called beans.
Mount Everest
Until now you probably believe that Mount Everest is the tallest mountain on earth, right? Well, that’s not exactly true. While the summit of Everest is higher above sea level than any other mountain, Mauna Kea is the tallest when measured from base to summit.
Sugar makes you hyper
This is one for all those parents out there who wholeheartedly believe that Granny’s sweets are the cause of their kid’s behaving like wild animals. Well, we’ve got news for you – it’s not! What’s more, some studies even suggest that sugar may actually have a calming effect because it produces a chemical called serotonin that contributes to a feeling of well-being.
You can see the Great Wall of China from Space
NOPE! NASA has confirmed that the Great Wall of China can’t actually be seen from the final frontier.
It takes seven years to digest chewing gum
Your mum or dad probably always rattled on about swallowing gum when you were a kid and warned you that it would take 7 years to pass through your system. Well, that’s not actually the case – when swallowed gum passes through the body within a matter of hours/days.
A person swallows eight spiders a year on average while sleeping
Thankfully this one is far from true! YAY! According to Bill Shear, former president of the American Arachnological Society, if a sleeping person has their mouth open, they’re probably going to be snoring, creating vibrations that warn spiders of danger and scare them off.
