Maxim Magazine has just put an article on their online site entitled “Everything you know … is wrong” it talks about Common Myths. This is the first article in their new section – Common Myth and Urban Legend Debunkkment.
One of the myths that the article mentions is that If you touch a baby bird it’s mother will abandon it. They claim there’s not a chance of that happening. They quote an Urban Wildlife Director, Laura J. Simon, as stating that birds have a terrible sense of smell, so no matter how much of your scent is on the bird they will not abandon their baby. I don’t know, I’m not sure I fully believe that. I’ve rescued fallen baby bird before and put them back in the nest and the parent hasn’t returned. Maybe their sense of smell is bad, but their sense of sight isn’t.
Another myth buster questions the myth that if you pee on a jellyfish sting the pain will go away. Their expert says that while urine is acidic it might actually cause more pain and possibly infection if you pee on a jellyfish sting. I disagree with the infection part. As a nurse I know that urine is sterile (unless someone already has a urinary tract infection) when it comes out of our bodies so I see no reason why it would cause infection. As for it possibly increasing the pain- I can’t comment on that. I’ve been stung by jellyfish but I just suffered through it.
Other urban myths that you might be interested in reading are ones such as a recent question that makes headlines regularly, and that is that using a cell phone can give you brain cancer, or that pierced tongues give better sexual pleasure, Licking a certain type of toad makes you hallucinate, or that the Catholic Church is the largest landowner in the world – they claim that isn’t quite true since every parish is technically owned by the patrons of each particular church. Personally I think the Catholic Church is the largest landowner; or that the Great wall of china is the only man-made object that you can see from space. They claim that’s not true, that roads, towns and even peoples backyards can be seen, but I say that that’s with satellite technology and that the myth they are discussing is that the Great wall of China is the only man made object you can see with the naked eye from space.
I don’t want to give away the rest of the Myths they attempt to debunk. However I will tell you that for most of them I think that they are only half right. Why don’t you read the article and tell me what you think of their debut article for their Common Myth and Urban Legend Debunkkment section.