Biology Myths

Did NASA really spend millions creating a pen that would write in space? Is chocolate poisonous to dogs? Does stress cause gray hair? These questions are a sample of the urban lore investigated in this audiobook, Fact or Fiction: Science Tackles 58 Popular Myths. Drawing from Scientific American’s “Fact or Fiction” and “Strange But True” columns, we’ve selected 58 of the most surprising, fascinating, useful, and just plain wacky topics confronted by our writers over the years.

Many people believe that, at its core, biological sex is a fundamental, diverging force in our development. According to this familiar story, differences between the sexes are shaped by past evolutionary pressures - women are more cautious and parenting-focused, men seek status to attract more mates - re-created in each generation by sex hormones and male and female brains. This, in turn, is the basis of supposedly entrenched inequalities in our modern societies.

How were graham crackers and Kellogg's cornflakes supposed to stop masturbation? Why was the Catholic church so insistent that sex could only be performed in the missionary position? In this book, you will find out why to testify meant to grab someone else’s testicles, and why young boys in Papua New Guinea thought they had to drink older men’s semen to attain puberty. St. Augustine believed that semen was a fluid that transmits Adam’s original sin to every unborn child, Chinese and Indian scholars thought that it gives a person vitality. This book will tell you the ancient secret of ...

International sex researcher, neuroscientist, and columnist Debra Soh debunks popular gender myths in this scientific examination of the many facets of gender identity that “is not only eminently reasonable and beautifully-written, it is brave and vital” (Ben Shapiro, number-one New York Times best-selling author).

Alys was seven when the soul eaters came to her village. These soul eaters, twin sisters who were abandoned by their father and slowly morphed into something not quite human, devour human souls. Alys, and all the other children, were spared - and they were sent to live in a neighboring village. There the devout people created a strict world where good and evil are as fundamental as the nursery rhymes children sing. Fear of the soul eaters - and of the Beast they believe guides them - rules village life.

Before Chelsea Conaboy gave birth to her first child, she anticipated the joy of holding her newborn son, the endless dirty nappies and the sleepless nights. What she didn't expect was how different she would feel. It wasn't simply the extraordinary demands of this new role, but a shift in self—as deep as it was disorienting. In truth, something was changing: her brain.

Did you know that only five percent of all your decisions are consciously made? Most decisions are made by the subconscious brain, perhaps this factually explains why humans are prone to rash judgment. Read on to discover more facts that can aid not only your structural and functional understanding of the brain but also help improve your cognitive skills.

Is the five-second rule legitimate? Are electric hand dryers really bacteria blowers? How gross is backwash? When it comes to food safety and germs, there are as many common questions as there are misconceptions. And yet there has never been a book that clearly examines the science behind these important issues - until now.

Encontrarse cara a cara con la vida salvaje es emocionante, pero esto, no es fácil. Cuando Camilo viene a visitar a su amiga Malena, él no puede esperar a ver toda la vida salvaje que el bosque tiene que ofrecerle - y está decepcionado cuando todo lo que ve, son unas cuantas aves. Juntos, los chicos salen de viaje en una caminata y encuentran abundantes señales de animales a lo largo del camino.