Dwell On It » Everybody Knows

Everybody knows: Nuclear power plants are a higher radiation risk than coal

Tateru Nino — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:29:22 +0000

And ‘everybody’ would be wrong. For a given amount of power generated, a coal power plant releases approximately 100 times more radioactivity into the surrounding environment than a nuclear plant.


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Everybody knows: Columbus sailed West to prove the world was round

Tateru Nino — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 07:04:35 +0000

And to establish a new trade-route to Asia. The part about the trade-route is correct, but it is commonly held that Columbus had difficulty securing funding for his famous voyage because he had difficulty convincing people that the Earth was round.

Actually, very few educated people believed that the Earth was flat since before the birth of Christ. Indeed, the science of navigation by Columbus’ day had long since relied on the fact that the Earth was round. The tools and techniques used were different to those that would have been used if the Earth had been thought to be flat.


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Everybody knows: You have the right to remain silent

Tateru Nino — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:26:49 +0000

The Miranda warning in the USA generally goes something like this, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?”

If you answer “Yes” to the question “Do you understand these rights?” then you’ve just lost your right to remain silent, and all the other rights specified as well.

Everybody knows: You can’t just ‘get’ an allergy

Tateru Nino — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:19:38 +0000

Actually, you can. Allergies are something that develop. The onset of an allergy is a combination between a predisposition and an exposure to the thing. If you’re susceptible by a predisposition (something that is not really practical to check in advance) continued exposure to the substance increases the risk that you will tip over the edge and have an allergy onset.

From that point on, you’re allergic to whatever it is.

Everybody knows: Lots of folks got burned as witches in Salem

Tateru Nino — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:30:25 +0000

Nope. Actually, of the 150 who were tried as witches in the Salem witch-trials (which lasted two years, 1692-1693), only 20 were convicted. Six men and fourteen women – a 13% conviction rate.

There was a seventh man, who died during judicial torture.

None of those convicted were burned at the stake. They were all hung hanged [thanks Saffia]. Not that that probably gave a whole lot of comfort to the 20 people who were executed.

Everybody knows: Nero fiddled while Rome burned

Tateru Nino — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:30:17 +0000

For several days in 64AD the Great Fire of Rome burned. Did Nero fiddle while Rome burned, then use the fire-cleared land to whip himself up a new palace?


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Everybody knows: The tryptophan in turkey makes you sleepy

Tateru Nino — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:40:53 +0000

If that’s the case, then so should chicken and ground beef, both of which contain roughly the same levels of tryptophan weight-for-weight as turkey does, which isn’t really all that much.

In fact, pork and (wait for it) cheese contain significantly more!

Everybody knows: Young execs are better with tech startups

Tateru Nino — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:38:23 +0000

Except that they aren’t. Roughly 70% of new business ventures fail, and that number isn’t astonishingly different for tech startups.

Across the board, however (tech startups included), entrepreneurs in their 40’s have nearly twice the success rate of younger ones.