No one knows everything, so we often have to learn “truths” that everyone accepts. Unfortunately, not all of them have been confirmed by scientists.

1. Chimpanzees have more hair than humans

If you look at a photo of a chimpanzee next to a human, you’d be forgiven for thinking the ape is much hairier. But it is not so.

Humans have two to five million hair follicles on their body surface, about as many as any other primate. But our hair is much less coarse and noticeable. While primates have fur, humans have two types of hair: terminal hair and pubic hair.

The top hair is on the head, under the arms, and on the pubic area, and downy hair is everywhere. But the latter is much thinner, shorter and not connected to any gland under the skin. No one knows why we evolved this way…

2. The Earth revolves around the Sun

Strictly speaking, the Earth revolves around the center of gravity of the solar system, around which the total mass of all objects in the system is distributed.

Due to the constant movement of the planets, this point constantly changes its position. And since the Sun has 99% of the mass of the entire system, the center of gravity is located close to its surface, sometimes even inside the star.

When the center of gravity is outside the Sun, our planet revolves around a free point in space.

3. Wet phone must be placed in rice

This seems quite reasonable – rice is known to absorb moisture. But experiments have shown that rice not only does not bring benefits, but also helps less than fresh air. It can make things worse: the grains will clog the headphone jack or the charging port, and the starch will accelerate the corrosion process.

It’s best to let the phone air dry, or if you’re in a hurry, use silicone gel bags or vacuum bags.

4. The expansion of highways will speed up traffic

Studies have shown that highway expansion makes it worse because of a phenomenon known as “induced demand,” which describes how increased supply leads to higher consumption through lower prices.

Increased capacity will reduce travel time, reduce the “price” of travel and, as a result, attract new entrants, so the new lanes will fill up very quickly and the traffic will again “choke”.

A very good example is the Katy Freeway in Houston, Texas. It was expanded to 23 lanes in 2011, making it the widest in the world, but morning and evening travel times increased by 30% and 55% respectively.

5. Everest is the highest mountain in the world

The height of Everest from the base to the top is 8850 meters (plus/minus 2 m), Everest is considered the highest mountain in the world. But that depends on what you mean by “highest”.

If you mean “closest to the moon,” then the honor goes to Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador. The earth is not a perfect sphere, it is convex in the middle. From base to summit, Chimborazo is 6,263 m, but being in a more convex region than Mount Everest, it is 10,920 m from the center of the Earth.

And if “tallest” is from the base to the top, the prize goes to Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Its height from the base at the bottom of the ocean to the top is 10,000 meters, which is 1 km higher than Everest.

Source: SciTechDaily