35 "Facts" You Learned in School That Are Completely Wrong

35 "Facts" You Learned in School That Are Completely Wrong

6. Bulls get angry at the sight of red.

It's not the specific color that riles them up, it's the waving object. Bulls will react with the same amount of aggression to a moving flag of any shade.

7. Classical music makes you smarter.

The "Mozart effect" is not a real thing, nor can any particular genre boost intelligence. A study was conducted to test this theory, which did result in improved spatial tasks when students listened to Mozart. Though it did help them create shapes in their minds, this effect only lasted for about 15 minutes.

8. There's no gravity in space.

This may be the common notion, but there's actually a small amount of gravity everywhere in space. It's what keeps the moon and Earth in orbit, but it's not the reason things float in a spacecraft. Astronauts float because they're in free fall.

9. Your nails keep growing after you die.

Fingernails can only grow if new cells are produced, which is not possible long after death. Once the heart stops beating, nerve cells die within three to seven minutes. A corpse's nails might appear longer because the skin surrounding them shrivels.

10. You can see the Great Wall of China from space.

The Great of Wall of China is not visible from space and is even more difficult to photograph, at least with the human eye in low Earth orbit. Parts of the man-made structure can be seen with radar imagery taken from space, but generally, the Wall's materials are too similar in color and texture to its surroundings to be distinguished.