The 20 quiz questions
Question 1 : Nails and hair continue to grow after death.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! The skin dehydrates and retracts, creating the illusion that nails and hair have grown.
Question 2 : Albert Einstein failed math in school.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Einstein excelled at math. This legend comes from confusion with the reversed Swiss grading system.
Question 3 : Sharks can detect a drop of blood from miles away.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Their sense of smell is good but not miraculous: about 1 part per million, meaning a few hundred meters max.
Question 4 : Chewing gum takes 7 years to digest.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Gum isn't digested but is naturally expelled within a few days like any waste.
Question 5 : A coin dropped from the Empire State Building could kill a pedestrian.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Air resistance limits a coin's terminal velocity. It would hurt but wouldn't be fatal.
Question 6 : Chameleons change color to camouflage themselves.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! They primarily change color to communicate (mood, temperature, courtship), not for camouflage.
Question 7 : There are more ways to arrange a 52-card deck than atoms on Earth.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! 52! (factorial) = 8×10^67 arrangements, far more than the ~10^50 atoms on Earth.
Question 8 : Ostriches bury their heads in the sand when scared.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! They lie on the ground with their head extended to be discreet. From a distance, it looks like they're burying themselves.
Question 9 : Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! The sound comes from gas bubbles bursting in synovial fluid, it's harmless. A doctor even cracked only one hand for 60 years to prove there's no link to arthritis!
Question 10 : Humans have the same number of hairs as chimpanzees.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! We have the same number of hair follicles, but our hair is finer and less visible.
Question 11 : Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen after his death.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! He was cremated in 1966. This urban legend persists despite denials from his family.
Question 12 : A duck's quack doesn't produce an echo.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! A quack does produce an echo, but it's hard to hear because the original sound masks its reflection.
Question 13 : The human body replaces all its cells in 7 years.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Some cells (neurons, lens cells) are never replaced. Others renew in just a few days.
Question 14 : On average, we swallow 8 spiders a year while sleeping.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! This myth dates from 1993 and was invented to show how false info spreads. Spiders flee from human vibrations.
Question 15 : Toilets flush in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! The Coriolis effect is too weak to affect toilet water. It's the bowl shape that determines the direction.
Question 16 : Bulls are enraged by the color red.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Bulls are colorblind. It's the cape's movement that angers them, not its color.
Question 17 : Glass is a liquid that flows very slowly.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! Glass is an amorphous solid. Old windows thicker at the bottom are due to manufacturing techniques.
Question 18 : We have more bacteria in our body than human cells.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: TRUE! It's estimated at 38 trillion bacteria vs 30 trillion human cells (ratio ~1.3:1).
Question 19 : We lose 80% of our body heat through our head.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! The head represents ~10% of body surface and loses ~10% of heat. This myth comes from a misinterpreted military study.
Question 20 : Inuits have dozens of words for snow.
Possible answers:
- True
- False
Explanation: FALSE! It's exaggerated. They have a few root words that decline, like in any language (snow, snowy, to snow...).
