Don’t let common misconceptions get in your way as you go about your day. Here are the facts behind the everyday ruins that Adam presented on truTV this spring, summer and early fall.
Sources
Lazy Teens
"This is why the American Medical Association is practically begging middle and high schools to change their start times to 8:30 or later."
“AMA Supports Delayed School Start Times to Improve Adolescent Wellness.” American Medical Association, 14 June 2016. Accessed online: https://www.ama-assn.org/ama-supports-delayed-school-start-times-improve-adolescent-wellness
Airplane Food
“The cabin pressure makes them less sensitive, and planes make our nasal passages dryer than the Eighteenth Amendment.”
Oliver Smith. “Why is Plane Food So Bad?” Telegraph.com, 10 June 2017.
Jellyfish Stings
“When you pee on a jellyfish sting, it can cause the sting to release more venom, which will make it hurt worse…”
Ciara Curtin. “Fact or Fiction?: Urinating on a Jellyfish Sting is an Effective Treatment.” Scientific American.com, 4 January 2007.
SPF
“UVB rays are the ones that make you burn, but UVA rays cause just as much skin damaging radiation.”
Steven Q. Wang. “Ask the Expert.” Sun & Skin News 27.1 (Spring 2010).
Loofahs
“In the worst cases, this can cause some pretty nasty staph infections.”
Kate Bratskeir. “You Should Probably Stop Using a Loofah in the Shower. Sorry.” Huffington Post, 29 July 2014.
Cat Memes
“In America, more households have dogs than cats…”
“U.S. Pet Ownership Statistics.” American Veterinary Medical Foundation. Accessed online: https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Statistics/Pages/Market-research-statistics-US-pet-ownership.aspx
“...cats have ambiguous expressions that we can project all of our own feelings onto.”
Bryan Lufkin. “Why Cats Rule the Internet Instead of Dogs.” Gizmodo.com, 11 September 2015.
Mantras
“Studies have shown that people with low self-esteem tend to feel worse when they repeat random positive statements about themselves.”
Joanne V. Wood, W.Q. Elaine Perunovic, an John W. Lee. “Positive Self-Statements: Power for Some, Peril for Others.” Psychological Science 20.7 (July 2009).
Standing Desks
“These trials are also often not randomized, which leads to pretty unhelpful data.”
Angus Chen. “Stand to Work if You Like, But Don’t Brag About the Benefits.” NPR.org, 17 March 2016.
“The difference can be as insignificant as 8 calories per hour…”
Robert A. Schmerling. “The Truth Behind Standing Desks.” Harvard Health Blog, 23 September 2016.