Category Archives: Urban Legends

Mythbusters topics, from the Skeptoid files

Posted on March 22, 2017 by Brian Dunning

Awesomely, a new season of Mythbusters is afoot, with new hosts Brian Louden and Jon Lung. They were selected by winning Mythbusters: The Search hosted by Skeptoid friend Kyle Hill (you may have also noted Skeptoid Media’s The Feeding Tube … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, TV & Media, Urban Legends | Tagged | 10 Comments

Your Birth Certificate Is Not a Bond. Really.

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Richard Gant

If you’re like most people, you read that title and scratched your head in confusion. “Rich,” you may have said, “what on earth are you talking about? Of course my birth certificate isn’t a bond. It’s a birth certificate.” And now you’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , , | 482 Comments

Son of Holiday Myths Debunked

Posted on December 25, 2016 by Stephen Propatier

Over the last few years, I’ve occasionally written posts on some myth or another. Every time I accumulate enough interesting ones, I tend to write a short article. So here we go. References to religious facts were gathered quickly. If … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool Stuff, History, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , | 31 Comments

Are People Who Swear More Intelligent?

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Alison Hudson

Recently, I’ve been seeing variations on a meme floating around my social media feeds. The most common version says something to the effect of “Science says that intelligent people swear more than stupid motherfuckers” (see image) or some variation thereof. … Continue reading →

Posted in TV & Media, Urban Legends | Tagged , , | 31 Comments

Bigfoot Is Racking Up Frequent Flier Miles

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Stephen Propatier

Bigfoot is the mythological ape-like creature of modern pop culture and cryptozoology. It’s popular enough that there’s even a show, Finding Bigfoot, dedicated to finding it. (I’m still waiting after nine seasons for them to find it!) Bigfoot is low-hanging fruit … Continue reading →

Posted in Paranormal, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , | 36 Comments

Popping Your Beliefs, One Candy at a Time

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Bruno Van de Casteele

In my previous post (yes, the one about Playboy), I mentioned that it is sometimes good to challenge yourself on things you consider “facts” or where you assume something to be the way it is. It is a fun skeptical … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool Stuff, Science, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Joint Pain: Scams, Lies, and Exaggerations, Part 2

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Stephen Propatier

As an orthopedic nurse practitioner I see a constant stream of joint pain complaints. They stem from a variety of sources: injury, age-related changes, lifestyle issues, and autoimmune disorders. Patients will often Google their problems and/or their symptoms, and like most medical … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer Ripoffs, Health, Pseudoscience, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

11 Skeptical Reasons to Read Playboy

Posted on March 29, 2015 by Bruno Van de Casteele

There used to be an old wives’ tale back in my student days at the University of Leuven’s philosophy department: that we were “allowed” to read the Playboy—as if one would need permission for that. We didn’t read it for … Continue reading →

Posted in Cool Stuff, Education, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Strange Facts that Aren’t Strange and Aren’t Facts

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Mike Rothschild

Spend enough time on the internet, and someone is going to either email you or post a list of “facts” that are hilarious and unbelievable. Inevitably, some of these facts are going to be completely wrong, and others are going … Continue reading →

Posted in Nature, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Those UFO Files

Posted on January 21, 2015 by Mike Weaver

You may have already heard the news, however, in case you haven’t, a massive amount of US Government UFO files—from Projects Blue Book, Sign, and Grudge—has recently gone live on the web. Fox News has reported on the information, citing an article at … Continue reading →

Posted in Conspiracy Theories, Space, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments