Category Archives: Urban Legends

Wow! Those Volatile Organic Compounds Smell Great!

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Eric Hall

I came across a post on Facebook which is actually pretty dangerous. Not in the normal way I tackle on this blog of people buying useless products or increasing the risk of disease long-term by not getting proper medical treatment, … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Medicine, Pseudoscience, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Open A Beer Bottle With A Magnet – An Instant Internet Hit… That’s Likely Fake

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Eric Hall

This week a viral video made the rounds showing a guy demonstrating how to open a bottle of beer with simply a rectangular refrigerator magnet and a quarter. It seemed like most people either accepted it as truth or tried … Continue reading →

Posted in Pseudoscience, TV & Media, Urban Legends | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

Was Walt Disney a Misogynist ?

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Stephen Propatier

9 months ago I wrote a post about the pop culture perception that Walt Disney was anti-Semitic. Since I wrote the original post, the movie Saving Mister Banks (a biopic about Disney) was released. The movie and the promotion brought this topic … Continue reading →

Posted in TV & Media, Urban Legends | 16 Comments

The Ugly Truth About the Iraqi Dinar

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Mike Rothschild

Does it make sense to you than an investment opportunity could pay a 2,750,000% return on what you put in? That for the price of a latte, you could buy a new house, and for the price of a new … Continue reading →

Posted in Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 97 Comments

Super Bowl Myths: Hordes of Hookers, Avalanches of Avocados

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Mike Rothschild

The bigger an event is, the more pervasive and long-lasting its accompanying myths are. This is especially true of the Super Bowl, the one day of the year when a billion people gather together to eat avocados, go to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

I Started Chasing Radiation And Ended Up Following The Money

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Craig Good

A recent YouTube video purports to show the San Francisco area being “fried” by radiation, radiation which the videographer somehow knows just had to come from Fukushima. That’s hitting close to home, as I live near San Francisco and really … Continue reading →

Posted in Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, Urban Legends | 12 Comments

The One And Only Effective Hangover remedy (except for abstaining).

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Stephen Propatier

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2…. 1 Trick to avoid a hangover. The internet and national news is abuzz every New Years Eve with advice on how to minimize a hangover after overindulging. Most of it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Skeptoid Podcast, Urban Legends | 7 Comments

Aspartame, is it safe?

Posted on December 17, 2013 by Stephen Propatier

Is your conspiracy theory sense tingling?  Soon the internet will be inundated with the post-hoc conspiracy theories about aspartame and the European Food Safety Authority. I can hear Dr. Mercola typing away as I write. The European Food Safety Authority announced in … Continue reading →

Posted in Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, Skeptoid Podcast, Urban Legends | 37 Comments

The Knockout Game: New Name, Old Moral Panic

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Mike Rothschild

It’s happening all over the country, part of a terrifying trend that doesn’t actually appear to exist. People are afraid of it, yet aren’t sure exactly what it is or even if it’s being done at all. And news outlets … Continue reading →

Posted in Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends | Tagged , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Tryptophan and Other Thanksgiving Myths.

Posted on November 27, 2013 by Stephen Propatier

Tomorrow is the national Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. I thought it would be a good time to review some of the common myths about the holiday. Most notably the most persistent or famous ones. There will be no new ground … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Urban Legends | 3 Comments