35 False 'Facts' That You Wrongly Believe (And 1 That You Should)

7. One Dog Year Is Equal To Seven Human Years

No, actually it doesn't... not really. All dogs age differently. There's a simplified equation - 10½ human years for the first 2 dog years, then 4 human years for every subsequent dog year - but it's still not reliable because the calculation is entirely dependent on two key variables: the dog's breed and its size, both of which influence how the dog ages and the relevant dog-to-human years ratio. For example, a 1 year-old small dog is the equivalent of 15 human years and is 28 human years old by the time it turns 3. Its human equivalent age progresses more slowly thereafter and by the time it turns 11 - 56 human years - a small dog is considered geriatric. A 1-year-old large dog is 12 human years and by the time it turns 11 it reaches 82 human years. Large dogs mature much more slowly than small dogs but, saying that, are considered elderly by the time they're 5 and geriatric by the time they're 8 - equivalent to a human age of 61. A large dog who lives to 15 years of age is the human equivalent of 110, while a small dog of the same age is only 76 human years. Trying to take in the full range of variables and technicalities can be quite bewildering, but one fact remains: one dog year frequently doesn't equal seven human years.

6. Lifts Have Killed (Or Could Kill) When Their Cables Snap

Nope, yet another urban myth. Many people have phobias about lifts (or elevators, if you prefer). Some people don't like the confined space, others are petrified they'll fall straight down the shaft. While nobody can do much about the former, most people have no idea what safety mechanisms are in place to prevent the latter. But if you think you have a phobia of lifts, spare a thought for poor Betty Lou Oliver. In thick fog on a July day in 1945, a small plane accidentally hit the north side of the 79th floor of The Empire State Building. Betty Lou was working on the floor above and was badly injured. Rescuers put her in the lift on the 75th floor without knowing the cables were about ready to call it a day. Betty Lou probably thought her day couldn't get any worse, but when the lift car started moving the cables snapped, sending the lift into a 1,00 foot free-fall to the bottom of the shaft. Thankfully its landing was cushioned by the enormous uncoiled cables and Betty Lou survived thanks largely to experiencing her own tandem free-fall, relative to the car, as it dropped. This is the only known record of a lift ever having gone into free-fall all the way to the bottom of the shaft without any safety features kicking in. Modern lifts are fitted with a raft of mechanisms designed to prevent free-fall or minimise injury in the event of one. The most common lift in buildings of more than 6 storeys is the 'Traction' lift, where cars are suspended by between 4 and 8 very thick steel cables, with each strong enough to hold the weight of the car by itself. The cars move up and down via a system of pulleys and counterweights and they pass a series of points along the shaft which detect where they are and how fast they're travelling. Cars can be slowed or stopped entirely, be it for a requested stop or if the car is travelling too fast. On each side of a lift car there are break-like mechanisms that reach out to the rails and walls of the shaft to slow or completely stop the car's movement if it's detected as travelling too fast. Most traction lifts also have a large shock absorber at the base of the shaft to cushion landings if necessary. If all the cables snapped and all other safety measures failed, the air pressure that would build up under a free-falling lift car, along with friction from the resistance it would meet as it rushed down the rails along the walls of the shaft, would combine to slow the fall and cushion the landing. So if you ever find yourself doing a Betty Lou Oliver, other than some unsightly stains on your underwear you could be lucky enough to come out of it with nothing worse than a bruised coccyx.