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

31. You Can't Fold A Piece Of Paper In Half More Than 7 Times

Actually, you can. Given that there are far more types of paper in the world than just standard A4 copy paper, it seems absurd that anyone would've applied such a generalised statement to the topic, especially considering all the variations in paper thickness that exist as well as the fact that some paper - such as that used to print newspapers on - comes in enormous rolls of extraordinary length. With a teeny tiny piece of paper you'd be hard-pressed to fold it more than a few times. You're most likely to get 7 folds out of a piece of standard A4 copy paper, maybe 8 if you're very strong. If you use a sheet of paper the size of a football field and have various mechanical and motorised aids such a steamrollers and cranes at your disposal, as the folk from TV's MythBusters did in 2007, you can probably up the ante a little. But a schoolgirl called Britney Gallivan had well and truly debunked the theory long before, back in 2002 while she was still in Junior High School, when she managed to get a sheet of paper foil to fold 12 times. She even went on to write a book about it, with the astoundingly thought-provoking title of "How to Fold Paper in Half Twelve Times - An "Impossible Challenge" solved and explained". Gallivan's research is extremely technical and talks about everything from paper type, to fold techniques, from the strength of the folder to the equations associated with dynamics, mathematical limits and width ratios of folds. Riveting stuff, but at least it busted the myth.

30. Hair And Fingernails Continue To Grow After Death

No, actually they don't. The real reason is actually rather simple. Our skin simply dries and, in doing so, shrinks away from the bases of hairs and nails. Although this has all the hallmarks of growth, it isn't really. Firstly, our hair. Each strand of our hair 'grows' when new cells are created at the base of each hair follicle. The process is a rapid, but also one that is entirely dependent on an energy source, in this case, the burning of glucose. But the glucose will only burn when oxygen is present and oxygen can only be present while the heart is still beating. As soon as the heart stops, the oxygen dries up, the glucose doesn't burn, the cells stop dividing out into the follicles and, to all intents and purposes, our hair stops 'growing'. It's a similar story with out fingernails, which also rely on glucose. Glucose feeds into the tissue at the base of each nail where new cells are created and push the older ones forwards - in other words, our nails 'grow'. Without glucose to feed the process it simply doesn't happen. Unlike various parts of any body which continue to be usable after death - chiefly various organs and skin, if utilised within very specific timeframes - the supply of glucose to the hair and fingernails ceases immediately upon death, so with no glucose to drive the creation of new cells, neither our hair nor our fingernails do anything at all from the moment we die.