Debunking popular myths with science

"Sunlight gives you vitamin D." "Alcohol cooks off." "Your heart is on the left." Your grandma told you, and some Instagram guru turned it into a viral reel. Almost nobody ever checks. It sounds right, and that's enough.

Debunking Myths is the Science Driven series where popular beliefs take the stand without a lawyer. Across the room sits what research has actually measured. The first casualty was the human body, with a heart that isn't always where the textbooks put it and alcohol that's still in the stew long after everyone swore it had cooked off. From there, nothing is off-limits, from physics to psychology. If a claim gets repeated so often that nobody dares question it anymore, it has every reason to make the list.

How this series debunks a myth

A myth survives for decades thanks to the grain of truth inside it, and that's its best disguise. The doctor who prescribes sunshine for low vitamin D is right. High cholesterol really is linked to heart attacks. That much holds up. What's rotten is the explanation that got stuck to those facts, passed along by word of mouth until nobody remembers who made it up.

The method is relentless and never changes. The myth is taken in the exact words people use when they drop it at the dinner table, then chased down to the mechanism that corrects it, from what anyone can see with the naked eye to the molecule or equation that explains it, with numbers anyone can check. And if science hasn't closed part of the case yet, the article says so, even if the ending comes out less tidy.

Why a debunked myth refuses to die

In 1977, Lynn Hasher, David Goldstein, and Thomas Toppino showed something that should unsettle anyone who thinks they're immune to misinformation. A group of students rated how true 60 statements were across three sessions held two weeks apart, and some statements came back from one session to the next. The repeated ones kept gaining credibility, true and false alike. The new ones stayed exactly where they were.

Psychologists call it the illusory truth effect, and it's the favorite tool of every snake-oil salesman. Hear a falsehood enough times and it starts to sound reasonable, without anyone offering a shred of evidence. That's why a saying repeated a hundred times around the family table beats the study nobody bothered to read. And that's why this series exists, to repeat the right explanation until it's louder than the myth.

Myths already debunked in Science Driven

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Debunking myths, frequently asked questions

What is a science myth?

It's a popular belief about how nature works, from the human body to the universe, that spreads through repetition and that research has disproved or qualified. It almost always holds a grain of truth, which is exactly what makes it so hard to take down.

Why do people keep believing a myth after it's been debunked?

Repetition. Ever since the 1977 experiment by Hasher, Goldstein, and Toppino, research has shown that a statement heard several times seems truer than a new one, even when it's false. This illusory truth effect keeps many myths alive decades after they've been disproved.

Is a myth always completely false?

Rarely. "Sunlight gives you vitamin D" gets the mechanism wrong and the practice right, because without UVB radiation your skin can't make it. The full story is in the installment on sunlight and vitamin D.

Can I suggest a myth for the series?

Yes. Drop it in the comments on any @science.driven post on Instagram or reply to one of our stories. If your suggestion becomes an installment, the article will credit you for the question.

Do the health installments replace medical advice?

No. This is science communication that explains mechanisms and evidence. Any decision about your health or your treatment should go through a healthcare professional.

You pick the next myth

What explanation did you hear growing up that never quite added up? That's the question behind every installment. Tell us on Instagram, and if you want to know when the next myth drops, subscribe to the newsletter at the bottom of this page.