Urban Myths.

[vat_man]

Well, at least he knows the difference between "you're" and "your", and "were" and "where".

...but that's a whole other topic - or, if you prefer, thats a hole other topic.

 

[1X83Z]

Why would you ever, under any circumstances, ever, believe that picture is from space? I mean, yeah, it could've easily been from a telescope from space, but that completely defeats the purpose of the urban legend - what can't you see from a telescope from space?

The image you posted looks as if it were taken from the altitude of an airplane, and, even though you're from Calgary, I'm sure you've been on an airplane before and are able to tell the difference between outside the earth's atmosphere and 30,000 feet up.

 

[Powripper]

Well the picture was taken from space, and sure it was zoomed in, but thats not the point. many man made objects can be seen from space. Its a fact. I was just bugging you, dont take it so seriously. every time someone makes a little comment like I did, people get all defencive, and insults go flying. comments on a few little type-o's......just cool down, its no big deal. ok??


and I'm not sure what you meant by "even though you're from Calgary" because Calgary is most likely much larger than any city in Tennessee, and is one of the fastest growing citys in North America.

 

[vat_man]

Originally posted by powripper
every time someone makes a little comment like I did, people get all defencive, and insults go flying. comments on a few little type-o's......just cool down, its no big deal. ok??

Heh.

because I knew you would get all riled up from this...and I wanted to see your reaction

 

[heero 12]

Do you have bi-polar disorder or something?

 

[sn00pie]

Originally posted by powripper
Well the picture was taken from space, and sure it was zoomed in, but thats not the point.

So is the point. It's the epitomy of point.

many man made objects can be seen from space. Its a fact.

Quit lying.

I was just bugging you, dont take it so seriously. every time someone makes a little comment like I did, people get all defencive, and insults go flying. comments on a few little type-o's......just cool down, its no big deal. ok??

OK!!!

and I'm not sure what you meant by "even though you're from Calgary" because Calgary is most likely much larger than any city in Tennessee, and is one of the fastest growing citys in North America. [/B]

Keep it up, then.

 

[DGB454]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/visible_from_space_031006.html

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by powripper
Well the picture was taken from space, and sure it was zoomed in, but thats not the point.

Of course it is. Using a telescope from space completely defeats the purpose of an urban legend you've obviously never heard.

many man made objects can be seen from space. Its a fact.

Yeah - using a telescope. But like I said, telescopes are so powerful now that anything can be seen using a telescope from space. Again, you defeat the purpose of the urban legend.

I was just bugging you, dont take it so seriously. every time someone makes a little comment like I did, people get all defencive, and insults go flying. comments on a few little type-o's......just cool down, its no big deal. ok??

When I typed that last night I was drinking water and eating Pringles. I don't think I could've been any more cool - so maybe you were just assuming I was "all defencive."

This is why I don't deal with people from the prairie provinces!!!

and I'm not sure what you meant by "even though you're from Calgary" because Calgary is most likely much larger than any city in Tennessee, and is one of the fastest growing citys in North America.

Yeah, but I'm a full-time resident of New York City and only a part-time resident of Tennessee, and New York City has three airports, five counties, and 8,008,278 people - about ten times that of Calgary.

 

[Sage]

Originally posted by M5Power
When I typed that last night I was drinking water and eating Pringles.

I love eating Pringles at the computer… I don't drink water at the computer though, because water spills and conducts electricity.

 

[Klostrophobic]

Water doesn't conduct electricty. That is an urban myth.

Check it out for yourself. Drop a plugged in hairdryer into the bathtub while you take a bath.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by Sage
I love eating Pringles at the computer… I don't drink water at the computer though, because water spills and conducts electricity.

I only drink water - no soda at all, same with Keely (my "wife") - and I drink it everywhere. I'm not stupid enough to spill it.

 

[Sage]

Your "wife"? Why is she not deserving of the title of wife, instead of "wife"?

I spill Pringles in my keyboard. But then I use my cool compressed air duster thingie to get them out.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by Klostrophobic
Water doesn't conduct electricty. That is an urban myth.

Correct. Water is very slightly polarised between the middle Oxygen atom and the two Hydrogen atoms. However, this is not enough to imbue water with any real current-carrying capacity (vital for electrocution purposes).

The conduction of electricity in water is carried out by dissolved salts, which split into their positive- and negatively-charged ions. These are highly polarised and can carry current highly efficiently.

Of course, the s*** that passes for tap water these days is so laden with dissolved solids that it's actually quite conductive.

 

[Powripper]

Quit lying.

Yeah - using a telescope. But like I said, telescopes are so powerful now that anything can be seen using a telescope from space. Again, you defeat the purpose of the urban legend.

If you look at the link DGB454 posted, you will see that I was correct

"There is a longstanding myth that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade object visible from space. It and several variations on the theme are great fodder for water cooler arguments. In reality, many human constructs can be seen from Earth orbit.

see?

Yeah, but I'm a full-time resident of New York City and only a part-time resident of Tennessee, and New York City has three airports, five counties, and 8,008,278 people - about ten times that of Calgary.

so? are you trying to turn this into a competition? I still fail to see how this would affect the likelihood of me traveling on an airplane

When I typed that last night I was drinking water and eating Pringles. I don't think I could've been any more cool - so maybe you were just assuming I was "all defencive."

I actually was not assuming you where defensive, it just seems that people in general get a little worked up over silly things, ok? This is not a personal attack on you. I neglected to put a happy face after I said that you were stupid (as in a joke) I'm sorry you didn’t see the humor because of that, no hard feelings ok?

 

[87chevy]

Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
Correct. Water is very slightly polarised between the middle Oxygen atom and the two Hydrogen atoms. However, this is not enough to imbue water with any real current-carrying capacity (vital for electrocution purposes).

The conduction of electricity in water is carried out by dissolved salts, which split into their positive- and negatively-charged ions. These are highly polarised and can carry current highly efficiently.

Of course, the s*** that passes for tap water these days is so laden with dissolved solids that it's actually quite conductive.

cool, I didn't know that. I"m going to fill my bathtub up with water filtered through my Brita filter then get in and toss a plugged in hair dryer in with me to test this out!

 

[Jpec07]

Originally posted by Klostrophobic
Water doesn't conduct electricty. That is an urban myth.

Check it out for yourself. Drop a plugged in hairdryer into the bathtub while you take a bath.

That is where YOU are wrong. Water can conduct electricity, in fact when it does so the hydrogen and oxygen in it split. However, it is not the best conductor out there (better than most things in nature, but with refined metals out there it's practically nothing). The fact of the matter is that electricity will try to go through the path of least resistance. Since the metal in the cords and coils in your hairdryer are all refined metals, the electricity will try to stay in those. However, if you have the heat setting high enough (the way the heat works is by adjusting the voltage of power running through the coil, and the higher the voltage the greater the resistance), the electricity will ark across the coil from one end to the other, causing the water to become electrified.
While Giles is correct in saying that usually it is the dissolved salts that conduct electricity, for the most part it's true. However, when running a 12-volt charge through distilled water, electrolysis still occurs (wierd, huh?). So yeah, instead of ranting on about the electric properties of water I'm just going to mention another urban myth;

A man once found a chicken's head in his box of McDonald's Chicken Nuggets.

Edit: also, the Great Wall of China CAN be seen from outer space. The reason why you can't distinguish Broadway or any of the streets in New York from outer space is because they're all the same color, and when you're that far away, things tend to get blurred together so from your point of view it looks like one big dark spot. However, when looking down at China, the great wall is a light golden tan, where in some locations the color for a good way around is dark green. The Contrast between light golden tan and dark green is much higher than the contrast between gray and gray, so according to that it is concievable that the great wall can be seen from space (it also helps that the wall lies at the peak of a range of mountains/hills, so at certain times the contrast between the light on one side and the shadow on the other helps to amplify the view).

 

[Sage]

Originally posted by Jpec07
A man once found a chicken's head in his box of McDonald's Chicken Nuggets.

Funny you should mention chicken heads – I just finished watching Ripley's a half hour ago, and the last thing they showed was a headless chicken that lived perfectly fine for four years (its owner, who, you know, kinda cut off the head, fed it through a syringe). Funny thing is that it didn't die from the nerves finally losing it – It died from choking on a corn kernel.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by Sage
Your "wife"? Why is she not deserving of the title of wife, instead of "wife"?

We never got to date. We got married a month after I proposed to her and before that we were always good friends. And plus, our relationship is so much more accurately described as boyfriend-girlfriend, calling her my wife is an imprecise descriptor of the truth.

If you look at the link DGB454 posted, you will see that I was correct

The pictures from that article were from an 800mm camera. A normal camera - one that captures what's seen by the naked eye - is a 35mm camera. Furthermore, as long as we're posting links and quotes, here's one from an accurate, reputable source that everyone knows and trusts:

http://www.snopes.com/science/greatwal.htm

"We look for the Great Wall of China. Although we can see things as small as airport runways, the Great Wall seems to be made largely of materials that have the same color as the surrounding soil. Despite persistent stories that it can be seen from the moon, the Great Wall is almost invisible from only 180 miles up!" - Shuttle Astronaut Jay Apt

And to further prove my point, Snopes elaborates to this gem:

"(The Great Wall of China can be discerned in radar images taken from space, but not in ordinary photographs.) "

My goodness, you're wrong.

 

[Duke]

Originally posted by M5Power

We never got to date. We got married a month after I proposed to her and before that we were always good friends. And plus, our relationship is so much more accurately described as boyfriend-girlfriend, calling her my wife is an imprecise descriptor of the truth.

And yet committed, monogamous homosexuals cannot legally be married in most states, and are considered an attack on the sanctity of the institution...

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by neon_duke
And yet committed, monogamous homosexuals cannot legally be married in most states, and are considered an attack on the sanctity of the institution...

Despite all that our union is as sacred as any - she certainly goes somewhere until 1pm every Sunday morning and more of our money than I wish goes to faith-based charities, churches, and Christian youth centers (though any money going to those groups is more than I wish - but right now it's a pretty big number). She also volunteers (though barely) at YoungLife. Anyway, just because we didn't have a traditional engagement don't think we bring shame to the union of marriage - we plan to hold true to our vows until death do us part, which is more than can be said for millions of other couples.

 

[Powripper]

My goodness, you're wrong.

The myth states that the great wall is the only man made object you can see from space, and what i was saying is that many objects are visible, Shuttle astronauts can see highways, airports, dams and even large vehicles from an Earth orbit that is about 135 miles (217 kilometers) high. Cities are clearly distinct from surrounding countryside, and that's true even from the higher perch of the International Space Station, which circles the planet at about 250 miles (400 kilometers) up.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/visible_from_space_031006.html

the reason I am saying this is because you guys dont belive me about this, but its a fact! don't take it personally! There seems to be many opinions on the great wall, some that you can, some that you can't, all based on diffrent experiences. so I would consider that myth still up in the air, but the truth is that other man made objects can be seen from low altitude orbit. fact.

 

[1X83Z]

Why would you post the same link, which alludes to looking through binoculars and using an 800mm camera? We've already been over that binoculars and zoom cameras aren't the same thing as the naked eye.

If Snopes says it, I believe Snopes.

 

[Powripper]

"You can see the pyramids from space, especially with a pair of binoculars. They are a little difficult to pick out with just your eyes."

a little difficult, but it can be done, no big deal.

 

[2ez2KiLL]

I know some filipino myths:

There are a lot of ghosts in the colleges because a lot of people commit suicide there.

Oh yeah and monsters:
Mananangal (Vampire basically)
White lady (Lady who wears all white whos really pretty and gets people to pick her up but then she makes the driver stop in front of the graveyard)
Aswang: (A lady in the daytime, but she splits herself in half and floats around at night like a vampire)
Capri: (Giants who live in the forests)

Some more other monsters whose names I don't remember. But really thinking of them kinda scares me.

 

[Crayola]

Originally posted by 87chevy
I say that if you can't see it from space with the naked eye, it doesn't count. Why, because the US probably has spy satellites that could read your license plate, so there fore anyting is visible from space. HA!

I don't believe that's possible, unless of course you license plate is pointing upwards.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by Crayola
I don't believe that's possible, unless of course you license plate is pointing upwards.

Or perhaps if the earth was round.

 

[Crayola]

Originally posted by Klostrophobic
Water doesn't conduct electricty. That is an urban myth.

Check it out for yourself. Drop a plugged in hairdryer into the bathtub while you take a bath.

Technically water doesnt conduct electricity, just the impurities.

 

[Crayola]

Originally posted by M5Power
Or perhaps if the earth was round.

yer I thought of that, but remember there'd be too many particles and stuff in the way if you looked through at an angle like that, when you see photos of the earth its alway hazy.

 

[DQuaN]

If you read a news paper in the garden, the US has sattelites that could read it! Just think about that next time you sunbathe nude in your garden!!!

 

[K_Speed]

Originally posted by lethalAE86typeR
well i like that show a lot called Mythbusters.

here are a few of myths i know of.

New york city has alligators in their sewage system.

Using a cell phone in a gas station will ignite the gasoline fumes coming out of the gas tank.

well thats all i remember right now. do you guys have any?

for christ sake what stupid **** is this?

if you flush baby alligators down the toilet they might survive, hey ok...

Yeah ,and Michael jackson is from Neverland