Most Popular
1500 questions
41
votes
1 answer
Do LED light bulbs last as long as claimed by the manufacturers?
Manufacturers routinely claim that their LED light bulb can last from 20,000 hours to 50,000 hours:
Anecdotes, such as this one suggest otherwise. Daily mail wrote:
More than a quarter did not meet claims of a 15,000-hour life
Disappointing…
Question Overflow
- 1,003
- 9
- 14
41
votes
3 answers
Is this what "happiness looks like"?
This gif has been widely distributed on imgur/reddit/twitter/media and it is meant to represent
Molecules of the protein myosin drag a ball of endorphins along an active filament into the inner part of the brain's parietal cortex, which produces…
Sklivvz
- 78,654
- 29
- 323
- 429
41
votes
3 answers
Is very young lamb poisonous?
I spotted an article on BBC news (repeated on several other news aggregators) about a farmer who had had his lambs stolen.
There was a very specific warning given:
PSNI Chief Inspector Graham Dodds has warned abattoirs to be careful
about…
Richard
- 1,820
- 1
- 16
- 26
41
votes
2 answers
Is Queen Elizabeth queuing for a sandwich in this photo?
Found it floating around Facebook with comments praising the queen for behaving like ordinary people.
Did the Queen Elizabeth actually queue for a sandwich in this photo? Or something else is happening?
Ulkoma
- 610
- 1
- 5
- 11
41
votes
3 answers
Can positive thinking provide an improved outcome for an illness?
Sometimes you hear that a gravely ill patient "just gave up" and subsequently died. Many people put great value in the healing power of positive thinking, with the more cynical ones blaming a bad progression of disease onto a "lack of will".…
Mad Scientist
- 43,669
- 20
- 174
- 192
41
votes
2 answers
Is stretching beneficial after exercise?
A quick internet search on stretching reveals that, if physiologists were a bit more belligerent, the question of whether or not to stretch after exercise is something actual wars could be fought over.
As I am not trained in this field, I have come…
Lagerbaer
- 12,331
- 2
- 69
- 81
41
votes
3 answers
Does urine heal jellyfishes' sting?
It is a common myth that, if you're stung by a jellyfish, then pouring urine on the wound is an effective way to treat the injury or ease the pain.
That belief is deeply entrenched in the American popular culture. So deeply, in fact, that in…
Borror0
- 7,591
- 6
- 49
- 67
41
votes
1 answer
Does Disney have the third largest navy in the world?
Does Disney really have the world's third/fourth/fifth/sixth/seventh largest "navy"? I've often seen this claim being bandied about on trivia sites and the like. But there are never any credible sources backing it up.
user7920
40
votes
5 answers
Has anyone innocent ever been arrested because of contraband that was planted in their luggage?
There is a question on travel.SE asking what to do if some culprit planted contraband in your luggage. There are some links provided to cases where this is suspected to have happened.
Being able to wrap your luggage at many airports suggests that…
Andra
- 1,033
- 1
- 8
- 15
40
votes
1 answer
Do scarecrows scare crows?
I often see the scarecrows in private fields and gardens, with crows sitting on them.
Are they just a tribute to tradition or they really work in some way?
Quassnoi
- 4,353
- 5
- 31
- 49
40
votes
1 answer
Does watching TV make you stupid?
I haven't watched TV since 1969. I worked in it for decades, and knew enough not to watch it. It makes you stupid, and my colleagues in the networks agree! Some of them would point out what a verbal beating they'd get from friends who actually saw…
Sklivvz
- 78,654
- 29
- 323
- 429
40
votes
1 answer
Is it beneficial to drink alkaline water (aka Kangen water)?
At a friend's house the other day, some sort of contraption had appeared near the sink since the last time I had been there. It was a filtration-looking device with one input hose connected to the tap and two output hoses/spouts. She explained that…
Hendy
- 21,725
- 17
- 117
- 179
40
votes
4 answers
Did the US Patent Office issue a patent for a stick?
An episode of Last Week Tonight claims that the US Patent Office once patented a stick:
Okay, but we shouldn't necessarily trust the US Patent Office as an arbiter of good judgement. It's the same place that issued patents for an umbrella for…
Rebecca J. Stones
- 8,590
- 6
- 41
- 71
40
votes
3 answers
Do Starship's grocery delivering robots consume only as much energy as boiling water for a cup of tea per trip?
Starship Technologies is a robotics company with a program of developing robots that will deliver takeaway meals etc. using small robots such is this:
One particular press release on their website makes this claim:
Starship’s robots are powered by…
Weather Vane
- 7,643
- 1
- 34
- 42
40
votes
3 answers
Is the "Dutch reach" standard practice in the Netherlands?
The United Kingdom is introducing a new traffic rule. According to this BBC article,
A method known as the "Dutch reach" is to be introduced to the Highway Code in the UK after years of campaigning.
The practice is used widely across Europe and…
Glorfindel
- 1,452
- 1
- 17
- 28