physics and biology urban legends

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From: Paul Doherty (pauld@exploratorium.edu)
Date: Mon Feb 02 2004 - 14:43:50 PST 

Message-Id: <l03110709bc44801e7abe@[192.168.111.197]>
Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2004 14:43:50 -0800
From: Paul Doherty <pauld@exploratorium.edu>
Subject: physics and biology urban legends

Hi Pinholers

Next Saturday's class is on Urban legends of physics and biology.

I'm doing the physics ones, Karen K is doing the biology ones.

Here are some I have already:

These are all incorrect statements:

Room temperature glass flows and is a liquid as shown by old church windows.

When a candle burns in an inverted beaker sealed by water the water rises
because the oxygen is consumed.

Polar Bear fur is a fiber optic.

A penny thrown off the empire state building will penetrate the roof of a car.

The air flowing over a wing goes faster because it has to meet up with the
air flowing under a wing.

A rotating baseball curves when moving through the air because the velocity
(relative to the surface of the baseball) of the air flowing around one
side of the spinning ball is faster than the speed around the other
side.(The parentheses are all important here, remove the parenthetical
statement and this statement is true.)

Please suggest your favorites..

Thanks

Paul D

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