Myth 1: Using a cell phone can give you brain cancer. Myth 1: Using a cell phone can give you brain cancer.
The truth: No need to get a hang-up over this one.While cell phones do emit mild microwaves of radiation (about as dangerous as the ones you get from staring at a Hot Pocket heating up in the microwave for a few minutes), they may not actually fry a single one of your cells. Some experts believe obsessive use (such as strapping the phone to your head with duct tape) could boost your risk of brain cancer slightly, but research done on humans and animals has yet to bear this out. “There’s no solid evidence that cellular phone use does any damage to your brain,” says John Moulder, a professor of radiation biology at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
Myth 2: The Catholic Church is the largest landowner in the world.
The truth: Nope.Even if it were possible to calculate all the land owned by Catholic churches worldwide, they still wouldn’t officially be considered the largest landowner. “Collectively, Catholic churches may own a lot of land, but to say that the Vatican owns all that land wouldn’t be 100 percent accurate,” says James A. Cassidy, general manager for Monitor Communications, the house organ of the Catholic diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. “Each parish in every town is technically owned by the individual group of people within the community that funds it.”Aha.
Myth 3: Red wine is good for you.
The truth: It’s good for your health, but only one vat at a time.There’s at least one scenario in which a drink can save your life. For nearly a decade, the medical community has tried to explain the French Paradox—that the French suffer as little as one-third the fatal heart attacks of Americans despite having a diet laden with fatty cheeses and artery-clogging cream sauces. The evidence is pretty good that substances called flavonoids in red wine (also in tea, grapes, and onions) discourage blood clotting, reducing the possibility of heart attack. But there’s a catch to all of this: The bottle’s benefits apply only with the rouge—not the white—and only in small doses. More than a glass or two a day and the gain becomes a loss, although French movies become easier to take.
Myth 4: If you keep shaving your head, the hair will grow back thicker.
The truth: False.Sorry to say, but all that shaving you tried at age 10 in an attempt to cop Tom Selleck’s look was for naught. “Normal hair typically has a very fine tip as it grows out, giving it a tapered, thinner appearance,” says George Cotsarelis, M.D., director of the hair and scalp clinic at the University of Pennsylvania. “When you take a razor to your face, you make each whisker blunt at the tip. That gives it a larger diameter, which some guys mistake for more hair growth.” So once it grows in, you’ll be back where you started. And yes, in case you’re wondering, this fact applies to the head, chest, and any other places you’ve tried to shave that we don’t want to know about.