Lightning absolutely does strike the same place twice .
1.TV shows and movies love to make use of characters flatlining then waking up with the use of a defibrillator…only, this isn’t possible. Youcan’tbringsomeone whose heart has flatlined back through a defibrillator — only withCPRand potentially a shot of adrenaline. But even with those measures, it’s extremely rare that heartbeat would resume and the patient would live.
2.And adrenaline is not a miracle worker. InPulp Fiction, there’s a scene where Mia is saved from a heroin overdose with adrenaline — adrenaline would do nothing to help her IRL. Also, there’s no reason to put it directly in the heart — that would actually bemoredangerous.
3.In fact, a ton of medical stuff in movies is just straight up wrong. For example, every time you see a character take another character’s pulse using their thumb (likeinClear and Present Danger)…you literally cannot take someone’s pulse with your thumb, because your thumb has a pulse as well, and you will just feel that instead.
4.People die WAY too quickly when being suffocated in movies and TV shows (likeThe Vampire Diaries). It takeson averageseven minutes. Also, once the person stops moving, they’ve simply become unconscious. If the person suffocating them immediately stops suffocating them, they’lllater wakeup on their own. The person would have to keep suffocating them for over a minute after unconsciousness — and likely over two — to cause irreversible damage.
5.Panic attackscannotbe stopped by holding your breath, as suggested inTeen Wolf.
6.Drowningdoesn’t looklike it does on TV or in movies likeLeave Her to Heaven— usually, there are no signs of distress.
7.You may have already realized this givenRiverdaleis not exactly authentic, but…there isno such thingas the serial killer gene.
8.Maybe this is obvious, too, but just to be clear…you cannot survive a nuclear explosion by hiding in a fridge, as Indy does inIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Even though George Lucassuggestedhis odds of survival in the situation would be 50/50.
9.Speaking ofIndiana Jones, “dry quicksand,” aka a sand pit (featured inThe Kingdom of the Crystal SkullandThe Mummy)likelydoesn’t actually exist in nature.
10.And “wet” quicksand is not at all like it appears in movies suchasLawrence of ArabiaandPrey. It doesn’t just swallow you whole. Because people are mostly water, theyfloateven in quicksand — and while you can definitely get stuck, you won’t sink to the point where it’s pulling your head under. It’s still dangerous, though!
11.Contrary to movies likeZombieland, Twinkies are not indestructible snacks that last for decades. In actuality, their shelf life is45 days. A Maine classroom doing an experiment haskept a Twinkiefor decades, and while it hasn’t fallen apart, it has turned gray and inedible.
12.Bee Movieconfidently asserts that bees should not be able to fly. And if you compare them with an airplane, sure, it doesn’t make sense. Butbees are not at all like airplanes— they flap their wings back and forth, not up and down, creating small vortices that lift the bees up. So, it makes perfect sense that they can fly.
13.There’sno such thingas an “elephant graveyard” (where elephants go to die) like inThe Lion King.While skeletons are sometimes found in the same spot, this islikely becausethere was softer vegetation there for older elephants whose teeth had worn down, so they moved to that area when they were close to death, or because elephants were gathering around one of the last food sources during a drought or famine when they died.
14.Movies likeLucystate that people use only 10% of their brain. This is incorrect. Every part of the brainhas a function, and even simple tasks use far more than 10% of the brain — scientists have confirmed this with PET and fMRI machines mapping brain activity.
15.It’s a major point at the start of21 Jump Streetthat if you don’t read someone their Miranda rights, they can be released. While it’s still a major oversight not to be read your rights — and will definitely help your case if you go to trial — itonly meansthat anything you say prior to being read your Miranda rights will not be admissible in court. Police are under no obligation to release you if they have other evidence, which is likely if you were arrested.
16.Movies likeSweet Home Alabamastate that lightning won’t strike the same place twice — but that’s false. It actuallystrikes the same place often, especially tall things like the Empire State Building.
17.It’s highly unlikely for someone to die from a piranha attack like inPiranha 3D. It wouldtake about 300 to 500 piranhasto eat a human, and the only evidence of piranhas eating human flesh come from examples where the person was already dead. Also, many piranhas are omnivores, and some are even vegetarians.
18.Sharks do not attack humans unprovoked, like inJaws.Humans arenot a partof sharks' natural diet, and they’d prefer to eat something else. Sharks rarely attack humans, and if they do, it may only be because they were curious or confused —studies showthat they may mistake humans on surfboards as seals or sea lions.
19.Urine is not sterile, as asserted in many movies likeFight ClubandDodgeball— ithas bacteriain it. And you should not drink it unless you absolutely have to in order to survive — in which case you should drink it immediately after it leaves your body so it doesn’t attract further bacteria.
20.Speaking of pee — peeing on a jellyfish sting doesn’t stop the stinging. Whileit’s possiblethat some parts of urine (like ammonia) may help, others (like sodium) may make it worse. Sea water would be better, though it also has salt.
21.Absinthe does not make you hallucinate, as seen in films likeMoulin Rouge!Absinthe is just like any other high-proof drink. It’ll get you drunk, but ithas no hallucinogenic properties— not even back in the day.
22.Finally, let’s end on a couple animal ones. As asserted in basically any film with rats or mice (likeRatatouille), they LOVE cheese.In fact,they like cheese no more than they do any other available food. The myth may come from rats often chewing cheese wheels in people’s cupboards and pantries — but this is likely just because it was a large amount of food in one spot that’s easy to get to and sneak around in.
23.And similarly…cow’s milk is not good for cats. Adult cats areessentiallylactose intolerant. Do not feed your cats milk!
