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Fact... or Misconception #2

Can you guess whether these statements are facts or misconceptions?
Some of the misconceptions are well-known, others I just made up
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: June 20, 2024
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First submittedJune 20, 2024
Times taken2,631
Average score80.0%
Rating4.36
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1. Reindeer exist in real life
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
2. Someone once won the marathon at the Summer Olympics running barefoot
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia won the 1960 Olympic marathon without shoes. He defended his title in 1964, this time wearing Pumas.
3. The Sahara is the world's largest desert
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
The Antarctic and Arctic deserts are larger
4. Sounds don't travel in the vacuum of outer space
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
Sounds can't travel without air
5. The word "octopuses" is incorrect
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
"Octopuses" is the standard plural of octopus, although "octopodes" was used historically. More recently, people have started using "octopi" – adding the Latin plural on a Greek root.
6. Facebook is banned in China
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
7. A zillion is a number equal to 1000 trillion
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
8. Most educated Europeans in the time of Christopher Columbus thought the world was flat
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
9. Cats sleep more than horses
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
10. The level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been increasing since the start of the Industrial Revolution
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
11. The Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps has never been climbed
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
12. The Aztecs practiced human sacrifice
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
13. Winter is colder than summer because the Earth is further from the Sun
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
14. Except for child mortality, life expectancy in 2024 is the same as it was in the Stone Age
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
15. China exports more goods and services than any other country
Fact ✓
Misconception ✓
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18 Comments
ItzIngenious
+3
Level 60
Jun 20, 2024
Missed the winter one, as I just assumed it was talking about hemispheres when I read “further”. People really believe that it’s because the Earth is farther, though?

Edit: just read the caveat

Thisisreal
+2
Level 87
Jun 20, 2024
I guess it’s commonsensical (though false) to think that it’s colder because you’re further away from the heat source.
Kingsfisher
+2
Level 64
Jun 21, 2024
Only if you apply everyday logic everywhere and do not know at all that when it's winter in the Northern, it should be summer in the Southern Hemisphere
Deathslayer
+1
Level 34
Jun 21, 2024
But isn't the earth actually farther, because of the elliptical orbit of the earth?
Mercatorix
+1
Level 73
Jun 21, 2024
Due to the elliptical orbit there are difference in the distance between earth and sun. But these do not correspond to winter and summer in the northern hemisphere at all. The earth is closest to sun at the beginning of the year (January). The difference in the distance to the sun between the closest and farthest point is about 5 million kilometers.
Moos1005
+3
Level 84
Jun 21, 2024
The earth´s orbit is slightly elliptical so there is a significant difference in distance to the sun during the year. What I remember from my old textbooks they did a terrible job of explaining that the elliptical orbit doesn´t coincide with winter in the northern hemisphere.
stylus
+4
Level 76
Jun 21, 2024
yeah, i think it's partly to do with the slightly sneaky wording - I, like you, read that it was because the hemisphere was further than the other one, rather than the whole Earth being further, and labelled it Fact. maybe more of a misreading than a misconception
lubi
+1
Level 76
Jun 21, 2024
Yes, if it's winter on one of the hemisphere, that hemisphere is further from the sun. But that's not why it's colder. The days are shorter and the angle of the sun is lower, that's all.
hi111223
+1
Level 57
Jun 21, 2024
If you are going to do a part 3 to this series you should do; Carrots make your eyesight better. The myth was actually created so Germany wouldn't find out that the British were intercepting their bombers during night raids in World War II.
sumguy
+3
Level 85
Jun 21, 2024
Apparently 23% of Jetpunkers aren't aware that when it's summer in one hemisphere, it's winter in the other. If summer and winter were based on distance from the sun, it would be the same season everywhere.
MayaB
+4
Level 73
Jun 23, 2024
In the very first comment and the following thread there are some people who explain why they chose "fact" for this one. It's not necessarily that they don't know, it's more that there brains took some shortcuts to answer more quickly which didn't work out this time.
Djilas
+3
Level 83
Jun 22, 2024
Most educated Europeans think that most educated Europeans in the time of Christopher Columbus thought the world was flat.
FatSpartanJediLlama
+1
Level 67
Jun 26, 2024
Haha
FatSpartanJediLlama
+1
Level 67
Jun 26, 2024
Just missed marathon one
NotaRealPerson
+1
Level 53
Jun 28, 2024
The facebook one is incorrect as facebook is not banned in Hong Kong or Macau.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Jun 28, 2024
Cool.
SlimeBlobFLYING
+1
Level 66
Jun 28, 2024
Got tripped up on #13 - I originally thought that it was a fact as I mistakenly thought it referred to Earth's tilted axis, and how the hemisphere that is tilted away from the sun will therefore be colder, therefore meaning that part of Earth will be farther away from the Sun
HyddenRizz
+1
Level 66
Jul 2, 2024
The only one I missed was the Matterhorn, which an overwhelming amount of people got correct.

Why did I think the Matterhorn was so insurmountable, where does this misconception come from?

3000 climb the summit each year!

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