5 'facts' you learned in school that are no longer true

desmond frimpong

May 22, 2018 9:44 AM

Over time, even facts we consider steadfast truths can change.

As a child, we find it difficult to believe that our parents and teachers could ever be wrong.

We tend to take everything from our elders hook, line and sinker.

Why would our teachers lie to us, and why would they be mistaken? But “facts” aren’t always as conclusive as we would believe.

Oftentimes, newer developments, discoveries, and insights into certain topics can lead to updates to our general knowledge, turning “facts” into outdated mistakes.

Here are 5 'facts' you learned in school that are no longer true.

1.Bats are blind

It is common to hear people use the phrase "blind as a bat" to describe someone and undermine their sense of sight.

Apparently, bats are not blind and they can actually see better than most of us.

Executive director of the Organization for Bat Conservation Rob Mies says, large bats "can see three times better than humans." In addition to a normal sense of sight, bats rely on a technique known as "echolocation" at night.

In the simplest terms, researchers compressed boron nitride particles to form “ultrahard nanotwinned cubic boron nitride.” They simply re-organised the particles like an onion that fit inside one another.

As a result, expect women everywhere to start asking for ultrahard nanotwinned cubic boron nitride engagement rings. Because those really are forever.

3.Pluto isnt a planet.

We've had an interesting relationship with Pluto over the years, from the ninth rock from the sun to not being a part of the solar system altogether. Although the small planet was named dwarf planet,it's still technically a planet nonetheless.

You've probably been taught in school that you can't start sentences with "and" or "but." But you can. I've done it several times in this article. And it's completely fine.

Some grammar rules in the English language are unbreakable (yet are broken anyway), but the important thing to remember is that different publications have different house styles.

5.We only use 10 percent of our brains

Wrong, wrong, wrong. It may be true that we're only using 10 percent of our brains when we're at rest, but for the most part, the brain is pretty much active all the time and humans use virtually every part of it.

desmond frimpong