- Quacks don’t echo: true or false?
I don’t mean incompetent medicos — their ramblings seem to echo around quite happily inside the heads of the gullible — but the noises made by ducks. Despite ducks being commonplace few people seem to have ever heard a quack echo. It’s rare enough, at least, to have bred the...
Posted Tue 03 Aug 2010.
- Blow drying damages hair: true or false?
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve written about hair...well, come to think of it, I’d be being drastically underpaid. But hair is clearly a preoccupation of ours, and Stacey Fraser has come up with a new worry which I can quickly allay. Properly done, blow drying does...
Posted Tue 03 Aug 2010.
- Most of a vegetable’s good is in its skin: true or false?
The good here being a catch-all term that covers any number of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. The whole-food crowd would have you believe that if you — gasp — peel your vegetables and only eat the insides then you’re missing out on the best bits. The truth isn’t so...
Posted Fri 16 Jul 2010.
- The solar system has eight planets: true or false?
Connor Haley, who was recently wondering about the definition of fruit, has now turned to more celestial matters. It is true that are only eight planets in the solar system where there used to be nine, not as the result of interplanetary catastrophe but the stroke of a pen that...
Posted Mon 12 Jul 2010.
- Grapes are bad for dogs: true or false?
I can’t help thinking that the kind of person who feeds their dog grapes also takes them to a grooming salon in a little knitted vest, though I’m sure many more conventional dog lovers have thrown Rover a grape or two as a treat. Whether wool-covered or not, though, a...
Posted Mon 05 Jul 2010.
- Tomatoes are fruit: true or false?
While Connor Haley is focussed on tomatoes, Stephanie Edmond also wonders about pumpkins and watermelons. Two vegetables and a fruit? Or are they all fruit? Both are true, depending on context. Now, before you start tutting to yourself and muttering that this all the fault of fancy-pants so-called experts bamboozling...
Posted Mon 05 Jul 2010.
- You can catch cold from the cold: true or false?
Does cold weather give you a cold? The season for both is now upon us which no doubt explains why Peter Riches, Chelsea Turner, Holly Luxton-Russell and Anna Read have all written urging me to address this question. Anna is already certain it is false and wants me to disseminate...
Posted Wed 23 Jun 2010.
- Food cooks slowly at altitude: true or false?
Is this a deep truth or the height of foolishness? The answer may not have much practical import, unless you have a passion for scaling peaks and whipping up gourmet meals — and even then, only if you combine the two — but there’s nothing wrong with a bit of...
Posted Sat 12 Jun 2010.
- A silver spoon keeps wine fizzy: true or false?
Once you’ve had a few, of course, this can sound more plausible than it really is. It’s a hint with a long history but sticking the handle of a silver spoon in the neck of the bottle does not keep sparkling wine fizzy. I’m not sure why people keep at...
Posted Sat 05 Jun 2010.
- Women who live together have their periods together: true or false?
I must step carefully here, for menstruation isn’t generally considered a topic for mixed company and I wouldn’t want to make anyone blush. So watch as I tiptoe carefully around the matter without getting to the heart of it. I can get away with that because, while it is true...
Posted Fri 28 May 2010.
