- [Narrator] Did you
know that killer whales aren't actually whales and that you have way
more than five senses? Watch on to find out more
about everyday things that prove your life is a lie. There's 10 examples in all and they'll certainly open your eyes. (soft music) Amazing! Number 10. The red panda isn't a panda. The advertising standards agency should really investigate this one. How dare red pandas attempt to cash in on the popularity of real
pandas by adopting their name. In fairness, red pandas
have a pretty good defense. They got their name first. Red pandas, which look
a bit like chubby foxes with bear paws, lie in the Himalayas and have a closer genealogical association with weasels, raccoons,
and skunks than pandas. Their name is said to derive
from the Nepalese word ponya. A reference to the unusual
shape of their feet and was assigned to them in the 1800s. And since what we think of as real pandas didn't get their name
until the 20th century, perhaps the red panda
should consider suing their better known rivals
for copyright infringement. Number nine. Killer whales aren't whales. Another animal prepared
to falsify it's name is the killer whale, twice. Apparently not content with
pretending to be a whale, orcas have been referred to as black fish. News flash, the killer whale
is neither a whale, nor a fish. It is a dolphin. The name originates from a simple case of language confusion. Back in the day, Spanish sailors noticed that orcas fed on other whales and named them whale killers. Invert the name and there you have it. Killer whales. It does however stand to reason that killer whales are dolphins. Dolphins are known as
intelligent and social animals and despite their killer instincts, orcas are normally cooperative. One of the few marine
mammals to hunt in packs, orcas employ ingenious tactics like herding pray into preset
traps and smashing ice flows to cause seals, and occasion,
humans, to fall into the sea. And we thought dolphins were
all friendly and smiley. Number eight. Humans do have a sixth sense. In fact, they may have 21. This one's a real eye opener. Or is it? You already know that humans
can see through their eyes and use touch, smell, hearing, and taste to interact with the world. But did you know about our other senses? Judging by the popularity
of the term sixth sense, and the fact that it's usually used to refer to supernatural
powers, most people don't. Scientists, however, are
increasingly insistent that not only do humans
have a sixth sense, we have way more senses than that, anything up to 21. Having made the national assumption that any part of the body
that acts as a sensor should be said to be a sense, they include inner ear receptors that sense balance and orientation as well as skin sensors
that can detect heat, cold, pressure, and itches, plus one called equilibrioception. That word is so hard to say you can see why the theory of many
senses has struggled to replace ancient Greek
philosophers Aristotle's simpler formation of the five senses. Somethings the truth is
just too complicated. Number seven. A karate black belt
doesn't make you an expert, it makes you competent. Should we blame the movies for this one? In childhood, the idea of a
black belt in the martial arts like karate was synonymous with the seriously scary
martial arts skills. Someone who'd wipe the floor with you as effortlessly as Mr.
Miyagi from Karate Kid. Believe it or not though,
the origins of the black belt lie in judo rather than karate where rather than
signifying ultimate mastery, the black belt merely affirms competence in discipline's basic techniques. That's a bit of a come down isn't it? From ultimate master to
your competent beginner, in one fell swoop. Karate websites admit that
there's a bit of confusion surrounding the black belt. It's generally agreed that black belts do separate martial
artists form the rabble, i.e. you in your bedroom trying to perform high
kicks from Avengers movies. But that true master of the
discipline can only be crowned after they receive a
third degree black belt and develop their skills further. Number six. Christopher Columbus
didn't discover America. Christopher Columbus is an
unusual historical figure. You'd think we'd of taken the
time to discover quite a bit about the life of one of
the most famous discovers, but several giant myths
still surround Columbus. For one thing, he wasn't Italian. Okay, he was born in Geona,
but since Italy wasn't unified until the mid 19th century, three centuries after
Columbus was kicking about, he can hardly be considered
a passionate Italian and indeed claim the lands
he discovered from Spain. Hence the second giant Columbus myth, he discovered the territory of
the United States of America. It may surprise you to know that despite the widespread celebration of Columbus Day in The States, Columbus never actually set
foot on any of the territory that currently makes up the USA. Rather, Columbus landed on
islands such as the Bahamas and Haiti and behaved so brutally to the islanders he found there threatening to chop off their heads if they didn't bring him gold that we should really reconsider
celebrating him at all. Number five. A duck's quack actually does echo. The myth is so well
known that Sky Television named a game show hosted
by Lee Mack after it. The show is called Duck Quacks Don't Echo. We can conclusively reveal,
however, that duck's quacks, like every other sound
in the world, do echo. It's unclear precisely how this myth arose and became so popular, which is shame. It would be interesting to know who had so much time on their hands. They went our one day, heard a duck quack, and had the revolutionary thought, wait, that quack didn't echo. The mistake is understandable though. To the unassisted ear,
the echo of duck quacks simply aren't as obvious
as other types of echo. The TV show MythBusters
brought in an audio expert to conduct tests and they said
that the echo was swallowed by the original quack due to the very similar acoustic structure between the quack and the echo. Because of this, it may be difficult to tell where the quack
ends and the echo begins. Number four. Santa Claus doesn't wear read
as a tribute to Coca-Cola. It's a tribute to the power
of Coca-Cola's advertising that people, including myself, were willing to believe a figure that has played such a significant role in western culture for centuries took his image from a soft drinks company. In fact, Santa was
wearing red in the 1800s and the modern depiction
of him as a jolly old man with a white beard is usually attributed to the work of cartoonist
Thomas Nast in the 1870s. Coca-Cola began using Santa
in their ads in the 1930s and no doubt helped promote and popularize the red and white image further. But Santa does not have
an exclusivity deal with the soft drink giant. He may even prefer Pepsi? Number three. You can't see the Great
Wall of China from space. Most of us have never been to space. So if people tell us that
the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure on earth you can see from there, why
wouldn't we believe them? Well, what if the people making the claims hadn't been to space either? In a 1904 book on the Far East, Henry Norman noted that
the Great Wall of China enjoys the reputation of being
the only work of human hands on the globe visible from the moon. What Norman or anyone else
making this claim based it on half a century before a human
made it into space is unclear, but the idea has stuck. Also, when we ask astronauts like Chris Hadfield about the matter, they say things like,
the Great Wall of China is not visible from
orbit with the naked eye. It's too narrow and it
follows the natural contours and colors of the landscape. Chinese astronauts, such
as Yang Liwei, concur. You cannot see the Great Wall
of China with the naked eye while orbiting the Earth. Number two. Goldfish don't have three second memories. They have five month memories. How many times at school
did you hear your teacher claim you had the memory of a gold fish? They were so wrong, if
you had the time machine that was invented tomorrow, you wouldn't be going back to
have a look at the dinosaurs or Pompeii before the eruption, you'd be going back to Ms.
Nichol's science class to say, why thank you, I pride
myself in being able to remember dull facts for five months. Assumptions that goldfish can
only hold things in memory for three seconds have been reinforced by humorous portrayals of forgetful fish like Dory in Finding Nemo. But scientists recently discovered that goldfish were able to
associate a certain sound with feeding time and that
even after being released back into the wild, away from the sound, still responded to it five months later. The scientists were so impressed with the mental performance
of the goldfish, they went so far as to claim they might be more intelligent than trout. High praise indeed. Number one. Vikings didn't wear
horns on their helmets. Everyone knows what a Viking looks like. The image of a big, bearded Scandinavian charging through the
surf with horned helmets has become synonymous with the idea of the raiding seafarers. But get this, Viking helmets
did not have horns on them. At least none of the many Viking helmets dug up by archeologists so far have. There is evidence that Northern Europeans used to wear horns on their
helmets for specific ceremonies. Something recorded by a
number of Roman scholars. But most experts believe
even this tradition may have died out by
the days of the Vikings. So how did the myth arise? Richard Wagner, the
famous German composer, may have had something to do with it. One of his operas featured Vikings and his costume designers, probably using outdated Roman
sources for their research, decided to go with horns on the helmets. That's how easily a myth can grow. Since no one in Wagner's
day had ever seen a Viking, no one knew he was so wrong and the image of the horned Viking helmets was reproduced until it became the norm. Please Richard, do you research! So there you have it. 10 more myths dispelled, and 10 more pieces of knowledge to impress your friends with. Let me know which one you
found the most interesting. Down in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this video, make sure to subscribe and click that bell icon to stay updated. Thanks for watching. (soft music)
