Top Myths Busted in 2013

A pair of comments on these myths:

Myth 1. The Year That Wasn't
Many experts believed that the rate would continue apace, but a new CDC study found instead that obesity levels actually dropped slightly in 18 states, remained the same in another 19, and increased in only three.

So, apparently the myth discussed here has to do with the number of states in the US, because this study showed there are only 40 (18+19+3 = 40). Most people think there are 50 states. And occasionally, some people get the notion that there are 57.


Myth 4. The Homo Erectus Family Expands
Scientists are elated that this myth may have burst because it provides a clearer picture of our human lineage and, if true, consolidates three different species branches -- Homo ergaster, Homo rudolfensis and Homo habilis -- into one.

I'm not really sure that 'myth' is the right word here. That would be like saying it's a 'myth' that electricity, magnetism and the weak nuclear force exist because the work of James Clerk Maxwell, Abdus Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg showed that mathematically they are unified as the electro-weak force. (I.e., this work on Homo Erectus does not reveal an untruth in the sense that Piltdown Man was shown to be untrue; or that many believe that 'Cold Fusion' is a myth since it has thus far failed to show any consistently repeatable results.)

Myth 1.

There 'ya go again. Finding fault with others.

These figures were derived using the latest Common Core mathematical tools.

So what if their numbers don't match your old fashioned notion of how math should work.

Soon, when all us human dinosaurs are gone, any answer will do as long as we thought through the process and it doesn't hurt other's feelings.

Whenever an erectus expands, who's not cool with that?