Talk:List of common misconceptions about science, technology, and mathematics

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Science

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Technology

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Mathematics

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Astronomy Low‑importance

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Thylacine predation capabilities

Is this a common misconception, or is it outdated? Many believe that the thylacine is capable of preying on sheep, chickens, and even human children and this misconception was further popularised by a staged photograph of a dead thylacine with a (dead?) chicken in its mouth. In reality, the thylacine's jaw is far too weak to prey on sheep, humans (even infants), or chickens.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110831210058.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20120905080540/http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/issues/thylacine_picture_worth.pdf Edelgardvonhresvelg (talk) 05:53, 10 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Headings

I have changed the headings (despite the warning). I believe this solves it both here and on the "main page". Feel free to revert if I'm missing something. Dajasj (talk) 09:48, 16 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Mr swordfish, what was looking weird specifically? The reason for adding a header with title "List" is because right now there is no h2-heading which is required for accessibility (see MOS:Goodhead. Dajasj (talk) 14:01, 16 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The List of Common Misconceptions article was recently split into three separate articles due to size constraints with each sub-article transcluded into the main article. The lack of level-2 headings in the sub-articles is because the sub-articles are transcluded with the level-2 headings provided by the main article.

Thanks for the pointer to MOS:GOODHEAD; more info is available at MOS:OVERSECTION. I was unfamiliar with this material, and you are correct that it is an issue. Since it is an issue for all three sub-articles and affects the main article, we should move this discussion to that talk page - whatever we do with this sub-article we should also do with the other two for consistency. I'm not sure what the best approach is, so I'd like to hear from some of the other editors and I'm not sure everyone follows this talk page. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 15:06, 16 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ponies are not horses

It is commonly believed that ponies are baby horses, despite the fact that they are actually a separate animal, a full-grown pony is essentially just a smaller horse. I would definitely argue that this misconception is current and relevant, has related wikipedia articles, and there exists a multitude of sources espousing this fact, but wanted to follow the recommendations of the headings before deciding on my own to just add to the list.

https://www.thesprucepets.com/the-difference-between-horses-and-ponies-1886998 (just the first and most legitimate looking one I found). TheTwig001 (talk) 22:54, 17 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I don't see anything about this in the topic article so it would fail the inclusion criteria. Mr. Swordfish (talk) 13:05, 18 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I mean, there's no specific section about this specific fact, but there's plenty of mention of the qualifications that differ a pony from a horse. TheTwig001 (talk) 16:32, 18 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Egyptian plover / crocodile bird

ive heard about the story of the egyptian plover cleaning crocodile teeth in exchange for food since i was a child and only recently found out it's (almost certainly) a myth. it's mentioned on the egyptian plover's article so it meets the criteria and is at least widespread enough that the bird is also called the "crocodile bird". at least for me, google searches for "egyptian plover crocodile" show mostly people reporting it as true. is it worth adding to the article? also while we're at it it's possibly worth adding birds proposed as trochilus/crocodile bird as a whole, i singled out egyptian plover because it's the most prominent one for me that shows up when i search "crocodile bird". though i understand if not, as it appears the idea of trochilus is moreso highly dubious than proven misinformation and im not sure if it's common enough "greenzig" (talk) 20:32, 1 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Sugar passage contradictory

"Sugar does not cause hyperactivity in children.[...] Sugar can however lead to jump in blood sugar levels, causing temporary hyperactivity even if it does not cause clinical hyperactivity."

I think the top line should therefore say Sugar does not cause clinical hyperactivity, or similar. Semitones (talk) 20:55, 26 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Fault with at least one template found on this article.

Hi, this script warning has been found on this article (by going to the source):

"Script warning: One or more {{cite book}} templates have errors; messages may be hidden"

I need help with looking for the error. Can also be because of a "Cite" module that calls the "Cite book" template. CarlFilip19 (talk) 19:38, 30 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]