MythGap News

Science

Buying Local Food Feels Virtuous — The Environmental Math Is Messier

"Eating local" has become one of the most trusted shortcuts for making environmentally conscious food choices, but researchers have found that transportation distance is actually a minor factor in most food's total carbon footprint. How something is grown — not how far it traveled — turns out to be the bigger environmental story, and the details are more complicated than any farmers market sign can convey.

Mar 13, 2026

Health Myths

That 98.6°F Number on Your Thermometer? It Came From One Guy in 1851

Most Americans treat 98.6°F as the gold standard for a healthy body temperature, but that single number traces back to a 19th-century German physician whose methodology would never pass modern scientific scrutiny. Decades of updated research suggest the real average is lower — and far more personal — than any single figure can capture.

Mar 13, 2026

Health Myths

The Eight-Glass Rule Was Never Really About Your Health

Most Americans grew up treating eight glasses of water a day like a medical commandment. But that tidy little number has surprisingly shaky scientific roots — and the story of how it became gospel is more about marketing than medicine. Here's what hydration research actually says.

Mar 13, 2026

Health Myths

Breakfast Became 'The Most Important Meal' Because Someone Needed to Sell Cereal

The belief that skipping breakfast will wreck your metabolism and derail your health is one of America's most stubborn dietary convictions — and it traces back not to nutritional science but to a remarkably effective advertising campaign. What does the actual research say about breakfast, meal timing, and how your body really works in the morning?

Mar 13, 2026

Tech History

The Founding Fathers Agreed on Almost Nothing — And That's the Real Story

The popular image of America's Founding Fathers as a united band of visionaries who shared a clear blueprint for democracy is one of the most enduring myths in U.S. history. The actual record is messier, more contentious, and honestly far more fascinating. Here's what the history books tend to leave out.

Mar 13, 2026

Tech History

Rise, Fall, and Relaunch: The Wild History of Digg and Its Epic Battle With Reddit

Before Reddit dominated the internet's front page, there was Digg — a scrappy, user-powered news aggregator that briefly ruled the early web. This is the story of how it rose to the top, crashed spectacularly, and kept trying to claw its way back.

Mar 12, 2026