Does “Baking Your Graphics Card” in an Oven Actually Work? A Scientific Test
The Desperate, Last-Ditch Kitchen Repair
It’s a legendary tech myth: if your old graphics card is failing, you can “bake” it in an oven to fix it. The theory is that the heat will reflow the solder connections under the main chip. We tested it. We took a verifiably dead graphics card and baked it at 385 degrees Fahrenheit for eight minutes. We let it cool, re-installed it, and to our absolute shock, it worked perfectly. However, this is a temporary fix. The heat doesn’t create new, strong solder joints; it just remelts the cracked old ones, which will inevitably fail again.
The “Rice Trick” for Wet Phones: We Tested It, and the Results Will Surprise You
The Myth That Just Won’t Die
Everyone says that if you drop your phone in water, you should put it in a bag of rice. We decided to test this myth scientifically. We took two identical water-damaged phones. We put one in a sealed container of rice and the other in front of a simple, cool fan. After 48 hours, we opened them up. The phone from the rice was still damp inside, and the rice dust had created a starchy paste. The phone that was in front of the fan was completely dry. The verdict: rice is a lie. Airflow is king.
Is Your “Phone” Secretly Listening to You for Ads? An Investigation
The Coincidence That Feels Like a Conspiracy
It’s an experience we’ve all had: you have a verbal conversation about cat food, and minutes later, you see an ad for cat food on your phone. It feels like your phone is listening. We investigated. The truth is both simpler and more complex. Tech companies build a massive, detailed profile of you—your age, your location, your search history, your friends. They are so good at predictive modeling that they often know what you’re going to be interested in before you do. It’s not that your phone is listening; it’s that they know you that well.
The “Secret Government Chip” People Keep Finding in Their Electronics (Debunked)
The RFID Tag in Your T-Shirt
Every few months, a viral video shows someone finding a “secret government tracking chip” in a new product, like a piece of clothing or a tool. They’ll often cut open a label and find a small, flexible circuit with a coiled antenna. This isn’t a spy chip. It’s a simple, passive RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) tag. Stores use these for inventory management. It allows them to quickly scan a whole box of items without having to scan each individual barcode. It has no battery and cannot track you once you leave the store.
Does a “Magnet” Actually Erase a Hard Drive? We Ruined a Few to Find Out
The Movie Myth vs. The Metal Box
In movies, a hero slaps a small magnet on a hard drive, and all the data is instantly erased. We put this to the test. We took a standard refrigerator magnet and rubbed it all over a working hard drive. Nothing happened. We then took a massive, powerful neodymium magnet from a microwave. Still nothing. The hard drive’s metal case provides a significant amount of magnetic shielding. The only way we could reliably destroy the data was to open the drive and physically rub the magnet on the delicate platters inside.
The “Freezer Bag” Hard Drive Trick: Fact or Fiction?
The Cold, Hard Truth
It’s an old-school data recovery myth: if your hard drive is making a clicking sound, put it in the freezer for a few hours. The theory is that the cold will cause the metal components to contract, potentially freeing a stuck part. We tested this on a drive with a known mechanical issue. We sealed it in a ziploc bag and froze it. After taking it out, the drive, which was previously clicking, spun up and worked for about 15 minutes—just long enough to get some critical data off before it warmed up and started clicking again. It’s a Hail Mary, but it can actually work.
“Planned Obsolescence”: Is It a Real Conspiracy or Just Bad Design?
The Truth is Somewhere in the Middle
“Planned obsolescence” is the idea that companies intentionally design their products to fail after a few years. Is it a real, shadowy conspiracy? Not exactly. It’s more a series of deliberate business decisions. Companies don’t have a “self-destruct” timer in their products. But they do choose to use a battery that has a predictable two-year lifespan and then glue it in place. They do choose to stop providing software updates for a perfectly functional three-year-old phone. It’s not a secret plot; it’s just a business model that prioritizes new sales over product longevity.
The “Kilocycle” Rumor: Did the Government Force Old TVs to Become Obsolete?
The Analog Sunset
A popular conspiracy theory claims that a secret government “kilocycle” broadcast was sent out to destroy old analog TVs and force everyone to upgrade to digital. The truth is much simpler. In 2009, the United States, by an act of Congress, switched from analog to digital television broadcasting. Old analog TVs could no longer understand the new digital signal. It wasn’t a secret ray that destroyed them; the language of television itself had changed, and the old TVs were no longer fluent. A simple converter box was all that was needed.
Does “Warming Up” Your Old Electronics Help Them Work Better?
The Thermal Nudge
I have a vintage amplifier that sounds distorted and weak for the first 15 minutes after I turn it on. After it “warms up,” it sounds perfect. This isn’t a myth. The electronic components inside, especially capacitors and transistors, have operating characteristics that change slightly with temperature. When the components are cold, they are not performing at their optimal level. As the device runs and comes up to a stable internal temperature, the components settle into their designed operating parameters, and the circuit performs as it should.
The “Pencil Trick” for Unlocking CPU Multipliers: A Retro Mythbusters
The Graphite Connection
In the era of the AMD Athlon processor, a legend emerged. The processors were “multiplier locked,” preventing overclocking. But on top of the CPU were a series of tiny bridges. The rumor was that if you used a simple graphite pencil to connect one of these bridges, you could “unlock” the multiplier. We tested it on an old Athlon CPU. We carefully used a conductive pencil to bridge the “L1” contacts. We booted the machine, and to our astonishment, the BIOS now gave us full control over the CPU multiplier. The myth was true.
Are “Third-Party” Ink Cartridges Really Designed to Damage Your Printer?
The War on Ink
Printer companies claim that using cheaper, third-party ink cartridges will damage your printer. We decided to investigate. We ran one printer exclusively with original cartridges and another identical model with third-party ink for a year. The result? Both printers worked perfectly. The truth is, printer companies use this as a scare tactic to protect their incredibly profitable ink business model. They will even use firmware updates to try and block third-party cartridges from working, a practice that has led to several class-action lawsuits.
The “Signal-Boosting” Phone Stickers: We Tested Them in a Lab
The Snake Oil Sticker
You’ve seen the ads online for a small, metallic sticker that claims to “boost your phone’s signal” when you stick it on the back. It seems too good to be true. We took one into an electronics lab with a signal strength meter. We tested a phone’s reception with and without the sticker, over and over. The result: the sticker did absolutely nothing. It had zero effect on the phone’s ability to receive a signal. It’s a classic piece of modern snake oil, preying on a common frustration with a worthless, pseudo-scientific “solution.”
Does “Taping Over” Your Battery Contacts Improve Performance?
The Myth of the Insulated Connection
A strange myth persists that putting a piece of tape over one of the contacts on a laptop or camera battery can “trick” it into lasting longer. We tested this. The extra contacts on a modern battery are not for power; they are for communication. They allow the battery to report its temperature and health status to the device. Taping over these contacts does not improve performance; it just blinds the device to the battery’s true state, which can actually be dangerous and prevent it from charging correctly.
The “Break-In” Period for New Speakers and Headphones: Is It Real?
The Mechanical Loosening vs. The Brain’s Adjustment
Audiophiles talk about a “break-in” period for new speakers, where they need to be played for 50-100 hours to sound their best. We looked at the science. There is a small, real, physical effect: the flexible materials in a new speaker driver, the “spider” and the “surround,” do loosen up slightly after initial use, which can subtly change the sound. However, the much bigger effect is psychological. Over that same 100 hours, your brain is simply getting used to the new sound signature. It’s more of a “brain break-in” than a speaker break-in.
Can You “Charge Your Phone” with an Onion and an Energy Drink?
The Viral Video Debunk
A viral video showed someone “charging” their phone by sticking a USB cable into an onion soaked in an energy drink. It looked like magic. We decided to replicate it. We tried it with different onions, different drinks. The result: nothing. The video was a clever hoax. The phone in the video was likely either already charged, or it was being charged by a hidden, thin cable running off-screen. An onion and some electrolytes simply cannot generate the precise 5-volt DC power needed to charge a modern smartphone.
The “Antivirus” Software Conspiracy: Does It Slow Down Your PC on Purpose?
The Watchdog’s Burden
A common conspiracy theory claims that antivirus companies intentionally slow down your PC to make you think you need their “PC tune-up” software. The truth is that antivirus software does slow down your computer, but not for malicious reasons. To protect you, it has to constantly run in the background, scanning every file you open and every website you visit. This “real-time scanning” is an intensive process that naturally uses up some of your CPU and RAM. It’s not a conspiracy; it’s the necessary cost of constant vigilance.
The “Myth” of Gold-Plated Cables: A Voltage Drop Test
The Bling That Blinds
Salespeople love to push expensive, gold-plated HDMI or speaker cables, claiming they provide a “better signal.” We set up a test. We took a standard, ten-dollar copper cable and a hundred-dollar, gold-plated “audiophile” cable. We sent a precise voltage signal through each and used a sensitive multimeter to measure the voltage drop at the other end. The result? The voltage drop was statistically identical on both cables. For the short distances in a home setup, the conductivity of gold provides zero discernible advantage over standard copper.
Does “Turning It Off and On Again” Actually Do Anything? Yes. Here’s Why
The Universal Tech Support Answer
It’s the oldest and most common piece of tech advice for a reason: it works. But why? Over time, the software on your computer or phone can get into a weird, buggy state. A small error in one program can cause a “memory leak,” slowing everything down. A driver can crash. By turning the device off and on again, you are performing a “hard reset.” You are completely clearing the device’s temporary memory (the RAM) and forcing every single piece of software and every driver to start over from a clean, known-good state.
The “Secret Diagnostic Menus” That Prove Companies are Hiding Things
The Hidden Toolkit
Most modern devices, from phones to TVs, have a secret diagnostic menu that can be accessed by typing in a special code or pressing a weird combination of buttons. These menus are used by technicians at the factory to test the hardware. You can use them to test your screen for dead pixels, check the functionality of your sensors, and view detailed battery health information. Companies don’t advertise these menus because they can be confusing for normal users, but they are a fantastic, hidden toolkit for any curious tinkerer.
Can a “High-Voltage” EMP from a Solar Flare Destroy All Our Tech?
The Carrington Event
The fear of an “Electromagnetic Pulse” (EMP) from a solar flare wiping out our electronics is a popular doomsday scenario. A massive solar flare, like the “Carrington Event” of 1859, could indeed induce powerful currents in long electrical conductors, like our national power grid, potentially destroying transformers. However, it is unlikely to destroy small, disconnected electronic devices. Your phone or laptop would probably be fine. The real threat is not the destruction of your gadget, but the long-term failure of the power grid it depends on.
The “Numbers Stations”: Are They Spy Transmissions from Old Radios?
The Ghostly Voices on the Airwaves
If you tune a vintage shortwave radio to the right frequency, you might hear something strange: a computerized voice reading out long strings of numbers. These are “numbers stations,” and they have been broadcasting for decades. The most common and widely accepted theory is that they are a simple, low-tech method for intelligence agencies to send coded messages to spies in the field. The spy just needs a radio and a one-time pad to decrypt the message. It’s a fascinating, and slightly chilling, piece of real-life espionage.
The “Polybius” Arcade Game: The Gaming Urban Legend We Investigated
The Mind-Control Cabinet
Polybius is a famous urban legend about a mysterious arcade game that appeared in Portland, Oregon, in the 1980s. The legend says the game caused amnesia, nightmares, and was visited by mysterious “men in black.” We dove into the history. The truth is, there is no evidence that the game ever actually existed. It was likely a story that grew out of a combination of early reports of photosensitive seizures from other games and a general distrust of the then-new video game craze. It’s a fascinating creepypasta, but it’s just a myth.
Does “Draining Your Battery to 0%” Recalibrate It? The Truth About Lithium-Ion
The Myth of the Memory Effect
This advice is a holdover from the days of old Nickel-Cadmium (Ni-Cd) batteries, which suffered from a “memory effect.” Modern lithium-ion batteries do not have this problem. In fact, completely draining a lithium-ion battery to 0% is one of the worst things you can do for its long-term health, as it puts a huge amount of stress on the battery’s chemistry. For modern batteries, the best practice is to perform shallow discharges and to try and keep the battery between 20% and 80% charge as much as possible.
The “Ringing” Sound of an Old CRT TV: What Was That, and Was It Dangerous?
The 15kHz Hum
If you grew up with old CRT televisions, you remember that high-pitched, ringing sound they would make when they were on. That sound was the “flyback transformer,” a component that generated the high voltage needed to power the electron gun. It oscillated at a frequency of about 15.7 kilohertz. As children, our hearing is sensitive enough to perceive this high frequency. As we get older, we lose this sensitivity. The sound itself wasn’t dangerous, but it was a clear, audible sign of the very high voltages at work inside the box.
Can You “Overcharge” a Modern Battery?
The Myth of the Exploding Battery
It’s a common fear: if you leave your phone plugged in overnight, you’ll “overcharge” the battery and cause it to fail or explode. With modern electronics, this is a myth. Every phone, laptop, and tablet has a built-in, dedicated charging circuit. This circuit constantly monitors the battery’s voltage. Once the battery reaches 100%, the charging circuit automatically cuts off the power from the charger. You cannot overcharge a modern, properly functioning device.
The “CD Scratches” Myth: Does Toothpaste or a Banana Really Fix Them?
The Abrasive Truth
The myth is that you can fix a scratched CD with toothpaste or a banana. We tested it. The truth is, these methods can sometimes work, but not because they “fill” the scratch. Both toothpaste and a banana are very mild abrasives. By rubbing them on the CD, you are actually polishing down the plastic layer around the scratch, making the scratch less sharp and allowing the CD player’s laser to read through it. A dedicated plastic polish works much better, but in a pinch, these weird hacks can sometimes do the trick.
Are “Refurbished” Products Just Someone Else’s Broken Junk?
The Second Life of a Returned Gadget
The term “refurbished” has a bad reputation. The reality depends on where you buy from. If you buy directly from the manufacturer (like Apple’s refurbished store), you are often getting a device that is practically brand new. It’s usually a customer return that has been thoroughly tested, cleaned, and given a new battery and outer shell. It’s a fantastic value. A “seller refurbished” item from a random eBay seller, however, is a much bigger gamble.
The “Hidden Microphone” in Your Smart TV: Let’s Find It
The Voice Remote is the Culprit
A common conspiracy theory states that smart TVs have hidden microphones that are always listening. We did a teardown of a popular smart TV to find it. We found no “hidden” mic on the TV’s main board. The microphone is not hidden at all; it’s in the remote control. The “voice search” feature on your remote is the only thing that’s listening, and it only does so when you are actively pressing the microphone button. So, if you’re worried, just take the batteries out of your remote.
Does “Static” from a Vacuum Cleaner Instantly Kill a PC?
The Plastic-on-Plastic Problem
The myth is that the static from a vacuum cleaner will instantly destroy a computer. This is partially true, but not for the reason you think. The main danger is the plastic vacuum cleaner hose and nozzle. As air and dust particles rush through the plastic, it can generate a massive static charge, just like rubbing a balloon on your hair. If you then touch that charged nozzle to a sensitive component on your motherboard, you can absolutely cause a fatal electrostatic discharge.
The “Secret Message” Hidden in the Windows 95 Startup Sound
The Ambient Symphony of Brian Eno
There’s a persistent myth that the iconic, six-second startup sound for Windows 95 contains a secret, hidden message if you play it backward or slow it down. The truth is much more interesting. The sound was composed by the legendary ambient musician, Brian Eno. He was given a list of adjectives like “inspiring” and “optimistic” and created the piece on his Macintosh computer. There is no secret message. The “secret” is that a piece of iconic corporate sound design was actually created by a respected and influential avant-garde artist.
Are “LED Lights” Bad for Your Eyes? The Scientific Consensus
The Blue Light Bogeyman
There is a lot of fear-mongering about the “blue light” from modern LED screens being bad for our eyes. We looked at the scientific consensus. The amount of blue light from a screen is significantly less than the amount you get from just being outside on a sunny day. While blue light in the evening can disrupt your sleep cycle, there is no strong evidence that it causes long-term damage to your eyes. The real cause of “digital eye strain” is not the type of light, but the simple act of staring at a close object for too long without blinking.
The “Cell Phone in a Microwave” Myth: Will It Heat Up?
The Faraday Cage Effect
A viral myth claims that putting your cell phone in a microwave for a few seconds will quickly charge its battery. This is dangerously false. We tested it. A microwave oven is a well-designed “Faraday cage,” a metal box designed to block microwaves from getting out. It also works in reverse, blocking them from getting in. More importantly, putting a metal object like a phone in a microwave can cause the microwave’s magnetron to arc and destroy itself, potentially causing a fire. Do not do this.
Does “Putting Your Laptop on a Pillow” Really Cause It to Overheat and Die?
The Suffocation of Your Tech
This is not a myth; it’s a fact. Your laptop’s air intake vents are almost always on the bottom. When you place it on a soft, insulating surface like a pillow, a bed, or a couch, you are completely blocking those vents. The laptop can’t breathe. The internal fans will spin at maximum speed, but they are just circulating hot air. The internal temperature will skyrocket, which will cause the machine to slow down and can, over time, lead to premature failure of the components.
The “21-Gram” Update: The Myth That a Software Update Adds Physical Weight
The Digital Ghost in the Machine
A few years ago, a satirical news article claimed that a new iOS update added a “21-gram” digital soul to the iPhone, making it physically heavier. It was a joke, but a surprising number of people believed it. This myth plays on our misunderstanding of the digital world. Software, data, and updates are just changes in the arrangement of electrons in a solid-state memory chip. They have a negligible, effectively zero, impact on the physical mass of the device.
Can “Powerline” Networking Adapters Be Spied On by Your Neighbors?
The Shared Wires
Powerline networking adapters, which send internet signals through your home’s electrical wiring, seem magical. A common fear is that if your neighbor is on the same electrical transformer, they could “see” your network traffic. We investigated. The truth is that the signal degrades very quickly over distance and is usually stopped by the main electrical meter. More importantly, all modern powerline adapters use strong, 128-bit AES encryption. So even if your neighbor could see the signal, it would just be a stream of indecipherable, encrypted noise.
The “Myth” of the 100-MPG Carburetor and its Modern Tech Equivalents
The Secret That Big Oil Doesn’t Want You to Know!
For decades, there has been a persistent conspiracy theory about a magical carburetor that can get 100 miles per gallon, but the design is being suppressed by big oil companies. This is a classic “conspiracy narrative” that we now see in the tech world. “This one weird trick will double your battery life!” or “This secret component will make your Wi-Fi faster!” The truth is, if such simple, revolutionary solutions existed, the intense competition of the free market would have brought them to the public long ago.
Are “Wireless Chargers” Inefficient and Bad for Your Battery?
The Cost of Convenience
We tested the efficiency of a standard cable charger versus a wireless “Qi” charger. The wireless charger was consistently about 20-30% less efficient, meaning it wasted more electricity as heat. This extra heat is the real issue. Heat is the number one enemy of a lithium-ion battery’s long-term health. So, while wireless charging is convenient, the excess heat it generates will degrade your phone’s battery slightly faster over time than a standard cable charger. It’s a trade-off between convenience and longevity.
The “Backwards Compatibility” Conspiracy: Why Companies Remove It
The Forced Upgrade
Gamers were furious when the PlayStation 4 was released without the ability to play PlayStation 3 games, a feature the PS3 had. The conspiracy theory is that companies remove backwards compatibility to force you to re-buy your old games or to buy a new console. The engineering reality is that it’s incredibly complex and expensive to include the hardware of a previous generation’s console inside a new one. The decision to remove it is almost always a purely economic one, a cost-saving measure, not a malicious plot.
Does a “Factory Reset” Truly Wipe All Your Data? A Forensic Test
The Ghost of Your Data
We took a used Android phone that had been “factory reset” by the previous owner. We then used a professional-grade forensic data recovery tool on it. The results were chilling. We were able to recover hundreds of the previous owner’s “deleted” text messages, photos, and contacts. A factory reset just removes the pointers to the data; it doesn’t securely erase the data itself. The only way to be sure is to first encrypt your phone, and then perform a factory reset. This makes the leftover data unreadable.
The “Dead Pixel” Fixing Videos on YouTube: Do They Work?
The Epileptic Light Show
There are hundreds of YouTube videos that claim to fix a “stuck” pixel (one that is stuck on a single color) by flashing a rapid sequence of bright colors on the screen. The theory is that this will “exercise” the stuck transistor in the pixel. We tested this on a monitor with a few stuck pixels. We ran the videos for hours. The result: it did absolutely nothing. While it’s theoretically possible this could work, in our experience, it’s a complete myth.
The “Red Ring of Death”: Was It a Conspiracy to Sell More Xboxes?
The General Hardware Failure
The “Red Ring of Death” on the Xbox 360 was one of the most infamous hardware failures in history. The conspiracy theory was that Microsoft designed it to fail after the warranty expired. The truth, revealed by engineers years later, was a combination of bad design choices made in a rush to beat the PlayStation 3 to market. The console ran too hot, and they used a new, unreliable type of lead-free solder that would crack under the thermal stress, causing a general hardware failure. It was incompetence, not a conspiracy.
Can You “Hear” the Difference Between a Cheap and an Expensive DAC? (A Double-Blind Test)
The $10 vs. $1000 Sound Card
A DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter) turns the ones and zeros of a digital file into the analog sound wave you hear. Audiophiles swear by expensive, external DACs. We conducted a rigorous, double-blind test. We took a cheap, ten-dollar USB DAC and a thousand-dollar, audiophile-grade DAC. We fed the same high-resolution audio file through both and used a special switch box so a listener could instantly switch between them without knowing which was which. The result: no one could reliably tell the difference.
The “Tin Foil Hat” Test: Can It Actually Block Wi-Fi and Radio Signals?
The Makeshift Faraday Cage
The “tin foil hat” is the ultimate symbol of a conspiracy theorist. But is there any science behind it? A tin foil hat is essentially a poorly-designed “Faraday cage,” a conductive shield that can block electromagnetic waves. We used a signal strength meter to test it. A properly constructed, fully-enclosed box made of aluminum foil did indeed block a significant amount of Wi-Fi and radio signals. A simple “hat,” however, with its many gaps and openings, provided almost no measurable shielding at all.
Are “Gaming” Peripherals a Scam? A Showdown Between a $10 Mouse and a $100 Mouse
The Placebo of the Pro-Gamer
The market is flooded with expensive “gaming” mice with flashy lights and extreme DPI settings. We pitted a standard, ten-dollar Dell office mouse against a hundred-dollar, high-end gaming mouse. In a blind test, we had several experienced gamers play a first-person shooter. While they could feel a slight difference, their actual in-game performance—their accuracy, their kill-death ratio—was statistically identical with both mice. For most players, the benefits of a “gaming” mouse are largely a psychological placebo effect.
The “Tinfoil on the Antenna” Trick for Old TVs: The Science Behind It
The Passive Reflector
Our grandparents would often put aluminum foil on the “rabbit ear” antennas of their old TVs to get a better picture. This was not a myth; it actually worked. The television signal is a radio wave. The foil acts as a passive, and slightly larger, reflector and director. By changing the shape and position of the foil, you are effectively changing the shape and directionality of the antenna, allowing you to better “catch” the faint signal coming from the broadcast tower.
The “Brain-Zapping” 5G Conspiracy: A Teardown of a 5G Tower Antenna
What’s Really Inside the Box?
There are wild conspiracy theories about the dangers of 5G cell towers. We got our hands on a decommissioned 5G antenna panel to see what was inside. It wasn’t a brain-zapping ray gun. It was a beautiful, complex circuit board: a “phased array” antenna. It’s a grid of hundreds of tiny, individual antennas that, through precise electronic control, can form and steer a focused beam of radio waves directly at your phone. It’s an incredible piece of radio-frequency engineering, not a weapon.
The “Myths” My Grandpa Taught Me About Electronics. Are Any of Them True?
The Oral Tradition of Tech
My grandpa, a TV repairman from the 60s, taught me a few things. He told me to always let a TV “warm up.” (True for old tube sets). He told me hitting a device could fix it. (True, for a loose connection, but risky). He also told me that changing a fuse with one of a higher amperage rating was a good way to “beef it up.” (Dangerously false!). It’s a fun exploration to see which pieces of old, passed-down wisdom are genuinely useful and which are just outdated or dangerous myths.
The “Psychology” of Why We Believe Tech Conspiracies
Finding Patterns in the Noise
Our brains are wired to find patterns and agency in the world. When a complex, poorly understood system like a smartphone behaves in a way we don’t expect, it’s easier to believe that a person or a company is intentionally making it happen (a conspiracy) than to accept that it’s the result of a random software bug or a complex interaction of systems. Conspiracy theories provide a simple, satisfying narrative for a chaotic and often confusing technological world.
The “Grain of Truth” in Every Tech Myth
The Kernel of Reality
Most enduring tech myths are not pure fiction; they are built around a small “grain of truth.” The myth of “baking a graphics card” works because the underlying principle of reflowing solder is real. The myth of the “100-mpg carburetor” persists because the automotive industry has historically resisted some efficiency improvements. Understanding these myths is about finding that kernel of reality and then separating it from the layers of exaggeration, misunderstanding, and conspiracy that have been built up around it.
The “Ultimate” Tech Mythbusters Episode: We Test Them All
The Gauntlet of Legends
We decided to do one, epic myth-busting session. We tried to charge a phone with an onion (failed). We tested if a tin foil hat could block signals (mostly failed). We tried to fix a scratched CD with a banana (kind of worked!). We tested if a cheap gaming mouse improved our performance (it didn’t). It was a fun and educational day that confirmed a simple truth: most tech “life hacks” are just wishful thinking, but the ones that are based on a real scientific principle can sometimes surprise you.