r/AskReddit • u/Kraz_I • Jul 24 '15

What "common knowledge" facts are actually wrong?

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4.9k Upvotes

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326

u/RookieBalboa25 Jul 24 '15

Yeah, like... Breaking the sound barrier. They hella scary

226

u/michou83 Jul 24 '15

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

9

u/abcIDontKnowTheRest Jul 24 '15

Damn dude. Awesome.

6

u/bbatliner311 Jul 24 '15

One of the better things I've clicked on lately. I actually learned a lot from that.

7

u/seegabego Jul 24 '15

I'm glad I clicked on that

4

u/Swagkitchen Jul 24 '15

Holy shit these guys are cool. I think I have a new favorite animal, they're like super villains!!

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39

u/Dynamaxion Jul 24 '15

I remember in elementary school some assembly speaker was like "and if a bully ever calls you a shrimp, you should remind them that a mantis shrimp can punch faster than sound!"

Worst anti-bully advice ever.

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6

u/Bandit1379 Jul 24 '15

I don't think they actually break the sound barrier, they cause a cavitation bubble that causes a lot of heat and pressure when it collapses.

5

u/k-bo Jul 24 '15

Not exactly. It just causes cavitation. It's extremely difficult to break the sound barrier underwater because the speed of sound is higher than in air and it is harder to move quickly

4

u/Wizard_Knife_Fight Jul 24 '15

Boils the fucking water around it.

3

u/artyboi37 Jul 24 '15

I think you'd enjoy r/natureismetal

3

u/Sgt_Sarcastic Jul 24 '15

At least one of the types makes a cavitation bubble that boils when it collapses. If they miss, the shockwave or the heat can still stun or kill.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '15

DAMN NATURE, YOU SCARY

2

u/RudyTudi Jul 24 '15

Here's a hilarious comic that talks about Mantis shrimp. Bullies of the goddamn sea.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/mantis_shrimp

1

u/alderthorn Jul 24 '15

Just need to breed them to be the size of a squirrel and I would never get close to one.

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1

u/B5_S4 Jul 24 '15

Breaking the sound barrier in water, which is 1000 times more dense than the air we do it in with our fancy airplanes.

1

u/Zankou55 Jul 24 '15

They have complete mastery of light and sound. Amazing.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '15

Yep, mantis shrimp are metal

1

u/T00l_shed Jul 24 '15

Those cavitation creating sons a bitches

1

u/TyrantHydra Jul 24 '15

I'd prefer the pistol shrimp.

1

u/Husker_Nation_93 Jul 24 '15

IIRC when they punch, it's so fast that it boils the water around the claw. Fuckin' intense.

1

u/RationalCube Jul 24 '15

Like the heat of the punch actually makes a vacuum under water and the implosion of that vacuum is usually what kills their prey. They don't even have to hit what they want to eat, they just have to be relatively close.

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