We often have lapses in critical thinking as we speak and write. A fallacy is a belief or argument that rests on invalid or false inference that is logically unsound. Fallacies are often used unintentionally, but they are also used intentionally when an effort is being made to deceive or mislead the listener or reader.

1. "If you know about BMW, you either own one or you want one."

What's wrong with this statement? It is an example of the fallacy called false alternatives. It is also called dualistic or black-and-white thinking and bifurcation. The fallacy occurs when it is presumed that a classification is exclusive or exhaustive. It often takes the form of overlooking alternatives that exist between two polar opposites.

Here is another examp ...

If you live in North America, you've probably never given the cost of water a second thought. In fact, you've probably taken its value for granted probably because it costs very little or because it's vastly abundant. 

In places like Saudi Arabia, however, a liter of water costs five times as much as a liter of gasoline. This is because much of the water in Saudi Arabia is seawater that is purified in desalinization plants (Al Jubail desalination plant shown above). This price relative to fuel is quite different in the United States. For example, a liter of water (from a tap) is virtually free, while a liter of gasoline is around $0.75 (about $3.00 per gallon). 

As a result of this significant difference in cost, it plays a major effect on hu ...

I know this is a science blog, but hear me out. I'm not sure what sort of stunt McDonald's is pulling here, but apparently they are removing the world famous Big Mac off their menu. Currently, the Big Mac has a whopping 550 calories and 29g of fat. It's probably the only reason I ever go to McDonald's, so I guess from now on it's going to be the Whopper instead.

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Imagine blending modified palm oil, skim milk powder, cocoa, hazelnuts, and whole lot of sugar – that's how Nutella is technically made.

In fact, Nutella contains 10.4 percent of saturated fat and 58% of processed sugar by weight. A two-tablespoon (37-gram) serving of Nutella contains 200 calories, including 99 calories from 11 grams of fat (3.5 g of which are saturated) and 80 calories from 21 grams of sugar. The spread also contains 15 mg of sodium and 2 g of protein per serving.

You're probably thinking, what if I gather up these ingredients and do it myself, will I have homemade chocolate spread?

Not quite.

Nutella uses modified palm oil rather than regular vegetable oil because it remains solid at room temperature. This modified oil i ...

CellCraft is a truly great flash game about building, controlling, and surviving as a human cell, viewed at the microscopic scale. I was surprised to find how accurate the game was, depicting organelles correctly and even conversion ratios of glucose to ATP. The game is a great primer for those who wish to learn some cell biology, or even for those of us who know plenty about the cell but want a refresher without cracking open a textbook.

This sand castle has been etched on a single grain of sand.

The MessagePad, released in 1993, was the first in a series of Newton devices to be developed and sold on the market. The 1.4 pound physical device was collaboratively manufactured by Apple and Sharp. The MessagePad packed a 20MHz ARM 610 RISC processor, 640 kilobytes of RAM, and a 336x240 monochrome LCD touch screen with stylus and handwriting recognition support. It was powered by four AAA batteries. It ran Newton OS version 1.05 and cost $699.99.

The Newton platform was axed from the Apple product line for two main reasons.

(1) The early Newton OS that shipped with the original MessagePad proved to be not so user friendly, especially when it came to the unpredictable handwriting recognition software. The press and other media outlets (inc ...