MythBusters.com

It's not surprising that there are all kinds of myths about electricity floating around out there. After all, it's a constant in modern life; even a necessity, in the sense that people consider living without it a hardship. All such necessary things have their myths.

Foreign delicacies that they are, those artistically presented bits of vegetables and seafood so common to Japanese cuisine have spawned a rather hefty set of sushi myths. But as it turns out, what you think you know may not be quite the truth. So, in the interest of fair play, let's do some sushi myth-busting.

If you're a college-bound senior, you've certainly encountered more than your fair share of college myths by now. But it's crucial to do your research, and learn to separate myth from reality -- because if you take the myths too seriously, you may impede your own efforts to succeed.

Many people distrust modern medicine, and the current popularity of herbal supplements is one aspect of that attitude. And really, that's fine: many herbs work wonderfully well. Your Humble Writer, for example, favors a nightly mug of valerian-laced chamomile tea for relaxation.

By any measure, the English language is a very successful tongue. It's spawned perhaps the richest and most varied literature in history; acts as the global lingua franca for business, science, and government; and nearly one billion people speak it.

There's been a lot of excitement lately about the apparent "obesity paradox," especially among people of a certain girth (Your Humble Author included). Basically, the paradox is this: a few studies have suggested that heavyset people are healthier than their lean counterparts.

It's here at last: the dreaded year of the 2012 myths. According to some, the world's about to end. But do we really have anything to worry about? While there's no way to be entirely sure, the smart money's on "No."

Like many Americans, you may be laboring under a few myths about Australia that deserve some serious busting. This is nothing to be ashamed of. Many of us have been misinformed on the subject -- not just by the usual suspects, rumor and the media, but also by Science itself.

And in any case, any subject that arouses intense interest generates myths by the carloads. Let's look at three, and quickly set them straight.

Myths about vegetarians are common, at least among us omnivores. That's not too surprising; as we've pointed out in the past, food myths permeate our culture. Basic necessities do tend to accumulate myths, possibly because everyone deals with them every day.

Whatever their stripe -- vegan, lacto-ovo, plain old vegetarian -- those who eschew meat tend to be misunderstood, even denigrated, by those who don't. So let's try to clear up a few public misapprehensions that cause vegetarians trouble.

Why are there so many myths about sleep? Given that we all experience sleep regularly, and scientists study it constantly, you'd figure that we'd pretty much have a handle on it by now. But maybe that very ubiquity has resulted in the confusion we so often experience.

Several years back, we busted a handful of sleep myths regarding snoring, the relative need for sleep according to age, the possibility of surviving on two or three hours of sleep a night, and sleepwalking. But there are plenty of myths where those came from, so let's tackle a few more.