5 Ways Movies Say You Can Die (That Science Says Are Wrong)

This restart period varies on a case-by-case basis, but it takes the body roughly 15 seconds to use up the oxygen in the blood. After that, the clock starts ticking: A minute without breathing destroys some of your brain cells. Three minutes and you likely have serious brain damage. After 10 to 15 minutes, you're generally fucked -- unless you're one of the rare cases that survive after 40 to 60 minutes without breathing. Unless the killer has brought a sandwich and a book to read, they're better off flicking the victim to death.

"But Cracked," you inquire, "if that's true, how come there were 98 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks worldwide in 2015 alone?" Well, first of all, only six of those were actually fatal, while most resulted in only moderate injuries. Even the fatal attacks aren't the "torn to bits until the sea is red" variety -- they're mostly from a single bite wound, not an orgy of thrashing violence.

Universal Pictures

Large sharks like great whites are curious animals, and they use their teeth much like humans use their hands. They've been known to tentatively bite boats, buoys, paddleboards, and anything else they might find interesting, an investigative close-to-the-surface behavior that's also the reason behind the famous fin-above-the-water shtick. So when sharks do "attack" humans, it's almost always because of these quick, investigative chomps. Once they realize we're disgusting, chewy monkeys instead of sexy lady sharks in disguise, they usually flee.

There are hundreds of grenade models of varying lethality, but in movies, the term "hand grenade" almost exclusively refers to this guy:

Warner Bros.

That's a fragmentation grenade, and they're far from the hand-held Death Star that Hollywood shows us. The anatomy of a frag grenade is simple: an explosive core wrapped in brittle material. When the core goes off, it will fling said material in every direction. At a close distance, they're fatal. However, their main use is simply to cause mayhem by hurling fragments far beyond the killing radius. This ability to wound the enemy creates a strategic advantage: Suddenly having to take care of a wounded soldier or two burdens the uninjured a whole lot more than blowing said soldiers to smithereens would.

Universal Pictures

Incidentally, you also shouldn't listen to pop culture when it comes to surviving a grenade attack. Gonna pick it up and throw it back at the enemy? Good luck, Johnny No-Fingers: The fuse gives you three to five seconds, at least two of which were spent while the grenade was traveling from the hands of the enemy to you. Running won't do much, as the blast radius is 30 to 35 feet, and you're not that fast. Don't try covering it with a helmet or sticking it inside a container like, say, a fridge. The grenade is supposed to explode in a way that spreads shrapnel, and you've just given it more ammo.

If you don't want to just hang out and play some Kim Kardashian: Hollywood on your iPhone until the sand particles settle naturally, researchers advise that you ... wiggle your legs around. No, seriously. Wiggling about creates a space where water can flow and make the quicksand around you looser. Do this slowly and progressively, and eventually the earth will vomit you forth like the indigestible idiot that you are.

20th Century Fox

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For more ways Hollywood has lead you astray, check out 6 Deadly Injuries You Think You'd Survive (Thanks to Movies) and 6 Myths About Crime You Believe Thanks To Hollywood.

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