The graph made by Tyler Vigen is weird. It shows that in each year between 1999 and 2009, the number of Americans killed by venomousPoisonous. spiders was matched by the number of letters in the winning word at a spelling beeA competition in which contestants have to spell a wide selection of words. "Bee" is a word for a community coming together to work..

The findings on Vigen's website do not stop there. In the same 10 years, deaths by falling into pools increased and declined just as the number of film appearances by Nicolas CageAn American actor who won an Oscar for his role in Leaving Las Vegas. did. The number of divorces in MaineA state on the north-east coast of the US which is famous for its seafood and beautiful scenery. fell at the same rate as the amount of margarine eaten by the average American.  

In real life, there is no connection between these pairs. But they show that statistics can prove almost anything; and people accept all kinds of claims. These ones are all false: 

1. Capacity mendacity It is often claimed that humans only use 10% of their brains. But neurologistsDoctors who specialise in diseases which affect the nervous system. say we use almost every part of them.

2. Spiders inside The average person does not swallow eight spiders a year while sleeping. Spiders usually avoid humans.

3. Tails tales The chances of a tossed coin landing on heads or tails is usually said to be 50-50. But researchers say there is a higher chance of it landing on the side that was facing up when it was tossed.

4. Truth sleuths People do not tell one lie a day on average. A study in the US found the actual figure to be 1.65 - if the people asked were telling the truth.

5. Confused queues The average person is said to spend five years of their life standing in queues. The real figure is between one and two years.

6. Peel reveal The overlap of DNADeoxyribonucleic acid is the material in an organism that carries genetic information. between humans and bananas is commonly put at 95%. In fact, the figure is 60%; it is with some primatesThe order of mammals that includes humans, alongside apes like chimpanzees and gorillas. that we share 95% or more of our DNA.

7. Casualty causality One "statistic" is that 80% of Soviet men born in 1923 were killed in World War Two. But most died from illness before the war started.

Yes: Statistics can be manipulated to prove whatever you want. Politicians in particular are given to quoting the numbers that support their point of view and ignoring the ones that do not.

No: They are incredibly useful when it comes to making decisions, for everything from the treatment of diseases to allocating food to the poor. Without them we would have to rely on guesswork.

Or... The important thing is never to take any of them at face value. Every country should have a team of unbiased analysts to go through them and establish whether they are accurate or not.  

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