A lack of transparent information also breeds misinformation because people tend to go with the flow

The boiler you use is made of manganese steel that can make you stupid.

The sweet balls in bubble tea are made of polymers. If you have one cup every day, you will get intestinal cancer.

Switch off the WiFi router or the radioactive wave will kill you.

These are just three of the wild rumors doing the rounds. Unlike ones about social incidents, they have one thing in common: fabricating the negative effects certain modern technological breakthroughs have on human health. And they are often more widespread than rumors about social incidents.

The manganese steel boiler rumor has been so widespread that people in the southern city of Guangzhou have made a beeline to buy glass boilers to replace them.

Such rumors are persistent. For example, the rumor about WiFi has been on Guokr's top-10 annual rumor list since 2013.

Why are there so many rumors against technological breakthroughs? And why is it so difficult to extinguish them?

The first reason is lack of scientific understanding, which comes from education. Unless a person majors in natural science or engineering, compulsory education remains his or her main source of knowledge about science. But that knowledge may not be enough to understand some technologies we use in daily life, let alone those applied in modern industries.

Some of the rumors have exploited this shortcoming. The rumor mills use words that an average person is familiar with but does not fully understand. An apt example is linking WiFi with radioactivity. An average person may know the two words but may not understand how WiFi works and what radioactivity actually means. For such people, both mean transmitting something invisible from one point to another.

Even though one scientist after another has explained that WiFi signals have nothing to do with radioactive materials such as those used in nuclear power plants, people still do not believe them, because it requires too much background information to understand how WiFi signals are transmitted. That's why the rumor about WiFi harming human health refuses to die.

A lack of transparent information also breeds misinformation. Fourth on the top-10 list is about the Tianjin blasts on Aug 12, which destroyed chemical tanks. The rumor is that the blasts caused a cyanide leak that could poison people in Beijing if they get wet in the rain.

Had people got the full information on the blasts, the actual damage caused and the chemicals released into the air, such misinformation would not have spread. The timely release of information can prevent such rumors.

Some rumors are targeted at specific groups, such as senior citizens or the parents of students. Such rumors exploit human psychology. Soon after the recent scandal over the illegal sales of expired or improperly stored vaccines, a rumor spread that such vaccines could lead to severe health problems, even death.

Even after the World Health Organization issued an official statement saying the biggest risk such vaccines carry is being ineffective, many people kept spreading the rumor; some even refused to get their children vaccinated.

This is a typical example of a rumor that takes advantage of people's psychological weakness. When it comes to their children's safety, many parents choose to believe in rumors to avoid complications rather than taking real preventive measures. It is hard to root out such misinformation because people not fully informed tend to flow with the tide.

To quash rumors about technologies, it is best to expand popular science education, promote transparency and take strict action against rumormongers, or those who spread lies to make profits. In other words, only when people get enough and proper information will they stop believing in rumors associated with technologies.

The author is a writer with China Daily. Contact the writer at zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn