Science

Does a warmer average temperature in May 1895 compared to May 2024 disprove global warming, as a post with a chart on social media implied? No, that's not true: Climate experts contacted by Lead Stories said the data was cherry-picked and misleading and that the data chart was altered so as to mislead readers about the long-term trend. Short-term fluctuations…

Did Universal Studios first introduce the concept of the world as a globe in 1927 before NASA had photographed it from space in the 1960s? No, that's not true on several counts: It did not take NASA's space program to discover that the Earth was round. Greek philosophers had already described the Earth as a sphere as early as the…

Does a "leaked photo" authentically show a "city on the other side of the ice at Antarctica," as a post on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: The image was created using artificial intelligence, based on the results of three image analysis tools used by Lead Stories. Many conspiracy theorists use the ice wall argument to make unfounded arguments, such…

Did controversial naturopath Barbara O'Neill give a $10,000 guarantee for her arthritis pain management strategies and were they endorsed by director Bruce Beresford, tennis star Margaret Court, and author David Malouf? No, that's not true: A false promotion of an herbal remedy that supposedly cured their joint pain used AI-generated voice-overs to put words in people's mouths. The fake voice-overs…

Does the ocean being colder along the seafloor prove that Earth's core is frozen, as a video on TikTok suggested? No, that's not true: Scientific literature shows that the Earth's interior is indeed hot, with some estimates suggesting it is comparable to the surface of the Sun. While the Earth's interior is hot, a deep-sea scientist told Lead Stories that…

Did the British Medical Journal attribute excess deaths since the COVID-19 pandemic to vaccines in a study that appeared in one of its publications? No, that's not true: In a statement on its website, the publication said, "This study does not establish any such link." The British Medical Journal also described the claim as "misreporting," adding that the researchers did…

Do photographs of Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, taken over the past 144 years, prove that sea levels aren't rising? No, that's not true: According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the sea level monitored at a station near Sugarloaf Mountain has increased by more than nine inches in 100 years, when compared to the…

Did actor Morgan Freeman publicly thank Dr. Ben Carson for curing his dementia? No, that's not true: There's no reliable evidence or confirmed news reports indicating that the Academy Award winner has dementia or that Carson -- retired neurosurgeon and former Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary -- treated him for it. Additionally, there is no cure for dementia;…

Did a video on Facebook genuinely show TV personality Tucker Carlson endorsing an anti-parasite pill promoted by alternative naturopath Barbara O'Neill? No, that's not true: The video is dubbed with fake audio; an AI detection tool found it was 70.6 percent likely it was created using AI. Lead Stories traced the original clip of Carlson: He was discussing the Foreign…

Do 31 patent citations prove actor Terrence Howard invented virtual reality? No, that's not true: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says that Howard's idea was never patented in the United States, while the European Patent Office and the World Intellectual Property Organization websites show the patent process was never completed internationally. Additionally, there is no direct correlation between the…

Does the Coriolis effect fail to affect aircraft trajectory, which proves that the Earth is flat, as is implied in a video shared on social media? No, that's not true: A professor emeritus of physics and astronomy told Lead Stories that "the Coriolis effect is, of course, well known and thoroughly analyzed." Though airplanes experience Coriolis force, it is "pretty…

Do dust particles rising from the ground to a statically charged balloon prove that gravity isn't real, as was implied in an interview shared on YouTube? No, that's not true: The concept described in the video is that of static electricity or static cling. This phenomenon occurs when differently charged objects attract others based on their number of neutrons, electrons…

Does photographic evidence and reports from several independent sources, including NASA, show that an ancient satellite has been orbiting Earth since at least the 1950s? No, that's not true: The supposed photographic evidence from NASA, sometimes used to support this myth, does not show an ancient satellite but a thermal blanket accidentally dropped during a space walk on the 1998…

Does a diagram from a patent application for a purported "sun simulator" prove that NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is also a sun simulator because of their similarities? No, that's not true: The diagram included in a 2003 patent application is for an "autonomously assembled space telescope" and does not depict a "sun simulator." The James Webb Space Telescope, which…

Does a photo show a lithium mine for electric cars, as a meme on Facebook implied? No, that's not true: The photograph depicts an Australian gold mine located near Marvel Loch in Western Australia. The mine is overseen by Minjar Mine, described on its website as an Australian gold producer, developer and explorer that manages the Southern Cross Operation on…

Did Barbara O'Neill guarantee that a hypertension medication will clear your vessels and cure the disease in three weeks or she will transfer $10,000 into your bank account -- and have Samuel Jackson, Jane Seymour and Tom Hanks all endorsed this treatment after it cured their hypertension? No, neither statement is true: This false promotion uses AI-generated voice-overs to put…

Can the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association, or EISCAT Scientific Association, use its technologies for mind control, as a video on social media claims? No, that's not true: EISCAT Scientific Association Director Axel Steuwer told Lead Stories that there is "absolutely no mind control possible" with the program's systems, which primarily measure physical elements of the upper atmosphere using the…

Do photos of sunflowers facing away from the sun prove the sun has been replaced? No, that's not true: Mature sunflowers do not follow the sun throughout the day, a sunflower farmer told Lead Stories, and also a scientific study shows. Only young sunflowers track the sun across the sky over the course of the day, so photos that show…

Is measles vaccination proven to have caused "63 times more" deaths than measles in the United States between 2003 and 2018? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found zero credible sources confirming that. The claim that has been circulating on social media and beyond since at least 2015 manipulates the vaccine adverse effect reports, conflating coinciding events with causation that…

Is the site known as Giant's Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland actually a giant petrified armadillo, visible from the air? No, that's not true: The unusual geometric rock formations seen at Giant's Causeway are basalt columns, which, according to experts, take their shape from the way molten volcanic basalt lava shrinks as it cools. Some stone surfaces resemble…