Technology

Does nicotine eliminate brain tumors? No, that's not true: A brain cancer expert from the University of Nebraska Medical Center said nicotine doesn't help and may actually reduce a person's chances of recovering from brain tumors or cancer. Nicotine is harmful, addictive and can raise the risk of certain cancers. The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here)…

Does a video shared to X in early December 2024 authentically show a drone flying over New Jersey? No, that's not true: The original poster described the video as having been "created digitally." It was shared online after unexplained "possible drones" were reported in New Jersey in late 2024. The claim appeared in a video posted on X on December…

Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk announce that his company had developed an aluminum-ion battery with 15-minute charging? No, that's not true: There is no evidence on the company's website or Musk's social media platforms of any such announcement as of December 6, 2024. In fact, Tesla continues to manufacture and refine its 4680 lithium-ion batteries at a plant near Corpus…

Does a video montage show how factories in India make artificial rice out of recycled plastic? No, that's not true: These videos are real, but what the factories are making has been misrepresented. Some video clips show plastic being recycled to make plastic pellets for use in other plastic products -- but not in food. Other video clips show the…

Have 83 deaths been caused or attributed to fires caused by spontaneous Tesla explosions, as implied in a meme? No, that's not true: The figures in the meme come from an online database that compiles news reports and government data but does not verify or confirm these reports. According to that database, 83 deaths involved a Tesla car fire, but…

Did Elon Musk announce a Tesla phone model called "Pi" as of November 26, 2024? No, that's not true: There was no such announcement on either the Tesla website or Tesla's official X profile when this fact check was written. The image shared in a post reporting the "breaking" announcement included digitally manipulated images. The claim appeared in a post…

Is there no way to avoid that January 19, 2025, is TikTok's last day of operation in the United States, as implied in a "BREAKING" post on Threads? No, that's not true: On the day the post appeared, there was no breaking news about enforcement of a federal law forcing the sale of TikTok to non-Chinese ownership. The bill signed…

Did Comcast announce in November 2024 that it was selling MSNBC? No, that's not true: According to the corporation's press release and other news reports, Comcast only announced moving some of its assets, including MSNBC, into a separate independent publicly traded entity. No credible media organization confirmed the rumor about the sale of MSNBC, with that rumor being elevated by…

Did Elon Musk announce in November 2024 that Tesla was launching a $10,000 home to provide more affordable housing? No, that's not true: The Tesla CEO made no such announcement on the company website nor through his account on X. Similar claims of a "Tesla House" go back years, though there has been no such announcement. This claim appeared in…

Did Elon Musk state that X accounts that called him "fat" or "The First Lady" would be "suspended without warning"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Musk ever made such a post. There are still posts calling him those phrases on the platform. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Threads on November 20, 2024.…

Did billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman post on Bluesky that he suggests acquiring that platform to shut it down to "prevent further fracturing of the town square"? No, that's not true: The viral image showed a fake post from a suspended account. Ackman's representative confirmed to Lead Stories that the billionaire didn't write the post attributed to him and…

Did Tesla CEO Elon Musk publicly announce plans to introduce a car with a water-powered engine in November 2024? No, that's not true: There is no record that Musk or Tesla formally introduced this concept, such as trustworthy media reports. An online AI detector tool found that images published in a post about the supposed announcement were almost certainly fakes…

Did tech billionaire Elon Musk unveil a "UFO fighter jet" named Ethereon in mid-November 2024? No, that's not true: Neither Musk, nor his company SpaceX, nor credible news organizations said anything about the development of such a spacecraft. The photos of Musk at the launch pad in the posts spreading the rumor were AI-manufactured. The claim appeared in a post…

Did Elon Musk's satellite-based high-speed internet system Starlink play any role in counting or uploading votes in the U.S. election that could have allowed for potential vote manipulation or cheating? No, that's not true: Election security experts told Lead Stories that there's no evidence of vote tampering involving Starlink. U.S. voting systems are managed by county and state offices on…

Was Donald Trump's name misspelled or misprinted on ballots in Hamilton County, Ohio, and could this result in votes for him not being properly counted? No, that's not true: An image on social media seems to show an irregularity in the "m" of his last name, but county election officials say they have not seen another ballot with a similar…

Is Elon Musk developing robots that can carry a fertilized fetus to term for nine months, as posts on social media claim? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that such a robot is in development as of this writing. Musk did not talk about this at his October 2024 event, "We, Robot." A version of the claim appeared…

Did a possible voting machine glitch in Tarrant County, Texas, on one ballot indicate widespread vote-switching? No, that's not true: Tarrant County elections administrator Clint Ludwig said he believes the one person making the claim about their vote changing from the machine to the printed ballot "did make a selection on the machine and that selection was printed on their…

Did scientists at the University of Miami "admit" in 2015 that they can create real hurricanes? No, that's not true: A "CBS This Morning" news story from 2015 showed the lab and interviewed the scientists conducting the tests, which involved using a 1,700-horsepower fan to move water in a 38,000-gallon tank. Scientists did develop hurricane-like conditions in a lab setting…

Does a video shared on Facebook genuinely show underwater HAARP devices surrounding Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton making landfall? No, that's not true: The video shows a coral restoration project in the Florida Keys, two marine scientists told Lead Stories. The antenna-like objects seen in the video are part of that coral reef rehabilitation project. A version of the claim…

Was voter turnout above 100 percent in 2020 in some precincts of Henrico County, Virginia? No, that's not true: Data in a social media post inaccurately added county-level absentee ballots to precinct counts using a mathematical estimate. The county director of elections told Lead Stories that the assertion about impossible turnouts is "incorrect." Counties are not concealing precinct data by…