Science

Did a pilot capture a photo of a complete full-circle rainbow while flying 30,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean? No, that's not true: This image is not a real photograph -- it's a fabricated image. Several key features present in real rainbows are missing from this image. Lloyd J. Ferraro, the pilot who has been incorrectly credited for taking the…

Are vaccines proven ineffective by a U.K. report published in February 2023, which found that 92 percent of "deaths involving COVID-19" occurred in fully vaccinated individuals? No, that's not true: Implying causality from a limited set of data leaves out consequential variables such as the ages of the dead, other underlying diseases, and whether booster recommendations had been followed. While…

Does eating chicken cause a urinary tract infection (UTI)? No, that's not true: A food science professor told Lead Stories that while there may be research showing a genetic similarity between E. coli found in poultry and the bacteria that causes UTIs, "correlation does not equal causation." The claim appeared on Facebook (archived here) on February 11, 2023. It opened:…

Does a study published by Chinese researchers prove that drinking Coke or Pepsi causes larger testicles and increases testosterone? No, that's not true: The study was only done on mice, not humans, so it doesn't directly apply. An associate professor of urologic surgery said a social media post characterizing the study in such a way "totally misses." The claim appeared…

Do gene editing mRNA vaccine patent holders own vaccinated people outright once injected, and does mRNA alter natural human DNA? No, that's not true: A Stanford University professor of law specializing in bioethics told Lead Stories that these claims are "too absurd even to be wrong." Also, many credible medical organizations have debunked the claim that mRNA vaccines alter the…

Did British naturalist Charles Darwin, best known for his contributions to the evolutionary theory in biology, who died in 1882, predict "the rise of The Woke," a modern-day slang term frequently used by the opponents of those raising awareness of social and racial issues? No, that's not true. Lead Stories performed numerous searches on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yandex and Google…

Does the laxative MiraLAX contain ethylene glycol, a chemical commonly used in antifreeze that can be poisonous if ingested? No, that's not true: MiraLAX contains polyethylene glycol, a compound commonly used in medications. Although the two ingredients' names sound similar, they are two entirely different substances. The claim originated in a post shared on Instagram on February 25, 2023 that…

Is Bill Gates engineering a seed that "will target Black people" and possibly kill them? No, that's not true: A video making that claim offers no evidence that Gates is producing a seed for plants that can attack the immune system of Black people and thereby kill them. According to a spokesperson for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the…

Does a line graph in a peer-reviewed medical study published by The Lancet show that the oral anti-COVID-19 medication Paxlovid starts working before the patient ingests it? No, that's not true: The lead author of the study told Lead Stories that blue and orange lines on the graph start at zero, which is the origin of the graph's X-axis (horizontal…

Was a 19-year-old girl in Texas sentenced to "96 years in prison" after traveling across state lines to gain access to an abortion procedure? No, that's not true: The social media account that shared this post is a satirical one. Furthermore, Texas law enforcement officials did not publicly announce such an arrest and conviction, and no reputable media outlet covered…

Can the Alaska-based HAARP project, a former military research facility for studying the ionosphere, remotely initiate natural disasters such as earthquakes anywhere on Earth? No, that's not true: An "explanation" of its purported capabilities to manufacture disasters, posted on social media, contradicts well-established scientific facts. The manager of the HAARP project told Lead Stories that the facility "cannot create or…

Did the word "horizon" come from the word "horizontal," and is this evidence that the Earth must be flat? No, that's not true: The word "horizon" came first, and the adjective "horizontal" followed. The adjective describes something "relating to or near the horizon." The word "horizon" originated from the ancient Greek term "ὁρίζων κύκλος" (horízōn kýklos), which means "separating (or…

Did a dog in Pennsylvania test positive for exposure to vinyl chloride, a chemical that officials have confirmed has leaked from the train derailment site near East Palestine, Ohio? No, that's not true: In an interview with Lead Stories, the veterinarian who treated the dog confirmed that, as of February 23, 2023, no test is available to determine whether a…

Does a report assessing the safety of a plant-based meat product made by a company in which Bill Gates has invested prove that meat grown in a laboratory causes cancer in humans? No, that's not true: Since the report doesn't even consider lab-grown meat, it can't prove it's carcinogenic when eaten by people because the two products are not the…

Can 49 percent of COVID-19 vaccine ingredients produced under emergency use authorization (EUA) be changed without telling the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? No, that's not true: Even very small changes to a vaccine must be reported to the regulatory agency. A member of the FDA's vaccine advisory panel said such a notion about vaccines could only come from "someone…

Do cholesterol-lowering drugs, also known as statins, cause Alzheimer's disease (AD)? No, that's not true: A neurologist told Lead Stories there is no truth to this claim and such statements "are not based on any scientific data or valid understanding of the disease." Furthermore, modern scientific literature largely suggests that statins may actually play a role in the prevention of…

Did an aerial video capture a deep and wide chasm in the Earth's crust in southern Turkey's Hatay province, part of the area hit by earthquakes in early February 2023? No, that's not true: This video footage does not show earthquake fault lines in Turkey. It shows China's Loess Plateau, which is a drainage basin for the Yellow River. The…

Do a paper published in a medical journal and a video based on it prove the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine causes brain and heart damage? No, that's not true: The paper looks at the case of a single elderly man with Parkinson's disease who died weeks after his final vaccination. It doesn't establish a causal link between the vaccine and the…

Is flesh-eating rain coming down in Nebraska as a result of the toxic chemical spill from the February 3, 2023, train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio? No, that's not true: The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told Lead Stories they have received no reports about flesh-eating rain in connection with the spill. A Nebraska climatologist told Lead Stories that, given…

Does oil pulling -- gargling with oil -- serve as a remedy for root canal infections and cavities? No, that's not true: Numerous credible oral health organizations and medical professionals have stated that while there may be benefits to the ancient technique, the science behind what this method offers to remedy oral health issues has yet to be explored in…