Science

Do photos document archaeologists found tombs in Crimea containing the remains of giants? No, that's not true: This clickbait story is made up and it uses fake images of giant skeletons to drive traffic to a website with potentially malicious ads. The fake images used in the post on Facebook do not even appear in the recycled article on the…

Are officials in London legally prohibited from removing bat boxes that protesters place on the city's traffic surveillance cameras? No, that's not true: It's illegal to install anything over these traffic cameras, which monitor vehicles entering and exiting the Ultra Low Emission Zone in and around the British capital. A spokesperson for Transport for London, which runs the city's transportation…

Is a Safe Zones Map that shows parts of the United States that may be submerged by "the sea" or wracked by earthquakes an official map? No, that's not true: There's no evidence to back up this claim. Additionally, the map and its accompanying text look and sound suspiciously similar to maps produced by Lori Toye, an author and self-proclaimed…

Is an image showing a dramatically swirling and sparkling corona over a wooded hillside a real photo of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse? No, that's not true: The AI detection tool from Hive Moderation rated this image as having a 99.8 percent likelihood of being AI-generated. Practical photography considerations also expose this as an impossible photo. Both a…

Does a viral image on social media show the 2024 solar eclipse? No, that's not true: The photo appeared online almost seven years before the April 9, 2024, solar event. It was taken by an astrophotographer who captured the previous eclipse that was seen in North America. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Facebook where it was…

Does an image posted on social media show the April 8, 2024, solar eclipse setting behind a coastal mountain town in Portugal? No, that's not true: This image is fake, and it's old. The April 8, 2024, eclipse did not pass over Portugal. This composite image was circulating in July 2021 and was made with elements merged using a digital…

Did Tennessee prohibit the inclusion of vaccines in the food supply? No, that's not true: The proposed law, Tennessee House Bill 1894, was awaiting Gov. Bill Lee's signature as of April 8, 2024, and would consider any food containing vaccine or vaccine-related ingredients as a drug. It wouldn't ban the sale of such foods, which are not currently on the…

Is NASA keeping vintage cars in a parking lot to prepare for an electromagnetic pulse "blast"? No, that's not true: The vehicles shown in a questioning video on social media were part of a movie titled "Fly Me To The Moon" which was filmed at a NASA facility. There were several images taken of the location during production of the…

Does a solar eclipse not involve the moon blocking out the sun? No, that's not true: Experts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) -- an agency that has landed spacecraft on the moon -- describe a solar eclipse as that rare moment when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, blocking the face of the sun. The…

Does a video of two jet aircraft passing in opposite directions show that one is producing a contrail and the other is producing something else -- perhaps a mythical "chemtrail"? No, that's not true: Both planes are producing contrails. The length of the jet's contrail, which consists of mostly water vapor, depends on atmospheric conditions and does not indicate something…

Should everyone routinely take dewormer medication, as a post on X suggested? No, that's not true: In certain parts of the world, the World Health Organization recommends periodically giving deworming medication to preschoolers, school-age children, women of reproductive age and those working in high-risk professions. These recommendations are specific to certain regions, primarily sub-Saharan Africa, China, South America and Asia.…

Does a video shared on Instagram show what happens when a person is "injected" with a vaccination, thus offering evidence for detoxification supplements? No, that's not true: The video originally was posted to YouTube in 2014 by a creator who describes his videos as being for "science fiction work, personal work and play." According to the description on the 2014…

Will the sun and moon not be in alignment on April 8, 2024, because the heavenly bodies are "in the wrong place" astrologically? No, that's not true: A video on TikTok making this claim is misleading on three points -- the alignment of the sun and moon during a total eclipse, the function of an app called SkyView and the…

Is lab-grown meat being sold in Aldi stores as of April 2024? No, that's not true: Aldi told Lead Stories that the grocery store chain does not sell cultivated meat products. Cultivated meat products are deemed safe for consumption by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The government agency also told Lead Stories that only two…

Is NASA launching three rockets during the solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, for nefarious or "strange" purposes, as a post on TikTok implied? No, that's not true: While NASA is indeed launching the rockets before, during and after the solar eclipse, the purpose is to study disturbances in the ionosphere -- an electrified region of the atmosphere. The disturbances…

Did President Joe Biden declare Easter Sunday to be "Transgender Day of Visibility"? No, that's not true: The Biden White House did issue a proclamation celebrating the "extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans," on March 31, as it had in each of the three prior years. In 2024, the day coincided with Easter. While Transgender Day of Visibility, started…

Did Australian science communicator Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki promote a blood vessel cleaning remedy on Facebook? No, that's not true: Kruszelnicki has made clear statements that he is not affiliated with this product or any other. In a post to his account on X, Kruszelnicki wrote, "I never endorse any commercial product." He also thanked people "for reporting these fraudulent 'wellness'…

Do baby carrots lack nutritional value and harm the kidneys, as a post on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: Baby carrots are just regular carrots that have been "cut and peeled," a dietician told Lead Stories. While it is true that baby carrots are lightly rinsed with chlorine, the amount is "typically less than what you have in your…

Do long-distance photos, showing things up to hundreds of miles away, provide evidence that the Earth is not curved? No, that's not true: Photos of faraway objects might appear flat because of Earth's large size, not because Earth itself is flat. While the Earth's surface does curve in these photos, it may not be noticeable due to the vast scale…

Is a post about the danger of copperhead snakes that can be detected by their cucumber-like scent a legitimate warning to a community? No, that's not true: This post is part of a well-known scam that functions to trick concerned people to share it. After some time passes, the snake post will be edited to become a real estate scam.…