Science

Does an image of the sun posted on X show two black holes pointed directly at Earth? No, that's not true: The dark areas in the image are coronal holes made visible with a Solar Ultraviolet Imager on the GOES-16 satellite, and they are not "black holes." Coronal holes do have the potential to produce geomagnetic storms, rated from one…

Does exposure to LED lights "disrupt the flow of hydrogen" in the human body, causing harm, as was suggested in a post on Instagram? No, that's not true: The post cited a 2023 study that examined techniques used for water splitting, a green energy industry technology that converts water into hydrogen and oxygen. The findings of this study are unique…

Can lipid-based supplements reverse the effects of COVID-19 vaccines by "communicating with the gene code"? No, that's not true: Two medical specialists told Lead Stories the claim is not grounded in facts. The Instagram account that made the claim promoted drops made by an unknown manufacturer. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram on January 24, 2024.…

Did the World Economic Forum declare that coffee drinkers will have to limit themselves to two or three cups of coffee per year in the future? No, that's not true: No recommendation to limit coffee consumption was made at the Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. At a session titled "Putting a Price On Nature," guest panelist Hubert Keller mentioned…

Instead of being largely eradicated worldwide, has polio just been renamed acute flaccid myelitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome to hide its existence? No, that's not true: Polio is a viral infection caused by the poliovirus. Acute flaccid myelitis and Guillain-Barré syndrome are rare and distinct neurological conditions with different causes. The claim appeared in a post and video (archived here) on…

Did German scientists uncover evidence that Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine batches in the European Union included placebos? No, that's not true: Germany's federal institute for vaccines and biomedicines and Pfizer said all batches are tested and certified. They do not include placebos. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram by holistichealthandmore on January 20, 2024, under the title…

Is "divoc," which is "covid" spelled backwards, a Hebrew word that means "possession by an evil spirit"? No, that's not true: "Divoc" is not Hebrew, two experts told Lead Stories. There is a word in Hebrew that connotes an evil spirit that can possess people but that word is "dybbuk" -- which is not "covid" spelled backwards. The claim appeared…

Does the vaccine against measles, mumps and rubella cause measles? No, that's not true: The claim on social media ignored basic principles of how these vaccines work. It failed to distinguish between potentially deadly strains of the virus and its weakened version, used in the shots to help healthy populations build immunity against this disease. The claim appeared in a…

Did Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary, endorse a cure for dementia that can make this condition go away in "7 days"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no credible reports about this, and Carson's spokesperson described the claim as "completely fake." There is currently no cure for dementia -- existing…

Did the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps sentence Arati Prabhakar to death at a Guantanamo Bay military tribunal on January 16, 2024, for committing treason? No, that's not true: Prabhakar, the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, has made a public appearance following the purported date of conviction, and she did not appear to…

Does a video of Mars filmed with a Nikon p1000 camera prove that Hubble Space Telescope images of Mars are fake, and that Mars is not really a planet but a shining star that looks like "light shimmering in water"? No, that's not true: Images of Mars can vary considerably depending on the equipment, settings and atmospheric conditions. The resulting…

Does a recording of Amazon's virtual assistant reciting a conspiratorial answer to "Alexa, What are they spraying in our skies?" prove the "chemtrails" theory of a global conspiracy to depopulate the planet with chemicals sprayed from above? No, that's not true: While Amazon confirmed on January 18, 2024 that the recording of Alexa was authentic, a spokesperson said Alexa has…

Is meningitis proven to occur frequently after the administration of seven U.S. vaccines? No, that's not true: According to the Institute of Vaccine Safety at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, most vaccines from the list on an Instagram post are not known to be linked to meningitis. Varicella and measles vaccines "very rarely" cause this condition. An image shared…

Were the tunnels discovered under a Brooklyn synagogue in early January 2024 connected to the former mansion of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein? No, that's not true: the New York City Department of Buildings stated that there's only a single 60 feet long tunnel under the facility, not nearly long enough to connect to the former Epstein property almost nine…

Can "unnatural chemtrails" be differentiated from an airplane's "normal condensation trails" because "contrails never last more than a minute" as asserted by a former pilot in a video? No, that's not true: The amount of time a plane's contrail is visible is dependent on the atmospheric conditions present where the plane is flying, the temperature and the humidity at that…

Did American physician and author Dr. Steven Gundry discover three "completely natural ingredients, and as a result, blood pressure disappeared forever"? No, that's not true: Gundry's publicist said that this post is a "total scam" and was not produced by his team. At the time of writing people who clicked the post's "Learn More" tab were taken to a page…

Does a video on social media show a portal -- an entrance way to a supernatural dimension, realm or world -- being opened up over Geneva? No, that's not true: There is no evidence an event like this happened in September 2023. Additionally, the original version of this clip is from a "video creator," not someone purporting to show a…

Was a video filmed on New Year's Day 2024 at the Bayside Marketplace in Miami showing panicked bystanders running and falling as a mysterious glowing "portal" opened near them? No, that's not true: This video was first posted on TikTok by a Russian-language paranormal-themed channel on May 17, 2023, months before the police response to a New Year's Day 2024…

Did COVID-19 vaccines kill 17 million people around the world during the pandemic? No, that's not true: Infectious disease experts told Lead Stories that the surge in deaths correlates with surges in coronavirus infections, not vaccination campaigns. The overwhelming majority of adverse events reported after vaccination are mild and temporary, and the benefits of vaccination in preventing severe illness and…

Did an upstate New York firefighter named David, along with his brother, a former NASA engineer, invent a safer, better and more energy efficient electric heater after David's daughter got carbon monoxide poisoning from a fire in her bedroom? No, that's not true: This detailed inventor's narrative, presented with the many high pressure sales tactics like special pricing and purported…