Technology

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…

Is the conspiracy theory that hurricanes are planned or controlled supported by Amazon's Alexa supposedly revealing the death toll and damage amount from Hurricane Milton days before the storm even made landfall? No, that's not true: An Amazon spokesperson told Lead Stories "These answers are clearly incorrect and we are working to resolve this issue". Shortly afterwards Alexa started responding,…

Did Elon Musk post a promo code to his crypto project on X, and was that post then used to make a Times Square billboard promotion in New York City? No, that's not true: This is a fabricated image promoting a crypto currency scam. There is no evidence that Musk made this post or that the crypto promotion ever appeared…

Did government agencies conspire to direct Hurricane Helene to cause damage in the town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina -- to depress the value of properties needed to open a $90 million lithium mine? No, that's not true: This conspiracy is flawed at its foundation -- an expert with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told Lead Stories that "no…

Do archived radar images show that 5G or NEXRAD towers emit pulses of weaponized microwave energy targeting the U.S. population while they sleep? No, that's not true: An expert in radar ornithology says the radar has picked up "bird echoes" with the blooms appearing around each radar station about an hour after sunset when birds take off in large numbers…

Is Starbucks going cashless in the U.K. on October 1, 2024? No, that's not true: A spokesperson told Lead Stories that Starbucks does not have a cashless policy in that country. This appears to be a reincarnation of a recycled 2022 rumor that baselessly speculated about the same cash ban going into effect in October of that year. The claim…

Did Bill Gates invent an implantable, wireless "birth control microchip"? No, that's not true: Although the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded grants to companies working on an implantable contraception device, there is no evidence that Gates personally developed the device. A version of the device was in the preclinical trial stage at the time of the writing of…

Does footage of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's first flight actually show the desert landscape of Algeria and not Mars in the background? No, that's not true: Footage of the takeoff and landing of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, posted on YouTube by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, does not show the same scenery as pictured in an Instagram post. The real footage…

Is a 2024 article on mRNA COVID-19 vaccines by Dr. Young Mi Lee, an obstetrician and gynecologist in South Korea, and Daniel Broudy, an applied linguistics professor at Okinawa Christian University in Japan a valid, well-done scientific study? No, that's not true: The article -- titled "Real-Time Self-Assembly of Stereomicroscopically Visible Artificial Constructions in Incubated Specimens of mRNA Products Mainly…

Does posting a statement ensure that users of Meta services will not have their data used in Meta's artificial intelligence training? No, that's not true: Posting the viral statement, or any other statement, doesn't mean that Meta will not use that data for AI training, but users in Europe can object via a form in their account settings. The statement…

Does a viral picture of U.K. police officers appearing to kneel to a group of men in traditional Islamic clothes portray a real-life scene? No, that's not true: Three AI detectors said the image was generated using AI. The image showed classic indicators of that such as missing body parts and unnaturally positioned limbs. The image reappeared in a post…

Did humans artificially create Antarctica's ice cap in order to boost energy emissions from frozen metals? No, that's not true: Scientists say Antarctica began freezing about 34 million years ago due to a drop in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. That's about 28 million years before the earliest humans walked the Earth and about 34 million years before artificial refrigeration…

Did an authentic video on Facebook show F-16 fighter jets striking Russian President Vladimir Putin's cruise ship while it was carrying Korean shells? No, that's not true: The clip was published by an account self-described as that of a gaming video creator. The account has posted hundreds of similar videos on Facebook that also include signs of having been created…

Did the United Kingdom and France issue a "Secret International Arrest Warrant" for Elon Musk? No, that's not true: No news organizations reported anything about the supposedly existing "secret" arrest warrant for Musk approved within jurisdictions of the U.K. or France. The International Criminal Court that issues international arrest warrants denied there is one for the owner of the X…

Did the messaging service Telegram announce that Apple might be deleting the Telegram app from devices in August 2024? No, that's not true: No such announcement has ever been made by Telegram. A false social media hoax from 2021 resurfaced after Telegram's CEO, Pavel Durov, was arrested in France on August 24, 2024. It was debunked in 2021, and it's…

Did Elon Musk and Donald Trump team up to conduct a cryptocurrency scam that would violate election laws, as claimed in a post on X? No, that's not true: Footage from the 2024 Tesla shareholder's meeting, streamed live, was altered with a fake AI-generated voice and facial synchronizing animation. Musk's original presentation had no mention of "crypto", the altered video…