169 Science claim verifications avg. score 5.1/10 67 rated true or mostly true 97 rated false or misleading
“The full moon causes an increase in unusual human behavior and events.”
The claim that full moons cause increased unusual human behavior is not supported by scientific evidence. Multiple large-scale studies, meta-analyses, and medical reviews consistently find no meaningful increase in ER visits, psychiatric admissions, crime, or other "unusual events" during full moons. While some isolated studies report small correlations with specific subgroups (e.g., sleep disruption or certain psychiatric conditions), these findings are inconsistent, not replicated at scale, and do not establish causation. This is a persistent cultural myth contradicted by the weight of research.
“Approximately half of the cells in the human body are non-human cells, primarily composed of microorganisms such as bacteria.”
The claim is largely accurate. The best peer-reviewed research (Sender et al., 2016) estimates ~38 trillion bacterial cells versus ~30 trillion human cells, making bacteria roughly 56% of all cells — reasonably described as "approximately half." However, this is a point estimate for a 70 kg adult male with significant uncertainty (~25%) and population variation. The claim also omits that by mass, bacteria account for only ~0.2 kg, so "approximately half" applies to cell count, not biological dominance.
“The Tyrannosaurus Rex lived closer in time to modern humans than to the Stegosaurus.”
This claim is true and well-established in paleontology. Stegosaurus lived ~150 million years ago, while T. rex lived ~68–66 million years ago — a gap of ~80–84 million years. T. rex went extinct ~66 million years ago, and modern humans appeared ~300,000 years ago — a gap of ~66 million years. Since 66 million years is less than 80–84 million years, T. rex indeed lived closer in time to us than to Stegosaurus. Multiple authoritative sources, including USGS and the Natural History Museum, confirm this.
“Bananas are radioactive due to their natural potassium-40 content.”
This claim is true. Bananas contain potassium-40 (K-40), a naturally occurring radioactive isotope that makes up about 0.012% of all potassium. This is confirmed by the US EPA, the Department of Energy, and peer-reviewed scientific literature. However, the radioactivity is extremely small — about 0.1 microsieverts per banana — and eating bananas does not increase your net radiation dose because the body maintains potassium balance and excretes excess potassium. Bananas pose no radiation health risk.
“Plastic waste eventually biodegrades in landfills.”
This claim is false. The overwhelming scientific evidence shows that conventional plastics (polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, etc.) do not biodegrade in landfills. Landfill conditions — anaerobic, UV-limited, and compacted — are hostile to biodegradation. Most plastics persist for centuries, merely fragmenting into microplastics rather than truly breaking down into CO₂, water, and biomass. Even plastics marketed as "biodegradable" often fail to biodegrade under real landfill conditions. The claim gives a dangerously misleading impression that landfills naturally resolve plastic pollution.
“Humans use the left hemisphere of the brain primarily for logical thinking and the right hemisphere primarily for creative thinking.”
This claim is a well-known neuromyth. While some hemispheric specialization exists — the left hemisphere contributes more to language processing, for example — modern neuroscience consistently shows that both logic and creativity involve extensive collaboration between both hemispheres. Large-scale fMRI studies find no evidence of global hemispheric dominance for these functions. Creativity in particular relies on bilateral brain networks, and some studies even show increased left-hemisphere activity during creative tasks. The word "primarily" makes this claim false.
“There are more stars in the Milky Way galaxy than there are trees on Earth.”
This claim is false — it gets the comparison backwards. NASA and ESA estimate the Milky Way contains roughly 100–400 billion stars, while a landmark 2015 Yale/Nature study estimates approximately 3 trillion trees on Earth. Even using the highest credible star estimates, trees outnumber Milky Way stars by a factor of roughly 7 to 30. The popular belief that stars vastly outnumber trees is a common misconception.
“Abyssinian cats learn tricks faster than all other cat breeds.”
This claim is false. While Abyssinians are widely regarded as one of the smartest and most trainable cat breeds, no scientific study has ever demonstrated they learn tricks faster than all other breeds. Multiple sources highlight Bengals, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, and Siamese as comparably quick learners. Veterinary experts also emphasize that trainability varies more by individual cat than by breed, making the absolute superlative "faster than all other breeds" unsupported.
“Nuclear fission will continue to be used as an energy source over the next 20 years.”
This claim is clearly true. With approximately 440 nuclear fission reactors currently operating worldwide, over 70 under construction, and every major energy forecasting body (IAEA, IEA, World Nuclear Association) projecting continued and growing nuclear capacity through at least 2050, nuclear fission will unambiguously remain in use as an energy source over the next 20 years. Even the most pessimistic credible analyses acknowledge record nuclear output and hundreds of reactors operating well into the 2040s.
“Birds flying at low altitudes is a reliable indicator of an approaching storm.”
There is genuine science behind the idea: birds have baroreceptors that detect falling air pressure before storms, and some species do fly lower in response. However, calling this a "reliable indicator" overstates the evidence. Birds also fly low for feeding, migration, and other non-weather reasons, creating a high false-positive rate. Even the National Environmental Education Foundation notes that low-flying birds "do not always foretell bad weather." No field study has established a validated predictive accuracy rate across species or conditions.
“Short distance driving without allowing the engine to warm up increases engine wear.”
The claim is largely accurate. It is well-established in automotive engineering that cold starts cause elevated engine wear due to insufficient oil circulation, loose metal tolerances, and fuel dilution — and short trips multiply cold-start frequency per mile driven. However, the claim oversimplifies: the severity varies significantly by oil type, ambient temperature, engine age, and vehicle design. Modern synthetic oils and engine management systems have substantially reduced (though not eliminated) this effect. Idling to "warm up" is itself counterproductive; gentle driving is the recommended approach.
“The mathematical equation 1+1 equals 2.”
The claim is mathematically true. Multiple credible sources confirm that 1+1=2 within standard mathematical systems (Peano arithmetic, set theory), including rigorous proofs from Russell and Whitehead's foundational work. The equation holds in ordinary mathematics as universally understood.
“Environmental factors have a greater influence on human development than genetic factors.”
This claim significantly oversimplifies the science. While environmental factors are important, peer-reviewed research shows the balance between genes and environment is highly trait-specific: genetics accounts for 50–80% of variance in cognition/intelligence, and the broadest meta-analysis (14.5 million twin pairs) found only a roughly 51/49 split that includes measurement error. Modern behavioral genetics emphasizes gene-environment interplay, not the dominance of either factor. The blanket claim of environmental superiority is not supported by the weight of evidence.
“The Earth has a flat shape rather than a spherical shape.”
The claim is false. Multiple independent, repeatable observations (satellite/space imagery, Earth’s consistently round shadow during lunar eclipses, horizon and latitude/star-visibility effects, and circumnavigation) confirm Earth is an oblate spheroid. The cited sources unanimously refute flat-Earth arguments; no credible evidence in the record supports a flat Earth.
“The ABC conjecture has been proven as of March 18, 2026.”
The ABC conjecture has not been proven in any broadly accepted sense as of March 18, 2026. While Mochizuki's proof was published by RIMS in Kyoto, leading mathematicians including Peter Scholze and Jakob Stix identified a serious, unfixable gap that remains unresolved. The RIMS publication carries a conflict of interest, and Joshi's subsequent defense is explicitly conditional on acceptance of enhancements the community has not endorsed. As of early 2026, the conjecture remains "a theorem in Kyoto, a conjecture everywhere else."
“Electric vehicles have a higher total carbon footprint than gasoline-powered cars.”
This claim is false. While electric vehicles do have higher manufacturing emissions — particularly from battery production — every major lifecycle assessment from authoritative sources (US EPA, EU Climate Action, peer-reviewed studies) finds that these are typically offset by lower emissions during the vehicle's use phase. Over a full cradle-to-grave lifecycle, EVs produce significantly less CO₂ than comparable gasoline cars on most electricity grids. The claim cherry-picks production-phase data and misapplies unrelated macro-level studies to reach an unsupported conclusion.
“Some species of baleen whales, including the blue whale, are the largest known animals in the world.”
This claim is true. The blue whale, a baleen whale, is widely recognized by authoritative sources—including Britannica, NOAA Fisheries, and Guinness World Records—as the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, measured by mass and overall body size. The phrasing "some species of baleen whales, including the blue whale" is logically satisfied by the blue whale alone. The only minor caveat is that by linear length, the bootlace worm exceeds the blue whale, but "largest" conventionally refers to overall size, not length.
“The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal in the world.”
The peregrine falcon is widely recognized as the fastest animal on Earth, with Guinness World Records certifying diving speeds up to 389 km/h (242 mph). This is confirmed by Britannica, Audubon, and other authoritative sources, and no other animal has been documented moving faster in any mode of locomotion. The one caveat: this record speed occurs only during a specialized hunting dive (stoop), not in level flight, where the peregrine is far slower. The claim reflects established consensus but omits this important context.
“The cheetah is the fastest land animal on Earth.”
The cheetah is universally recognized as the fastest land animal by maximum sprint speed, with documented top speeds of 103–114 km/h. This is confirmed by Britannica, Guinness World Records, Imperial College London research, and peer-reviewed studies. The pronghorn excels at sustained endurance speed over longer distances, but "fastest land animal" conventionally refers to top sprint speed — and on that metric, the cheetah's title is uncontested.
“Current atmospheric CO2 levels are not unprecedented when compared to levels found throughout Earth's full geological record.”
The claim is technically accurate: multiple peer-reviewed studies confirm CO2 exceeded 1,000–2,000 ppm during earlier geological periods (e.g., Mesozoic, Eocene), well above today's ~422 ppm. However, the claim omits critical context. Current CO2 is the highest in at least 14 million years, the rate of increase is roughly 100 times faster than any known natural rise, and deep-time CO2 estimates carry large uncertainties (±500 ppm). The literal statement is defensible, but its framing can create a misleading impression that today's levels are unremarkable.