412 Science claim verifications avg. score 5.9/10 212 rated true or mostly true 152 rated false or mostly false
“Scientific studies show that the risk of misidentification from partial DNA matching in familial DNA searching is very low.”
The claim overstates what the literature shows. Some studies do find extremely low false-positive rates for one narrow error type: unrelated people being flagged as close relatives under strict methods. But familial searching also produces meaningful misidentification risks in other important scenarios, especially confusing distant relatives with first-degree relatives, so the blanket “very low” characterization is not supported.
“In 2009, the defunct Russian satellite Kosmos 2251 collided with the active U.S. satellite Iridium 33 at an altitude of about 790 km, generating about 2,000 debris fragments, many of which remain in orbit.”
The core facts are well supported by authoritative space-agency and peer-reviewed sources. Kosmos 2251 and Iridium 33 collided in 2009 at roughly the 780–800 km band, commonly reported near 789–790 km, and the event produced on the order of 2,000 trackable debris fragments. A substantial number remained in orbit for many years afterward.
“Pacific green tree frogs produce mating calls to attract mates.”
The core biological claim is supported. Reliable studies and institutional references show that male Pacific treefrogs/Pacific chorus frogs produce advertisement calls during the breeding season that attract females. The caveat is that "Pacific green tree frog" is a nonstandard name in the evidence, and the calling behavior is specifically a male mating behavior.
“Storm tide is defined as the sum of base sea level, astronomical tide, and storm surge.”
Authoritative definitions do not support the three-part formula given here. Storm tide is consistently defined as storm surge added to the astronomical tide; “base sea level” is generally a reference datum or baseline for measurement, not a separate definitional component. As written, the claim adds an unsupported extra term.
“Changes in wetness and dryness (moisture balance) equal precipitation minus evaporation.”
The claim overstates a simplified relationship. Precipitation minus evaporation or evapotranspiration is often used as a climatic wetness-dryness indicator, but general moisture or water balance is not just P minus E: it can also include runoff, streamflow, groundwater flows, and storage change. As written, the statement treats a context-specific approximation as a universal rule.
“Human biological immortality is possible within the laws of physics and biology because telomerase can stop telomere shortening.”
Telomerase can counteract telomere shortening and extend the lifespan of some cells, but that does not establish that humans can become biologically immortal. The evidence shows aging is multifactorial, and widespread telomerase activation can undermine anti-cancer defenses. The claim takes a real cellular phenomenon and overstates it into an unsupported organism-level conclusion.
“Leon Festinger's 1957 cognitive dissonance theory predicts that when a person's behavior conflicts with their attitudes, the person often changes their attitudes to reduce psychological discomfort.”
The claim accurately states a central prediction of Festinger’s 1957 cognitive dissonance theory. When behavior and attitudes conflict, the resulting discomfort can lead people to adjust their attitudes to restore consistency. Although attitude change is not the only possible response, describing it as something people often do is well supported.
“Twisted moss thrives in slightly more alkaline conditions than American white water lily because the two plants are adapted to different pH levels.”
The evidence does not support the claimed pH ranking. Twisted moss is associated with calcareous, alkaline substrates, but American white water lily is also well documented as tolerating alkaline conditions, often across a broad range. No strong comparative evidence shows twisted moss thrives in slightly more alkaline conditions than the lily, and the adaptation-based explanation is not established.
“A temple in Titlagarh, Balangir district, Odisha, India has an interior area where the temperature remains near or below 0°C (32°F) even when the outside temperature is higher.”
The evidence does not support a near-freezing or sub-zero temperature inside the temple. Credible descriptions consistently portray it as strikingly cool relative to the outside heat, typically around 10–20°C or below 10°C, while the 0°C or -5°C version comes from unverified social-video content. The real phenomenon appears to be strong passive cooling, not freezing conditions.
“Scientists at the University of Alaska discovered that drinking three cups of coffee per day allows humans to communicate telepathically with penguins.”
No evidence supports this alleged University of Alaska discovery. Official university sources, PubMed, Nature, Science, and other credible records show no study finding that three cups of coffee enable telepathic communication with penguins. The claim combines ordinary caffeine research with a paranormal assertion that has no accepted scientific basis.
“When stopping a distillation, if the delivery tube is immersed in the distillate, the cooled liquid can be sucked back into the hot distillation flask, and the sudden temperature change can cause the glass to crack.”
The described hazard is well established in laboratory distillation guidance. A submerged delivery tube can allow distillate to be drawn back into a hot flask as the apparatus cools, and that cold-liquid contact can thermally shock the glass and crack it. Breakage is not inevitable, but the risk and mechanism are real and widely documented.
“The Apollo 11 Moon landing was faked.”
The claim is not supported by the evidence. Apollo 11 is documented by archival mission records, independently studied lunar samples, radio tracking, and decades of scientific analysis that are incompatible with a staged event. Hoax arguments rely on selective, long-debunked photo and video 'anomalies' while ignoring stronger physical and historical evidence.
“The species Antechinus stuartii is commonly known as the brown antechinus.”
Reliable taxonomic and museum sources consistently use “brown antechinus” for Antechinus stuartii. Some sources also list alternative common names, but that does not change the core fact that “brown antechinus” is a standard and widely used name for this species.
“Marsupial mice (antechinuses) are found in eastern and southeastern Australia, including parts of Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria.”
Authoritative Australian sources show that antechinuses occur in eastern and southeastern Australia, with documented species in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria. The main caveat is that distribution varies by species, so not every antechinus occurs across all of those states. That does not undermine the claim’s core geographic point.
“Male antechinuses usually live for only one breeding season.”
Male Antechinus are well documented as breeding once and then dying soon after, with post-mating male mortality typically near 100%. Peer-reviewed studies across the genus describe this as semelparity or effectively suicidal reproduction. The wording “usually” is therefore accurate, and if anything slightly cautious.
“During electrolysis of seawater, chloride ions (Cl−) preferentially undergo oxidation at the anode instead of water, which reduces the efficiency of oxygen (O2) production.”
The evidence supports the claim as a general feature of conventional seawater electrolysis. In practice, chloride oxidation often competes with or outpaces oxygen evolution at the anode because of favorable kinetics, which lowers oxygen selectivity and efficiency. The main caveat is that engineered catalysts, membranes, and alkaline microenvironments can suppress chlorine formation.
“In a vacuum, heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects.”
The claim is contradicted by both basic physics and direct experiment. In a vacuum, heavier and lighter objects fall at the same rate because gravitational acceleration does not depend on an object's mass. NASA's Apollo 15 hammer-feather drop and precision tests of the equivalence principle confirm this.
“A scheme is equivalent to a Zariski sheaf on the category of affine schemes that is locally representable by affine schemes.”
The claim states a standard characterization of schemes in functorial language. Authoritative sources confirm that schemes are exactly Zariski sheaves on affine schemes that admit a local affine presentation. The main caveat is precision: the local affine pieces must glue as open subfunctors or open immersions on the big affine Zariski site, not via arbitrary maps.
“The Isle of Man's average electricity demand is about 40 MW (approximately 1 GWh per day).”
Official and technical sources align that the Isle of Man’s average electricity demand is roughly 40 MW. That converts to about 0.96 GWh per day, which reasonably rounds to approximately 1 GWh/day. The figure is an average, not a constant load, and the exact value depends slightly on year and system boundary.
“Most shampoos are primarily composed of five ingredient categories: water (as a solvent), surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or sodium laureth sulfate (SLES), conditioning agents such as silicones or quaternary ammonium compounds (quats), preservatives such as sodium benzoate, and fragrances or colorants.”
The claim captures the main functional backbone of many shampoo formulas. Technical references consistently describe shampoos as water-based systems built around surfactants, conditioning materials, preservatives, and aesthetic additives. However, it simplifies formulation practice by leaving out other routine categories such as co-surfactants, thickeners, and pH adjusters, and sodium benzoate is only one of several common preservative choices.