968 published verifications avg. score 4.7/10 329 rated true or mostly true 629 rated false or misleading
“Corticosteroid injections are more effective than physiotherapy or rehabilitation in treating chronic tendon injuries.”
This claim is not supported by the evidence. Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses consistently show that corticosteroid injections provide only short-term pain relief (weeks) for tendon injuries, while physiotherapy produces equal or superior outcomes at 3–12+ months. For chronic tendon injuries specifically, a PMC-NIH review found "no good evidence" supporting corticosteroid use, and a 2025 PubMed meta-analysis confirmed injections are not superior to physical therapy beyond the short term. Clinical guidelines treat injections as adjuncts to rehabilitation, not replacements.
“Corticosteroid injections provide effective long-term relief for musculoskeletal injuries such as tendinopathy and rotator cuff tears.”
This claim is not supported by current medical evidence. Multiple recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses (2022–2025) consistently show that corticosteroid injections provide short-term pain relief — typically lasting weeks to a few months — but do not deliver effective long-term relief for tendinopathy or rotator cuff injuries. At intermediate and long-term follow-up, corticosteroids perform no better than placebo or physical therapy, and may worsen structural integrity in some cases. The only supporting evidence is a 2005 meta-analysis now superseded by stronger, more recent research.
“The James Webb Space Telescope has produced evidence that disproves the Big Bang theory as of March 26, 2026.”
This claim is false. As of March 2026, no peer-reviewed scientific body or credible institution has concluded that JWST disproved the Big Bang theory. NASA explicitly rejects this framing. JWST has revealed unexpectedly bright and mature early galaxies, prompting refinements to galaxy formation models — but the Big Bang's core evidence (cosmic microwave background, expansion, primordial nucleosynthesis) remains uncontradicted. The "disproof" narrative traces to fringe sources, creationist outlets, and a mischaracterization of normal scientific model adjustment as theoretical falsification.
“Electric vehicles produce more CO2 emissions over their full lifetime than equivalent gasoline-powered cars.”
This claim is not supported by the evidence. Multiple authoritative lifecycle analyses — from the US EPA, Department of Energy, ICCT, and BloombergNEF — consistently find that electric vehicles produce lower total CO2 emissions than equivalent gasoline cars over their full lifetime, even when battery manufacturing is included. While EVs do carry higher upfront production emissions and outcomes vary with grid mix and driving mileage, these conditional factors do not support the blanket assertion that EVs emit more overall. The claim misrepresents edge cases as the general rule.
“Social media use is as addictive as controlled substances such as cocaine or heroin, producing comparable neurological and behavioral dependency.”
Social media and controlled substances like cocaine or heroin share some overlapping dopaminergic pathways and reward-circuit activation, but the claim that they produce "comparable" addiction overstates the evidence. Peer-reviewed research consistently describes "similarities" and "overlap" — not equivalence. Cocaine and heroin directly hijack neurotransmitter systems through pharmacological mechanisms fundamentally different from social media's behavioral reinforcement. The American Academy of Pediatrics explicitly calls this comparison "not accurate," and the scientific consensus classifies social media overuse as a behavioral addiction, categorically distinct from substance dependence.
“OpenAI shut down its Sora text-to-video AI platform in March 2026.”
Multiple major news outlets — CBS News, San Francisco Chronicle, NPR, TechCrunch, and others — confirm that OpenAI announced the discontinuation of its Sora consumer app and API in March 2026, quoting official OpenAI statements. The claim is substantially accurate. However, it slightly overstates scope: the shutdown targeted the standalone Sora app and API specifically, while the underlying video-generation model may remain accessible through other OpenAI products like ChatGPT Plus. The shutdown was also announced as a phaseout rather than an instantaneous cutoff.
“Hormonal contraception, including birth control pills and hormonal IUDs, increases the risk of idiopathic intracranial hypertension.”
The best available evidence does not support this claim. A comprehensive meta-analysis published in Neurology in March 2026, along with earlier population-based case-control and large cohort studies, found no significant association between hormonal contraception — including birth control pills and hormonal IUDs — and idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Clinical guidance from neuro-ophthalmology specialists explicitly states there is no convincing causal evidence. The signals cited in support come from weaker study designs or apply only to specific products, not the class as a whole.
“Anktiva (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept) is approved and clinically effective for treating, curing, or preventing all types of cancer, not solely bladder cancer.”
Anktiva (nogapendekin alfa inbakicept) is approved only for BCG-unresponsive non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer with carcinoma in situ, as confirmed by the FDA, EMA, and all major clinical references. It is not approved for any other cancer type. While early-phase trials have explored its use in other malignancies, no regulatory body has recognized it as effective for treating, curing, or preventing "all types of cancer." The claim dramatically overstates both the drug's approved scope and its demonstrated efficacy.
“Consuming carbohydrates in the evening has a calming effect on the body.”
The claim captures a partial biochemical truth — carbohydrates can promote tryptophan uptake and serotonin production — but the unqualified statement that evening carbs "have a calming effect" is misleading. Peer-reviewed evidence shows outcomes depend critically on carbohydrate type, quality, and quantity. High-glycemic or large carbohydrate meals before bed are associated with sleep fragmentation, melatonin suppression, and blood sugar disruption. Only high-quality, low-glycemic carbohydrates in moderate amounts show associations with improved sleep and reduced anxiety, and even then, the evidence is mixed on evening-specific timing.
“Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is prohibited from reviewing dietary supplements for safety or efficacy before they are marketed.”
DSHEA does not require FDA premarket approval for most dietary supplements, and products need not be proven safe or effective before sale. However, the claim that FDA is "prohibited from reviewing" supplements before marketing overstates the law. DSHEA requires a 75-day premarket notification for New Dietary Ingredients, during which FDA receives and may review safety information. The accurate framing is that FDA lacks mandatory premarket approval authority — not that it is categorically barred from any premarket review.
“Dietary supplements containing undisclosed pharmaceutical drugs — including steroids, thyroid hormones, and amphetamine-like stimulants — have been sold to consumers for years with limited regulatory consequence due to insufficient FDA enforcement capacity.”
The claim is substantially accurate. Peer-reviewed research documents over 1,000 dietary supplements adulterated with undisclosed pharmaceuticals — including synthetic steroids and stimulants — sold from 2007 through 2021, with some products remaining on shelves years after FDA warnings. However, the specific inclusion of "thyroid hormones" as a central adulterant pattern is not well-supported by the evidence. Additionally, the enforcement gap stems primarily from DSHEA's statutory design (classifying supplements as foods), not purely from insufficient FDA capacity — a meaningful distinction the claim obscures.
“Collagen supplements in the United States are largely unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration due to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.”
The claim is substantially accurate. DSHEA (1994) does exempt collagen supplements from FDA premarket approval and shifts the burden of proving unsafety to the FDA, which multiple peer-reviewed and medical sources confirm. However, "largely unregulated" overstates the situation: the FDA retains meaningful post-market authority including cGMP manufacturing standards, labeling enforcement, adulteration removal powers, and premarket safety review for new dietary ingredients. A more precise framing would be "largely exempt from premarket approval requirements" rather than "largely unregulated."
“Most studies reporting benefits of collagen supplements are funded by the supplement industry or by researchers with financial ties to the supplement industry.”
Industry funding is widespread in collagen supplement research, and a major 2025 meta-analysis found that positive results were concentrated in industry-funded, lower-quality trials while independent, higher-quality studies showed no significant benefit. Harvard and peer-reviewed reviews flag conflicts of interest as a pervasive concern. However, no source in the evidence base actually counts the proportion of benefit-reporting studies that are industry-funded, so the specific claim that "most" such studies meet this threshold is plausible but not directly demonstrated.
“The scientific evidence supporting the benefits of collagen supplements for non-cosmetic body systems, such as bones, joints, and digestion, is weaker or less established than the evidence for cosmetic benefits.”
This claim oversimplifies a complex evidence landscape. While digestive benefits of collagen supplements do rest on thin, mixed evidence, joint and osteoarthritis outcomes are supported by multiple reviews and meta-analyses — making them comparably or even better established than cosmetic claims. Critically, recent high-quality analyses show that positive cosmetic results are largely driven by industry-funded, lower-quality studies, with independently funded trials finding no significant skin benefits. Grouping all non-cosmetic domains as uniformly "weaker" misrepresents the actual state of the science.
“Christopher Columbus did not set sail in 1492 to prove the Earth was round; educated Europeans already accepted the Earth's spherical shape before Columbus's voyage.”
The claim is well-supported. Multiple high-authority sources — including the Library of Congress and NASA — confirm that Columbus's 1492 voyage aimed to find a westward trade route to Asia, not to prove Earth was round. Educated Europeans had accepted Earth's spherical shape for centuries, drawing on ancient Greek scholarship and medieval thinkers like Thomas Aquinas and Roger Bacon. The flat-Earth myth surrounding Columbus was largely a 19th-century fabrication. The real debate in 1492 concerned Earth's circumference and the feasibility of the westward route.
“Quantum computers are capable of breaking all currently used encryption algorithms.”
This claim is false. Quantum computers pose a recognized future threat to certain public-key encryption systems (like RSA and ECC) via Shor's algorithm, but they cannot break "all" currently used encryption. Symmetric algorithms like AES-256 are only marginally weakened by Grover's algorithm and remain secure with appropriate key sizes. Moreover, no quantum computer today has the fault-tolerant hardware needed to break even real-world RSA-2048. NIST itself describes this as a future risk to "many" systems — not a present capability against all encryption.
“COVID-19 vaccines cause sudden death in young, healthy people.”
The claim that COVID-19 vaccines cause sudden death in young, healthy people is not supported by the evidence. Multiple large-scale population studies — including a CDC analysis, a 2026 PLOS Medicine case-control study, and surveillance data covering tens of millions of people — consistently find no increased risk of sudden death among vaccinated young individuals. While vaccine-induced fatal myocarditis has been documented in extraordinarily rare cases (28 deaths identified globally against billions of doses), this does not support the sweeping causal claim as stated.
“The SARS-CoV-2 BA.3.2 variant has significant immune escape potential and has been confirmed in 23 countries.”
CDC and WHO data confirm BA.3.2 was detected in at least 23 countries and demonstrates enhanced antibody escape in laboratory testing — both factual pillars of the claim hold up. However, describing the immune escape as "significant" without qualification overstates the real-world picture: WHO rates BA.3.2 as low additional public health risk, vaccines are still expected to protect against severe disease, and the variant shows reduced infectivity with no consistent growth advantage. The core facts are accurate, but the framing omits important context.
“ImmunityBio's drug N-803 (anktiva) is being investigated or has demonstrated efficacy in treating, curing, or preventing cancer types beyond bladder cancer.”
ImmunityBio's N-803 (Anktiva) is actively being investigated in multiple cancer types beyond bladder cancer, including pancreatic cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma, and other advanced solid tumors, as confirmed by ClinicalTrials.gov registrations and NCI-sponsored trials. Preliminary efficacy signals in NSCLC have been reported, though definitive Phase 3 proof of efficacy beyond bladder cancer has not yet been established. The claim's "being investigated" component is firmly supported by high-authority sources.
“Governments deliberately add fluoride to public water supplies with the intention of lowering IQ and increasing population compliance.”
This claim is a conspiracy theory with no credible evidentiary support. While legitimate scientific debate exists about fluoride's neurodevelopmental effects at elevated concentrations, the NIH's National Toxicology Program explicitly states there are insufficient data to determine whether the U.S.-recommended 0.7 mg/L level affects IQ. No government document, whistleblower, or credible source has ever substantiated the claim that fluoridation is intended to lower IQ or increase compliance. The "compliance" narrative originates from mid-20th century anti-communist conspiracy movements, not science.