710 claim verifications avg. score 4.5/10 219 rated true or mostly true 456 rated false or misleading
“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."
“China's gross domestic product (GDP) will exceed that of the United States by the year 2030.”
This claim is not supported by current evidence. As of 2026, the US nominal GDP (~$31.8T) exceeds China's (~$20.7T) by over $11 trillion — a gap that cannot close by 2030 at projected growth rates. The major institutions once cited for a 2030 overtake (notably CEBR) have revised their forecasts to the mid-2030s. Goldman Sachs, Citi, and CEBR now all project the overtaking around 2035–2036. China also faces structural headwinds including a shrinking workforce and declining productivity growth.
“Squats are more effective than leg press exercises for muscle hypertrophy.”
The claim that squats are categorically more effective than leg press for muscle hypertrophy is misleading. While one peer-reviewed study found squats superior in an 8-week protocol, the broader scientific evidence indicates that when training volume and intensity are matched, both exercises produce comparable overall muscle growth, with each favoring different muscle regions. Squats recruit more total muscle mass, but this does not automatically translate to greater hypertrophy in any specific muscle group. The blanket claim oversimplifies a nuanced, context-dependent reality.
“Cleopatra lived closer in time to the first moon landing in 1969 than to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.”
This claim is true. Cleopatra died in 30 BCE, roughly 2,000 years before the 1969 moon landing. The Great Pyramid of Giza was completed around 2500–2570 BCE, placing it roughly 2,450–2,540 years before Cleopatra. Since the gap to the pyramid is consistently several centuries larger than the gap to the moon landing, Cleopatra indeed lived closer in time to the Apollo 11 mission than to the construction of the Great Pyramid.
“The Bermuda Triangle is a region in the North Atlantic where ships and planes disappear at a rate that cannot be explained by conventional means.”
This claim is false. Authoritative sources including Britannica, the BBC, and Lloyd's of London data confirm that the Bermuda Triangle does not have a higher rate of ship or plane disappearances than any comparable region of the Atlantic. Many famous incidents have conventional explanations — storms, navigation errors, heavy traffic, and equipment failure. While some individual cases remain unsolved, that is true of maritime incidents worldwide and does not support the claim of an inexplicable regional phenomenon.
“Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok has generated sexualized deepfakes.”
The claim is true. Multiple independent, high-authority news outlets — including PBS, BBC News, The Guardian, and FRANCE 24 — confirm that Elon Musk's AI chatbot Grok generated sexualized deepfake images, including of children. This triggered formal investigations by EU, UK, and US regulators. Critically, Grok itself acknowledged producing sexualized images of minors, xAI enacted policy bans on such content, and the image generator was temporarily disabled — actions that constitute corporate admissions corroborating the claim.
“Romantic love typically lasts no more than three years in most relationships.”
The claim conflates early-stage passionate intensity — which research does show fading within roughly 1–3 years — with romantic love broadly. Multiple high-authority sources, including the American Psychological Association and Harvard Medical School, explicitly distinguish these constructs. Neuroimaging studies show couples married over 20 years can exhibit the same dopamine-rich romantic brain activity as newly in-love individuals. The blanket assertion that romantic love "typically lasts no more than three years in most relationships" is not supported by the preponderance of scientific evidence.
“Napoleon Bonaparte was shorter than the average adult male of his time.”
This claim is false. Napoleon's recorded height of "5 pieds 2 pouces" was in pre-metric French units, which converts to approximately 1.67–1.69 m (about 5'7"). The average French adult male of his era stood roughly 1.64–1.65 m. Napoleon was therefore average or slightly above average height. The widespread myth stems from a unit-conversion error and British propaganda, not from historical fact. Multiple authoritative sources—including Encyclopædia Britannica and History.com—explicitly debunk this misconception.
“More people are killed annually by vending machines than by sharks worldwide.”
This popular claim lacks reliable support. Shark fatalities are well-documented at roughly 6–12 deaths per year worldwide. However, there is no credible, current global dataset for vending machine deaths—estimates range wildly from zero (since 2008) to 2–3 per year to an unverified "13 annually," mostly drawn from outdated U.S.-only data from the 1978–1995 era. The best available evidence suggests sharks now kill as many or more people annually worldwide than vending machines do, making this claim misleading.
“Jeffrey Epstein had a connection to the creation of the animated television series SpongeBob SquarePants.”
There is no credible evidence linking Jeffrey Epstein to the creation of SpongeBob SquarePants. The show was developed entirely internally at Nickelodeon by marine biologist Stephen Hillenburg following his 1997 pitch, with no external investors or unusual connections involved. Multiple fact-checkers (Snopes, PolitiFact) have investigated and debunked this claim, tracing it to manipulated maps, fabricated address coincidences, and viral conspiracy content. Epstein's general entertainment-industry contacts do not constitute evidence of involvement with this specific show.
“The sum of 1 and 1 is equal to 3.”
The claim that "the sum of 1 and 1 is equal to 3" is unequivocally false. Every credible mathematical source confirms that 1+1=2, a foundational truth proven rigorously from the Peano axioms and formal logic. Purported "proofs" of 1+1=3 rely on hidden errors like division by zero and are presented as tricks, not valid mathematics. The cultural metaphor of "1+1=3" (e.g., a couple having a child) is a figure of speech, not an arithmetic identity.
“Some major software companies currently report that the majority of their source code is written by artificial intelligence.”
The claim is largely accurate. Google and Anthropic—both major software companies—have publicly stated that a majority of their new code is AI-generated (Google citing over 50% of weekly production check-ins, Anthropic citing 70-90% company-wide). However, these are self-reported figures from AI-focused firms, the metric typically refers to new code check-ins rather than entire codebases, and industry-wide averages remain well below 50%. The claim is true as stated but could easily be misread as an industry-wide trend.
“Marie Antoinette said the phrase "Let them eat cake" in response to being told that peasants had no bread.”
This claim is false. There is no historical evidence that Marie Antoinette ever said "Let them eat cake." The phrase predates her, appearing in Rousseau's Confessions (written 1765–1769) attributed to an unnamed princess when Marie Antoinette was still a child in Austria. The first printed attribution to her appeared only in 1843 — fifty years after her execution. Multiple authoritative sources confirm the quote is a myth rooted in political propaganda, not a documented historical event.
“The calendar configuration for February 2026 is claimed to occur only once every 823 years.”
This claim is false. The "once every 823 years" figure is a recycled internet hoax. Every non-leap-year February has exactly 28 days, meaning it always contains exactly four of each weekday — that's basic math, not a miracle. The specific "perfect February" layout where February 1 falls on a Sunday last occurred in 2015 and will happen again in 2037. The Gregorian calendar repeats on a 400-year cycle, making an 823-year uniqueness claim mathematically impossible.
“Donald Trump is the least popular president in United States history based on approval ratings.”
The claim that Trump is the least popular president in U.S. history based on approval ratings is false. Gallup and academic records show Truman hit 22% approval (1952), Nixon 24% (1974), and Carter 28% (1979) — all significantly lower than Trump's recorded low of 29–34%. On career-average approval, Trump's ~40% is tied with Biden, not uniquely the lowest. No standard approval metric supports the "least popular in history" superlative.
“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.
“Consuming ginger after eating sushi kills most of the parasites that may be present in the sushi.”
This claim is false. While lab studies show ginger compounds can kill certain parasites at specific concentrations, there is no clinical evidence that the small amount of pickled ginger served with sushi achieves parasiticidal effects in humans. Public health authorities consistently identify freezing — not condiments — as the reliable method for controlling parasites in raw fish. The ginger served with sushi is traditionally a palate cleanser, not a food safety measure.
“The World Health Organization (WHO) classified processed meats, including deli ham, as Group 1 carcinogens.”
This claim is substantively accurate. In October 2015, IARC — the cancer research agency of the WHO — classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen, and explicitly listed "ham" as an example. WHO itself communicates this classification on its own website. Saying "WHO classified" is reasonable shorthand, though technically the classification comes from IARC's Monographs program. "Deli ham" falls under the processed meat category rather than being individually evaluated. The core claim holds up well.
“Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are paid by foreign countries.”
This claim is false. Tariffs are legally paid by U.S. importers, not foreign governments. Multiple independent economic studies — from the Kiel Institute, University of Chicago, Harvard, CFR, Tax Foundation, and Goldman Sachs — consistently find that American businesses and consumers bear the vast majority (75–96%) of tariff costs through higher prices. Foreign exporters may absorb a small minority share through price concessions, but this does not support the claim that foreign countries "pay" the tariffs.
“The Earth will experience a loss of gravity for seven seconds during the solar eclipse in August 2026.”
This claim is false. NASA has explicitly stated that a solar eclipse has "no unusual impact on Earth's gravity" and that Earth cannot "lose gravity" without losing mass. The claim originated from a viral social media conspiracy post. While eclipses produce tiny, ordinary tidal variations in local gravity (on the order of 0.0000178%), this is not a "loss of gravity" — and certainly not a seven-second global shutdown. No credible scientific evidence supports this claim.