Debunker

That ‘Found Cat’ Craigslist Ad Featuring a Bobcat is Totally Fake

Have you seen this Craigslist ad that’s going viral on social media? The headline screams “FOUND CAT – NEED OWNERS ASAP!!” but if you take a closer look at the photos, it clearly shows a bobcat. Scary, right? The only problem? The entire thing is fake. The images were actually taken from a handful of…

Tech News Matt Novak May 24

No, Earth Is Not About to Plunge Into a ‘Mini Ice Age’

Science journalism is hard. The job entails reading complex papers on unfamiliar, often arcane topics, and quickly becoming expert enough to succinctly explain those topics to your fellow laypeople. But on another level, the job is very straightforward: Find facts, and report them. Unfortunately, a number of takes and headlines regarding a new study on…

Earth Science Maddie Stone Feb 12

Antioxidants Will Not Stop You From Dying

When you hear something is chock-full of antioxidants, the mental conclusion is often: That’s it—that’s the elixir of life, I have to eat a lot of that. But why do we all assume that loading up on anti-oxidants will somehow be the key to infinite youth? This week, news outlets reported on a new study…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum Nov 20

No, the Famous Windows XP Hill Is Not on Fire [Updated]

As you may have heard, California is recovering after a rash of deadly wildfires that forced a state of emergency in Los Angeles County last month and killed dozens up north. But with tragedy comes hoaxes. And though a jaw-dropping image of men golfing near an inferno in Washington last month was real, claims that…

Tech News Avery Ellis Oct 25

Bulletproof Coffee Announces Bottled Bullshit Launch at Whole Foods

If you agitate cream enough, you will make whipped cream. Continue agitating it and skim off the liquid, and you will make butter. Put that in your coffee, and you have now wasted a lot of energy to put cream into your coffee. Somehow, the company trying to capitalize on this time waste of a…

Health Ryan F. Mandelbaum Sep 6

You Need Food and Water in Order to Live

A bunch of news outlets reported that a “breatharian” couple survives on air alone. I’m not wasting my time debunking this shit. [via CNN]

Health Ryan F. Mandelbaum Jun 21

That ‘New Black Panther Movie Costume’ You’ve Been Seeing Everywhere Is Actually Just an Action Figure

You might have seen claims around the internet today that Chadwick Boseman would be getting a slightly updated new costume in the Black Panther solo film. However, the images floating around are not from a Marvel Movie—they’re the subtle, but fun, work of a toy customizer. News of a “new Black Panther suit” has spent…

io9 James Whitbrook Apr 11

You Really Don’t Need to Watch the Black Moon Tonight

Have you heard? The Black Moon rises tonight! But if you’re worried about catching this “rare” phenomenon don’t be—it’s actually not that special. A Black Moon is not an actual astronomy term and there’s a couple different definitions floating around out there. The Black Moon that people are talking about now is defined as when…

Space & Spaceflight Ria Misra Sep 30

No, NASA Did Not Just Change Your Zodiac Sign

NASA did not just rewrite the zodiac chart. But here’s why so many people are convinced that the agency did—and the real story behind the rumor. The story that NASA had issued a new zodiac appeared in Cosmopolitan’s UK edition yesterday, but it quickly spread, with Yahoo, AOL, and more all soon carrying stories claiming…

Tech News Ria Misra Sep 16

That Star Wars Episode VIII Title Floating Around Probably Isn’t Real

With Episode VIII a year and a half away, leaks and spoilers are all we’re going to hear about for awhile. Naturally, that leads to a lot of fake nonsense floating around the internet in an attempt to capture the avid attention of Star Wars fans jonesing for an info fix. Case in point: the…

io9 James Whitbrook May 20

The Truth About That ‘Classified Alien Music’ Everybody’s Freaking Out About

The internet was all abuzz today over newly-declassified tape of Apollo 10 astronauts catching a broadcast of alien music on the Moon. Except the tape was not classified, not alien, and not music. Settle in and take a listen for yourself. We tracked down and clipped out the relevant portion of the original audio for…

Tech News Ria Misra Feb 22

The Internet Thinks You Can Unspoil Wine With a Penny. Here’s the Truth.

Hey, did you know that you can revive a spoiled wine by just dropping a penny into your glass? Well, at least according to the internet. The truth, though, is much more complicated. Welcome to Gizmodo’s Happy Hour. Substance abuse for nerds. The Trick The “penny trick” has been around for quite some time—so long…

Tech News Ria Misra Jan 29

Do the Herbs in Natural Erection Supplements Really Make You Harder?

The companies that market so-called “natural” sexual health supplements make a lot of promises, especially when they’re pitching more frequent and harder erections. But do the herbs they put in those pills actually, y’know… work? Last month, a group of urologists from the Wake Forest School of Medicine checked for you. They surveyed the 30…

Tech News Diane Kelly Nov 12

November’s “Astronomical Blackout” is Unmitigated Bullshit

For fifteen days in November, the Earth will be blanketed in darkness during an astronomical blackout like nothing you’ve seen before! Except it won’t, because what the fuck is an “astronomical blackout”? Isn’t the universe cool enough without making shit up? According to hoax-originators Newswatch33, the blackout will be between November 15, 2015 and November…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Nov 6

Some “Ghosts” May Be Sound Waves Just Below Human Hearing

There are many possible explanations for hauntings, not least that humans are highly suggestible creatures, especially when we want to believe. But some ghost sightings might actually be the result of sounds — sound waves that vibrate just below our range of hearing, dubbed the “fear frequency.” Sound is basically mechanical energy in the form…

Tech News Jennifer Ouellette Oct 27

About That “Orgasmic” Mushroom: It Probably Doesn’t Exist

There’s a rumor flying around the internet about a Hawaiian mushroom whose scent gives women orgasms. I’m sorry to disappoint, but there’s absolutely no credible evidence to support that claim. Yes, I know that some of the details come from an article in a scientific journal, but the paper people are linking to isn’t really…

Tech News Diane Kelly Oct 16

BBC Fakes Volcano Footage by Blending Multiple Eruptions into One Gorgeous Shot

Et tu, BBC? That absolutely gorgeous footage of the eruption in the BBC documentary Patagonia: Earth’s Secret Paradise isn’t real: it’s a composite blending eruptions from two nearby volcanoes filmed four years apart. I don’t know if I’ll ever trust again. The BBC superimposed long-exposure recordings lightning from the 2011 eruption of Cordón Caulle onto…

Tech News Mika McKinnon Oct 8

9 More Viral Photos That Are Actually Fake

Sometimes it feels like half of the internet is just fake photos. Whether it’s Elvis cutting Johnny Cash’s hair (FAKE), Hillary Clinton posing next to someone in an ‘I’m With Stupid’ t-shirt (FAKE) or John Lennon on a skateboard (FAKE FAKE FAKE), we’re breaking down the latest fakes swirling around the internet. 1. Is this…

Tech News Matt Novak Jul 29

EMDrive Still Doesn’t Work Because Science has no Patience for Nonsense

More experiments on the much-overhyped EMDrive continue to prove absolutely nothing except that it’s easy to create ambiguous results if you’re sufficiently sloppy with your experimental design. Writing about the EMDrive makes me wonder if this is all an elaborate troll to irritate scientists. The latest research is published in a journal that yet again…

Physics & Chemistry Mika McKinnon Jul 28

How Many Different Smells Can The Human Nose Actually Detect?

Last year, a paper published inScience made waves with the stunning claim that the human nose can detect a whopping one trillion different odors. But if you feel like your nose can’t detect a trillion smells, you may be on to something. It’s possible that none of us can. As a Caltech researcher pointed out…

Tech News Maddie Stone Jul 7

Debunker

That ‘Found Cat’ Craigslist Ad Featuring a Bobcat is Totally Fake

No, Earth Is Not About to Plunge Into a ‘Mini Ice Age’

Antioxidants Will Not Stop You From Dying

No, the Famous Windows XP Hill Is Not on Fire [Updated]

Bulletproof Coffee Announces Bottled Bullshit Launch at Whole Foods

You Need Food and Water in Order to Live

That ‘New Black Panther Movie Costume’ You’ve Been Seeing Everywhere Is Actually Just an Action Figure

You Really Don’t Need to Watch the Black Moon Tonight

No, NASA Did Not Just Change Your Zodiac Sign

That Star Wars Episode VIII Title Floating Around Probably Isn’t Real

The Truth About That ‘Classified Alien Music’ Everybody’s Freaking Out About

The Internet Thinks You Can Unspoil Wine With a Penny. Here’s the Truth.

Do the Herbs in Natural Erection Supplements Really Make You Harder?

November’s “Astronomical Blackout” is Unmitigated Bullshit

Some “Ghosts” May Be Sound Waves Just Below Human Hearing

About That “Orgasmic” Mushroom: It Probably Doesn’t Exist

BBC Fakes Volcano Footage by Blending Multiple Eruptions into One Gorgeous Shot

9 More Viral Photos That Are Actually Fake

EMDrive Still Doesn’t Work Because Science has no Patience for Nonsense

How Many Different Smells Can The Human Nose Actually Detect?

We Just Saw a Full Scene From ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

Sam Altman’s Home Allegedly Attacked for a Second Time

This Memory Chip Survives Temperatures Hotter Than Lava

OpenAI Exec Reveals New Strategy in Leaked Memo: Attack Anthropic

GMKtec G3 Pro Mini PC Gets Nearly 40% Off First for Amazon Prime Members for a Limited Time

Popular Musician Loses Life Savings Through Malicious Crypto Wallet in Apple’s App Store

Peter Capaldi’s Biggest ‘Doctor Who’ Regret Was That He Couldn’t Be a Little Bit Miserable

Some Good News About the Upcoming Atlantic Hurricane Season

Anker’s EufyMake E1 Finally Brings Printers Out of the Dark Ages

This Loud-Ass Party Speaker Almost Got Me High AF

Asus Zenbook A16 Review: Start Considering Snapdragon on PC, for Real

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

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