All Questions
1,854
questions
19
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Does hydraulic fracking endanger the drinking water supply?
According to an industry website the process of Hydraulic Fracturing (or "fracking") is safe. According to an article in the Huffington Post the process is not safe. At least, there is evidence the ...
user2085
18
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Does sleeping with our heads pointing towards north pose any health risks?
Does sleeping orientation (pointing one's head in a specific direction) has anything to do with any health problems(even minor ones)?
If Earth's magnetic field has any
detrimental effects on our ...
- 620
18
votes
3
answers
2k
views
Is the "Electromagnetic Field Sensitivity" study reliable?
Until recently, I have only heard about studies proving electrosensitivity being entirely a nocebo effect.
Now I just found out about a study:
Electromagnetic Field Sensitivity, William J. Real et ...
- 1,100
18
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Do investment managers pick stock portfolios better, on average, than monkeys throwing darts?
Many individuals believe they can make significant quantities of money by stock trading. Much of the financial services industry wants the public to believe that it can take our savings and, by the ...
- 56.2k
17
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Is poisoning possible from preservative on orange zest?
I've heard that you can get poisoning from cakes that contain orange zest from the preservative sprayed on the outer surface of oranges before transportation from tropical countries to our shops.
Is ...
- 231
17
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Is this "whites killed by whites" diagram wrong?
I found the following diagram on twitter:
(Sorry for not giving the source: I don't know how to link there.)
The diagram gives the impression that if you're a white person (in USA), then you're ...
- 279
17
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Are sperm counts in men decreasing significantly?
It is widely believed that sperm counts in men are suffering a significant decline over the last century (e.g. see this article in the Independent which assumes the decline is happening and the only ...
- 56.2k
17
votes
4
answers
27k
views
Fasting for 40 days - is it possible?
According to Deuteronomy 9:9, Moses did not eat or drink anything for 40 days.
When I was gone up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even
the tables of the covenant which the LORD ...
- 956
16
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Does a dog's brain secrete the same substances when it sees its owner as humans do when in love?
The following statement is doing to the rounds across the social web:
When a dog sees its owner, its brain secretes the same substances as ours when we are in love
It is usually accompanied by an ...
user7920
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Are anti-smoking advertisements in actuality promoting smoking through use of reverse psychology?
Years ago, I had a friend who was both a heavy smoker and a noted contrarian. One day as we were driving past a large anti-tobacco billboard he told me he thought that telling smokers not smoke was ...
- 24.5k
14
votes
2
answers
985
views
Does regular handwashing with antibacterial soap prevent disease?
I recently heard from a preschool teacher that they now have kids wash their hands many times throughout the day. When they enter the classroom, before they eat, after they eat, after playing on the ...
- 241
14
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Are people getting smarter or stupider in North America?
I've heard that people are complaining everyone are getting dumber because of popular culture and the Internet. I read an article in cracked that said people are actually getting smarter because of ...
- 481
14
votes
2
answers
759
views
Are most published results relying on measures of statistical significance likely to be false?
This article, linked to by Glen, claims most published results are false. The argument is based on an analysis of how papers relying on statistical significance analyse and report their statistical ...
- 10.2k
14
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Can defibrillation revive a flatlined patient?
Wikipedia notes that the technical term for flatline is asystole and adds this comment:
Despite defibrillation commonly appearing on medical dramas as a remedy for asystole, it is usually not done ...
- 6,123
13
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Are the IPCC climate change models overestimating sensitivity to carbon dioxide?
A recent report in The Register suggests that we might be currently overestimating the degree to which the world will warm with increasing carbon dioxide.
Climate sensitivity is, crudely, the slope of ...
- 56.2k
13
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Can products that claim to to reduce electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones be substantiated?
There are some products, stickers that you put onto your mobile phone for example, that claim the following
Boost your natural defenses in the
presence of electromagnetic radiation
(EMR) ...
- 139
12
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Is carbon-14 still increasing in the atmosphere?
One argument used to support the idea that the age of the earth is on the order of 10,000 years old (the 'young earth hypothesis') is that radiocarbon dating is confounded by the fact that the levels ...
12
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Dichloroacetate (DCA) as a cure for cancer
A while ago I read about a cheap and safe drug that kills most cancers. It was the already known compound dichloroacetate (DCA) and the discovery was widely reported in the media. The results at that ...
- 43.6k
12
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Were chemical weapons used in the civil war in Syria by the Assad regime before 2014?
From Erdogan: Assad using chemical weapons in Syria at The Jerusalem Post:
Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that the regime of Syrian President Basher Assad has used ...
user5582
12
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Are the vast majority of medical procedures routinely used by physicians ineffective and unproven?
An organization called Freedom Health Canada makes an extraordinary claim on their website, which can be found here.
“Scientifically controlled clinical trials have shown that only 10 -20 % of all ...
- 1,012
12
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Did India's population decrease "by 80 million between 1000 and 1525" CE?
Daniel Pipes reports:
Koenraad Elst , the german historian writes in "Negation in India"
..Indian (subcontinent) population decreased by 80 million between 1000
(conquest of Afghanistan) ...
- 15.7k
11
votes
2
answers
9k
views
Did ancient Indians invent guns, lasers, radars and nuclear weapons?
I found this site which claimed that Ancient India was an extremely advanced civilization whose technology equaled & in some cases even surpassed current technology. None of the claims have ...
- 2,489
11
votes
1
answer
986
views
Is Social Networking harmful to mind or body?
Susan Greenfield, an English pharmacologist, is quoted by the New York times as saying:
My fear is that these technologies are infantilizing the brain into the state of small children who are ...
- 78.6k
10
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Does the US government voluntarily underreport inflation?
According to Shadow Government Statistics, inflation in the USA is around 11%, not 3% as the official statistics claim, as shown in this chart:
(source)
In fact, they suggest that the US government ...
- 18k
10
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Does a prototype car that runs on water exist?
In a conversation with a friend recently, she was telling me about a new car that "some Japanese company" had developed, apparently a working prototype that's about to be put into production. It has ...
- 1,465
10
votes
1
answer
749
views
Is there any scientific explanation for this trumpet noise from the atmosphere?
According to this Daily Mail article, there have been recordings of trumpet like noises from the atmosphere. However, nobody knows the cause of it.
However, as it is from the Daily Mail, I am taking ...
- 251
10
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Is there no risk-free level of second hand smoke?
The Surgeon General released a report in 2006 regarding the dangers of secondhand smoke (SHS). One of the claims in the report is:
There is NO risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure, with even ...
- 8,939
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is CICO (calories in, calories out) a useful concept in diets?
An article at gnolls.org claims that there is no such thing as a calorie to our body, and our stomachs aren't steam engines and therefore the concept of calories and our way of measuring them is ...
- 267
10
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Does an Erikson handshake induction induce a cataleptic trance?
One element of misdirection used by magician Derren Brown is to apparently place subjects into a catatonic state with the use of flashing lights or physical manipulation of the hands or arms. For ...
- 582
9
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Is eating fruits separately/on an empty stomach healthier?
There are some web-sites advocating that eating fruits separately to other foods is healthier.
Mind Body Green
When fruits are eaten alone, your stomach can more easily process all of the ...
9
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Do the recent CLOUD results have significant implications for global warming?
According to this Science Daily summary of a recent paper published in Nature and the abstract at Nature, a recent result indicates that cosmic rays play a larger role in cloud formation than was ...
- 15.1k
9
votes
0
answers
317
views
Does frequent cell phone use reduce the sperm count of men? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Does the presence of a cellphone affect sperm count or heart rate?
Is cell phone use harmless or is there a chance that it lowers the sperm count of men?
New independent ...
- 33.3k
8
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is half of the climate change in the past 110 years due to natural variation in the Sun's output?
A NASA website says:
Of the many trends that appear to cause fluctuations in the Sun’s energy, those that last decades to centuries are the most likely to have a measurable impact on the Earth’s ...
- 106k
8
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Are handguns used in 80% of mass shootings?
I've heard it several times, "More than 80% of mass shootings are carried out with handguns", often on social media, for example:
Handguns are responsible for more than 80% of mass shootings
......
user45051
8
votes
2
answers
780
views
Are mobile phones causing the demise of bees?
So someone I know posted a link to this Inhabitat Blog article on Facebook.
Scientists may have found the cause of the world’s sudden dwindling population of bees – and cell phones may be to blame. ...
- 325
8
votes
3
answers
18k
views
Does drinking the urine of camels have medical benefits?
According to an Islam Q&A site, the prophet Mohammad prescribed camel's milk and urine to cure illness.
It goes on to claim there are benefits from drinking camel's urine including:
Camel’s urine ...
- 324
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Koch's postulates for judging if HIV causes AIDS
One of the most prominent proponents of the claim that HIV is not the cause of AIDS, Peter Duesberg claims in a PNAS article from 1989 the following
The hypothesis that HIV causes AIDS is
...
- 43.6k
7
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is "US Military Intelligence report EW-Pa 128" real?
The Red House Report — Wikipédia describes "US Military Intelligence report EW-Pa 128":
Is this actually a declassified document, or a clever fake?
US Military Intelligence report EW-Pa 128
...
- 3,972
6
votes
0
answers
347
views
Would arming teachers prevent or lessen US school schootings? [duplicate]
Dupe voters, this is not a dupe. I wish answers only about teachers, not general members of the public. Please re-open
According to the BBC,
US President Donald Trump has said arming teachers ...
6
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Do aluminum-based antiperspirants cause cancer?
Some people claim that the aluminium in antiperspirants can cause cancer.
For example, Mercola.com:
Putting on antiperspirant is a routine part of most people's day, and you may not think much ...
- 1,109
5
votes
0
answers
877
views
Multiple personalities: Do they exist?
Has it ever been proven, or is there a consensus among any body of legitimate scientist (e.g. APA, NIHM, or another) that multiple personality disorder actually exists what are each sides points? And ...
- 1,077
4
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Has anyone died from eating fruit pits that contain amygdalin (cyanide)? [duplicate]
It's often noted that fruit pits, the hardened seeds inside peaches, cherries, and plums, contain amygdalin, which breaks down into cyanide in the body. It is also often noted that apple seeds and ...
user11643
537
votes
3
answers
60k
views
Does torture work well as an interrogation technique?
Wikipedia's Effectiveness of torture for interrogation says,
Torture has been used throughout history for the purpose of obtaining information in interrogation. Some arguments say that it is an ...
- 7,906
211
votes
9
answers
33k
views
When did people first know the Earth was a sphere?
I've heard it numerous times, that in the old days people thought that the world was flat. Most commonly I heard this in connection with the voyage of Columbus, that he believed the earth to be a ...
- 43.6k
208
votes
1
answer
24k
views
Is popping your knuckles bad for you?
I pop my knuckles fairly frequently, and I have been told on several occasions that doing so is bad for your joints. Is this true? Have there been any medical studies on this?
- 3,593
198
votes
2
answers
38k
views
Does the President of the United States have the ability to deploy nuclear weapons at will?
I heard this claim back during the Bush years, and recently I've been hearing it again. For example:
Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All - The New Yorker
I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and ...
- 2,170
196
votes
1
answer
29k
views
Did the Twitter account Fifndhs predict the exact World Cup results ahead of time?
There was a feeling of exhilaration and excitement on Twitter, with the Twitter account @FifNdhs called “FIFA Corruption” seemingly having predicted the final result of the World Cup final hours ahead ...
- 30.3k
154
votes
3
answers
31k
views
Do wind turbines consume more energy than they produce in a lifetime?
A rumor in my region states that a wind turbine consumes far more energy while being built and setup than it can produce in a lifetime.
The debate is about modern, freshly built turbines in ...
- 2,139
115
votes
3
answers
25k
views
In the US, are illegal immigrants more likely to commit crimes?
Trump has claimed numerous times that part of the reason we need to close the border is that the illegal immigrants are prone to crimes. I want to check these claims. Are illegal immigrants more ...
- 9,830
110
votes
2
answers
34k
views
Do these pictures depict David Hogg after two separate crises?
A post circulating on social media - 48,000 shares and counting so far - depicts still images of two news reports, one in California in August 2017 and one in Florida in February 2018 after the ...
- 3,713