All Questions
10,900
questions
9
votes
1
answer
559
views
Do bison conceal their pregnancy?
Today there is an article in The Guardian that states
Three bison were released in Kent in July but, unknown to the rangers, one had a secret passenger on board. Bison conceal their pregnancies to ...
- 93
4
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Is offshore wind 9 times cheaper than fossil fuel?
The claim: "Offshore Wind in the U.K. Is 9 Times Cheaper Than Fossil Fuels"
Yahoo news version
The source from the article: Carbon Brief: Record-low price for UK offshore wind is nine times ...
- 159
0
votes
0
answers
544
views
Do Donetsk residents want to join Russia?
Eva K. Bartlett has posted a YouTube video on Oct 1, 2022. It includes some interviews of residents of Donetsk, a city in Eastern Ukraine.
The interviewees express pro-Russian opinions.
Bartlett ...
- 165
17
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Are there more boys born in the US?
According to this article there are more boys born in the USA than girls.
between 1940 and 2005, an average of almost 92,000 more males than females were born annually in the United States.
...
- 3,306
4
votes
1
answer
711
views
Do graffiti from travelers at the Abu Simbel temple prove that the temple was only built in the 19th century?
Whilst browsing on the notoriously pseudo historical subreddit called r/CulturalLayer I came across this post, that leads to another post on a popular Russian blogging website called livejournal.
...
- 93
2
votes
0
answers
293
views
Did China receive blue prints of the IAI Lavi jet from Israel?
On the Internet, it is frequently found that the Chinese J-10 fighter jet evolved from the Israeli IAI Lavi project in that either China obtained the blueprints or received direct technical assistance ...
- 1,148
9
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Is the Perspectus Global "uncool emojis" survey real?
Daily Mail's article Thumb-down to the thumbs-up! Study reveals the cringeworthy emojis that are SO middle-aged and leave Gen Z youngsters rolling their eyes says
A spokesman for Perspectus Global ...
- 193
24
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Is the source of the phrase "smoke test" electronic hardware testing? [closed]
As an electronics engineer I always knew that smoke test originated from the moment you connect a new circuit to power for the first time and see the smoke doesn't come out. Wikipedia agrees with that
...
- 2,844
10
votes
1
answer
611
views
Does produce lose much of its nutrients just a few days after harvest?
The Chicago Tribune has reported in 2013 that
Most produce loses 30 percent of nutrients three days after harvest
I've seen an ad a few times recently that says "Produce loses most of its ...
- 547
0
votes
0
answers
85
views
Did USSR train East Pakistani separatists?
Here is a video from the defected KGB agent Yuri Bezmenov:
Behind Dhaka's fall - Yuri Bezmenov (Ex-KGB Agent)
The following is the part of the interview I am intersted in:
... Most of the Awami ...
- 1,148
1
vote
1
answer
285
views
Was the Fatah-1 rocket system indigenously developed by Pakistan?
Pakistan successfully test fires guided multi-launch rocket system ‘Fatah-1’
Pakistan on Tuesday conducted a successful test flight of an indigenously developed guided multi-launch rocket system ...
- 1,148
6
votes
1
answer
409
views
Has China stated that their no-first-use policy for nuclear weapons doesn't apply to countries that possess territories that China claims as its own?
According to an Indian journalist:
China had asserted before that its NFU would not apply against countries that are in possession of the Chinese territory. That means that China’s NFU does not apply ...
- 55.1k
3
votes
1
answer
559
views
Are people more likely to use the toilet stalls in the middle?
From Business Insider (and several other sources, albeit with debatable credibility):
Research suggests you should avoid the middle stalls at all costs. A wealth of research shows that, given several ...
- 133
3
votes
2
answers
812
views
Do 1 in 4 of us experience mental health problems each year?
I have seen this quote before but today I received an internal company email with this quote.
The ratio is also cited on page 7 of this 2014 report by Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London:
In any ...
- 133
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Are vegetable oils "worse" for your health than cigarettes?
There are several Tiktok videos going around claiming that 'vegetable oils are worse for your health than cigarettes'.
For example: TikTok user @thebenazadi said in a 2020 TikTok that Professor Brian ...
- 331
2
votes
2
answers
798
views
Is there a significant number of people who claim benefits when they could work instead?
The Home Secretary of the United Kingdom Suella Braverman recently claimed that there is a "stubborn core of our population that sees welfare as the go-to option [and] is not motivated... to get ...
- 145
6
votes
0
answers
504
views
Is the series of YouTube videos "Cutting Peoples Earphones, Then Giving Them Airpods" fake?
The video "Cutting Peoples Earphones, Then Giving Them Airpods" has attained over 53 million views at the time of writing (2022-10-03) making this a highly popular video on YouTube. Despite ...
- 169
29
votes
1
answer
10k
views
Were the Starlink units for Ukraine not paid by Musk?
In reply to Elon Musk's (controversial) peace plan for Ukraine, someone tweeted that
USAID and other paid for Strlinks, you fake philanthropist.
(A tweet with 6000+ "likes", so reasonably ...
- 55.1k
5
votes
1
answer
450
views
Does an “average-sized” power station pay over a quarter billion pounds per day when unable to generate electricity?
Given the war in Ukraine and associated sanctions on Russia and reciprocal withholding of supply, Europe is facing a gas shortage.
The UK imports very little Russian gas, but because of the reduced ...
- 3,846
5
votes
1
answer
365
views
Did France refuse to interview the Belarusian mercenary pilots which killed 9 French soldiers, even though France allegedly had the opportunity?
An old story regarding the 2004 French–Ivorian mini-war. During those events 9 French soldiers were killed by two Su-25 jets, allegedly piloted by Belarusian mercenaries.
According to Le Monde, one of ...
- 55.1k
40
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Do Starship's grocery delivering robots consume only as much energy as boiling water for a cup of tea per trip?
Starship Technologies is a robotics company with a program of developing robots that will deliver takeaway meals etc. using small robots such is this:
One particular press release on their website ...
- 6,615
13
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Did Henry Kissinger call Bangladesh a bottomless basket?
The Bottomless Basket
It is often said in Bangladeshi newspapers that ex-US Foreign Minister Henry Kissinger once called Bangladesh a "Bottomless Basket".
If so, why and when did he say ...
- 1,148
1
vote
0
answers
294
views
Are there more Pit bulls than German Shepherds in the USA?
According to MyGermanSheperd.org:
In the USA alone there are about 78.2 million dogs, and about 4.6% of all AKC registered dogs are German Shepherds. This gives over 3.5 million German Shepherd dogs ...
- 1,575
3
votes
1
answer
285
views
Did two Tomahawk cruise missiles crash in Iran during the 2003 war?
According to a 2009 armscontrol article, 10 US Tomahawk missiles crash en-route during the 2003 war with Iraq, two of these in Iran.
The cite a bunch of sources in their article, but none of those I ...
- 55.1k
4
votes
0
answers
447
views
Did Kyiv National Linguistic University publish a map showing that only a few Ukrainians (in the West of the country) speak Ukrainian at home?
Various Russian & other sources give this map (also on P.SE, but probably the most notable of these might be https://www.opendemocracy.net/ru/kto-boretsya-s-kem-v-ukraine-i-pochemu/)
Was that ...
- 55.1k
2
votes
0
answers
389
views
Did the EU prohibit the transport of Russian fertilizer to non-EU countries, so that only the EU could purchase it?
Reportedly Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia
accused EU officials of “selfishness, cynicism and hypocrisy” for prohibiting European carriers from transporting Russian ...
- 55.1k
8
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Did a volcano in Tonga explode again on 17 September 2022?
This widely watched video claims it did, but I can't find any news.
- 1,277
9
votes
1
answer
879
views
Can *mild* stress cause dramatic loss in cognitive capabilities in humans?
From Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) by Amy Gallo:
“Research demonstrates that even mild instances of stress can cause a rapid and dramatic loss of prefrontal cognitive ...
7
votes
0
answers
543
views
Did Voltaire drink 40-50 cups of coffee a day?
From 9 Famous Geniuses Who Were Also Huge Coffee Addicts:
Voltaire is said to have drunk 40-50 cups of coffee a day.
Elsewhere, from Did Voltaire really drink 40 to 50 cups of coffee a day? Stephen ...
13
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Did the U.K. sabotage Russia/Ukraine peace deal in April?
According to the description of a video from the The Jimmy Dore Show YouTube channel, titled Revealed: U.K. SABOTAGED Russia/Ukraine Peace Deal In April!:
Did you know that back in April, just a ...
- 265
30
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Do the most popular college books in the US include "The Communist Manifesto" & "The Republic"?
The mainstream media in China have reported several times that the most popular college books in the US include "The Communist Manifesto" & "The Republic". I have always ...
- 961
5
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Did the New York Times misleadingly remove Alex Jones' book from the NYT Bestseller's list?
Tucker Carlson claimed in a recent segment that The New York Times lied by leaving Alex Jones' new book The Great Reset off its rightful position of number one on its bestsellers' list:
Tucker
...
- 2,668
36
votes
4
answers
10k
views
During the Iran-Iraq war, did the Iranians use small children to trip land mines planted by Iraq?
I'm reading one of Paul Theroux's books, which was published in 2006 during the height of the second Gulf War, and there is a passage in it in which the author apparently claims the activity described ...
- 2,606
6
votes
1
answer
435
views
Did Pakistan shoot down an Indian Su-30 in 2019?
As of 2021 Radio Pakistan still claimed that in the 2019 shootout with India they shot down two IAF aircraft, a MiG-21 and a SU-30
PAF had shot down two Indian fighter jets namely MiG-21 and Su-30 ...
- 55.1k
2
votes
0
answers
891
views
Is the first pancake normally the worst?
It is a well-known piece of folk-wisdom that when making a batch of pancakes, the first one is always a dud.
It is widespread enough that Urban Dictionary and others use it as an analogy for dating.
...
- 138k
7
votes
0
answers
293
views
Do 50% of the schoolchildren in Turkey have Kurdish ethnicity?
Michael Gfoeller claims in a video that despite only 20% of the present population of Turkey being Kurds, 50% of the school children in Turkey are Kurds, and that consequently:
Within a generation, ...
- 55.1k
10
votes
0
answers
4k
views
Was Columbia University fined for animal cruelty due to experiments run by Mehmet Oz?
This SourceWatch article is being publicized in connection to Mehmet Oz:
In 2004, complaints about Dr. Mehmet Oz’s dog experiments were cited in a report from an internal investigation into ...
- 2,152
9
votes
0
answers
422
views
Did Archimedes really prove a goldsmith stole gold from Hiero II?
Skeptics, I'm tossing you a very old chestnut indeed. This is the story of "Eureka!", and how Archimedes sent a thieving goldsmith to the executioner. Every introductory chem class re-...
- 317
2
votes
0
answers
76
views
Did Pakistan make a broader request than what the US has granted in the $450 million F-16 package?
Some US sources cited in Pakistani media claim Pakistan might have requested/wanted more that it got in the recent $450 million package
Daniel Markey, a senior adviser on South Asia to the Washington-...
- 55.1k
50
votes
5
answers
9k
views
Are roundabouts actually statistically safer than traditional traffic patterns?
We have had a number of roundabouts installed near us in South Western PA in the past decade, and a quick internet search shows other states doing so as well. This seems to be an almost universally ...
- 552
-1
votes
1
answer
845
views
Was the car that broke down near a West Virginian coal mine in September 2022 electric?
Recently, Donald Trump shared a link (via Truth Social) to a September 2, 2022 Western journal article that described an electric car needing to be pushed up to a coal plant to get charged.
“Today at ...
- 468
26
votes
3
answers
13k
views
Has there been a 1101% increase in excess deaths among children aged 0-14 across Europe in 2022?
According to the blogger Peter Sweden:
If we take a look at the excess deaths among children aged 0-14 across Europe, there has been a HORRIFYING 1101% increase in excess deaths so far this year ...
14
votes
1
answer
851
views
Has wholesale electricity price in France increased to €1000 per MWh, up from €85 per MWh?
This broadcast ...
France to restart all nuclear reactors by winter amid energy crunch • FRANCE 24 English
... says:
The wholesale price for 2022 was €85 per MWh and the price for 2023 has gone up ...
- 26.4k
31
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Was one-third of Pakistan flooded in August 2022?
An Aug. 30, 2022 NBC article says:
A third of Pakistan is underwater as deadly floods leave desperate residents facing 'doomsday'
The article later attributes the one third claim to a tweet from ...
- 2,834
2
votes
0
answers
152
views
Did the Pakistan intelligence director take part in prayers led by a Taliban leader?
According to a 21st August 2021 article by (the not so reliable) republicworld,
Pakistan's ISI Chief Faiz Hameed Spotted Offering Prayers With Taliban's Mullah Baradar [...]
Recently, visuals of ISI ...
- 55.1k
4
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Is this a photo of a child trying out a stripper pole at a North Carolina pride event?
Popular right-wing Twitter account "Libs of Tik-Tok", a twitter account not renowned for its accuracy, published a provocative picture which claimed that "a pride event in Charlotte, NC ...
- 2,668
10
votes
1
answer
811
views
Was the control over Bitcoin network ever largely centralized?
I'm watching a YouTube video with over a million views, where someone called munecat claims that the control of the Bitcoin network was largely held by several big players around 2014, with ...
- 203
12
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Did Plato and Socrates discuss picking the largest ear of wheat in a wheat field?
There is a widely shared story about Plato and Socrates finding wheat in a field, and using it as a metaphor, generally for love. Examples: Actorsfit.com, David Ding and Love, Marriage, Happiness, ...
- 961
10
votes
2
answers
578
views
Did Martin Luther King Jr. convince Nichelle Nichols to stay on Star Trek instead of leaving after one season?
The late Nichelle Nichols repeatedly told a story about meeting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who encouraged her to stay on Star Trek instead of leaving after the end of the first season.
“You cannot, ...
- 327
0
votes
1
answer
591
views
Did CIA interrogator Charlie Wise die?
I'm interested in Charlie Wise, the CIA interrogator and torturer. Several sources indicate that he died.
However, it seems quite plausible to me that these reports were part of an effort by the CIA ...
- 134