112
votes
Accepted
Do 1 in 2 Swiss citizens have guns and do they have the lowest crime rate?
The two facts stated in the claim can be considered mostly true. The conclusion drawn, however, is not.
Gun Ownership
Ownership rates in Switzerland are estimated between 25 and 60%. There is no ...
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101
votes
Does Ukraine have biological weapons facilities?
I think it's worth looking at some of the specific evidence put forward by Russian state-sponsored media.
Here's one such example, from a twitter account that's publishing some of the specific ...
- 5,746
79
votes
Accepted
Are Hamas' Qassam rockets not very destructive?
Qassam rockets are essentially untargeted, flying improvised explosive devices (IEDs). As such, the objective is not to precisely hit a military target, but to strike terror in the civilian population ...
- 52k
63
votes
Was the German V2 rocket the only weapon whose production killed more than its use?
Q.1: This struck me as a fairly extreme claim. Is it true that the V2 production killed more than its use?
In all likelihood, yes. The director of the Mittelbau-Dora commemoration site is quoted ...
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40
votes
Do these photos show Ukrainian children being trained to fight the Russian army?
This answer talks about two Ukrainian photojournalists, both called Sergei: Sergei Supinsky and Sergei Dolzhenko.
Both of them photographed the training event in Ukraine.
Supinsky's photos are ...
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31
votes
Are Hamas' Qassam rockets not very destructive?
tldr: I think the question and tim's answer are both partly flawed. In this answer I attempt to explain why it's impossible to have an objective and reliable answer to this question.
The first problem ...
- 599
27
votes
Does Havana Syndrome exist?
Are Directed-Energy Weapons Behind the Havana Syndrome?
In 2020, a study on Havana syndrome by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concluded that the more than 130 ...
- 787
16
votes
Do 1 in 2 Swiss citizens have guns and do they have the lowest crime rate?
There are two factual claims here. Let's start with the "lowest crime rate in the world".
Statistically, how exactly is that claim measured? For example, do you look at everything that is illegal in ...
- 315
15
votes
Accepted
Was the ancient Indian city of Mohenjo-daro destroyed by a nuclear weapon?
That there was increased levels of radioactivity above the background level found at Mohenjo-Daro.
This is unsourced and very vague. "In certain areas of that site, you find increased levels of ...
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14
votes
Accepted
Is the RS-28 Sarmat missile capable of destroying an area the size of France?
The original claim in English is from the 08 May 2016 article Russia's New ICBM Sarmat Can Penetrate Defense Shield, Wipe Out Texas which says:
The broadcaster added that the RS-28 is capable of ...
- 109k
14
votes
Did the government of Nazi Germany sell Mauser pistols to an underground Jewish army?
Paul Bogdanor analyzed Livingstones claims in the Algemeiner - including this one. He names the presumed source of the claim and concludes that it is not based on any conclusive evidence:
This, ...
- 52k
14
votes
Do these photos show Ukrainian children being trained to fight the Russian army?
Yes.
As far as I can tell. More similar images hosted by Yahoo news.
My local news hosted one of these pictures. Second article. Both credit the figure to SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP. Search on him seem to ...
- 7,170
13
votes
Accepted
Are there ancient Chinese crossbows that can fire twice as far as a modern rifle?
TL;DR: No
Crossbow vs. sniper rifle
The Terracotta Army crossbow that could shoot twice as far as a modern-day rifle: Archaeologists unearth 2,200-year-old weapon at historic Chinese site
This ...
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12
votes
Accepted
Does the GRU-43/B "Massive Ordnance Air Blast" weapon cost $US16 million?
Yes, both claims appear to be true
The NYT reports:
...using a 20,000-pound bomb that cost $16 million, and more than $300 million to develop...
Business Insider:
But the number heavily cited ...
- 7,134
11
votes
Did Sergei Pashinsky say Bayraktar are not effective in combat, and get shot down almost immediately?
The full text of the tweet:
Review of Ukrainian politician Sergei Pashinsky on Turkish UAVs
supplied to Zelensky's regime. “Bayraktar has more PR and corruption
than combat use. He has no combat ...
- 1,579
10
votes
Accepted
Was the Browning Automatic Rifle kept from US troops during WWI?
No it was not, the guns were delivered to troops as soon as was possible.
The BAR was not put into production until after the US entered WWI so it took time until the rifle was ready to get the ...
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10
votes
Was the German V2 rocket the only weapon whose production killed more than its use?
Tools of War: History of Weapons in Modern Times by Syed Ramsey claims that there was a 2011 BBC documentary stating numbers of 9000 killed in attacks, with 12000 forced laborers and concentration ...
- 3,677
10
votes
Are Hamas' Qassam rockets not very destructive?
I spent some time creating some statistics so that one can judge for
themselves how destructive Hamas's rocket barrages are.
Fatality rates
Statistics of the number of people killed in Israel by ...
10
votes
Does Ukraine have biological weapons facilities?
I'm not sure how it's possible to prove a negative of this kind, but
Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, told the 15-member council that the UN is “not aware of any ...
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9
votes
Did Seal Team Six fire more rounds in one year than the entire Marine Corps's ammunition allowance?
The quote that this show is most likely citing is from a book written by US naval officer Richard "Dick" Marcinko titled Rogue Warrior: Red Cell. In the picture section there is a caption that reads ...
- 285
9
votes
Accepted
Has Longitudinal Wave Interferometry ever been used to alter the weather?
I don't believe "longitudinal wave interferometry" is actually a thing. Therefore, I think it's safe to say that any related weapons do not actually exist, and even implying that said weapons are "...
- 320
9
votes
Does Havana Syndrome exist?
Maybe. Opinions differ and the evidence is inconsistent.
BBC News has recently produced a radio documentary about this, I've summarised it below (although it's worth listening to the audio, it's ...
- 7,319
8
votes
Was the German V2 rocket the only weapon whose production killed more than its use?
I have a very clear alternative example of another weapon system that killed more people in production than use. The H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to successfully sink a surface ship. In testing ...
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8
votes
Do 1 in 2 Swiss citizens have guns and do they have the lowest crime rate?
Summary:
Claim 1: "1 in 2 citizens in Switzerland have guns" is contradicted by the study below:
A quarter of Swiss households reported that they own a gun for army service. Few Swiss ...
- 7,319
7
votes
Is the RS-28 Sarmat missile capable of destroying an area the size of France?
False
Claims are it carries 16 2.5 Megaton warheads (40Mt/16 if I read right). A single 2.5Megaton warhead has an airburst radius of 10km: http://www.stardestroyer.net/Resources/Calculators/...
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6
votes
Did Iran launch a monkey into space and safely return it to Earth?
Yes, Iran did at some point successfully launch a monkey into space. And thanks to YouTube you can watch the video
Iran's Space Monkey Full High Quality Video
Low res version from ISNA
Article from ...
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6
votes
What do we know about red mercury?
Red Mercury has a lot in common with the Philosopher's Stone. Charles Mackay's book has an extensive history of alchemists who sought or claimed to have made this substance, and the parallels with ...
6
votes
Does Havana Syndrome exist?
Probably
Your question is pretty much exactly my reaction the first time I heard of this, especially "This sounds like a bad action movie premise". It is difficult to research objectively ...
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible