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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

Science & space fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about science & space. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

1,577 published reviews in this topic

FACTLYScience & space

A video of the Luna-25 spacecraft crash landing on the moon’s surface

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

FACTLY examined a video circulating as footage of the Luna-25 spacecraft’s crash onto the Moon. The review says the spacecraft crashed after moving into an unpredictable orbit, but distinguishes that event from the video being shared as a record of it. Its central finding is that Roscosmos had not released official footage of the crash landing. To investigate the video’s provenance, FACTLY searched online news reports about the crash and found no credible source containing the viral clip. It also checked Roscosmos’s official statement, which did not include video. The review then used reverse image search on keyframes from the clip and traced the lunar scene to a NASA visualization made by science visualizer Ernie Wright using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter data. FACTLY reports that a frame appearing at 2:10 in NASA’s visualization matches one in the viral video. It says the viral clip combines that frame with an additional element resembling a spacecraft. Thus, the review’s evidence challenges the video’s claimed provenance: the lunar image came from an existing visualization, while the supplied excerpt provides no official footage showing Luna-25’s impact.

YouturnScience & space

India:— ISRO Engineers, who worked on launching of India's Moon Mission, didn't get salaries for over 17 months.Engineers protested for months but were told by department that there are no funds for pay disbursement.Chandrayaan-3 engineers were told by authorities that their contract will be revoked if they protested about it.If Chandrayaan succeeds to make a soft landing on moon, 🇮🇳 will become only 4th country in world to do so.

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

FACTLYScience & space

Cow dung can absorb alpha, beta and gamma rays and acts as a good shielding material against nuclear radiation

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The review examines a social-media video asserting that cow dung absorbs alpha, beta and gamma radiation and that houses coated with it remain unaffected by nuclear radiation. The claim is specifically about protection from radiation associated with nuclear emergencies, not simply about other uses of cow dung. The review concludes that the video’s shielding claim is unsupported by scientific evidence. To assess the claim, the review says it looked for relevant scientific studies and compares the assertion with established radiation-protection guidance. It describes the ALARA principle—keeping exposure as low as reasonably achievable—and its measures of reducing time near a source, increasing distance, and using shielding. It reports that lead and conventional materials such as concrete are used to reduce exposure to gamma or X-rays, and that the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board identifies lead, steel and concrete as shielding materials. The review says it found no scientific study identifying cow dung as a protective shield against atomic radiation. The review also distinguishes the claim from other reported assertions: it recounts similar claims made by public figures and a 2011 statement about cow dung and onions, but says these claims lacked scientific support. It quotes a senior professor who said there was no record of cow dung preventing radiation. These examples provide context for the claim’s circulation; they do not establish that cow dung works. The evidence described in the review therefore does not support treating cow dung as an effective protective barrier against nuclear radiation.

Factcrescendo Sri LankaScience & space

Sounds Coming From The Universe, Captured by NASA!!

Publisher’s rating: Missing Context

The review examines a video presenting images of the Pillars of Creation nebula with audio, which social media posts described as actual sounds of the universe. It identifies the video as one released by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory in 2021, and explains that the audio was made using data sonification—not recorded as natural sound coming from the nebula or space. Its conclusion therefore distinguishes the video’s real scientific data from the way that data is heard.

El Detector / Univision NoticiasScience & space

Animal marino gigante ataca y destruye una embarcación en Canadá.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a social-media video presented as showing a giant sea creature attacking and splitting a boat in Canada. The review describes a 14-second Facebook reel: a huge fin approaches a vessel, an animal emerges from the water and breaks the boat in half, and debris appears to strike the helicopter filming. The video’s overlaid text says, “Visto en Canadá. ¿Qué animal es ese?” The review notes that the footage itself provides no indication connecting the supposed attack to Canada. The investigation used a reverse image search on a frame from the circulating video. That search led to an Instagram account with a version of the video nearly three times longer, including footage before and after the attack sequence. The review reports that the longer version shows a helicopter on the boat’s stern before takeoff and, later, a shark approaching the camera after the filming helicopter appears to fall into the sea. The review traces the footage to digital creator @aleksey__n. It says the creator’s profile contained the video, posted on March 9, 2023, with the hashtags “animación” and “megalodón”; an April 11 post sharing the longer video described it as CGI and attributed its creation to that account. The review reports that the creator did not respond to a request to confirm authorship before publication. Its conclusion is that the boat attack is not a real Canadian incident: the video is a digital creation, rather than evidence of a megalodon attacking a vessel.