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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

APA - Austria Presse AgenturScience & space

Bild zeigt energetische Ausstöße bzw. Lichtabgabe einer menschlichen Hand, die vor allem durch die Fingernägel erfolgt

Publisher’s rating: Das Bild zeigt eine Hand, die für wissenschaftliche Zwecke im Jahr 1900 unter schwachen Strom gesetzt worden ist. Die Biolumineszenz, also Lichtemission eines Menschen, ist tatsächlich nachweisbar, aber nur extrem schwach.

The claim concerns a social-media image presented as evidence that a human hand emits energy or light, especially through the fingernails. The review distinguishes the image from the separate scientific question of whether humans emit any light: it says human bioluminescence is real, but the image is not a recording of that phenomenon. The review describes the measured emission as far too weak for human senses to detect and says that studies’ visualizations look different from the image shared on Facebook. To investigate the image’s origin, the review reports using a reverse image search and checking the attribution against several sources, including the Albertina’s online archive. That archive identifies the work as “Elektrographie einer Hand,” attributes it to Hermann Schnauss, and dates it to 1900. The review says the title and accompanying historical material identify the image as an electrical experiment, not a measurement of light emitted by a hand. The review also describes the historical process: body parts were placed on light-sensitive plates, sometimes with weak electrical current applied. It says Schnauss’s purpose was to examine the behavior of electricity. Thus, even though the image was made to visualize an effect associated with a hand, its provenance and production method do not support the claim that it depicts human bioluminescence or energy escaping through fingernails.

dpaScience & space

Das Foto zeigt die Appolo-16-Crew während einer kurzen Pause nach der Mondlandung.

Publisher’s rating: Das Bild wurde nicht nach, auch nicht während der Apollo-16-Mondmission aufgenommen, sondern vorher. Es zeigt Astronauten, die für die Reise trainieren. Auf Farbaufnahmen kann man den Unterschied zu Bildern vom Mond deutlich erkennen.

The post presents a black-and-white photograph of men in spacesuits without helmets as showing the Apollo 16 crew during a break after landing on the Moon. The review identifies the image as a photograph of the crew preparing for the mission, not as a scene from the lunar mission: it says the picture was taken before the mission and shows astronauts training for the journey. The review traces the photograph to NASA’s official Flickr profile and dates it to February 6, 1972. It identifies the people, from left to right, as Charles Duke, John Young and Thomas Mattingly, preparing with the lunar rover at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Apollo 16 launched on April 16, 1972, and its crew landed on the Moon on April 21, so the photograph predates both events. The review also describes a color version with a wider crop: vehicles, plants and buildings are visible in the background. It contrasts that setting with color images from the Moon, and notes that astronauts wore helmets during lunar walks. These details support the review’s identification of the image as training, rather than a post-landing pause.

Fact Crescendo Sri LankaScience & space

ටයිටන් යාත්‍රාවේ අවසාන වීඩියෝව ලෙස හුවමාරුවන 2021 වසරේ පැරණි වීඩියෝවක් !

Publisher’s rating: False

The review investigates a roughly three-minute underwater video shared on social media as showing the Titan passengers’ “final video.” It reports that Fact Crescendo searched for coverage of the submersible’s recent voyage using InVID-WeVerify, then found a 10 Tampa Bay report featuring Aaron Newman, a person visible in the circulating footage. The review says that report was broadcast on June 22, after the Titan disappeared on June 18, and that it showed part of the same footage while identifying it as a 2021 dive. These details distinguish an older recording from footage of the fatal voyage. (S1: “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය සටහන් : “ටයිටන් සබ්මැරීනයේ ගමන් කළ අයගේ අවසන් වීඩියෝව” යන තේමාවෙන් හුවමාරු වූ විනාඩි 3 ක පමණ දියයට ගමන්කරන යාත්‍රාවක් තුළ සිට ලබාගත් දර්ශන පෙළක්”; S1: “Fact Crescendo විසින් Invid-We-Verify සෙවුමක් සිදු කළ අතර මෙම වීඩියෝවේ පැහැදිලිව දැකිය හැකි පුද්ගලයාම වන Aaron Newman සමඟ සම්මුඛ සාකච්ඡාවක් කරන 10 Tampa Bay මාධ්‍ය ආයතනය විසින් පලකල ප්‍රවෘත්තියක්, වීඩියෝවක්ද සොයා ගැනීමට හැකිවුණා.”; S1: “ටයිටන් සබ්මැරීනය ජුනි 18 වන දින අතුරුදහන් වීමෙන් පසුව”; S1: “එම ප්‍රවෘත්ති ප්‍රකාශයේ තත්පර 53 සිට මිනිත්තු 1 තත්පර 4 දක්වා කාලයේ සමාජ ජාලාවල වේගයෙන් පැතිර යන වීඩියෝවේ කොටසක් දැකිය හැකි අතර එහිදී නිව්මන් සමඟින් කාන්තාවක් ඇතුළු ඔහුගේ සෙසු මගීන් සමඟ දැක ගත හැක. එම දර්ශන Titan යාත්‍රාව 2021 වසරේ දී සිදුකරන ලද දිය යට කිමිදීමකදී ලබාගත් දර්ශන බව ද සදහන.”) The review also cites a CBS broadcast on June 22 in which Newman described his 2021 Titan trip. It explains that he was not among the people aboard during the later fatal voyage. The video also shows women, whereas the review states that no women were on that final voyage. It names those aboard as Hamish Harding, Stockton Rush, Suleman Dawood, Shahzada Dawood, and Paul-Henri Nargeolet. Together, the older footage provenance, Newman’s identification, and the mismatch in passengers undermine the claim that the clip shows the fatal voyage’s passengers. (S1: “මෙම වීඩියෝව 2023 ජූනි 22 වැනි දින CBS ප්‍රවෘත්ති මගින් විකාශනය කරන ලදී. නිව්මන්, CBS ප්‍රවෘත්ති ප්‍රකාශනයේ, 2021 දී Titan සවාරිය පිළිබඳ ඔහුගේ අත්දැකීම පැහැදිලි කරන අතර එය ‘සුවපහසු නමුත් සුඛෝපභෝගී නොවන’ ලෙස සඳහන් කරයි . Aaron Newman ,2021 වසරේදී මෙම ටයිටන් යාත්‍රාවේ චාරිකාවකට එක්වූ අයෙක් වන අතර ඔහු පසුගියදා පිපිරීමට ලක්වූ අවස්ථාවේ එහි සිටි පිරිසේ සාමාජිකයෙක් නොවේ.”; S1: “සමාජ මාධ්‍ය තුළ හුවමාරු වන වීඩියෝවේ අවස්තාවන් කිහිපයකදී ම, යාත්‍රාව තුළ කාන්තාවන් සිටින බව දැක ගන්නට ලැබුණ ද ටයිටන් අවසාන ගමනට කිසිදු හෝ කාන්තාවක් එකතු වී තිබුනේ නැහැ. පිපිරීමට ලක්වූ අවස්ථාවේ ටයිටන් යාත්‍රාවේ සිටි පිරිස වන්නේ හමිෂ් හාර්ඩින්, ස්ටොක්ටන් රෂ්, සුලේමන් ඩාවුඩ් සමඟ ඔහුගේ පියා, ෂාසාදා ඩාවුඩ් සහ පෝල්-හෙන්රි නර්ජෝලට් ලෙස සඳහන් කර ඇත.”; S1: “අප විසින් සිදුකරන ලද කරුණු විමසීමේදී තහවුරුවන කාරණය වන්නේ සමාජ මාධ්‍ය ඔස්සේ හුවමාරු වූ ඉහත වීඩියෝව, ටයිටන් යාත්‍රාව විනාශ වීමට පෙර, එහි අවසන් වරට ගමන් ගත් පිරිස ඇතුළත් දර්ශන පෙළක් නොවන බවයි. මෙය 2021 වසරේ රූගත කරන ලද වීඩියෝවකි.”)

LupaScience & space

A Nasa acabou de confirmar que a Terra pode ficar um ano inteiro sem internet. (...) A Nasa havia mandado um equipamento de análise para o sol e o equipamento acabou enviando para a Terra algumas informações importantíssimas sobre o sol e junto a essas informações veio algumas coisas relacionadas a ventos solares e também explosões solares. Isso causaria uma tempestade geomagnética na Terra, afetando todos os aparelhos eletrônicos e também satélites. Isso inclui todos os aparelhos de comunicação da Terra, ou seja, a internet e também a linha telefônica. (...)

Publisher’s rating: Falso

LupaScience & space

A Nasa acabou de confirmar que a Terra pode ficar um ano inteiro sem internet. (...) A Nasa havia mandado um equipamento de análise para o sol e o equipamento acabou enviando para a Terra algumas informações importantíssimas sobre o sol e junto a essas informações veio algumas coisas relacionadas a ventos solares e também explosões solares. Isso causaria uma tempestade geomagnética na Terra, afetando todos os aparelhos eletrônicos e também satélites. Isso inclui todos os aparelhos de comunicação da Terra, ou seja, a internet e também a linha telefônica. (...)

Publisher’s rating: Falso

Model PeepsScience & space

Victor Vescovo owns and operates a submersible called DSV Limiting Factor, a Triton 36000/2 model submersible manufactured by Triton Submarines LLC. It is the world’s deepest diving, currently operational submarine, and can reach any ocean’s bottom. Vescovo used it to visit the deepest points of all five oceans during the Five Deeps Expedition of 2018–2019. He also used it to explore shipwrecks like the USS Johnston and the RMS Titanic.

Publisher’s rating: Victor Vescovo owns and operates a submersible called DSV Limiting Factor, a Triton 36000/2 model submersible manufactured by Triton Submarines LLC. It is the world’s deepest diving, currently operational submarine, and can reach any ocean’s bottom. Vescovo used it to visit the deepest points of all five oceans during the Five Deeps Expedition of 2018–2019. He also used it to explore shipwrecks like the USS Johnston and the RMS Titanic.

Model PeepsScience & space

Victor Vescovo’s Five Deeps Expedition has significantly contributed to deep-sea wildlife studies. The team discovered 40 new species throughout the expedition and collected a large catalogue of biological and water samples. These samples are currently awaiting analysis in the lab.

Publisher’s rating: Victor Vescovo’s Five Deeps Expedition has significantly contributed to deep-sea wildlife studies. The team discovered 40 new species throughout the expedition and collected a large catalogue of biological and water samples. These samples are currently awaiting analysis in the lab.

Model PeepsScience & space

Victor Vescovo is the first person to complete the “Explorers’ Extreme Trifecta,” which involves reaching extremes on land, sea, and air. He submitted Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, on May 24, 2010. He dived into the Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth, on April 28, 2019. Finally, he ventured to space by crossing the 100-km-high Kármán Line as part of the Blue Origin NS-21 mission on June 4, 2022.

Publisher’s rating: Victor Vescovo is the first person to complete the “Explorers’ Extreme Trifecta,” which involves reaching extremes on land, sea, and air. He submitted Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, on May 24, 2010. He dived into the Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth, on April 28, 2019. Finally, he ventured to space by crossing the 100-km-high Kármán Line as part of the Blue Origin NS-21 mission on June 4, 2022.

Model PeepsScience & space

Victor Vescovo holds the record for the deepest dive by a crewed vessel. He reached the Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth, in the Pacific Ocean on April 28, 2019. This dive took him to approximately 35,853 feet (10,972 meters).

Publisher’s rating: Victor Vescovo holds the record for the deepest dive by a crewed vessel. He reached the Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth, in the Pacific Ocean on April 28, 2019. This dive took him to approximately 35,853 feet (10,972 meters).

El Detector / Univision NoticiasScience & space

Video muestra "ovni estrellado en el Caribe”.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The claim concerns a social-media video presented as showing a crashed unidentified flying object in the Caribbean. The review identifies the object in that video as a fictional Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, rather than a real spacecraft or unidentified object. It reports that the accompanying Facebook post had more than 40,000 views by June 27, 2023. To investigate, the publisher says it used a Google reverse-image search, which identified the partly submerged object as a Millennium Falcon model. It also searched Google for keywords and found earlier TikTok posts showing the same video and making the same crashed-UFO claim. In the review’s account, the image searches and the identification of the object—not simply the video’s caption—undercut the claim that it documents a real crash. The review also notes a location inconsistency in the video’s narration: it reportedly places the object “in the Caribbean, in Lima, Peru.” The article explains that Peru’s coast faces the Pacific, not the Caribbean. That geographic point is supplementary; the review’s identification of the object as a fictional Star Wars ship is its direct evidence about what the video depicts.