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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

Prime 9ja Online CheckScience & space

Rats attract snakes.

Publisher’s rating: Partially true

The review addresses whether rats attract snakes, not whether rats are the only reason snakes enter an area. It says snakes naturally prey on rats and may be drawn to places where rats are numerous. The supporting explanation is brief: it states that snakes also eat other prey and that their presence depends on more than rats alone. The review therefore presents rat activity as one possible factor in snake attraction, rather than a guaranteed outcome or an exclusive cause. The excerpt attributes its account to a University of Nebraska source, but does not describe a specific study, field investigation, or method used to evaluate the claim. It also provides no figures about how likely snakes are to appear where rats are present. The evidence supports a qualified relationship, while leaving those details unexamined.

El Detector / Univision NoticiasScience & space

Video muestra “extraterrestres en Las Vegas captados por una cámara de seguridad”.

Publisher’s rating: Falso

The review investigated a social-media video presented as security-camera footage of an extraterrestrial in a Las Vegas backyard. Its central finding was that the alleged alien footage was digitally created, while the accompanying audio came from a separate, real 911 call. The review traced the video to a TikTok account named “owltreestump”: it found the full clip there, dated May 26, 2023, and noted that the post included the hashtags “cgi” and “blender3d.” The account also contained other digital animations. These findings identify the supposed security-camera images as created content, not documentation of an alien encounter. The audio did not establish that the video depicted the event described in the call. The review matched it to a segment from a June 7 report by CBS Las Vegas about a 911 call answered by Las Vegas police on May 1. The call was real, but the review explains that it predated the video’s stated May 26 recording date. CBS Las Vegas also supplied officers’ body-camera footage showing a bright object crossing the sky; according to the review, police reached no conclusion about whether anyone was in the caller’s backyard. The review added that the American Meteor Society recorded 22 reports of a fireball or flash over Nevada, eastern California, Utah, and Arizona on May 1. That detail offers a possible context for the reported light, but does not verify an extraterrestrial. The key distinction is between a genuine call about a reported sighting and separately created imagery later paired with its audio.

FACTLYScience & space

The visuals of water boiling under pits formed on a highway in Veracruz, Mexico, are a result of volcanic activity in Mexico’s Popocatepetl volcanic mountain

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video said to show water boiling in pits on a highway in Veracruz, Mexico, because of activity at Popocatépetl. FACTLY reports that the video does not show an event in Mexico: it shows a fire beneath an overpass on Avenida Pedro Menéndez Gilbert in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The review states that the incident’s cause was not a volcanic eruption. To check the footage’s origin, the review says a reverse image search led to a post by Ecuadorian media organisation La Data Ec containing the same visuals. That post placed the incident beneath an overpass in Guayaquil on 27 April 2023. The review also cites a Primicias report, which it says attributed the fire to people living on the streets rather than volcanic activity. Thus, the video’s location and the reported cause of the event contradict the claim’s description of boiling water in Veracruz caused by Popocatépetl. FACTLY further reports that the local fire department extinguished the fire after eight hours.

dpaScience & space

L'Etna a été filmé hier en émettant plus de CO2 que l'homme n'en a jamais créé.

Publisher’s rating: Non. Cette allégation est fausse. Les rejets de CO2 des volcans sont largement inférieurs à ceux des activités humaines, comme l'ont expliqué plusieurs spécialistes à la dpa.

The claim concerned a social-media post asserting that Etna had been filmed “yesterday” emitting more CO2 than humans had ever produced. The review connects it to Etna’s May 21, 2023 eruption: after hours of rumbling, the volcano erupted, and Catania airport temporarily stopped operations. The post circulated with video of an eruption, but the review found that the footage did not show the event it purported to depict. To check the video’s provenance, the review compared the social-media footage with reporting and other available images. It says heavy rain clouds obscured Etna on May 21, making the eruption impossible to observe with the naked eye, and notes that the weather is visible in Euronews footage. The investigators identified the viral video as showing an earlier Etna eruption, in February 2021; they point to matching excerpts, including views of a roof and chimney. The emissions comparison also contradicts the post’s central assertion. The review reports that volcanic activity emits an estimated 280–360 million tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, while human activities emit far more. Atmospheric scientist Cathy Clerbaux told dpa that annual human carbon emissions from fossil fuels, forests and other sources are 40 to 100 times higher than all volcanic emissions, depending on the year. Volcanologist Alain Bernard likewise said volcanic CO2 emissions are far below human-caused emissions.

FACTLYScience & space

Visuals of a strange human-like creature captured in a sea

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerns a video of a human-like creature lying on a table, shared as footage of a strange creature captured at sea. FACTLY’s review says the creature in the video was instead a model made for the HBO Max show *Raised by Wolves*. It identifies the shared visuals as the same ones appearing in videos posted by prop maker Dreamsmith and artist Furio Tedeschi. To investigate, the reviewers performed reverse image searches on keyframes from the viral video. They found a TikTok post by Smooth-On, a company that manufactures casting materials. FACTLY reports that the TikTok showed the same visuals but supplied a different context: its description said the creature had been created for *Raised by Wolves* at Dreamsmith. The review then checked Dreamsmith’s official Instagram page and found that the model had been created by Dreamsmith in collaboration with Furio Tedeschi. Tedeschi had posted two videos on Instagram and tagged Dreamsmith; FACTLY says those videos were the same ones shared in the viral post. The matching visuals and the posts identifying their production origin support the conclusion that the video depicts a TV-show model, not a creature captured at sea.

Factcrescendo Sri LankaScience & space

The Oldest Living Giant Tortoise! (Image)

Publisher’s rating: Misleading

The review examined a social-media image said to show Jonathan, described in the accompanying post as born in 1832 and 191 years old in 2023. Its central finding distinguishes the claim about Jonathan’s age from the identification of the animal in the photograph: the review says Jonathan was indeed born in 1832 and reached 191 in 2023, but the tortoise shown in the viral image was not Jonathan. To investigate the image, the Fact Crescendo team says it used reverse image search and traced the photograph to Taronga Zoo’s Instagram account, where it had been posted in 2014. The review also reports that AFP Australia contacted the zoo. Taronga Zoo identified the tortoise pictured as A11, a 50-year-old Galapagos tortoise. The review identifies Jonathan as a Seychelles giant tortoise and says Guinness World Records recognizes him as the oldest living land animal. The misleading element, therefore, is the viral photograph’s identification—not the review’s account of Jonathan’s age or record. The image shows a different tortoise from a different species.

dpaScience & space

La Terre est plate et le Soleil n'est pas situé à 150 millions de km de notre planète.

Publisher’s rating: Ces affirmations sont fausses. La Terre, qui est bien ronde, tourne autour du Soleil à une distance d'environ 150 millions de kilomètres. Cet état des choses a été démontré scientifiquement à plusieurs reprises. Le fait que les rayons de soleil ne semblent parfois pas parallèles les uns aux autres est dû à la perspective de l'observateur sur Terre.