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1500 questions
80
votes
2 answers
Are these UFOs on the videos released by the Pentagon still unidentified?
The Pentagon recently released videos of UFOs taken by Navy pilots. According to this Guardian article,
The Pentagon on Monday [27 April 2020] released three declassified videos that show US Navy pilots encountering what appear to be unidentified…
Taladris
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80
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3 answers
Have China and India more than doubled carbon emissions since 2000 while U.S. emissions have fallen?
The following meme has been shared circa Dec 2019 on social media and several blogs:
The text reads:
China's Carbon Emission Change Since 2000: +208%
India's Carbon Emission Change Since 2000: +155%
United States's Carbon Emission Change Since…
Paul Draper
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80
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4 answers
Does the US Armed Forces refuse to recruit anyone with an IQ less than 83?
In this video, Jordan Peterson claims the following.
You can't induct someone into the Armed Forces in the US if they have an IQ of less than 83.
He claims that the armed forces needs an accurate predictor of intelligence in order to be able to…
Mason Wheeler
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80
votes
2 answers
Does fossil fuels use since 1990 account for half of all the fossil fuels used in history?
This recent claim appeared on Twitter:
If you are 29, you’ve been alive when half of all the fossil fuels ever burned throughout all of human history have been burned
The source appears to be an article in PeakProsperity.com. The source makes the…
matt_black
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80
votes
1 answer
Is the US federal government still paying Civil War survivor benefits?
I read an article claiming that the US federal government is still paying out a Civil War survivor pension today, over 150 years after the Civil War ended. Is this accurate?
In 1924, Mose Triplett, who had served in both the Union and the…
HopelessN00b
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80
votes
1 answer
Did the U.S. Army treat a President's cold using chlorine gas?
Several texts on the history of chemical warfare mention the story that in May 1924 the U.S. Army Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) treated President Calvin Coolidge for a severe cold with chlorine. For example:
In May 1924 the CWS sealed President…
user22213
80
votes
2 answers
Did Donald Trump file for bankruptcy four times?
In the CNN's Republican debate broadcasted in Sept 2015, Carly Fiorina said the following to Donald Trump:
There are a lot of us Americans who believe that we're going to have trouble someday paying back the interest on our debt. Because…
Online User
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79
votes
1 answer
Does milk make your bones stronger?
It's a common notion that milk makes bones stronger; milk contains calcium and bones contain calcium. But obviously it's not the case that calcium ingested is immediately deposited into bones. In fact, there seem to be no studies suggesting this at…
Dapianoman
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79
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3 answers
Does wearing a bicycle helmet make the cyclist safer?
Does wearing a helmet while bicycling make an individual cyclist safer?
That is, in the case of an accident, is one safer wearing an helmet? If yes, are the odds of an accident lower, higher or identical if one is wearing a helmet? If the odds of…
Goodbye Stack Exchange
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79
votes
1 answer
Did a thief think he could conceal his identity from security cameras by putting lemon juice on his face?
McArthur Wheeler, a man who robbed two banks after covering his face with lemon juice in the mistaken belief that, because lemon juice is usable as invisible ink, it would prevent his face from being recorded on surveillance cameras.
Is this…
Rowan Freeman
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79
votes
1 answer
Was the Brazilian Zika virus outbreak centered in a place where GMO mosquitoes were released?
A blogger claims:
By July 2015, shortly after the GM mosquitoes were first released into
the wild in Juazeiro, Brazil, Oxitec proudly announced they had
“successfully controlled the Aedes aegypti mosquito that spreads
dengue fever, chikungunya and…
Avery
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79
votes
2 answers
Is drinking water during a meal bad for you?
I have heard that it will "wash away the nutrients", that it dilutes stomach acid and all kinds of things. Is this just an old-wives tale?
MSpeed
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78
votes
2 answers
Was the Roman knowledge of how to build aqueducts lost?
In a TED interview, Elon Musk stated:
People are mistaken when they think that technology just automatically improves. It does not automatically improve. It only improves if a lot of people work very hard to make it better, and actually it will, I…
Favst
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78
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2 answers
Did Euler make the elementary mistake √-2 √-3 = √6?
The following extract is from Tristan Needham's Visual Complex Analysis,
Even in 1770 the situation was still sufficiently confused that it was possible for so great a mathematician as Euler to mistakenly argue that √-2 √-3 = √6.
I found this to…
Agile_Eagle
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78
votes
3 answers
Was Mohammed the most popular first name for boys born in Berlin in 2018?
German right-wing party AfD has recently posted this claim on its Facebook page:
++ Neugeborene: Mohammed auf Platz 1 der Vornamen in Berlin ++
Man höre und staune: Der häufigste Erstname für neugeborene Jungen in
Berlin ist Mohammed. In Bremen…
oliver
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