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1500 questions
55
votes
4 answers
Did Emmanuel Macron call a teenager an "idiot?"
This article from The Telegraph (June 22, 2018) mentions that Emmanuel Macron called the teenager who was not respectful an "idiot"; emphasis is mine:
President Emmanuel Macron is facing criticism for giving a public dressing down to a teenager who…
Ionică Bizău
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55
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2 answers
Were only 10% of the population vaccinated against smallpox?
This image attributes a quote to Glen Dettman:
"It is pathetic and ludicrous to say we ever vanquished smallpox with vaccines, when only 10% of the population was vaccinated."
- Glen Dettman A.M.M., BA, Ph.D, F.A.P.M.
Whether Dettman actually…
user44730
55
votes
3 answers
Was a 15-year-old teen sentenced to 15 years because he took 5 seconds to stop intercourse with an 18-year-old?
This story has been floating around in image form. Is it as ludicrous as it is presented, or are there nuanced facts being left out? Did it even happen?
The 18-year-old woman (“J.L.”) had sex in her car in a parking lot with a 15-year-old boy* whom…
Anon
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Is the Zika virus a serious threat?
An article on WGNO.com makes the following claims on the Zika virus:
A relatively new mosquito-borne virus is prompting worldwide concern because of an alarming connection to a neurological birth disorder and the rapid spread of the virus across…
JonathanReez
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Did Rockstar Games post this tweet about EA games?
There has been a photo circulating everywhere claiming that RockStar, producer of the famous game GTA V, tweeted the following:
I saw it on my twitter feed, on this forum and on this website.
I also saw it here under the title of Rockstar Games…
user25733
55
votes
3 answers
Does this video of electromagnetic radiation from energy efficient bulbs indicate any danger?
This video on Facebook shows someone using an "electromagnetic radiation detector" to show that the new energy-efficient light bulbs give off alarmingly dangerous amounts of radiation.
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=802884819723892
Isn't…
user1008646
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Does playing chess burn as many calories as running?
I heard once that when two Chess Grandmasters play a five hour game of chess, the intense concentration and focus they have causes their bodies to burn as many calories as someone playing a sport during that time, such as running.
For example, Dr.…
user3260
54
votes
6 answers
Do "probiotics" have health benefits?
One of the only things that natural-food aficionados and food products mega-corporations agree on is that "probiotics" are good for you. I'm wondering if there is any reliable evidence to support the claims that consuming food or supplements with…
Jonathan
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Are people with a PhD least likely to be vaccinated in the US?
According to Unherd's summary of a CMU study
[Title:] The most vaccine-hesitant group of all? PhDs
[...] more surprising is the breakdown in vaccine hesitancy by level of education. It finds that the association between hesitancy and education…
the gods from engineering
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Did COBOL have 250 billion lines of code and 1 million programmers, as late as 2009?
In 2009 COBOL turned 50 years old. It got some publicity with claims, which I find rather hard to believe:
"Cobol hits 50 and keeps counting" article in the Guardian.
According to David Stephenson, the UK
manager for the software provider
Micro…
vartec
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Has the distribution of income and wealth in the USA got much more skewed towards the rich in the last 4 decades?
I recently asked this question about a statistic quoted by Kurt Andersen designed to illustrate the current wealth distribution in the USA in his book Evil Geniuses. It provoked a great deal of (unintended) discussion as I only wanted to check…
matt_black
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54
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Was a Canadian father jailed for referring to his trans son as his daughter?
A recent PostMilennial article claims:
After the hearing, Hoogland gave an interview to The Federalist saying that people cannot change sex, and that mega-doses of exogenous testosterone would damage his vulnerable, biological female child's…
HanMah
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Do studies show that viruses are contagious?
An acquaintance of mine has been very adamant that viruses can't be caught and continues to link me things like this Ickonic video, where Jaymie Icke interviews Dr. Andrew Kaufman M.D. who claims:
I lived my whole life believing we can pass these…
TheXenocide
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Is Chika Ofili's method for checking divisibility for 7 a "new discovery" in math?
Chika Ofili, a 12-year-old Nigerian boy based in the United Kingdom, has received the ‘TruLittle Hero Awards’ for discovering a new mathematical formula. Source
According to the above website (and several others), he envisioned a simple method to…
Pedro A
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Did hominids and non-avian dinosaurs ever coexist?
Although the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs is dated at ~66 million years ago there are a number of purported cave drawings that I've found online that (if verified and interpreted in a certain way!) could suggest that hominids and non-avian…
bondonk
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