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1500 questions
38
votes
2 answers
Did more gay men die in NYC during the AIDS crisis than US soldiers in Vietnam?
This Tumblr post, which has accumulated over 3,000 notes, claims:
During the 1980s, more gay men died in New York City during the AIDS
crisis than all recorded deaths of American soldiers in Vietnam.
Wikipedia cites US News to say that the…
Phoenix
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38
votes
1 answer
Can “heart strings break after a deep emotional trauma”?
I’ve come across this on Twitter this morning:
https://twitter.com/sammytellem/status/422216032195854336
Now, I really wonder whether this could be true. I tried to do some research and while I’ve come across sites claiming you can die from a…
idmean
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38
votes
3 answers
Are more people killed with hammers than with guns in the US?
There are countless sources claiming that
There are more deaths from being attacked by hammers than by…
AJFaraday
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38
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1 answer
Mythbusters tested a material that was so explosive they didn't release the episode and contacted DARPA
I have encountered a picture on 9gag, one of "weird facts" ones, that stated following:
Mythbusters once investigated the explosive properties of an easily available material. It was so explosive that they decided to destroy the footage. They…
toriningen
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38
votes
1 answer
Does mortality fall when doctors go on strike?
In a 2017 article arguing that inaction is sometimes better than action (the urge to do something often dominates the urge to do the right thing) Tim Harford makes the following comment (I've included the context as well as the key claim):
It is a…
matt_black
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38
votes
1 answer
Are these photos of protests posters against the Obama Administration real?
After "Snoop Dogg" started trending due to his controversial music video, I found the following meme in the Twitter stream:
(source: twimg.com)
Are these images real or photoshopped? I came across a larger 1st image that looked like it was…
user39226
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38
votes
1 answer
Are there too few Supernova Remnants to support the Milky Way being billions of years old?
In this Creation magazine reprint of a 1994 article titled Exploding stars point to a young universe, Young-Earth Creationist, Jonathan Sarfati argues that the scarcity of Supernova remnants (SNRs) in the sky suggests the Milky Way galaxy is less…
Lucian09474
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38
votes
1 answer
Can this dress change colour dynamically?
This news site features a video of a dress changing colours via an iPad app. The news site says:
Sydney designers Showpo posted a video to YouTube showing off their new ‘colour changing’ dress, and the woman modelling it nearly can’t control…
Coomie
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38
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2 answers
Is Leicester City winning the English Football premiership the most improbable single event in betting history?
Leicester City were recently confirmed as winners of England's top football (soccer) league. Last year they were facing relegation a dozen matches before the end of the 38 game season and, at the start of this season, betting odds on winning the…
matt_black
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38
votes
2 answers
Do the older slower wolves lead a wolf pack?
I saw this on Facebook. Is it true?
pretty cool
A pack (wolves): The first 3 are the older or sick and they set the pace of the group. If it was on the contrary, they would be left behind and lost contact with the pack. In ambush case they would…
dwjohnston
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38
votes
2 answers
Are exams getting easier, or are students getting smarter?
There is an interesting trend in test scores in exams (GCSE and A-level) in the UK: they are increasing, or so the trend in the grades would tend to show. This is known as grade inflation and affects other countries, too.
Why is this? I have heard…
Thomas O
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38
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1 answer
Has a "chariot army" been found at the bottom of the Red Sea?
It's apparently quite a popular story to "disprove doubting Atheists" regarding the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites during the Exodus of the Hebrew bible that in the late 1970s, archaeological evidence was found at the bottom of…
Flimzy
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38
votes
5 answers
Are bees disappearing and why?
According to the web site of the film Vanishing of the Bees:
Bees are dying in their billions. In the UK, around one fifth of honeybee hives were lost in the winter of 2008/2009.
Is there evidence of bees disappearing and what are scientific…
Egle
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38
votes
3 answers
Would eating a packet of cigarettes be fatal?
World Education, a group that promote literacy, have a resource for understanding the risks of tobacco, which claims:
Chemicals in cigarettes and cigarette smoke are known to cause not only cancer but also other serious health problems. Many of the…
caub
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38
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1 answer
Does eating carrots improve your eyesight?
A common belief in Sweden is that carrot improve your eyesight and I was told many times when I was little to eat carrots. Although anecdotaly I have perfect vision without carrot-gluttony.
Is there any supporting evidence for that claim?
Related…
Kit Sunde
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