SciCheck Digest The Food and Drug Administration says male infertility is not a known side effect of the antiparasitic medication ivermectin. Dubious claims that the drug sterilizes 85% of male users were incorrectly attributed to a questionable 2011 study of the drug’s effect on a small sample of Nigerian men with…
In late September 2021, a Reddit user posted a virtual recreation of what was described as the ruins of a street in Ephesus, a city in ancient Greece. (What’s left of Ephesus is in modern-day Turkey.) This is how Ancient Greece really looked like. Here’s a reconstruction of Curetes Street…
A black and white photo that purportedly shows RSS volunteers paying respects to the Queen of England has been circulating on social media. It shows a group of men dressed in the RSS uniform standing in a line as the Queen passes in front of them. Facebook user ‘Aap Ka…
A video of people wrapped in plastic bags lying on the side of a street has been shared with the claim that Christians in Afghanistan were left to suffocate in nylon bags for refusing to give up their faith. (Archive link) Christians wrapped in nylon bags to die slowly of…
A video of a group of people thrashing a bloodied man with sticks is being shared widely on social media. It has been claimed that Muslims “with no fear of the law or arrest” were behind the attack in Rajasthan. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has been targeted in the messages.…
Storm clouds near the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 22. Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images. The limit, also known as the debt ceiling, applies to all federal debt — both debt held by the public (money borrowed from sources outside the government) and intragovernmental holdings (money that the government owes itself). Most intragovernmental debt…
For years, retail company Bath & Body Works has made headlines for its “generous return policy.” On Sept. 17, 2021, social media user Kristen Peden appeared to take advantage of that policy when she claimed in a series of Facebook posts that she exchanged three used items, including one used…
Performed by Dolly Parton, the country mega-hit “Jolene” tells the true story of a woman who the singer said tried to take her man — and in 2021 a rapper stepped in to offer his own rendition of the song. “Now, this is a true story for those that don’t…
On June 18, 2020, a Facebook account posted a meme that claimed Winston Churchill once said: “A nation that forgets its past has no future.” According to newspaper articles printed in 1983 and 2021, both from The Santa Fe New Mexican, the quote even appeared with attribution to Churchill on…
In late August 2021, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Vietnam and conducted bilateral meetings with the prime minister and president, while on a trip across Southeast Asia. Three years after the passing of Sen. John McCain, who was also a prisoner of war in Vietnam, Harris stopped at a…