Q: Will Mars be “as big as the Moon” on July 27 for the first time in 35,000 years?
A: No. A viral story spreads a repeatedly debunked myth.
Mars, the Moon and a Fictional ‘Cosmic Event’
Issues: science
Smith Wrong About NSF Funding
The head of the House science committee falsely claimed the National Science Foundation funds “more than twice as many graduate students in the social and behavioral sciences as in computer science, mathematics or material science.”
Senator Misleads on ‘Absurd’ Science
Sen. Rand Paul misrepresented two studies supported by federal grants, while advocating legislation he introduced to change the federal grant funding process.
Fake Dig at ‘Dumb’ Scientists
Q: Did a potential nominee for “chief scientist” at the U.S. Department of Agriculture call scientists “dumb, regular people” who “think dinosaurs actually existed and the Earth is somehow getting warmer”?
A: No. That’s a bogus quote in a fake story by a “News/Satire” website.
Palin ‘as Much a Scientist’ as Bill Nye?
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin falsely said she is “as much a scientist” as Bill Nye, best known for his children’s show, “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” Nye has multiple credentials that make him more of a scientist than Palin.
Carson Rewrites Laws of Thermodynamics
Ben Carson claimed that prevailing theories of how the universe began and how planets and stars formed violate the second law of thermodynamics. His comments represent a misunderstanding of scientific concepts.
Paul Knocks Flies and NIH Funding
Sen. Rand Paul made several misleading statements about the National Institutes of Health and some of the research that it funds.
FactChecking Science-based Claims
Today we introduce a new feature and welcome a new staff writer to FactCheck.org.
April 23, 2009
A worker honey bee’s brain is only a cubic millimeter in size, but it has the densest neuropile tissue of any animal.
Source: Department of Agriculture
Richardson Flunks Two Subjects
Summary
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson, governor of New Mexico, has claimed again and again U.S. students, from kindergarten through 12th grade, are ranked 29th in the world in math and science. He claims they used to be No. 1, too. But none of that is true.
The two leading international assessments of student achievement rank U.S. students better in all cases, and in most cases much better, than Richardson claims. Furthermore, neither of them even tries to cover all grades K through 12.