Did Lemons Evolve Naturally?
A meme about the “when life gives you lemons” adage claims that the sour citrus fruits were originally created by humans.
viral facebook posts
Do Asylum Seekers Get $2,100 Per Month Starting Their First Day in the United States?
A viral Facebook post compares asylum seekers to Social Security recipients, but it gets most of its numbers wrong.
Does Video Show Seesaws on Both Sides of the Border Wall?
On July 29 2019, the Facebook page “Jolt Texas” shared a video (archived here), stating that “[artists] installed seesaws at the border wall” so that “kids in the U.S. and Mexico could play together”: The clip racked up millions of views in just a few days. Its caption read: Amazing: Artists installed seesaws at the border …
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Can Only People Under 40 Hear This Sound?
In July 2019 a number of posts circulated Facebook, all of which linked to video of a 15000 Hz/15 kHz frequency sound that is purportedly only audible to people younger than 40. One iteration (archived here) accrued a large number of shares. Its original poster wrote: I need your help! ???? Okay so I nabbed …
Steve Jobs’ Last Words?
On July 30 2019, Facebook user Joseph Rudy Rullo shared what were purportedly Apple pioneer Steve Jobs’ last words (archived here), uttered on his deathbed: The post eventually segued into other musings, but it began with Jobs’ supposed lamentation of his pursuit of wealth and material success over other things: Steve Jobs died a billionaire, with …
Are ‘Beyond Meat’ or ‘Impossible Burger’ Ingredients Indistinguishable From Dog Food?
On July 20 2019, a Facebook user shared a photograph of what appears to be a block of text from an unnamed newspaper or a magazine, containing the claim that “meat substitutes” Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger had the same ingredients as dog food. A portion bordered with orange marker contained a section highlighted in …
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Did Mr. Rogers Challenge Pool Segregation with a Black Police Officer in 1969?
Press ahead of the 2019 release of a biopic about Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood star Fred Rogers led to increased interest in his remarkable life. One story this renewed attention unearthed detailed how the children’s show purportedly tackled the hard topic of segregation with a black police officer and a kiddie pool in the late 1960s: In 1969, …
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Luzerne County, Pennsylvania ‘School Lunch Debt’ Controversy
The issue of “school lunch debt” prompted heated debates in July 2019, thanks in part to an ongoing controversy in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The topic of incurring debt for school lunches in the Pennsylvania county came to national attention around July 20 2019, when multiple news organizations reported on letters received by families in the …
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Is a Once-Segregated Library Now Named After Black Astronaut Ronald McNair?
On July 20 2019, the Facebook page “Being Liberal” shared a screenshot of a tweet published two days earlier by @IFLScience concerning segregation and Challenger astronaut Ronald McNair: Atop a photograph of McNair — who was 35 when he died in the Challenger disaster — the tweet read: In 1959 a librarian called the police …
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Is the Straw Ban Misguided Because Half the Ocean’s Plastic Is From Fishing?
In July 2019 a Facebook user shared the following comic about plastic nets and ocean pollution: In four panels depicting a person with a plastic straw and a seal trapped in a plastic net, it read: Person: I NEED TO SAVE THE OCEAN FROM ALL THE PLASTIC! Seal: YES, THE NETS! Person: THIS STRAW IS …
Is the Straw Ban Misguided Because Half the Ocean’s Plastic Is From Fishing? Read More »