Is the attack on fact checking site Snopes valid?

The UK’s Daily Mail has published a story regarding the founders of the fact-checking site snopes.com. This merits a closer look and so we shall take a peek to see what is happening here. Generally seeing the words, “Daily Mail” is a bit of a red flag. They are not the worst, but you can never … Read more

What is the best way to debunk fake Videos?

Viral fake videos abound because they tickle our imagination. So how do you effectively debunk one? If you were faced with a talking head where somebody proceeds to debunk it fact by fact, then most eyes will rapidly glaze over and the vast majority will simply move on. Is there a better solution? Actually, yes … Read more

Why is there a ‘reality gap’?

Much is being written about fake news and so there has been a dawning realisation that we live in an age where there is a very distinct reality gap. Steve Benen writes on MSNBC about how disconnected some are from reality. He describes it as follows … what struck me as especially notable about the … Read more

How many get fooled when Fake News goes viral?

Hemant Mehta, the Friendly Atheist blogger who used to be a maths teacher, plucks out a gem regarding fake news going viral from a presentation by blogger Dan Meyer. Dan’s keynote presentation is mostly a talk by a maths teachers to other teachers, hence Hemant’s interest. Be warned, unless you are into teaching, it will mostly … Read more

Daft Claim: The Bible trumps Science

Young earth creationist Ken Ham, the chap who is famous for spending over £100 million to build a life-sized replica of Noah’s ark, is on twitter. If you tap into his feed then you will discover that while you will not be informed, you will at times be entertained by his quirky eccentric tweets. He believes some rather … Read more

Mike Pence – Myths vs Facts

Let me start by putting my cards on the table here – I’m not a Mike Pence supporter. While writing about how his appearance in the audience at the Hamilton musical resulted him him being booed, I came across one commenter who suggested that booing him was wholly appropriate because he wants to literally electrocute gay … Read more