Free Fact-Check Blog
Explore our collection of fact-checked claims and detailed analyses on various topics.
Fact Check: The AMOC: known to Americans as the Gulf Stream section of the current. The ocean is warming, and the whole system is starting to slow.
# The AMOC: A Closer Look at Claims of a Slowdown ## Introduction The claim that "the AMOC: known to Americans as the Gulf Stream section of the current. The ocean is warming, and the whole system is...
Fact Check: IT knowledge. There are several factors at work here. Colleges are mostly a few years behind trends, if not more. So a lot of recent grads are way behind from the gate. Most colleges are now just shills for business licenses called "degrees," You need this "license" to be "allowed" to have a entry job, and they know it, and charge whatever the market can bear. Pearson Vue has seized a huge amount of this space, which just adds to the cost, and tries to enforce certification tracks with government contract specs and all sorts of inroads. The "cash cow" of graduating college with 6 figure jobs waiting for them is mostly gone. The junior roles have been outsourced overseas, and have been replaced with people with multiple hats. There are very few "middle roles," so the track of going from junior to senior has a HUGE gap that keeps getting wider. The senior roles are starting to age out: many went into management, and some are retiring. Knowledge and experience is getting lost. Companies reliant on technology to surve are cutting technology costs as a "cost center" because of the pressure of rising capitalism always producing value year to year. Thus, they send more jobs overseas, and senior roles become too costly to maintain. We are incurring a lot of "debt" in aging infrastructure, and IT is no different. There are systems operating high-cost operations in factories, transportation, and utilities that haven't been upgraded in decades, and some of the people who knew how it all worked are dying off. Eventually, there won't be enough senior roles to teacher younger people anything, and there will be a cascading series of knowledge gaps in current infrastructure, leading to huge failures. People say that "kids today know computers" but they really don't: most only know GUI and how to operate an iPad, not what makes the iPad work under the hood or how the Internet works.
# The Claim: An Examination of IT Knowledge and Workforce Trends ## Introduction The claim discusses several interconnected issues regarding the state of IT knowledge among recent graduates, the evol...
Fact Check: Housing prices along the coast in Florida. Most of the state is barely three feet above sea level and flooding is getting worse and worse every year. In fifty years, sea level is going to be much more inland than it is now and no amount of "beach restoration" is going to help it.
# Claim Analysis: Sea Level Rise and Housing Prices in Florida ## 1. Introduction The claim states that most of Florida is at a low elevation, with much of the state being only three feet above sea l...
Fact Check: There's a churn of AI created content that's being taken as fact, and used as the basis for new articles and content. Sifting through information to validate it is already too much effort for many and will only become more difficult.
# The Churn of AI-Generated Content: A Skeptical Examination ## Introduction The claim posits that there is a significant proliferation of AI-generated content being accepted as factual, which is sub...
Fact Check: Bees. We are losing bees at an alarming rate. As far as important species go, they are top of the list. They are critical pollinators: they pollinate 70 of the around 100 crop species that feed 90% of the world. Honey bees are responsible for $30 billion a year in crops.
# The Decline of Bee Populations and Their Importance ## Introduction The claim that "we are losing bees at an alarming rate" highlights the critical role bees play as pollinators in global agricultu...
Fact Check: The food chain. I’m still amazed no one is talking about the fact that insect biomass has declined by ∼47% and abundance declined by ∼61.5% over the last 35 years. In some areas it’s measured 75% decline in a single generation.
# The Decline of Insect Populations: An Examination of Claims ## Introduction The claim under scrutiny suggests that insect biomass has declined by approximately 47% and abundance by around 61.5% ove...
Fact Check: The Ogallala Aquifer is close to being drained
# The Claim: "The Ogallala Aquifer is close to being drained" ## Introduction The claim that "The Ogallala Aquifer is close to being drained" suggests an urgent crisis regarding one of the largest aq...
Fact Check: The Florida citrus industry -- specifically oranges. There is a fungus that is spreading and infecting groves across the state.
# The Claim: "The Florida citrus industry -- specifically oranges. There is a fungus that is spreading and infecting groves across the state." ## Introduction The claim suggests that a fungus is spre...
Fact Check: You can boof creatine for maximum gains.
# The Claim: "You can boof creatine for maximum gains." ## Introduction The claim that "you can boof creatine for maximum gains" suggests an unconventional method of administering creatine, a popular...