Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [television]

A telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome (black-and-white) or colored, with or without accompanying sound.

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Can you only trace a phone call if they don't hang up?

In movies and television shows, you often see law enforcement (or hacker types) attempting to trace a phone call that they have received. The typical scene plays out with one party trying to keep the other party on the phone long enough for them to…
Luke
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What is the origin of this photo of an unexploded bomb?

The viral image below purports to show three TV screenshots of the same photo of a bomb, with the source of the being attributed to three different sources: First image: Ukrainian Channel 5. The text translates to "Russia bombs". Second image:…
kandi
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Does watching television damage the eyes?

Is there any evidence that watching television for too long or while sitting too close weakens the eyes (leading to myopia, for example) ?
Pulkit Sinha
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Did Donald Trump call Alicia Machado "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping"?

During the first Trump-Clinton presidential debate, Clinton said: He called this woman "Miss Piggy." Then he called her "Miss Housekeeping," because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado. Trump responded by asking…
Fiksdal
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Does the BBC have TV detector vans and how can they tell if you aren't paying a license fee?

I've heard from more than a few Brits that if you own a TV but don't pay your license fee, they'll come after you with unexpected visits and or fines. Here is an example article debating their existence. Even if you smuggle your TV into the…
Nick T
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Does watching TV make you stupid?

I haven't watched TV since 1969. I worked in it for decades, and knew enough not to watch it. It makes you stupid, and my colleagues in the networks agree! Some of them would point out what a verbal beating they'd get from friends who actually saw…
Sklivvz
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Mythbusters tested a material that was so explosive they didn't release the episode and contacted DARPA

I have encountered a picture on 9gag, one of "weird facts" ones, that stated following: Mythbusters once investigated the explosive properties of an easily available material. It was so explosive that they decided to destroy the footage. They…
toriningen
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Is watching television in the dark harmful to your eyes?

This is obviously related to a few answered questions already here, namely: Does watching television damage the eyes? Is it harmful to your eyes to read in dim light? But the following question is more specific, and doesn't seem to be answered:…
Brian M. Hunt
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Are the 'Family Feud' surveys systematically fake?

Are the surveys in the gameshow 'Family Feud' (and its many international derivatives) systematically fake? When I used to watch the British version, 'Family Fortunes', I couldn't imagine that they'd bother with all the trouble, time and expense of…
EmmaV
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Will tuning your TV to a channel that isn't the presidential inauguration lower its ratings?

Plenty of people are posting the claim that if you don't watch the inauguration, or better still tune it to a different channel, this will affect ratings for the event. Will this actually affect the ratings? Claims: A popular message has been…
DJClayworth
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Can a television thrown in a bathtub kill someone?

In TV show or films, it seems that throwing any mains-powered electrical device (such as a television or radio) in a bathtub can kill the person in said bathtub. Can this happen? It appears to me that power should shut down almost instantly.
fab
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CSI image resolution enhance: How real is it?

So I watched the following 1 minute long Youtube clip from CSI New York. In the clip, using what seems to be the recording from a standard bank camera, they zoom in at least 100, and see the image of the culprit in the reflection of the eye of the…
user3260
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Have any versions of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" had to remove the Ask the Audience lifeline due to the audience purposely voting wrong?

The Russian version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" had to scrap the "ask audience lifeline as the audience would intentionally give the wrong answer. This image can be found (for example) on Reddit with 36k upvotes. Is this claim true for…
Deo
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Is "Man vs. Wild" staged?

I've read in a few places including in comments in a recent article that Man vs. Wild is staged and he has every necessity covered. Is Man vs. Wild staged or is Bear Grylls actually in dangerous situations when we see him hanging from rocks above…
going
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Is x% noise on TV due to Big Bang's background radiation?

I've heard quite a few times that a certain percentage (usually claimed 1%) of the noise you see on TV comes from the background radiation of the Big Bang. Is this a myth? If not, I seems like a reasonably complicated claim to substantiate…
Decent Dabbler
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