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1500 questions
88
votes
3 answers
Is it illegal to refuse US currency for a purchase?
I hear this claim every now and then. That US currency is legal tender and that it is illegal to not accept it.
The most recent example of this was on an old episode of 30 Rock: The head and the hair.
I was not able to find a clip online, however I…
Joshxtothe4
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88
votes
6 answers
Do mobile phones have anything to do with brain cancer?
Is there evidence for a correlation between the use of mobile phones and the occurence of brain cancer? If yes, is there also evidence for causality?
user288
88
votes
3 answers
Have phone scammers recorded "Yes" statements to fraudulently authorise payments?
A number of sources claimed that phone scammers would trick people into saying "Yes" on the phone, record it, and use that to fraudulently authorise payments.
Here is a January 2017 Fortune magazine article:
Scammers are increasingly using this…
Oddthinking
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88
votes
2 answers
Did toddlers with guns claim more American lives than terrorism in 2015?
The Economist isn't a fan of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate.
In an analysis of his ascendence to the Republican nomination they try to discern some of the factors. As part of their list of factors driving Trump support they argue that…
matt_black
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87
votes
2 answers
Does polyphasic sleep work? Does it have long-term or short-term side effects?
Cutting sleep down to 6, or 4, or 2 hours per day sounds fantastic. It also sounds like something that should have evolved naturally if it were possible.
From the Polyphasic Society:
Humans are naturally polyphasic sleepers. Depending on the…
Ben Lerner
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87
votes
4 answers
Does drinking diluted chlorine dioxide protect against COVID-19?
I read a bit about drinking diluted chlorine dioxide (e.g. 12mg/L) as a supposedly protective means against COVID-19. Apparently it is a widespread belief in Latin America, especially on social media, that this is a good alternative to getting…
oskros
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87
votes
1 answer
Does continuous drinking of lemon juice have any negative effect on bones?
I came across a blog post from a beauty blog titled Beware: Lemons Can Harm You In Ways You Didn't Know. [Archived Page]
One of the points mentioned was
The continuous use of lemon juice can actually melt your bones in the long run. So, beware of…
user56730
87
votes
1 answer
Was the wheel invented before the wall?
So, this extraordinary claim has been getting a lot of publicity lately:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQKrfGCd7I8
They say a wall is medieval, well so is a wheel. A wheel is older than a wall. And I looked at every single car out there, even the…
AJFaraday
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87
votes
6 answers
Is the Gregorian calendar the "most accurate calendar ever devised"?
This statement comes from a Joe Rogan show episode where he chats to Neil de Grasse Tyson. His statement is about the Gregorian calendar, and goes as follows:
"Point is, this was hard-earned, and the whole world uses this
calendar, it is the most…
Zebrafish
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87
votes
2 answers
Has the Trump administration revoked these listed LGBT protections?
This image is doing the rounds on Facebook:
It quotes a tweet by Donald Trump from early 2016, followed by claims that the Trump administration has performed these actions:
Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary…
dsollen
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87
votes
2 answers
Was President Trump's inauguration "the first time ... that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the Mall"?
On 21 Jan 2017, the White House called a press conference where the press secretary accused the media of "deliberately false reporting" on two issues of which the number of people attending President Trump's inauguration was one. The white floor…
A E
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87
votes
1 answer
Was Donald Trump's father a member of the KKK?
This tumblr post has garnered over 13,000 notes:
The post makes 3 main claims:
Donald Trump's father was a member of the KKK for over 70 years
He was arrested in 1927 at a KKK event
He was photographed with his son and wife in 1999 wearing klan…
Phoenix
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86
votes
1 answer
Are light-on-dark colour schemes for computer screens better for programmers?
There is somewhat general scientific agreement that in general case for reading, dark text on light background is more readable than light on dark.
However, most studies have shown that dark characters on a light
background are superior to light…
vartec
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86
votes
1 answer
Did Sir Arthur Conan Doyle prank 12 men into fleeing their countries?
Purportedly, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle — creator and author of Sherlock Holmes series — sent a telegram to 12 men “…of great virtue and respected in society.” The telegram read “Flee! All has been discovered.” Within 24 hours, the story goes, all 12…
Coomie
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86
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1 answer
Was there a diorama at the Chicago Museum of Science where children could play shooting at a Vietnamese village?
In books and interviews, Noam Chomsky recalls that during the Vietnam War a diorama of a Vietnamese village was built at the Chicago Museum of Science where "children were supposed to come and play, and shoot at the village with the …
pinpon
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