Build a conspiracy theory from scratch.
The best way to learn to spot a conspiracy theory is to make one yourself.
Pick a real news story. On the next step you'll choose who's behind it and why. Then walk through the four moves real conspiracists use, with a debunk on every step.
- Hunt anomalies — turn coincidence into evidence of a secret plot.
- Fabricate connections — draw lines between unrelated dots until they look meaningful.
- Dismiss counter-evidence — if a fact disagrees, make the fact part of the cover-up.
- Discredit the critics — dismiss people who point out flaws in your theory.
Pick the event.
Choose whichever real-feeling headline your imagination will run wildest with. Don't overthink it.
Robots replace talent scouts in music industry crisis
For decades the music industry relied on A&R scouts—talent spotters who traveled to clubs, small venues and local gigs looking for acts with hit potential. In recent years that search has moved online as social media and streaming platforms such as TikTok and Spotify let artists reach large audiences without labels. Record companies now monitor streams, follower growth and viral trends to decide where to invest, changing how new talent is discovered and promoted.
US campus unearths 142-year-old observatory
Workers installing hammock poles on Michigan State University's campus in August 2023 unexpectedly unearthed the buried stone foundation of an old observatory. Built in 1881 and demolished in the 1920s, the small structure had been covered over for decades. Archaeologists and university staff identified the masonry as part of that 19th-century building, making it a notable historical find on a modern college lawn.
Pandemic Hits Women and Youth's Mental Health
A YouGov survey carried out in 27 countries finds the Covid-19 pandemic has had the most severe mental-health effects on young people and on women. Younger respondents consistently reported higher levels of anxiety about their mental health and increased worries about their financial futures, while women were more likely than men to say the pandemic had harmed their wellbeing. The findings summarize self-reported experiences rather than identifying precise causes.
Cooking's chemical reaction aided life's origin
The Maillard reaction is the chemical process that browns food and creates complex flavors when we cook. New research led by Professor Caroline Peacock at the University of Leeds reports that a similar reaction can occur in the deep ocean. There, it converts small organic carbon molecules into larger, stable polymers. The study, published in Nature, estimates this process locks away roughly four million tonnes of organic carbon each year.