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.
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.
Lost continent discovered
Geoscientists have identified a largely submerged landmass called Zealandia, or Te Riu-a-Māui, that meets the criteria many researchers use for a continent. Covering about 1.89 million square miles (roughly 4.9 million square kilometres), Zealandia is mostly underwater — about 90–95 percent — and includes the visible islands of New Zealand and New Caledonia. Debate about its status grew over decades and many geologists accepted it as a continent in analyses published in recent years.
Australia warns of climate disruptions
An Australian thinktank, the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration, has warned federal politicians that climate change could cause widespread disruption across the Asia‑Pacific by mid‑century. Its briefing sketches scenarios including failed states, large movements of people fleeing uninhabitable areas, and growing competition for scarce resources such as fresh water. The group says these shifts could trigger regional instability, economic shocks and damage to critical infrastructure, underlining the scale of the risk.