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.
Pandemic led to varied changes
Research compiled by YouGov shows that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted different changes in daily routines around the world. In some places people slept more—Saudi Arabia, Brazil, China and Turkey reported increases—while Australians and Britons admitted to drinking more and residents of Mexico, Brazil and Spain reported cutting back on alcohol. Exercise rose in countries including China, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the United States, and various nations reported shifts in diet quality.
CPAC Europe embraces right-wing authoritarians
CPAC Hungary, the Budapest edition of the Conservative Political Action Conference, gathered American and European conservative activists, politicians, and commentators to discuss what organizers called the decline of Western civilization. Sessions focused on immigration, resistance to progressive social policies, and critiques of liberal democracy. Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán was a prominent speaker, and some remarks echoed the “great replacement” language while emphasizing national sovereignty and cultural preservation.
Fish sees with skin posthumously
Researchers report that reef-dwelling hogfish have light-sensitive cells embedded in their skin, allowing the animals to sense brightness and adjust their colour without relying solely on eyes. The study, published in Nature, shows this skin-based photoreception can continue to influence colour change even after death. Hogfish live in Atlantic reefs and can shift hues in milliseconds. Those rapid changes aid camouflage, social signalling and may help with temperature regulation and attracting mates.
Airline to weigh passengers pre-flight.
South Korea's flag carrier Korean Air will begin weighing passengers and their carry-on luggage at Gimpo and Incheon airports. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation has required the checks to collect actual passenger weights for aircraft weight-and-balance calculations. Airline officials say measuring passengers helps crews calculate load distribution, takeoff performance, and fuel needs more accurately than relying on assumed average weights. Officials emphasize it is about technical calculations, not personal data collection.