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.
1,300 languages ranked by complexity
Linguists have long thought that social context shapes grammar: communities with many non-native speakers, like trade hubs, were believed to favor simpler, easier-to-learn systems, while isolated, homogenous groups develop dense, specialized grammatical rules. A new study compiled measurements across about 1,300 languages to test whether languages used mainly by “societies of strangers” indeed show reduced grammatical complexity compared with languages used in more stable, insider communities.
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.
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.
Meta Closes 9,000 Chinese Accounts
Meta announced it has closed nearly 9,000 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to a Chinese political influence operation called 'Spamouflage.' The company says the network posted material that praised China while criticizing the United States, Western governments, and outspoken critics of the Chinese government. Meta removed the accounts after an investigation that identified coordinated posting patterns and account connections tied to operators in China, calling the activity inauthentic and aimed at manipulating online discussion.