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.
Video games aid paralyzed speech
Researchers at Speech Graphics, UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley report a brain–computer interface that helped a woman who lost speech after a stroke communicate again. Tiny electrodes were placed on the surface of her brain to record neural activity while she attempted to speak. That recorded activity was decoded into written text, a synthetic voice and real-time facial animation using software originally developed for video-game characters such as those in The Last of Us Part II and Hogwarts Legacy.
China Urges UK Return Artifacts
China’s state-run Global Times published an editorial urging the British Museum to return Chinese artifacts just ahead of a visit by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. The piece accused the museum of holding items acquired through improper channels and called some pieces “stolen.” The British Museum’s collection includes more than 23,000 Chinese objects, and the editorial named examples such as the painting The Admonitions of the Instructress to the Court Ladies and Liao tri-coloured luohan statues.
17th-century vampire child found in Poland
Archaeologists in Poland have uncovered the skeleton of a child from the 17th century in a graveyard near Dąbrowa Chełmińska. The body was interred face down, and a small triangular padlock was placed beneath the foot bones. Researchers interpret the unusual position and the lock as deliberate measures connected to local burial customs intended to prevent the deceased from returning to harm the living.
Fixing the British Museum's Anachronism
The British Museum is dealing with a major internal crisis after allegations that a senior curator removed and sold roughly 2,000 items from its collection via eBay. Reports say the revelations prompted the museum director to resign and have led to calls for an independent review. The case has drawn attention to weaknesses in oversight and controls at one of the world’s largest museums, raising questions about how objects are tracked and safeguarded.