How we make this

We think you should know exactly how a fact site is made, so here is our process.

1. Find a claim

Ideas come from reference works, science agencies, museums, reader questions and the “fun facts” that keep going around online.

2. Find the receipt

For every claim we open a source page and find the sentence that supports it. We save that sentence word for word as the fact's “receipt”, with a link and the date we checked it. We prefer primary and official sources, such as government science agencies, museums and peer-reviewed research. Where we use a well-cited reference work such as Wikipedia, its own footnotes lead to the original research.

3. Check the quote automatically

Before anything is published, a script downloads each source page again and confirms that the quoted words really appear on it. Any fact whose quote can't be found is dropped. We would rather publish fewer facts than unproven ones.

4. Give it a verdict

• ✔ Verified The claim matches what an authoritative source says.
• ✘ Myth Reliable sources show the popular claim is false.
• ? Disputed Sources disagree, or the evidence is incomplete.

Automation and AI

We use software, including AI tools, to help research sources, draft wording and check quotes. Automation never decides on its own what is true: every published fact must match a quote on its source page, and the page is checked by a script before publishing. Wording is written so it doesn't claim more than the source does.

Corrections

Sources change and we make mistakes. If something looks wrong, tell us. We'll recheck it, fix it, and update the page's “updated” date.