Distortion field guide
Fabrication
The claim rests on something that simply does not exist.
How it enters the chain
An invented study, a nonexistent expert, a made-up statistic. Fabrications survive because each reshare implies someone else checked.
How to spot it
Ask for the primary source by name and try to find it. Fabrications dissolve on contact with a search of the actual literature.
Specimens on record (6)
TS-F35DFC1A1 Aug 2026Topical products marketed as fat burners (caffeine creams, capsaicin orTS-72EA51D331 Jul 2026A 2023 pilot randomized controlled trial in the journal Translational Psychiatry reported that 5 g/day of creatine reduced anxiety in women with MDD, with effects appearing in week one and…TS-0A9F65B629 Jul 2026Swimming pool operators once used copper as a water purifier, then discontinued this practice specifically because copper was too effective at disinfecting water without producing the negative…TS-E2EABB5311 Jul 2026Multiple clinical trials show that daily creatine, added to standard psychiatric treatment, rapidly reduces anxiety symptoms (over 50% in two weeks) in women with major depressive disorder.TS-00A61CAE7 Jul 2026A small molecule called ISRIB, discovered by UCSF researchers, rapidly improved cognitive performance in mice (aged, brain-injured, or otherwise impaired) within a few days by inhibiting the…TS-91E02D1E1 Jul 2026Recent DNA testing of skeletal remains from multiple Japanese battlefield sites shows that roughly one-third to one-half of the bodies were female, implying substantial female participation in…