EAFacts

Fact-checks relevant to Effective Altruism

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

What was the #biggest #dinosaur? #Argentinosaurus at 79.5 metric tons, heavier than 40 pick-up trucks and almost half as heavy as the Statue of Liberty. Average dino was 4.2 t, average mammal is over 16,000 times smaller at 0.0003 t https://t.co/x1X3SZVyRb

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Are octopuses very intelligent? They seem to be intelligent when compared to other invertebrates, but most of the data often cited for #octopuses' high #intelligence are insufficient and unlike the data (and task complexity) for apes and birds https://t.co/uwSx1dDEBE

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

How many #bugs are out there? There are 1 quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) land #arthropods, and 4 times as many marine arthropods, that's 700 million times the human population, 6,000 times the vertebrate population, but only 1.3 times the #biomass https://t.co/k7Tmz0Ihy2

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Is the #future always ahead? The future is ahead in nearly all languages. The #Aymara people are the only well-established exception. We know the past but not the future, so it makes more sense to them that we are facing the past but can’t see the future https://t.co/9BFvTzDsLL

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

What led to #nuclear #weapons being put under hair-trigger alerts? The development of intercontinental ballistic missiles, higher accuracy and changes in nuclear strategy. #HairTrigger alerts enable US missiles to be launched within five minutes. https://t.co/OkuEAFxAcW

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Which US party supported the #Civil #Rights Act of #1964? Both, but #Republicans were 30% more likely than #Democrats to support it https://t.co/6btUUh6bF2

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

What drives #residential #segregation? In theory, everything. It emerges even when everyone prefers #diversity https://t.co/BkHCbdyM88

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Does social media promote ideological Echo Chambers? No. 23 recent publications found that digital/#social #media does not produce #ideological #bubbles, 7 found that it increases ideological diversity. #polarization https://t.co/A9W5il5IbH

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Did #Gingrich’s changes to the legislative week increase #polarization? No. Some claim that less time together drove politicians apart, but the legislative week only changed in 2017 and politicians’ ideological polarization is a long-term trend. https://t.co/tA1EJMxqNl

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Are Americans becoming #polarized? No. Opinions on #ideological issues by the public remain stable. However, own-party bias has increased and polarization increased in politicians and activists (but not the public). https://t.co/ORowyFE6ON

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Is #meritocracy part of #liberalism? It is not, or of #libertarianism and #communitarianism. It's often inconsistent because the qualities that we associate with #merit are conferred at random and cannot justify receiving higher benefits. https://t.co/E1RFlNKqOG

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Were #ancient humans smarter than us? Probably not. Some #ancient #humans had larger #brains than ours, but they probably were not smarter, though the issue is not closed https://t.co/6XkZV4up7n

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

How long could a #Trex survive after the #asteroid hit? Considering its caloric requirements and plants' mortality in darkness, a T. rex would take at least 5 months to die during the end-#Cretaceous mass #extinction https://t.co/QrP7xoKfLT

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

How did #humans get such big #brains? Humans belong to lineages in which brains have been increasing, #mammals 250 million years ago (Mya), #placental mammals 80 Mya, #primates 50 Mya and #hominins 3.5 Mya, but the latest hominin trend stands out https://t.co/Sw8bFMwCaI

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

When did eukaryotes emerge? Eukaryotes, cells with a nucleus, mitochondria and internal membranes, emerged around 1.8 billion years ago from a symbiosis between archaea and bacteria https://t.co/mfy7XfKHJ6

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

When did #humans #migrate to the #Americas? Around 22,000 yrs ago via #Beringia and the North Pacific coastline. Decades ago, the consensus was 14,000, but it has changed. https://t.co/TxZccQLl6y

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

When did #humans arrive in each location in #Eurasia? For those leaving descendants, 45,000 yrs ago in Europe (#Bacho Kiro man) and Russia (#Ust'-Ishim man), 40,000 yrs in China (#Tianyuan man) https://t.co/qXKy3nMt3s

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

When did #humans #migrate out of #Africa? Around 56,000 years ago. There were likely several waves, but this was the one that stuck around https://t.co/yiR1cLh7Hk

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Was the first life a cell? Likely yes. We don't know any way to synthesize complex macromolecules without compartments and out of all of the essential life components, the cell membrane is the easiest to synthesize. https://t.co/wYXagcAenH

[EAFacts @altruisticfacts]

Did life start as RNA? It's one of the leading theories. RNA is one of the few molecules that can both self-replicate and coordinate protein synthesis on its own (DNA can only do the former), but we have been unable to replicate this process in the lab https://t.co/JEjtyPoEBF