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Supposed dire wolf 'de-extinction' is part cool science, part flashy marketing
Snopes works hard to get to the bottom of every claim it investigates. These rumors took more time than most in 2025.
by Izz Scott LaMagdeleine , April 15, 2025
Image courtesy of Getty Images/Snopes illustration
Snopes reporters take every claim they investigate seriously, but some rumors take much more time to fact-check than others. A fact-checker can spend days, weeks or even months to uncover sufficient evidence to confirm — or debunk — just one accusation.
We asked members of our newsroom for their favorite topic in 2025 that required deep research. They submitted articles about starvation in Gaza , a Russian drone exploding in Ukraine , U.S. President Joe Biden's health, whether spaghetti originated in Italy — and more.
Here are 25 rumors that required heavy research in 2025, listed in no particular order:
By Izz Scott LaMagdeleine
Izz Scott LaMagdeleine is a web producer/production editor for Snopes.
Chart allegedly proved Democrat-led cities have more violent crime. We crunched the numbers
Nov. 12, 2025
Tim Pool's chart is just one example of the countless claims attempting to associate violent cri ...
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Contextualizing claims Palestinian photojournalist 'staged' photos of people waiting for food in Gaza
Aug. 12, 2025
A study of multiple angles indicates Palestinians were waiting for food, not a photoshoot.
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Trump suggested Biden hid cancer diagnosis. Here's what we know about the timeline
May 22, 2025
Standard medical practice is to not test men who have a life expectancy of less than 10 years fo ...
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Video shows Russian drone striking Ukraine, not Indian drone intercepted by Pakistan
May 9, 2025
The footage first appeared on a Russian broadcasting channel on Telegram.
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Who really broke the Israel-Hamas ceasefire? Here's what we know
Oct. 28, 2025
Israel has launched three waves of airstrikes on Gaza since the Trump-brokered ceasefire went in ...
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Unpacking claim DeSantis funneled Florida taxpayer money through his wife's charity
April 25, 2025
The Tampa Bay Times reported that Medicaid settlement funds went through "dark money" groups to ...
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Don't fall for claims of 'mass abduction' of children in Virginia in 2025
Aug. 21, 2025
Here's why Virginia reports more missing kids than other states, why police rarely issue Amber A ...
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Starvation in Gaza: What we know about 'entirely preventable' crisis
Aug. 7, 2025
What does it take to declare a famine in a crisis zone?
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Investigating claims Charlie Kirk shooting suspect's roommate is trans
Sept. 18, 2025
The roommate — whom the suspect called "my love" – reportedly had no prior knowledge of the shoo ...
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Trump claimed autism rates are rising. Here are the facts
March 8, 2025
Trump has promised that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the country's health secretary, will "figure out ...
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Rumor claims Trump used Biden's 'exact deal' to end war in Gaza. That's not true
Oct. 17, 2025
On Oct. 13, Hamas released all remaining hostages per the first phase of Trump's proposal. Biden ...
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Is Palantir creating a national database of US citizens?
June 13, 2025
According to its website, Palantir makes "products for human-driven analysis of real-world data."
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CIA document doesn't prove aliens turned Soviet soldiers to stone — and it was never classified
April 26, 2025
The story originated from Weekly World News, a tabloid known for fabricating stories.
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How the SAVE Act may affect registering to vote for women, other groups
Feb. 14, 2025
Research suggests up to 34% of voting-age women don't have documents proving citizenship with th ...
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What we know about Luigi Mangione's alleged list of 27 things he's grateful for
July 2, 2025
Mangione was said to have written that he is grateful for both "conservatives" and "liberals," a ...
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Video shows AI robot manipulating and 'kidnapping' 12 other robots?
Nov. 5, 2025
Surveillance footage appeared to show the bot, reportedly named Erbai, telling its companions to ...
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Spaghetti Didn't Originate in Italy?
Feb. 3, 2025
Social media posts claimed Arab traders introduced dried pasta to Italy in the 8th century.
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Unpacking claim Maine resident found hundreds of ballots in Amazon package
Oct. 8, 2025
Photos purportedly showing the alleged Amazon package included stacks of ballots next to regular ...
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Yes, the CIA ran a brothel in San Francisco and tested LSD on unsuspecting patrons
Sept. 2, 2025
The intelligence agency named the project "Operation Midnight Climax."
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Unpacking claims that VA doctors can deny care to Democrats, unmarried veterans
June 18, 2025
A Guardian report sparked rumors about changes to VA rules.
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No, mussels don't shut off Warsaw's water supply if they sense toxins — but they help monitor it
March 10, 2025
Since 2009, mussels have played a key role in Warsaw, Poland's biomonitoring system.
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Investigating claims Kerr County rejected Biden admin's $10M offer to improve flood warning systems
July 16, 2025
After flash floods swept through central Texas in July 2025, people online searched for reasons ...
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Analyzing claim Russian cancer vaccine is ready for use
Sept. 15, 2025
Russian scientists are working on several different cancer vaccines, but some are not out of tri ...
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Government shutdown: What's open, what's closed and who's affected
Oct. 3, 2025
What happens to Social Security and Medicare? Will post offices, airports and DMVs stay open? We ...
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Supposed dire wolf 'de-extinction' is part cool science, part flashy marketing
April 15, 2025
Colossal Biosciences hopes to use genetic engineering to "jumpstart nature's ancestral heartbeat."
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