Annotated Fact Desk

Fact checkNeeds context

These water figures are comparisons, not Batam measurements

The BBC attributes both comparisons, and the next sentence says it is unclear how much water or electricity the Batam centres use. The 300,000-gallon figure restates an Environmental and Energy Study Institute estimate that a medium-sized US data centre can use up to about 110…

Context

BMI is a screening number, not a diagnosis

The definition is right and easy to overread. Body mass index only combines weight and height. It does not measure body fat, and it cannot tell muscle from fat. Health agencies use it as a screening number for populations, not as a diagnosis for one person. The same value can…

Receipts

This speed is exact because it defines the metre

The NIST sentence states a defined value, not a rounded laboratory measurement. Since 1983 the metre has been the distance light travels in vacuum in 1/299792458 of a second, so the speed of light in vacuum is exactly 299792458 metres per second by international agreement. The…

Fact checkMisleading

Calling glass a liquid misstates the phase transition

This sentence is misleading. It offers the lack of a first-order phase transition as a reason to treat glass as a liquid. A first-order transition, such as ice melting, is how many crystals become liquids. Glass does not have that sharp jump, but the missing discontinuity does…