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A gallery of odd and arresting viral images - some real, some fake, some persistently enigmatic. Can you guess which are which?

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Urban Legends Spotlight10

FALSE RUMOR: Facebook Shutting Down on March 15

Saturday January 8, 2011

Attention Facebook and Twitter users:

The "news" that Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will shut down on March 15 because he finds running the company "too stressful" is false.

I repeat, false. Read More...

FALSE RUMOR: Anthrax in Tide Detergent

Thursday January 6, 2011

(UPDATED) The "hot" rumor of the moment, baselessly declaring that seven people have died of anthrax poisoning due to contaminated detergent samples received in the mail, has in fact been circulating in one form or another since 2001.

That is to say, it's false and a decade old.

Read More...

The Fish of Fertility

Tuesday January 4, 2011

A New Year's dispatch from our roving mythographer, Peter Kohler:

"Symbols and gestures, I've noticed, can be misunderstood. For example, last Friday as I hurried through the kitchen on my way out of the house on some errand or another I was momentarily brought up short by my wife, who was standing in front of the open refrigerator with a fish in her hand. She turned and shook the fish in my face. That may have been my cue, I'm still not sure..."

Read more...

Penny vs. Breathalyzer Test

Friday December 31, 2010

Claim: If you've had too much to drink and are pulled over by police, sucking on a copper penny will cause a chemical reaction that will fool the breathalyzer.

Status: False.

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