"Fake News" Web sites May Not Have a Major Effect on Elections

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March 02, 2020

Dear Reader, Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, the biggest day of the Democratic primary campaign. As Americans across the country prepare to head to the polls, let's revisit the last presidential election. Throughout 2016, voters were exposed to misleading content from certain Web sites. A new study shows that while these untrustworthy sources might have a small effect on public opinion, they did not substantially move individuals' positions about a candidate. The main problem with these sites, researchers says, is not what they post but the risk that someone in power will amplify their lies. Also in today's news: a cosmic blast that dwarfs all others; the mystery of missing monarch butterflies; and tau proteins take a leading role in combating neurodegenerative diseases.

Sunya Bhutta, Senior Editor, Audience Engagement @sunyaaa

Behavior & Society "Fake News" Web sites May Not Have a Major Effect on Elections Voters exposed to such untrustworthy sources also see valid news online, a study finds By Karen Weintraub

Neurological Health Tau Shows Promise as Achilles' Heel for Alzheimer's and Similar Diseases The protein, once seen as a secondary player, has taken a leading role in combating neurodegenerative illnesses By Karen Weintraub

Conservation What Is Really Killing Monarch Butterflies? Some scientists suspect that Roundup and milkweed loss aren't the only culprits By Gabriel Popkin

Space Scientists Spot the Biggest Known Explosion in the Universe The blast is about five times bigger than the previous record holder By Mike Wall,SPACE.com

Policy & Ethics Bioethics Faces a Virginity Test Banning a surgical repair that suggests a woman has never had intercourse might like a no-brainer—but it's not

Behavior & Society The Intersected States of America Sometimes a union does not feel very united By Evelyn Lamb

FROM THE STORE Ask the Experts: Human Body and Mind The third eBook in our Ask the Experts series, Human Body and Mind tackles questions about our own strange and mysterious biology, from how we evolved to exist this way to feats of body and mind.

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FROM THE ARCHIVE How Fake News Goes Viral--Here's the Math Models similar to those used to track disease show what happens when too much information hits social media networks By Madhusree Mukerjee | July 2017

QUOTE OF THE DAY "A Web site might promote unscientific theories about the origins of the coronavirus without changing a lot of minds. But when someone like conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh talks on air about those same theories, it has a bigger effect." https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fake-news-web-sites-may-not-have-a-major-effect-on-elections/

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