Pseudoscience

Junk science tracked apart from conspiracy theories — claims that are wrong about physical reality, history, or how the world works, rather than hidden-villain plots. 21 theories, updated 2026-07-18.

What makes this a separate shelf: these are flagged by SignalWatch's pseudoscience scanner (the A2 marker battery — physical-law violations, fringe-cosmology, pseudo-archaeology) and are not primarily conspiratorial. A theory with a central malevolent actor causing or covering up harm (chemtrails spraying, anti-vax, directed-energy attacks, suppressed-cure plots) stays a conspiracy theory, even when it misuses science. The cut here is: the wrong claim is the point, not a villain.

Pseudoscience venue diversity, presentation register, and taxonomy

Reading the chart. Venue diversity shows where each theory appears (distinct platforms + domains). Presentation register shows how formally it's presented — reference/news, blog/long-form, video, social, or marketing material — a proxy for white-paper vs. blog vs. marketing framing. Most pseudoscience travels through video and social channels, not journals.

Formality profile — how each theory presents

The crank-paper / preprint column (blue) and academic / reference column (deep green) tell the most. Theories sorted top-to-bottom from most formal presentation (Gravity Is an Internal Atomic Force, with 26% of its sources on viXra / ResearchGate) to most folk (Phantom Time Hypothesis, almost entirely video and podcast). Click any theory below to see its own formality profile.