Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
20%
4 of 20 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
60/100
National Post's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Science
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
There’s nothing quirky about it, if there’s a man who deserves to wear the Order of Canada, it’s Bob McDonald.
asserted
it → ’ → Canada
How else do you come to possess 13 honorary degrees, medals from NSERC and The Royal Society of Canada, and a Gemini?
asserted
you → come → Canada
How, in the name of the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory, do you get an honest to goodness space-borne asteroid named after you?
asserted
you → get → you
A good Victoria boy, McDonald was sailing around Vancouver Island when he got the news he was also somewhere between Mars and Jupiter, as the story goes.
asserted
story → sail → Mars
“I almost fell overboard,” he told the national broadcaster in 2014.
asserted
he → fall → 2014
“It’s huge for me.
asserted
It → ’ → me
As a little kid, I dreamt about going into space, being out there.
asserted
I → dream → space
That hasn’t quite happened yet, so having an object named after me is almost as good.”
asserted
object → happen → me
As a main belt asteroid, Bobmcdonald is a “leftover planetary building block that never accreted enough material to become” a planet, according to Harvard University (which some pretty smart Canadians have attended).
uncertain
Canadians → accrete → which
“They are therefore keys to understanding how the Solar System formed and evolved.”
asserted
System → understand → ?
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada metadata indicate the asteroid is designated 2006 XN67, a reference to its discovery on Dec. 12, 2006 by National Research Council observer David Balam using the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope in the observatory constellation high above the clouds on Maunakea on Hawaii’s Big Island.
asserted
asteroid → indicate → Island
McDonald was named an Officer in the Order of Canada in 2011.
asserted
McDonald → name → 2011
The Governor General’s website notes he became one of the country’s most respected science journalists despite having no formal university education (a baker’s dozen honorary degrees don’t count — nor do McDonald’s brace of honorary college diplomas).
asserted
brace → note → diplomas
Instead, McDonald made his name as a science communicator starting at the Ontario Science Centre in the 1970s, according to a piece the CBC published in 2022 on the occasion of his 30th anniversary with the also-award-winning CBC Radio science mainstay Quirks & Quarks.
uncertain
CBC → make → mainstay
He was first invited to appear on CBC Radio during a climate-themed series on Ideas called Running Hot and Cold in 1978.
asserted
He → invite → 1978
Quirks & Quarks was driven by breaking science news each week.
asserted
Quirks → drive → news
In his first episode, McDonald interviewed researchers about topics as disparate as the Hubble Space Telescope’s challenges, and whether dental equipment could spread AIDS.
uncertain
equipment → interview → AIDS
“After three decades of hosting Quirks, I still enjoy going to work every week,” he said in a column, also from 2022.
asserted
he → host → 2022
“The subject matter is always new, interesting and it keeps me abreast of where we are in our understanding of the fundamental process that governs the universe, and therefore our lives.
asserted
that → keep → universe
Not to mention, inspiring generations of Canadians to look up and imagine where they might make their own mark among the stars.
uncertain
they → mention → stars
The Aporia
