Fake or fact: how to recognise a conspiracy theory

Everyone is susceptible to misinformation or being led astray online. Here's how to know when to follow your intuition or look for more facts

Cast your mind back to 2008, and you may remember the imminent end of the world. According to various doomsayers, the opening of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Cern was set to create a black hole that would destroy the Earth and everyone on it.

We are still standing today - but this fact has not stopped continued speculation about other dark deeds in those subterranean tunnels. In the stranger corners of the internet, you can find reports that the institute is riddled with Satanists, who are set to blast open a multi-dimensional portal into hell - rumours that have been fuelled by a video purporting to reveal a human sacrifice.