Science media bias and reliability
Ad Fontes Media places Science in the centre. We have seen it on 10 published stories of ours.
The short answers
Is Science biased?
Ad Fontes Media places Science in the centre. An outlet rating describes a broad pattern in its output, not every article it publishes.
Is Science left or right?
Ad Fontes Media places Science in the centre. In the three-way grouping used on story pages, that puts it under Centre.
Is Science reliable?
The factual-reliability assessments we hold for Science are Media Bias/Fact Check: Very high factuality. These are outlet-level assessments, not a guarantee that every report is correct.
What Science has been covering
Our account of each story, written from every outlet that ran it, with Science’s own report linked underneath.
AI company Anthropic has blocked researchers from using its models for work that could potentially aid biological weapons development. The company stated it could not determine if the research served a legitimate scientific purpose or malicious intent, citing attempts to circumvent restrictions and obscure research goals.
Science reported it as“Chilling” warning or overreaction? AI bioweapons report divides experts (opens Science in a new tab)
Analysis of prehistoric human remains from Indonesia has revealed evidence of habitual drug use dating back approximately 25,000 years. This predates agriculture and suggests humans may have been consuming psychoactive substances much earlier than previously understood.
Science reported it asBetel nut sucking is the earliest recorded evidence for the habitual use of a neuroactive plant drug (opens Science in a new tab)
Scientists at the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment in South Dakota have observed a single particle interaction that could be a sign of dark matter. While the event is statistically unlikely to be background noise, researchers stress it does not meet the threshold for a confirmed discovery.
Science reported it asWorld’s biggest dark matter detector spots a single weird particle (opens Science in a new tab)
Researchers used buried organic cotton underwear as an indicator of soil biological activity. The experiment, involving nearly 1,000 volunteers across Switzerland, found that land use was the most significant factor influencing decomposition rates, with private gardens showing the highest activity.
Science reported it asAssessing soil health with underpants (opens Science in a new tab)
Research indicates the Shingrix vaccine may provide protection against cardiovascular events and dementia. A study found a reduced risk of heart disease and cognitive decline in those vaccinated compared to an older vaccine.
Science reported it asShingles vaccine linked to reduced heart risks (opens Science in a new tab)
David Morens, 78, a senior adviser at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 2006 to 2022, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. The case centres on efforts to hide federal records about COVID-19 origins and a terminated research grant linked to a Wuhan lab.
Science reported it asFormer Fauci adviser pleads guilty to hiding COVID-19 communications (opens Science in a new tab)
Astronomers have identified a star, S301, orbiting the Milky Way’s central black hole at 25,000 kilometres per second, the fastest known in the galaxy. Its tight orbit may enable scientists to measure the black hole’s spin, testing Einstein’s general relativity.
Science reported it asFastest known star could reveal the spin of our galaxy’s giant black hole (opens Science in a new tab)
Researchers identified a previously unseen variant of the Bundibugyo Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, suggesting a new animal-to-human transmission. The outbreak, declared in May, has killed over 2,000 people and infected 4,381, with no approved vaccine or treatment for this strain.
Science reported it as‘Mismatched’ vaccine being rolled out against Ebola outbreak (opens Science in a new tab)
Scientists at the Arc Institute in California used an AI model named Evo to design 16 new bacteriophages capable of infecting E. coli. The study, published in Science, excluded human pathogen datasets, ensuring the viruses cannot infect people. Experts warn of biosecurity risks despite potential medical applications.
Science reported it asGenerative design of bacteriophages with genome language models (opens Science in a new tab)
A study of ancient DNA has provided the first direct genetic evidence that European colonisers introduced smallpox to the Americas. All six outlets reporting the story led on the confirmation of long-held historical accounts, with no left-rated outlet covering the findings.
Science reported it asAncient DNA confirms historical accounts of how smallpox got to the Americas (opens Science in a new tab)
Who says so
One organisation has published a rating for this outlet. Where they disagree, the disagreement is the useful part and it is left standing.
- Ad Fontes MediacenterCheck it
How reliably it reports fact
A rating of the newsroom in general, by others, and a different thing from the Trust score we publish on each story, which judges one piece of reporting.
Very high factuality
- Media Bias/Fact CheckveryHighCheck it
Who owns it
- American Association for the Advancement of Scienceunknowndirect owner
Where it publishes from
- Publishes from
- Washington, District of Columbia, United States
- Official site
- science.org
- Seen publishing on
- science.org
- Access
- Free to read
What we have seen ourselves
Counted across the stories this site has published, which is the only denominator a reader can check: every one of them has a page, and every page lists the reports it was written from.
- Stories
- 10
- Reports listed
- 10
- We could read
- 0
- First seen
- 4 August 2026
10 of those reports were paywalled or blocked to us. Our reading of this outlet is built on the 0 we could open, not on everything it published.
A blindspot is measured against one side of the spectrum. Science is rated centre, so there is no side for it to be counted against and we publish no figure here.
Across the 10 stories of ours where at least three of the reports we listed carried a time, we logged no report earlier than Science’s on 2 of them. Overall it filed a median of 21 hours after the earliest report we logged.
Measured 19 September 2026. Last seen in a coverage list 18 September 2026. Ratings pulled 4 September 2026.
Other outlets rated the same way
Publishers carrying the same published leaning as Science, also publishing from United States, ordered by how often we have seen them on a story. Sharing a rating is not the same as being alike.
Think this page is wrong?
The leanings above are published by AllSides, Ad Fontes Media and Media Bias/Fact Check, and we republish them rather than make them. If you think one is misapplied, the strongest place to say so is with the organisation that made it, and every verdict here links to their page.
What we are responsible for is everything else: the ownership chain, where Science publishes from, which of our stories we have listed it on, and whether we have the right publisher at all. Tell us what is wrong and an editor reads it.
Report something wrong on this page
Anything we correct is written up in the public corrections log. We do not publish reader votes as a rating, because an unattributed rating is the thing this site exists to argue against.
Every rating on this page is a named third party’s published work, republished with its author and, where one exists, a link to it. Our own coverage record is the section we measure ourselves. Neither is a judgement of any individual report: those are scored story by story, and the reasoning is on our methodology page.