Explainers
The words behind the hype, in plain English — from AI to EV range, recalls and review scores — and what happened when real products made claims about them. Every explainer links to the PixProofs and companies it's about.
What does "All Natural" on a food label actually mean?Much less than it sounds. In the US, the FDA has no formal rule for "natural" on most foods — only an informal policy that nothing artificial or synthetic was added…3 PixProofs →How true is "based on a true story"?Not very, necessarily. "Based on a true story" means real events inspired it — not that what you see happened. Films and memoirs regularly compress timelines, merge…7 PixProofs →What is AGI?AGI (artificial general intelligence) means AI that can match or beat humans across most kinds of tasks, not just one. It does not exist yet, and there is no single…2 PixProofs →What is AI?AI (artificial intelligence) is software that does tasks we normally associate with human thinking — recognizing images, understanding language, making predictions or…4 PixProofs →What is an AI agent?An AI agent is an AI model — usually an LLM — that is given tools and allowed to decide its own steps to finish a task: browsing websites, running code, editing…15 PixProofs →What does "up to X hours" battery life really mean?"Up to X hours" is the best result from one test the maker chose — often video playback with low brightness, wireless off and nothing else running. It's a fair way to…8 PixProofs →What is a benchmark, and why do scores mislead?A benchmark is a standard test used to compare products — chips, phones, games consoles or AI models — on the same tasks. Benchmarks are useful, but a score only…9 PixProofs →What does a box-office record actually mean?Box office is the total money cinemas take in ticket sales — before anyone takes a cut. It's not profit: cinemas keep a share, and marketing costs come on top of the…6 PixProofs →What is a class-action lawsuit, and does a settlement prove the claim was false?A class action is one lawsuit filed on behalf of a large group — say, everyone who bought a product — instead of each buyer suing alone. Most end in a settlement: the…15 PixProofs →What is clock speed?Clock speed is the frequency at which a processor’s internal clock generates pulses to synchronize its components, measured in hertz (Hz). Higher clock speeds…1 PixProof →What do IIHS "Top Safety Pick" and 5-star crash ratings mean?In the US, two groups crash-test new cars. The government's NHTSA gives 1 to 5 stars, and the insurer-funded IIHS gives yearly "Top Safety Pick" and the higher "Top…2 PixProofs →What does EV "fast charging" really mean?Fast charging means DC fast chargers that pump power straight into the battery, usually taking an EV to 80% in under an hour. The headline kW number is a peak the car…3 PixProofs →How is EV range measured?An electric car's advertised range in the US is its EPA rating: a number from standardised lab driving tests, adjusted to allow for things like air conditioning, cold…8 PixProofs →What is EPG?EPG is a solid fat substitute that received GRAS status for use in confectionery and later for many other food categories, allowing up to 38 % of a product’s weight.1 PixProof →Can food brands say anything about health?No. In the US, a food can only claim to lower the risk of a disease if the FDA has approved that specific health claim. Softer "structure/function" claims like…9 PixProofs →What is frame generation, and are those frames real?Upscaling (like Nvidia's DLSS or Intel's XeSS) renders a game at a lower resolution and uses AI to fill in a sharper image. Frame generation goes further: AI invents…2 PixProofs →What is GPT, and what is ChatGPT?GPT stands for "Generative Pre-trained Transformer" — OpenAI's family of large language models. ChatGPT is OpenAI's chatbot app built on top of those models; it…4 PixProofs →Do GitHub stars and Hacker News points prove a tool is good?They measure attention, not quality. A GitHub star is a one-click bookmark from any signed-in user, and Hacker News points are upvotes on a link. Big numbers usually…8 PixProofs →What are input latency and polling rate?Input latency is the delay between pressing a key or clicking and seeing the result on screen, usually measured in milliseconds. Polling rate is how often a mouse or…6 PixProofs →What is an LLM?An LLM (large language model) is an AI model trained on huge amounts of text to predict the next piece of text. That one skill, at enormous scale, lets it answer…4 PixProofs →What is a live-service game?A live-service game keeps making money after you get it: new seasons, battle passes, cosmetic shops and sometimes loot boxes — paid, randomised prizes. It can mean…5 PixProofs →What counts as a mathematical proof?A mathematical proof is a step-by-step logical argument showing a statement must be true, where every step follows from accepted rules and earlier results. For a…1 PixProof →What does the NHTSA complaint count for a car tell you?Anyone in the US can report a safety problem with their car to NHTSA, the government road-safety regulator, and those reports go into a public database. A car's…9 PixProofs →What is open world?An open world is a video‑game environment where players can move freely toward objectives, rather than following a strictly linear path. The world is usually…3 PixProofs →What does "open source" mean for software and AI?Open source software publishes its source code under a license that lets anyone use, study, change and share it. For AI it is murkier: many "open" models only release…12 PixProofs →What is open-ear?Open-ear headphones are a type of headphone that leaves the ear canal open, often using bone‑conduction drivers that sit in front of the ear rather than inside it.1 PixProof →Do more megapixels mean a better phone camera?Not by themselves. Megapixels only count how many pixels the photo has. Image quality depends more on how much light the sensor collects (its size), the lens, and the…4 PixProofs →What is a process node?A process node is a label for the smallest feature size a semiconductor fab can create, but the number is now mostly a marketing term and does not always match actual…1 PixProof →What is prompt injection?Prompt injection is an attack where someone hides instructions in text an AI will read — a web page, an email, a document — so the AI follows the attacker instead of…2 PixProofs →What are vehicle safety ratings?Ratings are scores given by safety agencies that show how well a vehicle protects occupants in a crash, based on standardized tests and regulations.1 PixProof →What is refresh rate?Refresh rate is the number of times each second a raster‑based screen draws a new image. Higher rates reduce flicker on CRTs and set the maximum frame rate an LCD can…2 PixProofs →What do Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores mean?They measure different things. Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer is the percentage of approved critics who gave a positive review — not how good they thought it was.…9 PixProofs →What is a safety recall?A safety recall is when a company — often pushed by a regulator like NHTSA for cars or the CPSC for household products — admits a product has a safety defect and…26 PixProofs →What does "self-driving" actually mean?Engineers rate driving automation from Level 0 (none) to Level 5 (drives anywhere, no human needed), using the SAE J3016 standard. Most "self-driving" features sold…2 PixProofs →What are specs?A specification is a documented set of requirements that a material, design, product, or service must meet. It details the exact features, performance criteria, and…2 PixProofs →What is controller stick drift?Stick drift is when a controller's thumbstick registers movement you didn't make — your character walks or the camera turns on its own. Most sticks use…4 PixProofs →What is a telephoto lens?A telephoto lens is a long‑focus lens whose physical length is shorter than its focal length, achieved by a special telephoto group that folds the light path.1 PixProof →Are voice assistants always listening?Their microphones are always on, listening locally for a wake word like "Alexa" or "Hey Siri". Only after they hear it do they start recording and, usually, send your…3 PixProofs →What does IP68 mean?IP68 is an international rating (IEC 60529) for how well a device keeps out dust and water. The "6" means fully dust-tight; the "8" means it survived continuous…2 PixProofs →