It’s surprisingly easy to spread a piece of juicy misinformation, in part due to the speed of digital media, in part due to the need for news services to fill 24 hours of broadcast time, and in part due to the related need for news services to be first to break a story.

What people don’t appreciate, when they picture Terminator-style automatons striding triumphantly across a mountain of human skulls, is how hard it is to keep your footing on something as unstable as a mountain of human skulls. Most humans probably couldn’t manage it, and they’ve had a lifetime of practice at walking without falling over.