Check the Sample Size Before You Trust a Study's Headline

"Study finds coffee cuts cancer risk by 40%" sounds dramatic — until you learn it followed twenty-three people for two weeks. A dramatic percentage means nothing without knowing how many people and how long the study ran. Small samples produce big, unstable numbers that vanish the moment someone repeats the study with more people.

Before sharing a headline, look for two numbers the article usually buries: how many participants, and whether the result has been replicated. If you can't find them, treat the claim as interesting, not true.