Fact Check: Viral claim that scientists at ‘Magadha DS University’ made Chanakya’s 3D model resembling MS Dhoni debunked
Fact Check: The viral claim that scientists at ‘Magadha DS University’ made Chanakya’s 3D model that resembles MS Dhoni is false.
A claim has been going viral on social media that a team of scientists at ‘Magadha DS University’ constructed a 3D model of Chanakya, which social media users have been comparing to cricketer MS Dhoni. This claim, however, is false. The image actually shows a 3D model of the cricketer, which was shared six years ago.
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Viral claim
The image was shared on X by the handle @jerxn_ with the claim, “Scientists at Magadha DS University have reconstructed this 3D model of how Chanakya, the author of Arthashastra, might have looked.” The tweet, since being shared on March 10, has received over nine lakh views. Many even started sharing the picture with the claim that the 3D model looks strikingly similar to MS Dhoni.
MS Dhoni fans soon started retweeting and sharing the screenshot of the above tweet. An individual wrote, “Thala for a reason!” “Magadha DS = MDS = Mahender Dhoni Singh. The message is clear!” posted another. A third expressed, “What if Thala Dhoni is the incarnation of Chanakya.”
Fact Check
After conducting a reverse image search on Google, we found that the original image was posted six years ago on the website ArtStation by freelance character modeller Ankur Khatri. He titled the artwork “MS Dhoni likeness study.” The description of the artwork reads: “Hi friends. I am doing a likeness study of MS Dhoni. Hope you like it, it is a work in progress. The project did not work on hair....” Therefore, the artwork is neither related to Chanakya nor has any relevant significance to his facial features.
The 3D model was made by Khatri using ZBrush, a digital sculpting tool that combines 3D/2.5D modeling, texturing and painting.
“I made these images with the help of software. These are the models of cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni,” the artist told Boom.
Furthermore, we found that there is no university named ‘Magadha DS University’, as mentioned in the viral tweet. If we Google the name of the university mentioned in the tweet, then the search result shows Bihar’s Magadh University. Further, if we simply search ‘DS University’, then Tamil Nadu’s Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan University pops up.
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Boom also reached out to Dr Gopal Singh, media convener of Magadh University. He told the outlet, “Magadh University have no such information. This news is false.”
Hence, the viral claim is fake.
