Misusing statistics is one of the most powerful ways to lie. Normally, we teach you how to avoid misinterpreting statistics, but knowing how numbers are manipulated can help you spot when it happens. To that end, we're going to show you how to make data say whatever the hell you want to back up any wrong idea you have.

Core exercises will build up your abs, but they do nothing for the layer of fat on top of them. Likewise, no leg exercise can give you slimmer thighs. And yet headlines and tweets about shrinking specific body parts abound -- even when the articles themselves contradict the headline.

Trump certainly isn't the first politician to lie, but he's made a reputation of it for a couple of reasons. One, he lies a lot. And two, when he's called out, he handles it poorly. Here are a few things you shouldn't do when you're called out in a lie, unless you want to make things worse.

There's an old adage that when you repeat a lie enough, it becomes the truth. Psychologists call the illusory truth effect. BBC Future digs into how it works, why it works and why it doesn't.

Figuring out when someone's being honest can be exhausting. To stay on your toes, watch for a technique called "paltering" that uses true statements to distort your perceptions.

By now, many of you have managed to fill out the eCensus during one of its sporadic appearances online. With all the hoopla surrounding privacy breaches and flaky security, a lot of Aussies are risking stiff fines by deliberately fudging the survey with fake answers. Was anyone completely truthful? Take part in our poll to find out!

There are plenty of situations where telling a lie can be beneficial, but it hardly matters if you suck at lying. If you want to be convincing, focus on eliminating the mental lag that makes your answers take longer.

Lies are hard to come up with on the spot, even for seasoned liars. If you suspect someone is feeding you a false story, draw it out by making them think too much about their story.