I suspect that 'scientific fact' is something of an oxymoron. At one time it was a scientific fact that the sun revolved around the earth, or that the universe

I suspect that 'scientific fact' is something of an oxymoron. At one time it was a scientific fact that the sun revolved around the earth, or that the universe was static. Science is designed to be constantly tested by theory, experimentation, replicability and hypotheses. As far as consciousness goes, all we have are theories of course. :)