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Science & Tech30 outlets ran this4 min read

Underwear experiment reveals land use impacts soil health

Swiss citizen science project uses decomposition rates to measure biological activity.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
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What this story says

  • Nearly 1,000 volunteers in Switzerland buried over 2,000 pairs of organic cotton underwear at approximately 1,000 locations.
  • The decomposition rate of the underwear after 30 and 60 days served as an indicator of soil biological activity.
  • Private gardens showed the highest decomposition rates (58% after two months), followed by lawns (around 40%), with agricultural fields and meadows in between.
  • Land use was identified as the most significant factor influencing decomposition rates, more so than measured soil properties.

Who covered it

Left 11%(2)Centre 56%(10)Right 33%(6)

Percentages are shares of the 18 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 12 of the 30 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

42/100

Craft

61/100

Hype

41/100

30 sources · methodology

An experiment involving nearly 1,000 volunteers across Switzerland used buried organic cotton underwear to assess soil health. Participants buried over 2,000 pairs of underwear at around 1,000 locations. After 30 and 60 days, the underwear was exhumed, photographed, and sent to researchers along with soil samples. The rate at which the cotton decomposed was used as a measure of biological activity in the soil.

The findings, published in Plants People Planet, indicated that land use was the most critical factor affecting decomposition. Private gardens exhibited the highest decomposition rates, with 58% of the underwear breaking down within two months. Lawns showed lower activity, with approximately 40% decomposition. Agricultural fields and meadows fell between these two extremes. Researchers noted that this suggests how land is managed significantly influences soil life and quality.

Disagreement on the role of soil properties

While the reports agree that land use was the most significant factor influencing decomposition rates, there is a divergence regarding the influence of measured soil properties. The full report from Vice states that land use was identified as the most significant factor influencing decomposition rates, 'more so than measured soil properties.' However, the full report from Phys.org notes that 'Land use proved to be the most important factor influencing how quickly the underwear decomposed. Whether a site was used as a garden, meadow, cultivated field or lawn explained the differences better than most of the soil properties measured. Chemical soil characteristics, such as nutrient levels, also played a significant role.'

What the coverage left out

None of the left, centre, or right-rated reports printed below mention the specific soil properties that were measured, beyond general references to nutrient levels or organic matter. The full report from Vice states land use was more significant than 'measured soil properties,' but does not specify what those properties were. Similarly, the full report from Phys.org mentions that 'Chemical soil characteristics, such as nutrient levels, also played a significant role,' but does not detail which characteristics were measured.

Tags:#SoilHealth#CitizenScience#EnvironmentalScience#Decomposition#Switzerland

Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 31 Aug 2026, 15:00, and will add the sides that appear.

How other outlets pictured it

Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.

After being buried in the ground for two months and broken down by soil organisms, a new pair of cotton underwear (left) shows clear signs of decomposition (right). Credit: Nicolas Zonvi
Phys.orgCentre

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

2 rated outlets

  • The left-rated report from Vice led with the unusual nature of the experiment, describing it as 'the best way to test the quality and vitality of the soil' by having 'a bunch of people to bury their underwear in the dirt for two months.' It highlighted that private gardens had the 'liveliest soil' and that the 'underwear index' can be used to determine soil health. The report also noted that extremely rapid decomposition could indicate a nutrient overload and an unbalanced patch of dirt. It concluded by stating that if burying undies is what it takes to gauge soil health, 'let’s all grab a shovel and our least loved cotton underpants and get to digging in the name of science.'

Centre

10 rated outlets

  • Centre-rated reports focused on the scientific findings and the methodology of the 'Proof by Underpants' project. They highlighted that land use is the key factor influencing soil health, with private gardens showing the most rapid decomposition and lawns the least. Several reports mentioned that the decomposition rate serves as an indicator of soil life and that healthy soil is crucial for fertility and ecosystem services. Some centre-rated outlets also noted that while rapid decomposition is beneficial for agriculture, it can indicate nutrient oversupply in near-natural habitats. The role of citizen science in enabling large-scale research was also a recurring theme.

Right

6 rated outlets

  • Right-rated reports generally focused on the unusual aspect of the experiment and its findings regarding soil activity. Headlines often posed questions about why underwear was buried, such as in The Economic Times and Gulf News. Several reports mentioned that private gardens displayed the most rapid decomposition rates, indicating active microorganisms. Some digests, like EADaily, used more provocative phrasing such as 'Agrarian Stripping.' The core finding that the experiment aimed to raise awareness about soil ecosystems and generate data on biological activity was present across these reports.

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Underwear experiment reveals land use impacts soil health?
Of the 18 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 11% are rated left, 56% are rated centre, 33% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 30. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Underwear experiment reveals land use impacts soil health left or right?
Neither side dominates it. Of the 18 rated outlets on this story, 11% are rated left, 56% are rated centre, 33% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
Is the coverage of Underwear experiment reveals land use impacts soil health biased?
Underwear experiment reveals land use impacts soil health is one event reported by 30 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which outlets covered Underwear experiment reveals land use impacts soil health?
30 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
How did scientists measure soil health?
Scientists used a citizen science project where nearly 1,000 volunteers buried over 2,000 pairs of organic cotton underwear across Switzerland. After 30 and 60 days, the underwear was dug up. The rate at which the cotton decomposed served as an indicator of the biological activity in the soil.
What did the buried underwear reveal about soil health?
The experiment revealed that land use is the most significant factor influencing soil biological activity. Private gardens showed the highest decomposition rates, indicating very active soil, while lawns had lower rates. Agricultural fields and meadows fell in between.
Why was underwear used in the experiment?
Organic cotton underwear was used because cotton is primarily cellulose, which soil organisms naturally break down. The faster the underwear decomposed, the more biologically active the soil was considered to be. This method was developed to raise public awareness about soil health.

Read it at the source

30 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

2

Centre

10
Show 2 more

Right

6

Not rated

12
Show 4 more

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

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