You may come across social media posts or TV segments claiming cattle are good for the climate. These claims often misrepresent the research they cite.
At first glance, the logic can seem sound: cows eat grass, grass absorbs CO₂, so how bad could it be? And images of cattle grazing in green fields don’t exactly suggest pollution.
But here’s what the science says: Most cattle farms emit more greenhouse gases than they absorb.
Why? Cattle are ruminant animals – they belch out methane. Methane is a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. So, even if the plants on a cattle pasture do take CO2 from the air, they usually don’t make up for all that methane.
It may be hard to believe that cattle grazing on fields of picture-perfect grass can emit more greenhouse gas than they absorb. But the grass often doesn’t help – in reality, many pastures are heavily managed or exist because forests were cleared, which increases emissions and reduces the land’s ability to store carbon.
While some farms are exploring ways to reduce emissions, a 2021 review of nearly 300 beef production systems found that just 2% achieved net-zero emissions.
Bottom line? While research is ongoing to reduce cattle-related emissions, the idea that beef is a climate solution doesn’t hold up across the broader evidence.
🔗 Read the full review to see how these claims are made, and what the broader body of research says about cattle and climate.
TikTok is chock-full of videos promoting products claiming to treat HPV infection. Among them are dietary supplements with mushroom extract with allegedly immune-boosting properties and vaginal gels with probiotics. But do these work and are they safe?
Experts we interviewed said that while some early studies suggest some potentially promising treatments, much larger and better-designed studies are still needed to establish their safety and effectiveness.
They also pointed out that many of these products are unregulated by public health authorities. This means that it’s hard for consumers to be sure of whether they contain the therapeutic ingredients as advertised and how pure the ingredients are.
Linda Eckert, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington, advised caution when it comes to using vaginal gels promoted on social media. Instead of helping, such gels could increase the risk of infection instead. She pointed out that the vaginal microbiome is “a very complex ecosystem” that needs to function properly to protect against infection.
“When you don't know what you're putting in and how pure it is and how well it's made—I've seen a lot of harm come from that in my own practice with patients” she said.
Check out our Insight article for the full discussion, link in comments.
Are grid battery systems fire hazards? The concern is real, but early data tells a different story.
🔍 From 2018 to 2024, grid battery installations surged nearly 3,000%. Yet the rate of fires hasn't followed suit.
According to the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), only 0.3% of grid battery projects in 2024 experienced failures that led to a fire with potential safety concerns.
So why do battery fire stories seem everywhere? 📌 The tech is new, so it draws more attention. 📌 Failures, when they happen, are rare but dramatic. 📌 Grid batteries are subject to safety standards that many small devices aren’t.
That’s not to say grid batteries can’t catch fire. Like any lithium-ion battery, they can — and when they do, the effects can be serious. But researchers are aware of these risks and are working to make systems safer.
📘 Read more in our latest Insight (link in comment):
A study from researchers in South Korea has been misrepresented on social media, where some posts claimed it showed weakened immunity in people who received COVID-19 vaccines. These posts, viewed hundreds of thousands of times on X, pointed to a higher recorded rate of respiratory infections and common colds in people who received multiple vaccine doses compared to unvaccinated people.
But this interpretation doesn’t hold up.
Science Feedback contacted the study’s authors, who firmly rejected these claims. Dr. Jihun Song, the study’s first author, stressed that their work was “an observational analysis of associations” and cannot be used to make causal claims about immune function.
We also spoke with Professor Helen Petousis-Harris, co-director of the Global Vaccine Data Network, who wasn’t involved in the research. She highlighted several limitations that undermine the idea of “weakened immunity” in vaccinated people.
For instance, while the study did observe a higher risk of upper respiratory infections and common colds among people with four or more vaccine doses, this same group had a lower risk of influenza-like illness and pertussis. That pattern is not consistent with the claim that COVID-19 vaccines weaken the immune system.
Another key issue: the study didn’t account for differences in healthcare-seeking behaviour. Vaccinated people tend to get tested or seek care more often, which can lead to more diagnoses, not necessarily more illness. Seeing more recorded cases in one group doesn’t automatically mean that group is less healthy.
👉 Read the full claim review
/review/south-korea-study-covid-vaccines-dont-weaken-immune-system/
Take Vitamin D to “shrink fibroids”? That’s what some TikTok videos are advising women to do. In total, such videos have drawn millions of views and spawned all kinds of promotional material for various brands of supplements.
In reality, there’s more hype than evidence behind these claims, a Science Feedback review finds.
More problematic is how some videos promote dangerously high doses of Vitamin D that can cause toxicity and increase the risk of kidney stones.
While having enough Vitamin D is important, as the saying goes: there can be too much of a good thing.
Ranee Thakar, president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, told Science Feedback:
“Evidence around using vitamin D to treat fibroids is limited and unclear. While increased vitamin D levels may be linked to slowing fibroid growth, there’s no proven cause-and-effect relationship. More research is needed to understand whether vitamin D has any real treatment benefit. We strongly encourage women to seek reliable, evidence-based health information through trusted sources”.
To learn more, check out our review (link in comments)
𝗪𝗵𝗼'𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝘀? 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆'𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰𝘀?
Our monthly newsletter (available in English and French) helps you track the latest misinformation trends and what scientists are really finding while keeping an eye on policy in this domain.
𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝘄𝗲'𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: False claims about recent extreme weather events around the world, our investigation into electric vehicle disinformation in Europe, and a new report by the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE), which reveals that climate misinformation is designed to confuse the public and targets policymakers to disrupt regulation and delay climate actions.
🔗 Go to our bio to subscribe. You can also choose to receive only the latest reviews and insight articles on climate or health topics.
#ClimateMisinformation #HealthMisinformation #ScienceNewsletter #disinformation #debunk
𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Hundreds of illegal Russian posts remain on X, despite DSA alerts,
X is failing to remove illegal Russian content in the EU, despite user alerts that they violate EU sanctions and the Digital Services Act
Full report link in our bio. 🔗
We've publish this report alongside @alliance4europe ,exposing how #bigtech #platform like X is failing to enforce EU sanctions against #Russian #propaganda networks.
Who's afraid of the #electriccar ?
A joint report by @ScienceFeedback and @Newtral analyzed 9,000+ pieces of content across social media, messaging platforms (#Telegram), TV and radio, in Spain, France, Germany, and the UK , revealing how misleading narratives are slowing down Europe’s green transition.
🔗 Go to our profile to find the link to the full report 🟢
C’est inédit : on publie aujourd’hui les premiers résultats de notre détection automatisée de la désinformation climatique dans les médias français !
Ces travaux sont menés conjointement dans le cadre de la démarche internationale, détection automatisée de la désinformation climatique « Climate Safeguards » et l’analyse des informations climatiques par l’Observatoire des Médias sur l’Ecologie.
Lien vers l’intégralité de l’étude : /actualites/detection-desinformation-climatique-resultats-intermediaires/
Why do cold snaps persist if the Earth is warming? This question keeps popping up—sometimes from curiosity, but often as rhetoric for climate denial.
While it may seem like a paradox that cold snaps – or extreme cold – can occur while the planet is warming, there’s nothing stopping the two from coexisting. #Globalwarming does not stop the seasonal changes that bring colder weather in winter and hotter weather in summer, nor does it stop the atmospheric patterns that can drive cold snaps.
Instead, ‘global warming’ means that the average global temperature – measured from locations across Earth – has increased over decades or more. Although global warming hasn’t ‘stopped’ all cold weather, it has already changed cold weather patterns.
Click the link in bio to read the full article about the knowns and unknowns on this complex issue.
🐂 Studies have shown that #cattle farming operations – even ones that are perceived to be ‘better’ like pastured operations – have negative climate and environmental impacts. Numerous cattle pastures in Brazil, for example, are created through deforestation. However, viral online #misinformation continues to mislead people to greatly underestimate the impacts above.
🔗 Click the link in bio to learn more about the actual consequences of the cattle industry that is hidden from our daily lives.
As severe wildfires spread in Los Angeles in early January 2025, so did misinformation about what caused them.
🔗 Check the link in the profile for a comprehensive article about wildfires and their complex causes.
#LAWildfires #misinformation
