Why 1000 citizen scientists from 25 countries across buried their cotton underpants

Nearly 1,000 citizen scientists from 25 countries buried over 2,000 pairs of cotton underpants and 12,000 tea bags across Switzerland to gain insight into soil health. The goal was to observe how rapidly the cotton decomposed, which would indicate the level of biological activity in the soil. Published in New Phytologist Foundation, the results showed that private gardens had the highest decomposition rate after two months, with around 58% of the underpants breaking down, while lawns showed the lowest rate at approximately 40%.

Farmland and grasslands fell between these two extremes. The study, titled the "Underpants Index," suggested that the rate of cotton decomposition could be a good measure of soil fertility and biological decomposition activity. Researchers called for a greater awareness of soil's importance, as the experiment demonstrated that even simple items like cotton underpants can provide valuable information about this critical resource.