Science Feedback

Meteorologists have declared that El Niño is underway. You may have seen the dramatic headlines: that a “super El Niño” is coming, for example, or that El Niño may cause 2027 to be the hottest year on record. Over the coming months, scientists expect, El Niño will bring intensified rainstorms, worsened droughts, or heightened temperatures to different parts of the world. We’re already starting to see this El Niño bring something else – misleading or false claims.

Image collage. Stock photo by Lisa Hobbs. Marketers of natural health products, including wellness influencers, often propagate the narrative that mainstream medicine ignores natural cures. But there’s plenty of evidence showing that mainstream medicine doesn’t shy away from using natural compounds to develop treatments. Success stories include the antibiotic penicillin, the painkiller aspirin, and the antiparasitic drug ivermectin.

Source: VileGecko/CC BY-SA 4.0 How do scientists understand what climate change might bring? In short, they ask themselves ‘what if’ questions. What if the world carries on its current path? What if the world makes drastic cuts to its emissions? Or – what happens if the world builds out more and more fossil fuels, causing emissions to rise and rise? Climate scientists can answer each question by modelling its results.

Image collage. Stock photo by Tom Radetzki. Conspiracy theories about infectious disease outbreaks tend to start circulating shortly after an outbreak is reported in the mass media. They are popular vehicles of misinformation, frequently stoking fear and distrust of vaccines and other public health measures. They manipulate emotions by playing on people’s preconceptions and preoccupations about a range of topics, including Big Pharma and governmental overreach.

You’ve probably seen claims that climate change isn’t all that scientists say it is. Is climate change a ‘scam’ designed to benefit ‘certain industrial groups’? Are environmentalists ‘enriching themselves at the expense of taxpayers’ hard work’? These sorts of claims say that climate policies are unnecessary – or that they have a nefarious hidden agenda, designed to benefit shadowy interests. Something can be a ‘scam’ in many ways.

Climate information has become a prime target for disinformation strategies across the media and social media networks. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is organising two online workshops 一featuring the same content on two different dates一 for journalists on how to identify and counter climate disinformation, as part of its project ‘Strengthening media capacities to combat climate misinformation and disinformation’, which is funded by Global Initiative.

Image collage. Stock photos by Billy Pasco and Nils Rensing. Virus photo credit: Cynthia Goldsmith. Global headlines about the MV Hondius hantavirus outbreak were accompanied by an all-too-familiar pattern emerging on social media platforms. Users posted wild speculations and conspiracy theories about the outbreak, sprinkled with generous doses of misinformation about unproven cures and vaccines—common refrains from the COVID pandemic.

Hantavirus infection is primarily spread by exposure to excreta from wild rodents, although rare cases of human-to-human transmission by one hantavirus have been reported. The infection produces flu-like symptoms, including fever, chills, and muscle aches. Severe disease can lead to breathing difficulties and internal bleeding. There is no specific medication that can be used to treat hantavirus infection and treatment is limited to supportive care that alleviates symptoms.

Photo collage. Stock photos by Alex Saks and Leohoho. Numerous posts can be found on social media encouraging people to take omega-3 supplements to treat depression. Among some of the prominent examples we found was a video clip of Stanford neuroscientist and podcaster Andrew Huberman claiming that “omega-3 from fish oils is as effective at reducing depression as antidepressants” (YouTube and TikTok).

Photo collage. Stock photo by Eiliv Aceron. The saying “Eat well, feel well” encapsulates the importance of diet to our health. It sounds simple enough, but when viewed through the lens of social media, those four words can be interpreted in so many different ways. After all, to “eat well” seems to mean different things, depending on who you’re following on social media. Does eating well mean following the keto diet? The carnivore diet?