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- Hacker News
- That's kinky.
Also, the very notion that agriculture depends on underpants for studying soil, is - while entertaining - rubbish nonsense. For decomposition studies you typically use thorough material with consistent dimensions etc... like a rectangle of, say, 10cm x10cm, but even that is rarely done. This here really seems fake research.
by shevy-java - Ig Nobel prize incoming?by bonzini
- I know HN is not that kind of site, but I have a hard time suppressing the knowledge that "step 3 is profit", and now we arguably know what step 2 is.by fifticon
To me, this is a more interesting finding than Lawn=Bad, Garden=Good. Natural ecosystems should not have exceedingly high nutrients, which may benefit invasive plants. It sounds similar to algae blooms in ponds caused by fertilizer runoff.Researchers are careful to note that the Underpants Index most strongly reflects soil fertility, meaning nutrient availability, rather than soil health in the fullest sense. A soil loaded with nutrients will break down cotton fast, but that does not automatically mean the soil is in good ecological condition. In natural ecosystems like meadows or forests, very high nutrient levels often signal human disturbance, not health, and can drive out rare plant species.by schnevets- > How much underwear decomposed was strongly linked to how many nutrients and how much organic material were in the soil. // Burying cotton underwear proved to be a simple, easy-to-use way to get a first impression of soil biological activity that anyone can try with a comparable pair of cotton briefs
A very simple question: why not directly using cotton fabric cuts?
by mdp2021