Why scientists asked 1

More than 1,000 volunteers buried cotton underwear across Switzerland to help scientists measure how active different soils are. The faster the fabric disappeared, the more biological activity was taking place underground. Gardens showed the fastest decomposition, while lawns had the least, revealing how strongly land management can shape soil life.

Why scientists asked 1,000 people to bury their underwear. Scientists estimate that more than half of global biodiversity exists below the surface. But soil biodiversity is declining around the world, threatening agriculture, food security and the ability of ecosystems to function properly.

To investigate this hidden world, researchers from the University of Zurich (UZH) and Agroscope, the Swiss federal center of excellence for agricultural research, launched the citizen science project Proof by Underpants ( Beweisstück Unterhose) in 2021. The project was designed both to raise awareness of soil ecosystems and to generate scientific data. Following the same standardized method, 1,000 volunteers buried more than 2,000 pairs of cotton underwear and 12,000 tea bags at roughly 1,000 sites across Switzerland.