Citation

Grech V, Masukume G. Early Hum. Dev. 2017; 115: 16-17.

Affiliation

Irish Centre for Fetal and Neonatal Translational Research (INFANT), Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; Gravida: National Centre for Growth & Development, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2017.08.007

PMID

28843137

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In France on 27/6/16, Iceland's men's national football (soccer)team won 2-1, knocking England out of the UEFA European Championship.

RESULT: Nine months after this momentous Icelandic victory, Ásgeir Pétur Þorvaldsson a medical doctor in Iceland, posted a tweet in jest suggesting that a baby boom had occurred as a result of increased celebratory coital activity following the win. The media covered this widely but statistical analysis shows otherwise and this was confirmed by the original tweet source.

DISCUSSION: Given the increase in fake scientific news, it is especially important for scientists to correct misinformation lest the public loses trust in science or gains a distorted understanding of known facts.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Public opinion; Science; Social media