Things that apparently cause cancer
Points and comments are a snapshot, not live.
A Harvard proximity methodology spuriously links Costco, colleges, and sports venues to cancer.
Researchers from the Breakthrough Institute replicated a Harvard School of Public Health methodology that previously claimed nuclear power plants increase cancer risk. Applying the same proximity-based approach to landmarks such as Costco warehouses, private colleges (including Harvard), and sports stadiums, they found even stronger associations: Costco attributed 2.2 million cancer deaths, hundreds of thousands attributed to baseball fields and universities.
Critics argue the proximity score (up to 200 km) does not measure radiation exposure. They note nuclear workers receive negligible doses, suggesting no viable mechanism for distant residents. The methodology yields positive results for any landmark, including randomized controls, demonstrating the statistical technique itself, not causal exposure, drives the findings.
What commenters are saying
Top comment (#1) notes the criticized study used 'association' not 'causation', and highlights the authors' affiliations with the Breakthrough Institute, which advocates for nuclear energy. Reply cautions against using mechanism to justify results, but another reply argues the methodology's failure on controls makes the original study nonsense.
Some commenters question the rebuttal's replication: authors guessed at the original method and tuned until results matched. Others counter that the original paper lacked controls and should never have been published. A few discuss biases on both sides, noting the Harvard author's past work in oil/gas.