The scientific approach has resulted in an explosion of technology and knowledge about our world. However, when applied without attention to integrity to ensuring rigor, thoroughness, and accuracy even honest, well-meaning scientists can reach incorrect conclusions. Worse, the intentional misapplication of the scientific method, or the use of the trappings of scientific study to lend credence to a spurious idea (pseudoscience), is a powerful tool of deception, in which bad actors claim that deliberate misinformation resulted from an unbiased scientific process.
In this paper, you will explore what happens when the process of scientific thought is either negligently or maliciously derailed.
Choose a modern (since 1875 or thereabouts) phenomenon in which this happened. (It doesnt have to be specifically about astronomy or physics; your example may come from any field that purports to use the scientific process, including the social sciences.) Your example needs to have at least the following properties:
Someone made a claim purporting to be the result of scientific study
This claim was false or not well-founded
The incorrect claim resulted in some way from some failing in the process of science.
This might be because of an honest mistake
It might also be a result of a deliberate attempt to mislead
