What study have you recently heard of that you feel is a waste of time and money and may even have an ulterior motive behind it?

So I read an article about studying bacteria coming from dogs in cities during the winter months. The study is about the possibilities of how these bacterias may possibly cause health risks.
You don’t say. Bacteria causing health risks. Bacteria in a city where rats roam, pigeons, stray animals and homeless people living in cardboard boxes peeing outside or drunks peeing outside. With all that they think it dried up, frozen, shriveled up dog poop that is a problem.
One person wrote that its just an attempt to figure out how to tax people with pets for air.
So back to my question. What study do you find is a waste of money?