As the internet becomes a greater part of our lives, and information travels more quickly, it’s become easier for people to stumble onto inaccurate info, and for that info to take hold and spread. Consider, for example, the anti-vaccinationmovement, or the “birthers.” And also, of course, climate denial.

Websites proffering misinformation and farfetched conspiracy theories on global warming are just as easy for the casual googler to pull up as, say, an article about the latest IPCC report. (Try googling “Is climate change real?” or something along those lines, then go ahead and cry.)

But that might change. Last month, Google scientists outlined new research on an algorithm to rank websites according to their trustworthiness. Lily Hay Newman explains the project in Slate: