It's worth reading the entire twitter saga.
1/ Who wants to hear some scientific intrigue?
A few weeks ago, a group of physical chemists posted a paper online announcing the observation of superconductivity at room temperature.
Today I posted a comment pointing out something funny in their data.
https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.02929
https://twitter.com/gravity_levity/status/1027717419400392705
volume_susceptibility = max(random.uniform(-0.061, -0.055), data) + offset
ReplyDeleteThis story raises so many disturbing questions...not only applicable to this particular incident, but to theoretical science at large..
ReplyDeleteCiro Villa It's comforting to me. This is how scientific progress happens -- someone posts a paper making a bold claim, and colleagues in that field and related fields take the paper apart bit by bit to make sure everything adds up. If something doesn't add up, you let the world know. I'd despair more if we accepted such things uncritically and let ourselves be fooled by our own hopes.
ReplyDelete(And yes, I'm aware that it's an imperfect process. Too many papers, too much work to validate it all, and too much hope that the authors are trustworthy and that their results are real. We're human. It's amazing we've managed to succeed at scientific endeavors given our limitations.)
This all seems a lot less strange when you realise this paper hasn't been peer reviewed yet.
ReplyDeleteRhys Taylor Yes, yes it does. Hoo boy, this is going to be fun.
ReplyDeleteLilith Dawn I do trust the scientific process at large. Indeed I am a big supporter/promulgator of (proper) science and its review process and methods. Although it is also evident and undeniable (as shown by a number of historical anecdotal incidents some of which are also mentioned in the story) to me that it is a far from perfect process (and understandably so), and that the potential is there for some undetected (accidental or malicious) errors or inaccuracies does exist with potentially unpredictable cascading effects.
ReplyDeleteCiro Villa The good news there is that errors and inaccuracies in experiments and studies eventually get weeded out as reality asserts itself and our theories are found to be flawed or outright incorrect. Science only fails outright when we refuse to question it.
ReplyDeleteLilith Dawn Agreed.
ReplyDelete