Scientific Regress by William A. Wilson | Articles | First Things The problem with science is that so much of it simply isn’t. Last summer, the Open Science Collaboration announced that it had tried to replicate one hundred published psychology experiments sampled from three of the most prestigious journals in the field. Scientific claims rest on the idea that experiments repeated under nearly identical conditions ought to yield approximately the same results, but until very recently, very few had bothered to check in a systematic way whether this was actually the case. The OSC was the biggest attempt yet to check a field’s results, and the most shocking. In many cases, they had used original experimental materials, and sometimes even performed the experiments under the guidance of the original researchers. Of the studies that had originally reported positive results, an astonishing 65 percent failed to show statistical significance on replication, and many of the remainder showed greatly reduced effect sizes. What about accuracy? So the dogma goes.
Antivaccination : 17 années perdues En février 1998, un médecin britannique nommé Andrew Wakefield publiait un texte où il prétendait avoir trouvé un lien entre vaccin et autisme. Dix-sept ans plus tard, on en paye encore le prix. Il en a coûté des millions de dollars, rien qu’en études pour tenter de trouver ce fameux lien, et jamais rien n’a été trouvé. Mais il en a aussi coûté des vies humaines : une résurgence des cas de rougeole en France en 2011 et en Grande-Bretagne en 2012 est associée par les médecins à la hausse du nombre de parents qui ont décidé de ne pas faire vacciner leurs enfants. Entretemps, il a été démontré que Wakefield était non seulement en conflit d’intérêts en 1998 — il vendait un traitement alternatif aux vaccins —, mais en plus, il avait falsifié ses résultats : les enfants formant son échantillon (qui n’étaient que 12) avaient été choisis parmi des familles opposées à la vaccination.
Scientific publishing: Peer review, unmasked : Nature To read this story in full you will need to login or make a payment (see right). Nature 416, 258-260 (21 March 2002) | doi:10.1038/416258a Scientific publishing: Peer review, unmasked Trisha Gura1 Top of page Abstract The editorial review of scientific papers usually takes place behind closed doors, but could the process be improved by opening it up for all to see? You have written an interesting but provocative paper that is likely to stir up debate. I want to purchase this article Price: $18 In order to purchase this article you must be a registered user. Personal subscribers to Nature can view articles published from 1997 to the current issue.
La vaccination: le débat est clos Bruce Tapiéro M.D., chef du service des maladies infectieuses, CHU Sainte-Justine et professeur agrégé de pédiatrie, Université de Montréal Cosignataires et membres du service des maladies infectieuses du CHU Sainte-Justine : Cybèle Bergeron, M.D.; Denis Blais, inf. B.Sc; Chantal Buteau, M.D.; Sandra Caron, inf. B.Sc; Jean-François Chicoine, M.D.; Anne-Marie Demers, M.D.; Pierre Gaudreault, M.D.; Céline Laferrière, M.D.; Valérie Lamarre, M.D.; Marc H. Lebel, M.D.; Philippe Ovetchkine, M.D.; Céline Rousseau, M.D.; Maude Saint-Jean, M.D. À titre de pédiatres et de spécialistes des maladies infectieuses du Centre hospitalier universitaire Sainte-Justine, il est de notre devoir de nous prononcer sur la question de la vaccination, relancée par les médias, à la suite de la sortie du film « Silence, on vaccine » produit par l’ONF. Les effets secondaires causés par les vaccins sont bien connus et très bien documentés. Aucun lien entre l’autisme et la vaccination La vaccination est sécuritaire
Thomas Kuhn: the man who changed the way the world looked at science | Science Fifty years ago this month, one of the most influential books of the 20th century was published by the University of Chicago Press. Many if not most lay people have probably never heard of its author, Thomas Kuhn, or of his book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, but their thinking has almost certainly been influenced by his ideas. The litmus test is whether you've ever heard or used the term "paradigm shift", which is probably the most used – and abused – term in contemporary discussions of organisational change and intellectual progress. The real measure of Kuhn's importance, however, lies not in the infectiousness of one of his concepts but in the fact that he singlehandedly changed the way we think about mankind's most organised attempt to understand the world. Kuhn's version of how science develops differed dramatically from the Whig version. What made it worse for philosophers of science was that Kuhn wasn't even a philosopher: he was a physicist, dammit.
Dr Kurt : "Pourquoi j’ai choisi de ne plus jamais vacciner mon propre fils et les autres enfants que nous pourrions avoir". Vendredi 7 mars 2014 5 07 /03 /Mars /2014 18:10 La vaccination par opposition à l'immunisation Dr Kurt : "Pourquoi j’ai choisi de ne plus jamais vacciner mon propre fils et les autres enfants que nous pourrions avoir". Il est absolument nécessaire de clarifier les termes VACCINATION par rapport à IMMUNISATION. Ce sont les médias et le monde pharmaceutique qui ont influencé le public en leur faisant croire que la vaccination était l'équivalent d'immunisation. La création de l'immunité est un processus naturel. Nous avons aussi un système respiratoire qui fait aussi partie intégrante des défenses du corps. Nous disposons aussi du système lymphatique qui, en association avec le travail des intestins, pourra lutter contre des « envahisseurs » plus redoutables. Si votre système immunitaire est affaibli au point de permettre aux « envahisseurs » de franchir ces barrières, ces derniers, vivants ou morts, pourront pénétrer dans le flux sanguin. Recherche biaisée : Les rappels :
Forer Personality Test Relatively Interesting Astrology and Horoscopes Debunked Over 2300 years ago, the Babylonians came up with the idea that the gods lived among the stars and other celestial objects, and were able to impose their will on humanity by controlling the destinies of individuals and nations alike. The Babylonians divided the sky into 12 “slices”: which we now know as the signs of the zodiac… Taurus, Pisces, etc. There are many variations of astrology, but they are all founded upon the idea that celestial objects can influence a person’s personality and destiny. Today, according to a Gallup poll, 25% of American believes in Astrology. In this article, we’ll investigate why horoscopes and astrology sometimes appear to be correct by reviewing the concept of subjective validation, the Forer Effect, and Gauquelin’s famous horoscope experiment; we’ll take a look at what an astronomer has to say about astrology; we’ll review some of the logical issues with astrology; and finally, we’ll take a look at how easy it is to debunk horoscopes yourself. The trick?
English Is the Language of Science. That Isn't Always a Good Thing Thirteen years ago, a deadly strain of avian flu known as H5N1 was tearing through Asia's bird populations. In January 2004, Chinese scientists reported that pigs too had become infected with the virus—an alarming development, since pigs are susceptible to human viruses and could potentially act as a "mixing vessel" that would allow the virus to jump to humans. "Urgent attention should be paid to the pandemic preparedness of these two subtypes of influenza," the scientists wrote in their study. Yet at the time, little attention was paid outside of China—because the study was published only in Chinese, in a small Chinese journal of veterinary medicine. It wasn't until August of that year that the World Health Organization and the United Nations learned of the study's results and rushed to have it translated. His study offers concrete examples of the consequences of science’s English bias. "There were more language barriers, and they were thicker and higher," Montgomery says.