Topic collection
How research works, how reliable its conclusions are, and where the limits of evidence lie.
8 articles
01Students analyzing an artificial dataset often overlooked a gorilla hidden in plain sight. A small experiment illustrates how focusing on predefined hypotheses can narrow attention and cause researchers to miss unexpected patterns.
02Can water retain a trace of words, emotions, or substances that are no longer present? We examine what physicists actually mean by water “memory,” what the 50-femtosecond result shows, and why it does not validate popular claims.
03Former NIAID senior adviser David Morens pleaded guilty in a case involving hidden federal records about coronavirus research. The trail includes a private Gmail account, a research grant, wine and a scientific commentary on COVID-19 origins.
04Researchers at UC Berkeley made five people see a hue called olo that cannot be produced by ordinary light. The study does not reveal a new part of the spectrum, but a new percept created by directly stimulating specific cone cells in the retina.
05Born on July 31, Stephanie Kwolek recognized the value of an unusual cloudy polymer solution and opened the way to Kevlar, a lightweight fiber whose molecular structure gives it exceptional tensile strength.
06Britton Chance developed instruments for observing rapid enzyme reactions and metabolism inside living tissue. Outside the laboratory, he became an Olympic sailing champion.
07When an attached cell activates its self-destruct program, it does not simply vanish. As the cell contracts and pulls away from the surrounding surface, it leaves behind a thin patch of…
08The same diet produced opposite outcomes in two neighboring parts of the gut. In mice genetically predisposed to intestinal tumors, a ketogenic diet accelerated adenoma formation in the…
