Antiscience

Not sure what to make of this one. Paolo Macchiarini, experimental surgeon at Karolinska Institute, is accused of playing extremely loosely with ethical and scientific standards. The studies, involving the implantation of engineered biomaterials to restore tracheal function, have not been retracted but questions remain about the researchers' honesty in evaluating their patients before and after the procedure. Macchiarini lost his job and today it emerged that heads all the way to the top of Swedish biomedical science are rolling. Is this a real scandal or a pretext for housecleaning? http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/09/another-scathing-report-causes-more-eminent-heads-roll-macchiarini-scandal

Sabine Hossenfelder  writes in Aeon about monetizing interactions with crank mathematicians and physicists. Hossenfelder paints a sympathetic picture of math and physics cranks as well-intentioned but deeply misguided amateurs who have been lead astray by poor science communication. The majority of my callers are the ones who seek advice for an idea they’ve tried to formalise, unsuccessfully, often for a long time. Many of them are retired or near retirement, typically with a background in engineering or a related industry. All of them are men. Many base their theories on images, downloaded or drawn by hand, embedded in long pamphlets. A few use basic equations. Some add videos or applets. Some work with 3D models of Styrofoam, cardboard or wires. The variety of their ideas is bewildering, but these callers have two things in common: they spend an extraordinary amount of time on their theories, and they are frustrated that nobody is interested. .... I still get the occasional joke fro