All articles tagged with #scientific ethics
James Watson, renowned for co-discovering the structure of DNA, exemplified both groundbreaking scientific achievement and problematic behavior, including sexism and lack of acknowledgment for Rosalind Franklin's crucial contributions. His legacy is complex, marked by scientific brilliance and ethical controversies, reflecting the evolving nature of scientific collaboration and integrity.
Scientists are warning against research into creating 'mirror life' microbes due to potential unprecedented risks to Earth’s biosphere, with experts like Kate Adamala reconsidering their involvement amid safety concerns.
A paper on machine-learning methods to predict autism has been retracted from a conference proceedings volume due to concerns about the authors' use of unusual phrases, including "counterfeit neural organization." The paper contained several "tortured phrases" that made some passages hard to parse, according to a computer science professor. The use of such phrases undermines the scientific process and raises questions about scientific ethics. The professor created a tool to identify published work that contains tortured phrases or other issues, and of the more than 12,000 flagged papers, 644 have been identified as retracted.
A paper on machine-learning methods to predict autism has been retracted from a volume of conference proceedings due to concerns about the authors' use of unusual phrases, including "counterfeit neural organization." The paper contained several "tortured phrases" that made some passages hard to parse, including the terms "arbitrary timberland" and "irregular woodland" instead of the established term "random forest." The retraction notice did not cite the online forum post that highlighted the paper's potential problems, but it did state that "concerns were raised" about the paper's phrases and that the study authors "did not provide a reasonable explanation" for the use of these phrases.