# life: dear Mr. Donald, fuzzy evidence should be sharper, sooner or later, by Nature

       Nature | 637 | 16 Jan 2025 | 517

<< Mr President-elect, science is a self-correcting process in which bad actors and wrong ideas sooner or later get rooted out and fuzzy evidence becomes sharper. That is the joy and the beauty of the method that has made the modern world what it is. >>️

Editorial. Dear Donald Trump: A letter from Nature on how to make science thrive. Nature 637, 517. Jan 15, 2025.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00050-1

Also: Mr. Donald, forms of power, virus, sars* covid* (aka 1or2achoos), dance, are you ready for all this, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Also: A new exception within the FDA Cures Act Informed Consent, the intriguing concept of 'Minimal Risk Clinical Investigations'. FonT. Feb 1, 2024. 

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2024/02/life-new-exception-within-fda-cures-act.html 

Also: 'acad' in FonT https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=acad    in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry) https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=acad 

Keywords: life, Mr. Donald, forms of power, virus, sars, covid, 1or2achoos, acad, dance, are you ready

# s-acad: apropos of zombie literature ...

<< Are  these  “zombie  papers”  (to  repurpose  a  term  coined  by  academic  publishing  watchdog  Leonid Schneider) ...  >>

<< In  this  way,  zombie  papers  can  spawn  more zombie  publications,  and  the  damage  can  be  amplified  and  spread  in  an  infectious  pattern. >>

Bob  Grant. The  Zombie  Literature.  May  1,  2016

http://mobile.the-scientist.com/article/45868/the-zombie-literature

# s-acad: after a 'chemical pope': where the devil insists ...

<< If science and religion are beginning to walk together, the devil remains in the politics >>

Daniel Sarewitz. Constructive engagement is the key to climate action. Nature 529, 6 (07 January 2016) doi:10.1038/529006a

http://www.nature.com/news/constructive-engagement-is-the-key-to-climate-action-1.19103?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews

# ecol: mycological jazz

<< "Mycological" draws conceptually from fungal networks in forests and their interactions. Inspired by the work of ecologist Suzanne Simard, author Michael Pollan, and mycologist Paul Stamets; Krolak saw many parallels between biological networks and the social network known as jazz, as well as, the acoustic networks created when musicians interact through their instruments. Aesthetically, the work is of the free and avant-garde traditions of jazz. Drawing inspiration from John Coltrane to Sonny Sharrock to Makaya McCraven, Krolak seeks to create a space for various elements to play out and find their own connections. >>

Mycological By Nicholas Krolak. All About Jazz. Jan 8, 2022. 

https://www.allaboutjazz.com/media/track-mycological-by-nicholas-krolak

Also

Apropos of 'mycological jazz', a old  perplexity of mine, who knows why substantial funds were no longer allocated to sci research on viruses, bacteria, fungi (..) and their ecological 'jazzy interactions' ... ? 😏

keyword 'virus' | 'bacteria' | 'fungi' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=virus

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=bacteria

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=fungi

Also

Much of intelligence (quasi-stochastic poetry). Notes. Dec 16, 2005.

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/2005/12/1929-much-of-intelligence.html

keyword 'jazz' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=jazz

keyword 'jazz' in Notes (quasi-stochastic poetry):

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=jazz

Keywords: jazz, viruses, bacteria, fungi, interactions, acad, scires, funds

# s-acad: a curious academic circle: you have to fund, you have to pay to read, you have to pay to publish, you have to ...

<<  Innovation  can  come  from  anywhere—not  just  academics—but  only  if  we  allow  for a  non-linear  and  unrestricted  approach  to  inquiry  and  discovery. >>

Ryan  Merkley  (@ryanmerkley ). You  Pay  to  Read  Research  You  Fund.  That’s Ludicrous. April 18, 2016

http://www.wired.com/2016/04/stealing-publicly-funded-research-isnt-stealing/

https://twitter.com/ryanmerkley/status/722029628777492482

# s-acad: the gnosis of David (inside the walking around)

<< but I'll always be a chemist at heart >>

David J. Hill, Singularity University

http://singularityhub.com/2016/06/11/this-weeks-awesome-stories-from-around-the-web-through-june-11th-2/

# s-brain: tweeting in empathic brains ...

<< (..) few positive learning experiences are sufficient to increase empathy. >>

Hein G, Engelmann JB, et al. How learning shapes the empathic brain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Jan 5;113(1):80-5. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1514539112.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26699464

# acad: oops! when a big research (MACH15 clinical study, funded by several million dollars) can go wrong

<< The National Institutes of Health plans to end funding to the Moderate Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health (MACH) trial. The decision is based on concerns about the study design that cast doubt on its ultimate credibility.  >>

NIH to end funding for Moderate Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health trial. Jun 15, 2018.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-end-funding-moderate-alcohol-cardiovascular-health-trial   

<< last month, the National Institutes of Health took the unusual step of shutting down one of its own clinical trials - a $100 million dollar experiment gone wrong. The announcement followed an internal investigation, prompted by a dogged New York Times report, that uncovered inappropriate interactions between the alcohol industry (Anheuser-Busch InBev, Heineken, and others) and the NIAAA in the execution of MACH15. >>

Jeremy Samuel Faust. A Major Industry-Funded Alcohol Study Was Compromised. How Many Others Are Out There?  The most salient takeaway from the collapse of the MACH15 trial is that the conflicts of interest at its core are probably not as rare as we think. Jul 13, 2018

https://undark.org/article/mach15-alcohol-nih-industry-funding

# s-acad: or at least not as robust as they should be ...

<< This is the conclusion of Rigor Mortis, a wide-ranging critique of the modern biomedical research ecosystem by science journalist Richard Harris. He describes how a growing number of claims over the past decade that many published research findings are false, or at least not as robust as they should be, has led to calls for change, and the birth of a new discipline of metascience. >>

Marcus Munafo'. Metascience: Reproducibility blues. Nature 543, 619–620 (30 March 2017) doi:10.1038/543619a Pub 29 Mar2017

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v543/n7647/full/543619a.html

Richard F. Harris. Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions. Basic: 2017.

https://www.amazon.com/Rigor-Mortis-Science-Worthless-Billions/dp/0465097901

# acad: around p-hacking, when writing in a blog may be accidentally dangerous

<< Brian Wansink didn’t mean to spark an investigative fury that revisited his entire life's work >>

<< But his blog post accidentally highlighted some questionable research practices that caused a group of data detectives to jump on the case >>

the << practice of "p-hacking" — hunting for significant p-values in statistical analyses — is one of the many questionable research practices responsible for the replication crisis in the social sciences >>

<< people who work in fields that are kind of on the periphery of (..) have told me that most of their colleagues aren't even aware there's a problem yet >> Nicholas Brown

Cathleen O'Grady. "Mindless Eating,"or how to send an entire life of research into question. April 24, 2017

https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/04/the-peer-reviewed-saga-of-mindless-eating-mindless-research-is-bad-too/

# s-acad-music: il jazz-rock di Chick

<< Io sono un eterno studente che cerca di comunicare al pubblico le cose che più mi eccitano, e anche oggi ce ne sono tante >>

<< nei piccoli club, nelle cantine e negli studios ci sono sempre nuovi musicisti che portano avanti i suoni delle radici >>

<<  Non so definirmi perché non esiste una Authority nell'arte. L'arte è libera, è il mondo delle scelte infinite e delle infinite capacità dell'immaginazione >>

Chick Corea

http://m.ilgiornale.it/news/2015/10/28/mantengo-vivo-il-jazz-con-la-spiritualita/1187963/

rmx-s-acad-music: Enzo Jannacci, per Paolo Conte

<< Ho avuto la fortuna di trovare per "Messico e nuvole" un interprete come Enzo Jannacci che per me rimane, storicamente parlando, il piu' grande cantautore che l'Italia abbia mai espresso. Jannacci e' il personaggio (..) con una dose di visibile follia geniale, manifestata al momento della registrazione della canzone, alla quale io ero presente, poiche' l'ha cantata per tutto il tempo coricato per terra con il microfono in mano, completamente disteso sul pavimento, agitando le gambe per aria, urlando e sgambettando come solo lui sa fare, da saltimbanco intellettuale >>

Massimo Cotto "Fammi una domanda di riserva. Paolo Conte in parole sue" . Mondadori (2015), pag. 117

http://www.amazon.it/Fammi-domanda-riserva-Paolo-parole/dp/8804658444

https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enzo_Jannacci

https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Conte

# acad: the matthew effect vs perpetual novelties

<< Why do scientists with similar backgrounds and abilities often end up achieving very different degrees of success? A classic explanation is that academic achievement exhibits a “Matthew effect”: Early successes increase future success chances.>>

AA << results show that winners just above the funding threshold accumulate more than twice as much funding during the subsequent eight years as nonwinners with near-identical review scores that fall just below the threshold. >>

Thijs Bol, Mathijs de Vaan, and Arnout van de Rijt. The Matthew effect in science funding. PNAS May 8, 2018. 115 (19) 4887-90. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1719557115.

http://www.pnas.org/content/115/19/4887

Sam Zuckerman. How success breeds success in the sciences. University of California, Berkeley. Apr 27, 2018.

https://m.phys.org/news/2018-04-success-sciences.html

FonT

the "Matthew effect" esteso nel qualsivoglia contesto (vale a dire: rendita di posizione stabile, carriera professionale certa, esercizio del potere di cooptazione, accesso privilegiato a risorse pubbliche e private) vs (ipotetiche entita' AI.qu.cpu autonome, costo base 10-100 usd, emivita 10y) ... come si auto giustifichera' lo status di una futura classe dirigente? Sara' sufficiente il conforto, l'appoggio sottotraccia della "famiglia",  la disponibilita' alla sottomissione/ compromesso "a prescindere", l'eventuali abilita' di chiacchera e visibilita' sui media per stabilizzarne il potere?

# game: a hypothesis to test a generic "generous tit-for-tat" approach to manage a self-catalytic (a cascade of period-doubling bifurcation) social transition dynamics

<< "La grande opportunità (..) è quella di tentare una 'mossa del cavallo': una scelta inaspettata, spiazzante, al limite del temerario" >>

che proponga  << un governo con gli elementi portanti del proprio programma, la cui guida sia affidata a una personalità fuori dei partiti, che scelga ministri tutti della società civile >>

"Modello Zagrebelsky per convincere il Pd". Intervista a Paolo Flores d’Arcais. Mar 11, 2018.

http://m.huffingtonpost.it/2018/03/11/modello-zagrebelsky-per-convincere-il-pd-intervista-a-paolo-flores-d-arcais_a_23382569/

<< Adding "generous tit-for-tat" greatly increases the overall level of cooperation and can lead to long periods of steady cooperation >>

Nowak M, Sigmund K. Chaos and the evolution of cooperation.  Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1993; 90 (11): 5091-4. Jun 1, 1993.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/8506355/

Also

<< The former child prodigy is 20 &wise beyond her years! @mohinidey17 talks to me of “when the person goes deeper than the technique” >> Jan 2, 2018

https://youtu.be/hbcW7nxcP3E

https://twitter.com/HrishiKay/status/948038183656103936

Also

<< Amico,  qualunque  cosa suonerai ... >>

2113 - soniche a ramulo. Jan 28, 2007.

http://inkpi.blogspot.it/2007/01/2113-soniche-ramulo.html

# acad: oops! Hindu tales break into a scientific Congress

<< G. Nageswara Rao, a vice-chancellor at Andhra University in southern India, used stories from Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata as proof the people of ancient India had aircraft, test-tube babies and that stem-cell research "was done in this country thousands of years ago". >>

<< The annual Indian Science Congress, which this year ran over five days at a university in northern Punjab state, ended on Monday. >>

Indian scientists protest congress speakers discrediting works of Newton, Einstein. Mumbai (Reuters). Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Alison Williams.  Jan 7, 2019.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-india-science/indian-scientists-protest-congress-speakers-discrediting-works-of-newton-einstein-idUKKCN1P11XT

<< "Hindu Lord Vishnu used guided missiles known as 'Vishnu Chakra' and chased moving targets," added the professor of inorganic chemistry. >>

Indian scientists slam ancient Hindu 'stem cell' claim. Jan 6, 2019.

https://m.phys.org/news/2019-01-indian-scientists-slam-ancient-hindu.html

FonT

gli argomenti del prof di chimica inorganica mi hanno fatto venire in mente certe teorie circa gli "Antichi Astronauti"

https://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teoria_degli_antichi_astronauti

# acad: the 2nd MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award

<< Nominations are now open for the second MIT Media Lab Disobedience Award, which carries a 250,000 USD cash prize, no strings attached. This award will go to a person or group engaged in what we believe is an extraordinary example of disobedience for the benefit of society: work that impacts society in positive ways, and is consistent with a set of key principles, including nonviolence, creativity, courage, and responsibility for one’s actions. >>

https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/disobedience-award/  

FonT

che mat-tachioni questi MITiani ...

# s-acad: about reproducibility

https://twitter.com/NatureNews/status/685469795085598721

Matt Landry & Aldrin V. Gomes. Antibodies: Half of samples fail protein-blot tests. Nature 529, 25 (07 January 2016) doi:10.1038/529025c

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v529/n7584/full/529025c.html

# rmx-s-acad: big ideas for better science

<< We asked four researchers who made the news in 2015 what they would change about how science gets done >>

Kendall Powell. Nature 528, 589-590(2015) doi:10.1038/nj7583-589a Published online 23 December 2015

http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7583-589a?WT.mc_id=TWT_NatureNews

si potrebbero fare osservazioni molto cattive,  crudeli perfino, circa l'Accademia, quella italiana, ma non solo ... 

se si preferisce l'analisi di componenti strutturali/ funzionali (rispetto alle moralistiche,  alle  ideologiche, alle sentimentalistiche ... ) ecco qui la citazione tratta da un altro recente paper sempre sul tema "Accademia"

paper scritto da Accademici, obviously ...

<< publish or perish [pop] (..) discourage scientists from asking innovative questions >>

J. G. Foster, A. Rzhetsky, J. A. Evans. Tradition and Innovation in Scientists' Research Strategies. American Sociological Review, 2015; 80 (5): 875 DOI: 10.1177/0003122415601618

http://m.asr.sagepub.com/content/80/5/875

# acad: oops! a database of more than 18,000 retracted scientific papers and conference abstracts has been released

<< Nearly a decade ago, headlines highlighted a disturbing trend in science: The number of articles retracted by journals had increased 10-fold during the previous 10 years. >>

<<  It is not a perfect window into the world of retractions. Not all publishers, for instance, publicize or clearly label papers they have retracted, or explain why they did so. And determining which author is responsible for a paper's fatal flaws can be difficult. >>

Jeffrey Brainard, Jia You. What a massive database of retracted papers reveals about science publishing's 'death penalty'. Science. Oct. 25, 2018

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/what-massive-database-retracted-papers-reveals-about-science-publishing-s-death-penalty

Searchable database of more than 18,000 retracted papers and conference abstracts dating back to the 1970s

http://retractiondatabase.org/RetractionSearch.aspx?

the blog Retraction Watch, by Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus.

https://retractionwatch.com/

# acad: Prometheus vs Pandora interplay

<< Some of the most important rules we need to discover are about how to use technology and, just as importantly, how not to use it. >>

<< The great institutional economist Clarence Ayres wrote about how technology becomes incorporated into our lives in a way that is roughly equivalent to the way tribal societies use totems to interact with each other. >>

<< Every inventor is both a Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, and a Pandora unwittingly releasing a swarm of potential evils on the world. The competition of ideas between hype and doomsaying allows us to discover helpful rules which deal with both. >>

<< Technology doesn't come with a ready-made rulebook for how to use it. We have to discover this in a process of trial, error and argument. And for this the doomsayer is just as vital as the visionary. >>

Brendan Markey-Towler. Doomsaying about new technology helps make it better. Jun 21, 2018.

https://theconversation.com/doomsaying-about-new-technology-helps-make-it-better-98623