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RE: Berkeley lab found research fabricated



I think the classic example of preliminary hype was cold fusion.  A common

statement I heard was that extraordinary claims must be backed with

extraordinary proof.



-- John 





John Jacobus, MS

Certified Health Physicist

3050 Traymore Lane

Bowie, MD  20715-2024



E-mail:  jenday1@email.msn.com (H)      

-----Original Message-----

From: RuthWeiner@AOL.COM [mailto:RuthWeiner@AOL.COM]

Sent: Tuesday, July 16, 2002 9:53 AM

To: Floyd.Flanigan@FERNALD.GOV; Jack_Earley@RL.GOV; faseiler@NMIA.COM;

elb@BECHTELJACOBS.ORG

Cc: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu; jalvarez@nxs.net; jalvarez@auxier.com;

Gjnewton1937@AOL.COM

Subject: Re: Berkeley lab found research fabricated

. . .

2.  Was this deliberate "fabrication" or a false positive result enhanced by

preliminary hype?  I recall the (perhaps somewhat apocryphal) story of the

physician specializing in transplants who painted the fur of some of his

mice with black magic marker in order to show a genetic transplant.  Now

that was (or would have been) fabrication.  The descriptions I have read on

RADSAFE of the Berkeley claim sound more like premature enthusiasm about a

very questionable result that was later shown to be spurious.  Spurious

results happen.  Excessive enthusiasm about a spurious result is

embarrassing to the institution, not to speak of the investigator, but it

isn't really fabrication.  But perhaps I don't know the whole story. 

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