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Retraction Watch reports on three scientific papers (1,2,3) that have been retracted or deleted after I reported that they were plagiarized. Neuroskeptic became suspicious about the three unrelated papers – about food chemistry, heart disease, and the immune system and cancer – after scanning them with plagiarism software. After alerting the journals, two issued formal retractions for the papers – but neither specifies plagiarism as the reason. These three retractions represe ...read more
(Credit: Shutterstock) Brandies, such as cognac, are renowned for colors, flavors and aromas that require years to achieve. But scientists in Spain have used ultrasound could to cut the time needed for such spirits to mature down to days. Brandies, stemming from the Dutch brandewijn, or “burned wine,” are powerful alcoholic spirits distilled from wines or other fermented fruit juices. One brandy connoisseur of note, the poet Samuel Johnson, noted that “claret is the ...read more
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(Credit: jannoon028/Shutterstock) Political polls may have taken a beating in the last presidential election, but we shouldn’t count them out quite yet. After President Donald Trump, who was predicted to lose the election by a wide margin, emerged victorious from the 2016 presidential race, stories about polls were thrown into the “fake news” shredder. Although the fault may have lain with how we interpret them, polls lost a significant amount of hard-earned trust in the eyes ...read more
Simon speaks during the Precision Medicine World Conference, which was held recently in Mountain View, CA. (Credit: PMWC) President Donald Trump’s administration has placed programs initiated during Barack Obama’s tenure as president, even those with bipartisan support, on unsure footing. However, the cancer moonshot may have the critical momentum needed to achieve its goals. Former President Barack Obama announced the initiative at his final State of the Union Addr ...read more
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A computer-generated image of the Energy Observer in frigid waters. (Credit: Kadeg Boucher/Energy Observer) For over two decades, 45-year-old, French documentary maker Jerome Delafosse has been diving into oceans the world over to film marine life, ad he’s thrilled about his next expedition—above water. This spring, he will serve as chief explorer aboard the Energy Observer, a boat powered by the sun, wind and hydrogen. In a first-of-its-kind endeavor, Delafosse and ...read more
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(Credit: Hyunwoo Yuk/MIT Soft Active Materials Lab) Caught by an invisible hand, these fish don’t know what hit them. The transparent appendage isn’t the latest fad in fishing technology; however, it’s a demonstration of the power of soft robots made from hydrogels—a squishy blend of polymers and water. Researchers from MIT devised a way to 3D-print custom structures from the material and bring them to life with the help of a simple water pump. The real struggle wa ...read more
