Arsenic and Lost Face
Remember the breathless announcement a few weeks ago by NASA that arsenic (a poison) was being successfully used by bacteria, and that it showed that bacteria might exist on planets we would otherwise consider inhospitable?
The comic strip XKCD made fun of the situation, but not in a way critical of their announcement:
The normally sarcastic XKCD missed a bet, perhaps, in not going after the announcement itself. Various writers critical of the work have suggested that the discovery has been poisoned, either by bias or sloppy technique.
It's been mildly interesting to follow -- but at least, trillion-dollar policy decisions aren't being based on the work.
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The comic strip XKCD made fun of the situation, but not in a way critical of their announcement:
The normally sarcastic XKCD missed a bet, perhaps, in not going after the announcement itself. Various writers critical of the work have suggested that the discovery has been poisoned, either by bias or sloppy technique.
It's been mildly interesting to follow -- but at least, trillion-dollar policy decisions aren't being based on the work.
===|==============/ Level Head