Curating the Internet: Science and technology micro-summaries for August 28, 2019

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Authored by @remlaps

Examining the threat of fake science; Ten tips for better smart-phone photography; A new space endurance record for the shadowy X-37B space plan; Cancer researcher faked data for 59 experiments that never happened; A Steem essay arguing that ants could be considered a super-species
Straight from my RSS feed
Whatever gets my attention

Links and micro-summaries from my 1000+ daily headlines. I filter them so you don't have to.

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  1. Is the Threat of ‘Fake Science’ Real? - The 1980s era Soviet Operation Infektion disinformation campaign managed to convince a large portion of the public that American military research was behind the AIDS epidemic, but it failed to convince scientists, even in the USSR. This essay wonders about the efficacy of fake science in the modern, fake news, era. At present, the essay says that evidence does not support the idea that state organizations are actively injecting fake research into scientific publications, and many universities have been warned to watch for state-sponsored disinformation, especially in publications about energy, defense, bio-medicine, and other topics with national security implications. Characteristics of scientific publications that pertain to disinformation include the facts that (i) audiences are smaller; (ii) peer reviewed papers still have more credibility than other forms of media; and (iii) scientists are naturally skeptical, so extraordinary findings are likely to be questioned by readers. Drawbacks of scientific fraud include: (i) undiscovered fraud leads to fruitless follow-up studies; (ii) The discovery of fraud discourages others from publishing; (iii) Costs are imposed by verification systems; and (iv) Verification systems can become overly restrictive. The article also links to, Retraction Watch, one of my favorite blogs. Although there is no evidence of state-run disinformation campaigns in scientific journals, it should be noted that China wastes a good deal of money on fraudulent science every year because of the way that the country pays bonuses for publications. It appears, however, that this is a consequence of a faulty incentive structure, not a state sponsored disinformation effort. h/t Bruce Schneier

  2. Want to Take Better Smartphone Photos? Try These 10 Tips From Pro Photographers - (i) Clean the lens with a soft cloth before you start shooting; (ii) Turn-on grid mode to get good framing; (iii) Don't use digital zoom; (iv) Use natural light instead of flash - when possible; (v) Lean on something or use a tripod for steadiness; click through for the rest

  3. The US Air Force’s shadowy X-37B space plane has broken a spaceflight record - The 29 foot long, 9.6 foot tall space plane with a 15 foot wing span has now spent more than 717 days, 20 hours and 42 spent in orbit. The unmanned, reusable, vehicle first launched in 2010. The Air Force says this vehicle is intended to advance the reusable space vehicle program, whereas the Secure World Foundation suggests that it serves as a platform for future reconnaissance technologies, and that the vehicle is too expensive and impractical to function as a weapons platform.

  4. Former NCI postdoc faked data from nearly 60 experiments - And, speaking of Retraction Watch and fraudulent science... Retraction Watch is citing the US Office of Research Integrity for a report that an NIH funded researcher at the National Cancer Institute made up data for 59 experiments that never happened. Rahul Agrawal is accused of, "knowingly, intentionally, and/or recklessly falsified and/or fabricated", data in 59 excel files. He is no longer with the NCI, and has agreed to supervision on federally funded resarch for a period of one year from August 8.

  5. STEEM Ants truly are amazing little insects! - In this essay, @giantbear expresses amazement at the robust survivability of ants, as a species. The essay points out that live on every content, except antarctica, and then goes on to provide photos and details about two varieties of ants, the leaf-cutter ants and the Australian jack jumper ants. In particular, a leaf-cutter colony can contain up to 8 million ants, and they weed their fungus gardens and use antibiotics to keep the crops disease free. The jack jumper ant is a venemous variety that stings with its tail, like wasps or bees. The article closes with a bunch of interesting facts about ants, which you'll have to click through to read. (A 10% beneficiary setting has been applied to this post for @giantbear.)

In order to help make Steem the go to place for timely information on diverse topics, I invite you to discuss any of these links in the comments and/or your own response post.

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About this series

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