tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post7395041418356051527..comments2024-03-02T00:44:55.128-08:00Comments on Pleiotropy: Replies to arsenic criticismBjørn Østmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-67269424191045429602010-12-17T15:19:54.565-08:002010-12-17T15:19:54.565-08:00Parts...Parts...Bjørn Østmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-24031053113999992452010-12-17T11:05:15.448-08:002010-12-17T11:05:15.448-08:00Agree about the boo hoo part.
For the record, I a...Agree about the boo hoo part.<br /><br />For the record, I am also not capable of evaluating the technical arts of their answers and techniques.Bjørn Østmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08859177313382114917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4989966954446423670.post-81022726604009545092010-12-17T11:01:21.488-08:002010-12-17T11:01:21.488-08:00All of these technical details are way beyond me, ...All of these technical details are way beyond me, although I feel I have followed enough of the criticism to be pretty confident that the team only showed that the bacteria <i>might</i> be using As in non-trivial quantities.<br /><br />The thing that bugs me about the team here is their failure to "live by the sword, die by the sword." If you are going to hype the hell out of your research paper in the mainstream press, you're going to have to deal with haters -- regardless of whether they have a point or not. If they had quietly published it in a technical journal, and <i>then</i> the blogosphere jumped on them, I'd feel some sympathy. But as it is... you know, live with it. "Boo hoo, our research is getting too much publicity." Cry me a river.<br /><br />(Incidentally, I am led to understand that some of the first researchers to publish hypotheses about whether the laws of physics allow time travel <i>intentionally</i> tried to bury their work where the mainstream press wouldn't freak out about it, because it was so obvious that it would be distorted. "Here's this thought experiment that (while completely impossible from any practical perspective) seems to obey the laws of physics, and yet it creates a time travel paradox -- does this work?" becomes "Mad scientist invents time machine!!11!1"James Sweethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17212877636980569324noreply@blogger.com