Regardless of the Hamas issue, that anti-vax publication did untold harm. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary vetting.
Am going off topic, but the BMJ (another titan in the journal industry, and it is an industry) was responsible for publishing a paper incorrectly linking plaques with Alzheimer’s which ended up wasting billions of dollars through more than a decade of other followup studies chasing that angle.
It was only debunked a couple of years ago. To be fair it is also irresponsible for all that subsequent research to have gone ahead, seeking glory for “the cure” while nobody cared to replicate the study.
As a science under-graduate myself I am disillusioned especially since my Mum has had dementia for thirteen years now.
Regardless of the Hamas issue, that anti-vax publication did untold harm. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary vetting.
Am going off topic, but the BMJ (another titan in the journal industry, and it is an industry) was responsible for publishing a paper incorrectly linking plaques with Alzheimer’s which ended up wasting billions of dollars through more than a decade of other followup studies chasing that angle.
It was only debunked a couple of years ago. To be fair it is also irresponsible for all that subsequent research to have gone ahead, seeking glory for “the cure” while nobody cared to replicate the study.
As a science under-graduate myself I am disillusioned especially since my Mum has had dementia for thirteen years now.
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis