Much has already been written in blogs, newspapers and on X about the article “Excess mortality across countries in the Western World since the COVID-19 pandemic: ‘Our World in Data’ estimates from January 2020 to December 2022” that appeared in BMJ Public Health on 3 June. One aspect has been somewhat underexposed, namely that what is supposed to pass for ‘original research’ is for quite a bit rather silly plagiarism.
Category: Science
The Dunning–Kruger effect is misunderstood by many
‘Too stupid to see how stupid they are’ – The ‘Dunning-Kruger effect’ is used all over the place to rub in people’s ignorance. Does the effect exist – and if it does, how big is it really?
Some considerations on the retraction paper for the Corman-Drosten PCR test
A number of self-proclaimed PCR experts are attempting to have the first scientific article describing a PCR test for the coronavirus withdrawn. A look at their arguments and at their background.
FLOGEN SIPS conferences, where Nobelists meet fringe scientists and frauds
The FLOGEN SIPS conferences use a interesting business model. Nobelist keynote speakers are given a nice holiday, and with their status other participants are lured in. And there are plenty of awards to caress everyone’s ego.
Iceman Wim Hof in the goop lab on Netflix
The goop lab will start on 24 January and apparently the second show will be about the Wim Hof Method. A good reason to have a new look since the last time I wrote about it was in 2016. Is there any new scientific evidence for the effectiveness of the Wim Hof Method? A brief look at recent publications.
The Dunning-Kruger effect among chess players
The Dunning-Kruger effect is said to exist among chess players. This is however based on a single study on a small one-day open Swiss tournament. And did the authors of that study fully grasp the effect of that particular pairing system?
The exceptional accurate experimental approximation of pi by Lazzarini was a joke, not fraud
It is possible to approximate pi with throwing needles on a grid, but the result Italian mathematician Mario Lazzarini published in 1901 seems too good to be true. But was it fraud? A close look into his original paper sheds some new light on this issue.
15-year-old Canadian Schoolkid Discovers Maya City. Really?
15 year old William Gadoury has discovered the ruins of a Mayan city in the jungle of Yucatan following his theory that the Mayans picked the locations of their cities according to star constellations. I have some doubts about this.
Wim Hof’s Cold Trickery
Wim Hof is well known for setting some stunning records in the cold, but in the last couple of years changed his focus to selling his method as a tool to get better health. What is plausible of his claims? And what is true about his claims that his method has gained scientific recognition?
The Proof in Bardens vs. Lanka – Measles in Court
The list of six scientific articles Bardens sent to Lanka to claim the 100.000 euro’s promised for a proof of the existence of the measles virus.