“On one hand, it’s critical to root out research fraud and serious errors. On the other hand, highlighting the most dramatic outliers risks creating the impression that science as a whole can’t be trusted.” When I told my 7-year-old daughter that the recent viral clip of bunnies jumping on a trampoline was fake, she looked […]
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Science Cheats: A Reading List on Unscrupulous Scientists
Six stories on the shady side of scholarship.
In Death, New Life: The Science And Symbolism of a Whale Fall
“When a whale dies, its body creates a new mini ecosystem on the ocean floor—a process full of biological and poetic lessons for those willing to learn them.”
When Baseball Threw Physics a Curve
“Sports, science, and collective delusion.”
An Act of Cosmic Sabotage
“How Donald Trump tried to ground NASA’s science missions.”
Inside Voice: What Can Our Thoughts Reveal About the Nature of Consciousness?
“Scientists and philosophers studying the mind have discovered how little we know about our inner experiences.”
The Burgeoning Science of Search and Rescue
“By analyzing reports of people who got off-track, researchers are advancing the science of ‘lost person behavior.'”
The Vatican’s Secret Role in the Science of IVF
“More than half a century ago, men of science and men of faith gathered together to unlock the mysteries of female fertility. The answer: urine from the brides of Christ. And lo, those nuns gaveth.”
How Plate Tectonics Revolutionized Our Understanding of Earth
“And how scientist Tanya Atwater was at the center of it all.”
The Year I Was Supposed to Die
“At 42, with young kids, I got a devastating diagnosis. I knew I was in for a harrowing journey. I didn’t know quite what kind.”

