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Friday, November 19, 2004

physorg

Bad Science. An article titled Discovery of real-time natural gas formation offers prospect for renewable energy resource may give the naive reader the wrong impression on what constitutes a scientific advancement. In particular, the distinction between an experiment that can measure an effect and something that capitalizes on the effect needs emphasizing. In this account, the company's claims hint at something big, but likely the result has importance in experimental measurement circles only. The fact that Luca Technologies has detected an anomaly and then attributed it to a biological cause, has little practical significance unless they attach some quantitative numbers to the results. My bet: pass on the miracle cure.

I remain suspicious of the website (PhysOrg) that published this article. They also recently posted an article called An Inexhaustible Source of Energy from Methane in Deep Earth. This does not constitute real science, perhaps closer to the intellectual level of Popular Science. My bet: double or nothing on the previous bet.


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