Robert Hickson • Sep 07, 2020 •
There have been several hyped technological developments in the last few weeks. Nothing unusual in that, but they provide useful examples of the need to adopt a critical mindset when considering the significance of developments and trends. Some futurists seem to just scrape the headlines for content without questioning the reports. That just feeds an uncritical … Read More
Sarah-Jane O'Connor • May 18, 2019 •
In 2014 a study was published that challenged an oft-cited criticism that journalists are to blame for hyped-up health stories. Sensational headlines, breathless reporting, caveats buried so far down the story that most readers never find them. We hear these complaints all the time about the media. But this study, published in The BMJ, turned the claims on their … Read More
Guest Author • May 17, 2019 •
Predicting technology is the first step towards predicting the labour market impacts of technology. But history tells us that technology prediction is like a game of chance. Make enough predictions and you’re sure to get some right… and many wrong, sometimes spectacularly. The president of IBM, Thomas Watson, purportedly said in 1943 that “I think there is a world market … Read More
Peter Griffin • Aug 18, 2017 •
Thousands of scientific journal papers are being published every week and their authors and institutions are often under intense pressure to generate interest in the research beyond the world of peer review. Research leader Professor Sally Dunwoodie from the Victor Chang Institute with her team. Credit: Victor Chang Institute That can be a healthy thing – it is increasingly … Read More
Helen Taylor • Mar 08, 2017 •
Efforts to resurrect extinct species could divert funding away from conserving extant species, but a more basic issue with “de-extinction” is the misinformation surrounding the topic. A recent study by New Zealand and Australian researchers puts a price on “de-extinction”. The team also estimate how many native extant species might be lost by directing these funds away from existing … Read More
Aimee Whitcroft • Jan 31, 2012 •
Huzzah, more open science news! Plans were released today for the launch of F1000 Research, an F1000 initiative. F1000, for those for whom the name doesn’t ring a bell, are the ‘Faculty of 1000, which release post-publication peer reviews of scientific literature. They often do big metareviews. And they are, at least to my knowledge, [...] … Read More
Darcy Cowan • Jun 29, 2011 •
I try not to just post videos but I was reminded of this skit when contemplating an ad for the highly priced (and prized) RWC 2011 tickets, and remarks over it being an “Historic Event”. Filed under: Sciblogs, Uncategorized Tagged: comedy, football, historic, hype, Mitchell and Webb, overhyped, pointless, rugby … Read More
Michael Edmonds • Feb 12, 2011 •
The other day I was channel surfing and caught the end of a short clip on nanotechnology on one of the documentary channels. I thought this would be interesting to watch as I am off to A Big Discussion About Small Things at the Christchurch College of Education next week. However I was very annoyed to hear the presenter make a very … Read More