4 ms·

The existence of a flawed paper claiming microplastic harm doesn't mean that microplastics are harmless.

• throwanem 10y ago
  Or that they aren't. It doesn't mean anything. There is no conclusion about the subject matter of the study which it is able to support, and that's why it was withdrawn. Can you cite a study of similar import which tends to contradict this paper's null hypothesis?
  • ricardobeat 10y ago
    A quick search will turn over dozens of years-long studies on the subject. You said it yourself: there is no conclusion on the subject matter based on this retraction, so really nothing to challenge here.
  • dnautics 10y ago
    > It doesn't mean anything That's not true. It is as an indictment of the scientific system that would allow fraud like this to get through because it fit the prevailing narrative.
    • throwanem 10y ago
      To be sure. I meant more specifically in relation to the hypothesis it purported to test, but you're not wrong. These are frightening times. Old certainties are crumbling around us and no one yet knows what new realities will rise to replace them. But we've been through worse times, and come out better in the end. We will do so this time, too.
      • dnautics 10y ago
        speaking strictly about science, the community of science has never been in a time like this. To be fair, there have been 'arguably worse' times, but the difficulites of those eras were imposed on the scientific community from without. What is happening now is all from within.