> In the long run, it is good for society if researchers can make mistakes and keep their careers. I'm all for people making honest mistakes, without career-en

> In the long run, it is good for society if researchers can make mistakes and keep their careers. I'm all for people making honest mistakes, without career-ending repercussions. But this wasn't an honest mistake, this was outright deception. They knew that there was a good chance of their experimental-results being faulty (due to dust), and they also knew that a different team had the ability to confirm/deny this uncertainty. But instead of owning up to this, they decided to wilfully mislead the world about the quality of their findings. Stuff like this is exactly why people lose trust in science - why climate-change-deniers and anti-vaxxers gain more credibility than they deserve. The sad part of this whole story is that the next time such an opportunity presents itself, people have no reason to do what's best for society/integrity. Heads I win, tails you lose.