Well, I have 2 experiences of discovering this to be the case in others' setups (one that they reported noise instead of results, or maybe even went further. Th

Well, I have 2 experiences of discovering this to be the case in others' setups (one that they reported noise instead of results, or maybe even went further. They reported a massive success, and yes, better "results" than I did. They were always reporting zero + some noise as opposed to measurement + noise. Given that it was always reporting zero I might be convinced this was a mistake rather than cheating, but ... they certainly didn't correct anything. Their method just didn't work, so they measured small values, which made the noise on their sensor actually close to the correct value (they "corrected" negative values by ignoring the minus sign). Another was a case of dissolved metals suddenly appearing out of nowhere in test tubes, changing the results (where only 3 people, not including me, but including the professor, has access to them) and in one case I was ignored, in the other case punished (essentially fired).