Various web links I found to be of interest recently.
This is what your brain looks like on bad data.
The problem is simple: to get from a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain to a scientific conclusion, the brain is divided into tiny "voxels". Software, rather than humans, then scans the voxels looking for clusters.
When you see a claim that "scientists know when you're about to move an arm: these images prove it", they're interpreting what they're told by the statistical software.
Now, boffins from Sweden and the UK have cast doubt on the quality of the science, because of problems with the statistical software: it produces way too many false positives.
In this paper at PNAS, they write: "the most common software packages for fMRI analysis (SPM, FSL, AFNI) can result in false-positive rates of up to 70%. These results question the validity of some 40,000 fMRI studies and may have a large impact on the interpretation of neuroimaging results."
They found that, in the 17 states with a medical-marijuana law in
place by 2013, prescriptions for painkillers and other classes
of drugs fell sharply compared with states that did not have
a medical-marijuana law. The drops were quite significant: In
medical-marijuana states, the average doctor prescribed 265 fewer
doses of antidepressants each year, 486 fewer doses of seizure
medication, 541 fewer anti-nausea doses and 562 fewer doses of
anti-anxiety medication.
...
The tanking numbers for painkiller prescriptions in medical marijuana
states are likely to cause some concern among pharmaceutical
companies. These companies have long been at the forefront of
opposition to marijuana reform,
funding research by anti-pot academics
and
funneling dollars to groups, such as the Community
Anti-Drug Coalitions of America, that oppose marijuana legalization.
Institutional review boards -- which review all research that involves
human participants -- have undergone a quiet revolution in recent years,
with many drug companies strongly encouraging researchers to use
commercial boards, considered by many more efficient than their nonprofit
counterparts.
...
"IRBs are hired by the sponsor," Schreiner said. "They are paid by them.
And so if they turn down the study, then I think they're unlikely to get
repeat business."
Research firm finds businesses led by lower-paid CEOs earn greater shareholder return.
In fact, even after adjusting for company size and sector, companies with lower total summary CEO pay levels more consistently displayed higher long-term investment returns.
Do these e-mails strike anyone as appalling and outrageous? Not me. They strike me as . . . e-mails. The idea that people might speak casually or caustically via e-mail has been portrayed as a shocking breach of civilized discourse. Imagine! People bullshitting on e-mail!
Here are the latest, most damaging things in the DNC’s leaked emails.
"The Art of the Deal" made America see Trump as a charmer with an unfailing knack for business. Tony Schwartz helped create that myth--and regrets it.
People are dispensable and disposable in Trump's world." If Trump is elected President, he warned, "the millions of people who voted for him and believe that he represents their interests will learn what anyone who deals closely with him already knows--that he couldn't care less about them."
Researchers say they have found the first clear evidence that the thinning in the ozone layer above Antarctica is starting to heal.
The gains have been credited to the long term phasing out of ozone-destroying chemicals.