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A Stanford Scientist on the Biology of Human Evil
"Our species has problems with violence." —Biologist Robert Sapolsky
Why Scientific Consensus Is Worth Taking Seriously
Yes, collective missteps happen. But if anything, history shows how hard it is to get scientists to agree in the first place.
Publish Houses of Brick, Not Mansions of Straw
Papers need to include fewer claims and more proof to make the scientific literature more reliable.
The Environment Needs Cryptogovernance
The blockchain technology that underpins cryptographic currencies can support sustainability by building trust and avoiding corruption, explains Guillaume Chapron.
The Crowd and the Cloud
The role and the impact of citizen science in today’s world.
Rethinking Career Paths Across Academia
Is there an alternative to the standard academic career path that would actually make research work better?
The Physicist Who Denies Dark Matter
Maybe Newtonian physics doesn’t need dark matter to work.
Biology Needs More Staff Scientists
Independent professionals advance science in ways faculty-run labs cannot, and such positions keep talented people in research, argues Steven Hyman.
The Quantified Self and the Gamification of Academic Research Through Social Networks
The Quantified Self and the Gamification of Academic Research Through Social Networks
ResearchGate and similar services represent a “gamification” of research, drawing on features usually associated with online games, like rewards, rankings and levels.
Beware the Anti-Science Label
Presenting science as a battle for truth against ignorance is an unhelpful exaggeration.
Track How Technology Is Transforming Work
Without data on how artificial intelligence is affecting jobs, policymakers will fly blind into the next industrial revolution, warn Tom Mitchell and Erik Brynjolfsson.
The Frustrating Process of Manuscript Submission
We suggest a centralized facility for submitting to journals—one that would benefit scientists and not only publishers.
The STM Association Future Labs Looks at Technology Trends
The STM Association Future Labs Committee explores the technology trends that will impact scholarly publishing by 2021.
Artificial Intelligence Can Expedite Scientific Communication and Eradicate Bias From the Publishing Process
Artificial Intelligence Can Expedite Scientific Communication and Eradicate Bias From the Publishing Process
Although automated publishing would allow researchers to share their findings faster, while also removing human bias, there are obvious ethical dilemmas related to this dehumanisation of the process.
How Privacy Became a Commodity for the Rich and Powerful
Privacy has not always been seen as an asset.
The Meaning of Life in a World Without Work
As technology renders jobs obsolete, what will keep us busy? Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari examines ‘the useless class’ and a new quest for purpose
Physiognomy’s New Clothes
Rapid developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled scientific racism to enter a new era, in which machine-learned models embed biases present in the human behavior used for model development.
Scientists Are Armed with the Truth. But it Won’t Win Them the Culture War.
We all love science when it’s making life better, longer and easier. It’s a much harder sell when it points to inconvenient truths about our way of life
Climate of Complete Certainty
"When someone is honestly 55 percent right, that’s very good and there’s no use wrangling. And if someone is 60 percent right, it’s wonderful, it’s great luck, and let him thank God."
Reviewers Are Blinkered by Bibliometrics
Science panels still rely on poor proxies to judge quality and impact.
The Perils of Public Outreach
A culture that normalizes hypercritical peers is a problem for scientists who want to reach beyond academe.
Decline and Fall of the Editor
The editors of scholarly communications are under considerable pressure as recent trends in Gold Open Access characterize them as a luxury of the past.
After Failing to Commercialize, Universities Learn to Set Ideas Free
In Canada, as in many other countries, there is an expectation that universities, the producers of the research, will advance innovation by starting up companies and by filing and licensing patents.
We Need to Break Science out of Its Ivory Tower
We can overcome the tyranny of inaccessible science hardware by building a movement for equity in science.
Can Scientific Discovery Be Automated?
Progress in the sciences can only move as fast as humans can think—outsourcing to A.I. could change that.