5 Failed Science Experiments That Made Headlines

[@Maric18]

horribly failing and getting disproven is actually doing more for science than most people realize. Being wrong is part of science, the goal is to be less wrong about things

[@shenghan9385]

Is that so? Alright. I say Australia does not exist. Now, give me my prize for my contribution to science.

[@FlaminFaux]

Sheng Han did you do any research on it? Write a paper? Have it tested by your peers? Was it something that was under debate, or is already known to be true or false? No? Looks like no prize for you :/

[@shenghan9385]

@@FlaminFaux look. Years ago I went in search for this bloody place called 'Stralia, could find it. That's my search part. And I turned around asked my mates whether they happened to see it and they all answered in negative. That's the peer review part. And on the way back, I did a number two, and diligently wiped my ass with toilet paper. And there you go mate, that's the research paper. Satisfied? Now just when are you people gonna given any prize or is it just a hoax. Lol

[@FlaminFaux]

@@shenghan9385 Missed that last part Im afraid. In this case you are indeed wrong in a "scientific" manner, but your observations aid nobody nor do they spark meaningful debate on the nature of Australia. Still no prize I'm afraid.

[@shenghan9385]

@@FlaminFaux Flamin Faux hey. You missed the point here. I was responding to a specific post that advocated the view that mistakes in science might have been more important.

[@MissLilyputt]

As Tim Minchin so eloquently put it, “you know what they call alternative medicine that’s been proved to work? Medicine”.

[@tentaclesmod]

I know right? Medicine will adopt anything so long as there's concrete proof of it being an effective treatment. Even stuff like putting maggots in wounds so they will eat the dead tissue and help with a faster, better healing is regular medicine rather than alternative because it's proven as effective.

[@timkirchhof747]

Modern medicine arose from alternative medicines. We've just kept what has worked along the way. So somethings in alternative medicine work but they have been subsumed into scientifically supported medicine. People don't know their history to their and our (as we're seeing because of vaccine deniers) detriment.

[@emberhermin52]

Yeah but that doesn't mean no "alternative" medicines work. They may not be mainstream because they're unprofitable, don't have enough providers or are untested due to dismissal over being too bizarre to work CBT is the most common therapy, it's also by far the least effective therapy long term and the most likely to backfire. But it suits the popular cultural narrative and is easy to produce. Medicine is dictated primarily by culture, not science, or else people would have taken to washing hands between surgeries much easier

[@meaculpamishegas]

That isn’t eloquent at all, you know?

[@WeirdHeather]

Quoting from the Storm poem? I love the line where he talks about how amazing it is that water has memory and yet somehow forgets all the poo it’s had in it 😂

[@DavidFMayerPhD]

Here is an example where disconfirmation by another laboratory resulted in a major discovery: A group of researchers in Europe were raising certain insect eggs into larvae, pupae and adults. They made proper notes and published. A lab in USA read the paper and failed to duplicate the results. These people on both teams were REAL scientists, however, and instead of quarreling, the team from Europe flew over to the USA and WATCHED the American team perform the experiment. Chemicals used were from the same supplier in the same grade. Glass vessels, etc, etc, were EXACTLY the same as those used in Europe. All possible sources of contamination were removed. The experiment FAILED AGAIN. So they put their heads together and checked EVERY SINGLE STEP & COMPONENT, one at a time. It kept failing. Finally, someone noticed that the brand of PAPER TOWELS used by the Americans was NOT the same as that used in Europe. They shipped paper towels from the lab in Europe, and BINGO, the experiment worked. Were they done? Certainly NOT. The put paper towels of both types in a blender and subjected them to chromatographic separation. One at a time they added each fraction to the growing dish, and the experiment worked fine. Finally, they discovered a low concentration of a certain compound in the American towels that was absent in the European towels, due to the particular tree from which this paper was made. This fraction proved to prevent the eggs from hatching. Were they done? NO. So, they subjected this fraction to a complete analysis to discover its ingredients. They discovered EXACTLY the compound that prevented growth. After more months of research they discovered that the anti-growth compound mimicked a particular insect hormone. Thus was the first Juvenile Hormone discovered. Further research led to compounds that prevented insect larvae from maturing into adults. The final result led to a dramatic procedure for insect control. THAT is Science.

[@noumenanoz8819]

And did they stop there? No!

[@maybeinactive]

@@noumenanoz8819 legend has it they're still expeimenting with the larvae.

[@flamingcatofdeath1605]

Could we get a source for this

[@XpIMBOREDXP]

Never stop questioning, always ask more questions and solve them

[@PatRiot-]

Mmkay just wait until mosquito’s with 2 stroke engines start popping up. THEN we’ll be sorry 😅

[@Cernoise]

It turns out polywater was 99% inspiration, 1% perspiration.

[@coltafanan]

Actually it was 50% sea and 50% weed

[@SuperHGB]

​@@coltafananno it was 50% Swe and 50% at

[@D0TperiodD0T]

so what you're telling me is that aliens don't eat cannolis?

[@TheTruthJunkie]

Exactly.

[@fossilfighters101]

+

[@eggroll3055]

That's wrong.

[@Oracle13]

That sucks. Cannoli is GEEEWD!

[@nosuchthing8]

Can you imagine making canals that stretch from the poles to the equator to deliver water? It would be easier to transport the water.

[@zimautanimation]

i wonder what science now we consider right but actually wrong but not proven yet.

[@jarlfenrir]

Strings theory?

[@TonboIV]

None of these ideas got as far as becoming established scientific facts, because there obviously wasn't enough evidence for any of them.

[@N8DulcimerOld]

Considering the fact that our description of the nature of an electron changes every couple of years, those are a solid choice. Also gravitons. Also wouldnt be suprised if we found some new ways light can be altered as it moves through space, which every time we do we have to reevaluate everything we've ever looked at in the sky that's outside our solar system.

[@N8DulcimerOld]

@@TonboIV No such thing as a scientific fact friend, just something so well accepted it becomes a law, and even those change sometimes.

[@TonboIV]

We do not change our description of the electron "every couple of years". The nature of electrons has never been pinned down at all, but the atomic orbital model gives us a well tested understanding of how they work and what they do. Gravitons are hypothetical. We don't know if they even exist. Our understanding of light also hasn't changed dramatically in decades. There's some new odd thing every once in a while, but nothing that's required throwing out the old models. Nothing is every absolutely certain in science, but a lot of things are so well known and so thoroughly tested they are facts for any practical purpose. At worst, we tend to find out that what we thought of as an absolute truth was more a special case that was true in every circumstance we'd observed. Newtonian motion, describes motion with almost perfect accuracy within the sorts of velocities and gravity we get on Earth.

[@vickymc9695]

This is the reason we need negative results published. :-)

[@limiv5272]

Yes, and also to give researchers incentives to repeat other people's experiments. In the video they talk about replication of experiments as if it's routine, but it really isn't. Scientists are rewarded for publishing new results, but not for repeating others' results, which causes unreliable data to be discovered much too late.

[@Apostate_ofmind]

You sir deserve more likes

[@limiv5272]

Not sure ALL the data is necessary. I once had an experiment fail because of a misdirected sneeze...

[@Apostate_ofmind]

am i too much of a nerd for wanting to know more of that experiment? :D whachu mean misdirected sneeze?

[@limiv5272]

I mean that bits of spit got into the sample

[@stvp68]

I love that 100 years ago, major media just accepted that there was intelligent life on Mars.

[@Flytrap]

Ever read the John Carter of Mars books?

[@LordDice1]

Dip the deuterium in sweaty memory water and place it in a Martian canal before exposing it to N-rays. It's gotta work!

[@BewbsOP]

dang it, beat me to it.

[@MrBrew4321]

Then swap the aluminum prism and the palladium electrodes, but then when the lights go out pocket the palladium cause it's worth loads of money. Lastly scream "For science!" and run away.

[@skoockum]

It's necessary to embed the deuterium in a P-A matrix (phlogiston and aether) before bombarding it with N-rays.

[@vwtf3092]

And lo and behold! Let there be life on Mars!

[@SmartinatorPlus]

If that water gives life on mars 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂

[@cup_check_official]

A bar walks into a physicist... Oops, wrong frame of reference.

[@catherinepierce8841]

not many people will get this!

[@RodrigoBarbosaBR]

You are relatively correct.

[@JayMayKnow]

Software Man awesome!

[@angelic8632002]

God that's so dumb its hilarious :D

[@zombieblood1675]

Simone I dont think you get it. Its not dumb. Part of Einstein's contribution to science was that based on the frame of refrence the time location etc of events or objects would change. He is making a joke about how from theory of relativity there is 2 refrence points. The bar and the physicist.

[@chrisray1567]

Fascinating. Now you need to make a video about scientific ideas that are initially accepted, then rejected, but ultimately accepted again, like Einstein’s cosmological constant or epigenetics.

[@emberhermin52]

Epigenetics was not "initially accepted then rejected", what was initially accepted then rejected was the idea that the environment caused genetic traits like if an animal was born in reeds it would have stripes? That was rejected because it was BS. Epigenetics is the idea of the environment turning on or off certain genes so that they may or may not be expressed, which happens during the life and then is passed down to potential offspring.

[@monroerobbins7551]

For a second I thought you said eugenics and I was gonna be like “WAIT WHAT” but then I reread it.

[@haeuptlingaberja4927]

Sounds a bit like Lee Smolin's central "heresy."

[@abbieq11]

Get your cold fusion reactor, with heavy, poly water that has a memory (that water has to come from the Martian canals) then bombard it with n-rays, thanks Hank, for the expert advice

[@alejotassile6441]

This is perfect

[@Rouverius]

#2 I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say Blondlot might have been suffering from some form of retinal damage or degeneration. This could have been caused by many things like: dry eye syndrome, simply aging (he was in his 60s by then), or... overexposure to ionizing radiation (such as X-rays).

[@bogwife7942]

tbh it reminds me of my aura migraines. I don't see the auras more often in the dark, but the dark does make them a lot more noticeable. aura migraines are also more common in older people, and despite the name milder cases can be completely without other symptoms like headaches

[@Unmannedair]

Nope, actually anyone can see these "N-rays" if your in a dark enough room for at least 45 min. As you sit in the dark your eyes are getting more and more sensitive. eventually they get sensitive enough to start detecting the flashes caused by muons passing through your eyes from cosmic radiation. Any particle traveling faster than the speed of light in a material will emit light in the form of Cherenkov radiation. Its that glow in the reactor pools that everyone thinks looks scary.

[@aldenconsolver3428]

good point.

[@whoever6458]

Hope, at least in science, can be a pretty deadly disease. I always try to tell my friends who insist that people ought to always be optimistic that it's actually more useful for a scientist to be pessimistic. You can only avoid pitfalls when you see the pit.

[@klakkat]

Fun fact: Room temperature fusion actually is possible, and has been done since the 1960s; it's called Muon Catalyzed Fusion today (it was called cold fusion before the 1989 debacle). It costs more energy than it produces though, so it is mostly a research curiosity with a few practical applications, mostly preparing or treating radioactive samples. This is because of the Muon, which is like a very heavy Electron and can replace one on a deuterium atom, allowing the nuclei of two deuterium atoms to get close enough for fusion at normal temperatures by screening the electromagnetic repulsion. However, Muons take a lot of energy to make, and they aren't stable under any known conditions, so it will never be a free spring of energy.

[@simonmartinez91]

that's the point. it should be called "useful cold fusion". you can even find a lot of youtube tutorials about doing fancy shiny fusion experiments at home .

[@ExarchGaming]

okay thank you i know I wasn't crazy. I remember reading that muon catalyzed fusion existed and would enable cold fusion if we could ever figure out how to stabilize muons.

[@sydhenderson6753]

@@ExarchGaming There's also a completely different process called "cold fusion" which was used to produce some of the transfermium elements. It was invented by Yuri Oganessian and played a role in the discovery of eight elements, which is why he got an element, oganesson, named after him in his lifetime. Ironically, it was not discovered by his "cold fusion" method.

[@berendharmsen]

I was studying chemistry in university in 1988. It was a weird period where we seemed to be discussing new bonkers theories from the news every week. Remember Fleischman & Pons and their cold fusion briefly sounded intriguing, but people were laughing at Benveniste's water memory from the start.

[@capnthepeafarmer]

From Bertrand Russel - "When you are studying any matter, or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only: What are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out? Never let yourself be diverted, either by what you wish to believe, or by what you think would have beneficent social effects if it were believed; but look only and solely at what are the facts."

[@mikitz]

Quit believing and face the facts, in short.

[@anonymike8280]

I thought that was Joe Friday.

[@simonmartinez91]

if he was so right then why did he died

[@Bitvestor]

“Polywater” sounds like the invention/discovery of “ice-nine” in Kurt Vonnegut’s book: Cat’s Craddle

[@chadcastagana9181]

Andreas Altamirano. 8:02 "The original 1962 paper"

[@ololo518]

I thought about the same!

[@hovant6666]

You beat me to the punch by a mere 4 years, I was so close

[@wanderinghistorian]

I like how you pointed out that firing up a cold fusion reactor, even though it's "cold," would produce lethal amounts of gamma radiation in the room. Makes you re-think that scene in "The Saint," where they turn on that CF reactor in front of the crowd. "Congratulations! You have all received a lethal dose of radiation."

[@monroerobbins7551]

This made me chortle

[@maybeinactive]

HULK SMAASSHHHH

[@Hailfire08]

Cold fusion is a thing, it just either requires muons or is so phenomenally slow (quantum tunnelling) that it might as well not be there.

[@hovant6666]

Exactly, the infinitesimally low odds over 10^1500 years are thought to permit the unconveyably slow transmutation through quantum tunnelling of nuclear stellar ash in black dwarves to work their way down to iron-56 in the hypothetical 'iron stars' of the post-stelliferous, post-black hole epoch of the universe, so long as the fate of the universe is heat death and not big crunch or big rip. Isaac Arthur's channel has a couple excellent videos on the topic

[@theangledsaxon6765]

OR a ton of well-collimated lasers hitting fuel as two anvils smash together in quick succession ;)

[@bob513993]

SR Foxley must love your work. (S)he’s popped up as president of space quite a number of times. I love that there are people who can afford to support the production of educational programs like this so that others can keep learning for free. Thank you SR Foxley!

[@NaihanchinKempo]

Our brain is built for patterns that aren't there. Gambling depends on it

[@chadcastagana9181]

"There is no real justice but random unbiased chance " - - Two Face

[@sechran]

Our brains can't be beat at pattern recognition! ... It's pattern *validation* where there are still some issues...

[@ZhoRZh37]

Also superstition and religion...

[@htoodoh5770]

ZhoRZh37 yeah, true. We over rationalized to the point of absurdity.

[@htoodoh5770]

Finding pattern when there is no pattern.

[@dkecskes2199]

Correction on Lowell's Observatory's location: It is in Flagstaff, which is not really part of the Arizona *desert*. The location was chosen for being high in elevation but with numerous nights with a clear sky and with somewhat predictable weather (and being close to a railway didn't hurt either).

[@sarahb4356]

“Water has memory! And while it's memory of a long lost drop of onion juice seems Infinite, It somehow forgets all the poo it's had in it!” - Tim Minchin (Storm)

[@drizzlingrose]

he builds an entire observertory and STILL used such a cheep chair with no padding?!!?? 1:52

[@fast-eddyfelson2166]

Cheep!? What, it made sounds? Made of Birds? Oh, hell, that was a cheap shot....

[@mikestevens8012]

Dust , is my guess . Not alot of absorbent surfaces in a doctor's office , either

[@milesarcher8502]

REAL scientists are expected to SUFFER for the sake of science!!

[@shotforshot5983]

@@milesarcher8502 And you can't observe if you fall asleep in your comfty chair.

[@milesarcher8502]

@@shotforshot5983 But it's just right for CONTEMPLATION.

[@bjs301]

Excellent video. I'm reminded of Feynman's quote about cargo cult science - The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool.

[@delphinidin]

From now on, instead of complaining about how much I'm sweating, I'm going to boast that I'm producing polywater! MAYBE EVEN A GRAM OF IT!!

[@Depipro]

Yup, I actually remember the cheers and then the disappointment about Cold Fusion from my childhood. I remember asking my father how broken equipment could indicate results where there were none - I could only imagine the opposite. My father replied that equipment could be faulty (or connected the wrong way) in more ways than just being broken.

[@musclehank6067]

some people are very wrong about when my meme will die because of hope...

[@cup_check_official]

Muscle Hank needs more steroids

[@rilluma]

what is your testosterone levels?

[@gubtefumcki6399]

Muscle Hank Do you even pump bro?

[@jheckie14]

I mean... You just HAD to comment uh? Should've taken your time to come up with something better.

[@sirBrouwer]

rilluma all of them.

[@masterimbecile]

As a wise man once said: check yourself, before you wreck yourself.

[@vladstefan5216]

masterimbecile Who said it? I need it for inspirational quotes.

[@firefox3249]

Vlad Stefan Ice Cube. It's a rap song :)

[@masterimbecile]

Commander Shepard I was referring to the Hangover movie, but sure lol.

[@Ahhh714]

Lol that reminds me of a school Mike Tyson visited, they literally thought he was just an actor from the Hangover *"yeah Mike Tyson the most well know world heavyweight champion in boxing history"* *"Uhh I was referring to the actor Mike Tyson but sure"* And now classics like check yo self by Ice Cube is just some line from a Hangover movie 😂

[@ReaperMinecraft909]

Check yourself before you shrek yourself

[@Boogaboioringale]

So Schiaparelli was correct. Mars has many channels made by rivers such as the one leading to the Jezero crater. Also, it has the largest canyon in the solar system over 5 times the size of earth’s Grand Canyon

[@roneyandrade6287]

you guys forgot about "aether" the believe medium for which light moved through.

[@paradoxica424]

Roney Andrade that one has been done before on scishow space

[@clickaccept]

Gravity waves though.

[@WalkerRileyMC]

You're confused as to what this video is about. These are actual experiments that scientists allowed their personal bias to corrupt the data and give results that they were seeking. That is why experiments are always suppose to be designed to be repeatable and peer reviewed; another scientist without such a bias can doublecheck the work. Aether was a hypthesis made up in the middle ages to account for how light traveled, but no experiment was done to prove or disprove its existence until the michelson-morley experiment in 1887, which promptly shut that hypothesis down. The michelson-morley experiment has been repeated many many times and the result is always the same.

[@Halberdin]

Walker Riley: The aether hypothesis was important, because it made predictions that could be checked once the technology was ready. The results of the experiment clashed with contemporary understanding of the laws of nature, which was resolved much later by Einstein. It was fully legitimate to modify the aether hypothesis in an attempt to explain the experiment; "promptly" dropping a hypothesis is not the way science progresses, especially if there is no "plan B". The current task is to understand dark matter: something must be there, but we have little information about its properties, and need to find tests to verify specific assumptions.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Space-time they call it now.

[@adellutri]

I remember my high school physics teacher getting giddy about the possibilities of cold fusion. It was a cool time while it lasted.

[@thanhavictus]

As a visual, I think it would be useful to show the same pictures lowel saw to conclude why they'd be canals

[@censusgary]

I remember the “water memory” flap and the “cold fusion” excitement. Things like that tend to give science a bad name. A rush to publish results was a major factor in both of those fiascos.

[@sydhenderson6753]

Interestingly, at about the same time high-temperature superconductors were discovered and immediately accepted because the results COULD be reproduced easily.

[@ianalvord3903]

Why are the recommended videos after SciShow always so bizarre? "Secrets of the psychics" "Antichrist spirit" "2nd Moon"

[@francoislacombe9071]

Cold fusion is actually a thing, but not with the method outlined here. It's done by replacing the electrons in hydrogen atoms with their more massive cousins, muons. The resulting atoms are much smaller, allowing the hydrogen nucleus to come much closer before their electric charges push them away from each other, resulting in a fairly high rate of fusion, even at the low temperature of liquid hydrogen. The problem is that muons are unstable and decay into electrons too quickly to produce enough energy to make enough muons to sustain the reaction, let alone produce useful amounts of excess energy.

[@MrIzo56]

Aka it's just waste of time like all those perpetual energy machines, i get it.

[@julioramirez8069]

I Love these Science got it Wrong Videos... Because if they publish wrong stuff other scientists eventually disvover it's wrong and it gets corrected. Nothing is stated as an absolute truth. It is awesome

[@TheFlipside]

I was expecting a mention of Einstein's cosmological constant to preserve a perfectly stable universe before Hubble came along and showed the universe was expanding

[@VariantAEC]

Flippy Sidee Dod you expect Sci-show to throw Einstein under the bus?

[@chadcastagana9181]

But Dark Energy proves that the Cosmological Constant was tight all along ?

[@chadcastagana9181]

I meant to say: But does not Dark Energy prove that Einstein's Cosmological Constant was right along along?

[@SmartinatorPlus]

Chad Castagana Albert Sir was the best and the funniest physicist ever , every other physicist rarely smiles

[@questforbalance]

He was looking for the constant, he didnt find it.

[@ggm9583]

Scishow: Low temperature nuclear fusion won`t give up a lot of free energy. Muon: Hold my beer for like 20 years

[@asaenvolk]

THANK YOU... it can work, its just not going to have net positive energy

[@TheAlison1456]

This is why i love the way science works. Everyone's trying to prove and check everything, and that throws the garbage away.

[@sechran]

There's no notoriety for pulling down another scientist's science trousers. Most people are trying to -prove- claim something so they can be published. Checking the work of others isn't profitable.

[@cameron2849]

sechran Peer review is a major part of the scientific method

[@sechran]

If you can find sufficient funding for peer review then great, go nuts. Good on you! But the biggest grants don't go towards checking the work of others. Sure, if it's something big and revolutionary disproof can net a scientist the kind of fame and/or backing as new research. Patrons, however, will generally always be more interested in funding the next big thing - not proofing it. Publish or perish. Research isn't cheap - neither is living. The scientific method is nice, but at the of the fiscal day, less financially relevant than marketability. It's not a pleasant reality, and without peer revision science has no validity. But it is a reality, and a recognized problem in every field of science nonetheless.

[@cameron2849]

sechran A group of scientists completes a study and writes it up in the form of an article. They submit it to a journal for publication. The journal's editors send the article to several other scientists who work in the same field (i.e., the "peers" of peer review). Those reviewers provide feedback on the article and tell the editor whether or not they think the study is of high enough quality to be published. The authors may then revise their article and resubmit it for consideration. Only articles that meet good scientific standards (e.g., acknowledge and build upon other work in the field, rely on logical reasoning and well-designed studies, back up claims with evidence, etc.) are accepted for publication. Peer review and publication are time-consuming, frequently involving more than a year between submission and publication. The process is also highly competitive. For example, the highly-regarded journal Science accepts less than 8% of the articles it receives, and The New England Journal of Medicine publishes just 6% of its submissions.

[@WalkerRileyMC]

I'd say ignore sechran. Chances are he is taken by the right-wingers and their anti-anythingscienceorknowledge stance. The was he describes how scientists use grant funds is very indicative of it. Like saying climate scientists will always say climate change is real because they're being paid to do so. That makes absolutely no sense. They will study the climate regardless. If they could be paid off to say one way or the other, Exxon would have done so already.

[@monroerobbins7551]

2:14 …that just sounds like a really cool sci fi story idea. Idea number one: the martians making canals, or number two: Mars is covered in veins so it’s actually either taken over by mycelium or a super organism, a la Flesh Pit or Local 58.

[@monroerobbins7551]

Moral of the story: even if your scientific hypothesis was wrong, it could be a really cool sci fi story.

[@monroerobbins7551]

Petition: Call sweat polywater

[@theseculartheist3239]

I think N-rays may not be enough for cold fusion. Perhaps, if we use heavy-polywater, it should retain the memory of the deuterium, sustaining the reaction after the initial N-ray catalyst.

[@crazy4bricksthebrickbrothe722]

It turns out that those Martian canals sparked some really good science fiction

[@Flumphinator]

Polywater reminds me of ice-nine it Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle.” The book ends with the oceans being turned to ice and the world basically ending. It’s from around the same time period, so I wonder if it was inspired.

[@Montragon29]

Hank is by far the best and most fun presenter of Sci-Show...

[@Skipping2HellPHX]

1:56 Lowell's Observatory is in Arizona, but is not in the desert, it is actually located in the largest ponderosa pine forest in America.

[@arthur9456]

Suez Canal reference hits different in 2021

[@althesilly]

Great episode!!! I would love to see the opposite 5 things that scientist new could not be but turned out to be true

[@Gerald.69]

The craziest thing is, we still dont know why hot water freezes quicker than cold. I think its because molecules cool quicker when theyre moving rapidly, and slow moving molecules are better insulated

[@johnathanarcher6999]

Hank, Lowell didn’t build the observatory in the desert. He built it up in flagstaff, which is very much not a desert

[@chadcastagana9181]

Johnathan Archer. ARID LAND then?

[@claytonpaisley9721]

Dude if all of AZ isn't a desert I have no idea what a desert is.

[@pharmdiddy5120]

Giant rage monsters! I love this show

[@doomsdayman107]

That bit about polywater reminded me a lot of ice nine from the book Cat's Cradle. I haven't looked this up or anything, but I wonder if that's what the author was drawing inspiration from?

[@moragmacgregor6792]

Sharksdontgetcancer Loved that book; it brings a smile. Thanks for mentioning it.

[@chadcastagana9181]

8:02 "The original 1962 paper "

[@moragmacgregor6792]

So perhaps the paper did inspire Cats’ Cradle.

[@tjwilson1591]

"Pathological science," love the term!

[@MassDynamic]

this is why you always read science articles with a grain of salt. this is why people need STEM

[@cookeymonster83]

Flowers need stem. Otherwise petals on floor

[@psychickumquat]

Even Einstein committed this at one point. He added the cosmological constant to make his equations work with a static universe, and initially didn't accept it when the constant was disproved by the discovery of universal red shift, which actually matched his original equations. He called it his greatest blunder.

[@bigyeticane]

Hey guys. Thanks for another great vid. Your free content is the reason that some of our poor young people are getting more into science, and better opportunities. Thank you.

[@kuntamdc]

Interesting wording.

[@markcarey67]

Polywater was one inspiration of Ice 9 in Kurt Vonnergut's The Cat's Cradle

[@moritzschroder]

wow, actually informative content on trending! i love it! this is the kind of content i like to watch and produce myself! keep it up! 🔥

[@oldcowbb]

its on trending, i was wondering why the stupidity in the comment section is unusually high

[@jackielinde7568]

*Hank, get your facts straight!* The Lowell Observatory wasn't built in the "Arizona Desert" (the middle third of Arizona that's low lying arid patches.). It was built on a pine covered mountain in the mountainous northern third of Arizona. (Near Flagstaff, to be exact.) Definitely NOT the desert. lowell.edu/visit/

[@darkwisteria9120]

The hulk reference gets an A+

[@kathyorourke9273]

Yes! My problem with homeopathy has always been, if water has memory then everything that’s ever been in it will be remembered. Like, feces, urine, all chemicals, etc. wouldn’t that be nice?

[@SusanHopkinson]

Even today Science makes mistakes and evolves all the time, yet people will still argue that something “scientific” can’t be disputed.

[@Stratosarge]

@@cameron2849 It can be disputed, just look up flat-earthers. The difference is that by disputing that one is proving their ignorance and/or stupidity.

[@Follygon]

Hank Green just lives on trending

[@shingshongshamalama]

Thank you for debunking homeopathy. Now you've just made it even more effective.

[@johnalanelson]

About 30 years ago students were shown photographs of Mars that were about the same quality as the images that could be seen through telescopes of that time and then asked to draw what they saw. About half of them drew canals.

[@Master_Therion]

Scientists were wrong because of hope? Sounds like they need _A New Hope._ * plays Star Wars theme song *

[@Master_Therion]

Edwin Hubble concluded the universe was expanding because he saw the red shift of galaxies. People said he was just looking through rose colored glasses.

[@cup_check_official]

you are late to the party...

[@Master_Therion]

Software Man Time is relative, it depends on your frame of reference ;)

[@Master_Therion]

Gavin "May the Force be with you" - Spock

[@jheckie14]

O m f g. That was so... Get out! NOW!

[@amethyst1826]

Flashing lights in the corner of the eyes - I wonder if he was experiencing detaching of the retinas?!

[@chiragadwani1875]

And that is the reason why i love science.

[@13vatra]

That second one is brutal, made that poor French guy look like a fool and then published a scientific paper about it. Something tells me the American scientist was never invited back.

[@Clairvoyant81]

The sad thing is: Although this video clearly shows the scientific method at work, uncovering errors, many people would still say science doesn't work or that science claims absolute truth after watching it.

[@benjamindesjarlais5713]

I'm here from the future to confirm exactly this

[@jackgude3969]

What an excellent lesson about the dangers of hope

[@TecraX2]

10:20 - If I remember correctly, it was hidden in a sealed envelope that was taped to the ceiling thanks to James Randi!

[@marilynapple6156]

I thought of the poly water idea as a sci-fi premise for me to base a short story on. Didn’t call it polywater. Never knew anyone had actually scientifically suggested it.

[@nocomment4804]

the popular mind is vulnerable to sensationalism, but scientists should hold themselves to higher standards.

[@melody3741]

Polly water really deserves a more attention on this video, there are actually a ton of weird water complexes that are formed between water and gases and other materials, they absolutely exist and the most famous one is with water and methane.

[@Unmannedair]

Poly water was eventually discovered to be sodium metasilicate heptahydrate... not sweat... he got that wrong. It only forms on the new glassware and not used glassware because of impurities on the surface of the glass from manufacturing. A common name for it is "water glass" and people have been using it for decades in higher concentrations. Its pretty easy to make. If you bake it, then it decomposes and turns into chemical glass.

[@AnimalsAndReports]

More alarming is the fact that many drugs approved by the FDA have been recalled. Seems like incomplete/inaccurate scientific documentation can also escape the watchdog of public safety!

[@Dragrath1]

There is a lot that is wrong with the pharmaceutical industry and the approval governmental bodies sadly a lot of that seems to be more likely to be intentional cherry picking for profits rather than innocently seeing patterns where there are none because there is serious money behind it.

[@johnscallan5648]

FDA testing is for safety and effectiveness. Recalls are for these and many other reasons. You are a jackass who loves bashing everybody else.

[@DriscolDevil]

Anais Nin much irony in your comment.

[@johnscallan5648]

Thanks for calling me out. You are correct.

[@jamesgarrett7844]

Anais Nin The “tests” that the FDA conclude are *_hardly ever_* representative of the entire population of which they are approving the drug for. There are *many* cases of the FDA not fulfilling their duty to thoroughly research a drug and its effects prior to releasing it to the public, and there are *many* people who have suffered because of this.

[@ShaimingLong]

I love how Outer Worlds has N-Rays in it. Just had to come back to hear the original story when I found that out.

[@kalenzypie]

This was so interesting! Thank You!

[@jkm7983]

Some people think the canals on Mars was the result of scratches on the telescope lens

[@xWood4000]

I still hope that warm fusion succeeds.

[@asaenvolk]

yes, but producing Muon much less Tau particles is simply too expensive power wise to be practical (Tau driven fusion would be room temperature, and this is a fusion joke)

[@hegmonster]

This is great and well explained. I hope everyone at science school has to watch this.

[@piranha031091]

Soon to be joined by the EM drive...

[@vampyricon7026]

It's probably already joined by the EM Drive. It's just not significant enough to get on the list.

[@graham1034]

I really hope not, but you're most likely correct

[@piranha031091]

Graham X : It completely breaks currently known laws of physics, the effect claimed is so small that it's clearly within the realm of experimental noise, and no one managed to make it work in a consistent and reproducible manner. To me, it has been as thoroughly disproved as it can be. (You can never prove it makes _no_ thrust, only that it makes less than you can reliably measure).

[@graham1034]

Totally agree. Just one of those tantalizing "discoveries" that turn out to be experimental error. At least in this case everyone involved agreed that it was most likely a problem with the experiment but they couldn't figure out how to prove it.

[@piranha031091]

Most other groups did so, but the original "inventor", Roger Shawyer, still keeps claiming that it works... So yeah, "pathological science".

[@notablegoat]

I don't know that it was so unfortunate that people thought there were canals on Mars. Some of my favorite books were born of that misconception. It was a nice dream, while it lasted.

[@JustinY.]

Let's hope that the discovery of nuclear fusion won't be wrong, otherwise we may end up summoning Cthulu

[@cup_check_official]

you shall not surpass my comment!

[@BigT.Larrity]

If you're sick of seeing his unfunny comments just block him, engaging is only gonna make it worse.

[@maximo1590]

Justin Y. Go away mate, just leave

[@CarFreeSegnitz]

Fusion is real. We know that it happens in our sun. It happens in roughly 10^21 stars in the visible universe. Fusion reactors have been built by highschool students as science fair projects. What isn't real, and very probably won't be, is manmade fusion for power. Our sun manages to fuse smaller atoms into bigger ones and keep it contained through a huge amount of mass. 99.85% of everything in our solar system is the sun. Everything else, Jupiter, Saturn, comets, asteroids, our Moon, the Earth constitutes a tiny, insignificant portion of the solar system's mass. Fusion researchers want net-positive fusion on Earth and know that to compensate for lack of mass they need to make up with temperature and crazy strong magnetic fields. Containing a 100 million degree plasma in a magnetic field is way, way worse than trying to neuter an angry tomcat in a cloth sack. Despite trying for decades now there hasn't even been a demonstration of net-positive fusion on Earth. They can't even begin to address actual energy extraction, turning fusion into power that we can use. Fusion has become a hip hype word. If a physics lab wants more money they just have to slap "fusion research" on the door. When utility companies want endless tax write-offs they just need to hire a few "fusion researchers" to build plasma balls the likes of which can be bought at any novelty gift shop for less than $10. We should be making use of the giant fusion reactor at the center of our solar system... aka. solar power. The sun pumps out more than a trillion times as much energy as what humanity currently uses. We know how to extract solar energy without resorting to plasma, magnetic fields and $$billions in research.

[@marcustulliuscicero5443]

Lenard Segnitz The one appliction fusion (and to a lesser extent, fission) beats out everything else though is starship propulsion.

[@jesipohl6717]

Biggest piece you missed, would be cognitive and behavioural theories about differences in gender: Delusions of Gender is a good book for breaking down the pathological science of sex/gender differences.

[@MrMysticphantom]

water-memory ... reminds me of homoepathy .... I wonder if this was a big catalyst for the rise of homeopathy all over again during that period

[@tophers3756]

Adil Zia it IS homeopathy, or at least the underlying principle that makes it "effective". Sad that so many people spend a fortune on that snake oil.

[@elfarlaur]

Almost certainly. There are a lot of spiritual-scientists (best name I can think of for them) who continue to use this concept to this day as evidence of their beliefs

[@mikeo.4924]

Yes, I think it was the inspiration for that. And Polywater was the inspiration for a great Kurt Vonnegut Jr. novel, too, I do think!

[@chadcastagana9181]

Mikey, your thinking ICE 9

[@chadcastagana9181]

Homeopathy = Chinese Herbal Medicine = Power of Suggestion

[@josephrawe4423]

Here's what I'm taking from this: media sucks and scientists are always learning and are generally in a state of "I don't know". I like it.

[@oldvlognewtricks]

4:33 - ‘A hundred mostly-French scientists’ 😆

[@aramilalpha1]

Imagine publishing a paper about your research only to be later informed that all you managed to do was generate 1 gram of sweat.

[@emmahuisenga3602]

This is a fundamental problem, and not just - and mostly not because of - the stereotypical lab-coat scientists. "Research" masquerading as real science done by otherwise legitimate institutions is constantly thrown about, despite invalid conclusions. This is mostly done by policy-driven organizations like police departments and social programs. We have papers and articles being relied upon that employ faulty statistics and faulty methodology, not to mention a lack of rigorous background knowledge and often ulterior motives or pervasive biases. Sometimes these are submitted to journals, but often they are not. They are simply "reports" done by various groups. But these materials are horrendously unreliable. Yet they are relied upon for policy decisions and healthcare plans and so on. We also have issues where material that is indeed submitted for peer review is not rigorously reviewed and similar faulty methods and difficulties being more prominent in "softer" fields, like psychology. However, at least here, there is more recognition of the matter in academic circles and at least some effort at improving the problem (often in conjunction with open-access efforts). Lack if funding and unwise funding incentive structures are an impediment. The adage "publish or die" (or publish something attractive and positive or die) is very old. But the increasing pervasiveness and reliance on bunk "research" has enormous consequences. And it's always more difficult, expensive, and time consuming to counter and correct nonsense one it spreads. My experience is one of going from statistical analysis in a hard-science setting to dealing tangentially with the American legal system. The amount of... bs (not to mention the biases and, frankly, psychopathic behavior) being spread by our institutions was shocking to me and staggering. The inefficiencies and costs would have been as well, if not for the inherent wrongness of so much of what goes on. We need to make a point of relying on real science and to recognize what is and what is *not* science.

[@asaenvolk]

Sounds like you would not be a fan of what is currently going on in Sociology.

[@LucianCorrvinus]

Key me guess, you were an insurance adjuster who became a paralegal ? Get real, any person who understands the difference between social sciences and hard sciences understands they are not the same thing. The first has a variable that is quite chaotic, the human. The seconds variables may be chaotic but di not really in the same statistical studies. And without those studies, how di youvsuggest the data be tested for, reviewed comoikked or understood. You should be dismissed just by saying "police make studies". Police never make studies. Any studies they would be interested in fall into to categories both if which have in them people who are studying the issues as to their own fields. It sounds as you have a ax to grind, meaning your own observations are bias. Therefore cannot be taken as more than that....

[@nosuchthing8]

Hank, great show!! You forgot to mention kurt vonegut and his story about ice nine. It must have been inspired by polywater.

[@lazyperfectionist1]

Mars _does_ have a lot of really cool features. There's a suggestion of _life_ and all other possibilities get _completely_ drowned out, even when there's a _possibility_ that it might be wrong. But when there's actual, irrefutable documentation of _water_ on the _surface_ of Mars, somehow, this receives dramatically _less_ attention. Why? Both are science and science carries us forward and fuels economic growth.

[@SgtSupaman]

There is no "actual, irrefutable documentation of water on the surface of Mars". Scientists were wrong again. www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-mars-dry-sand-not-water-20171121-story.html

[@SmartinatorPlus]

lazyperfectionist1 Because Nasa doesn't want us to know bout aliens

Mars is a frozen shithole and always will be.

[@mimsydreams]

The Doctor knows...

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Mars is a terrible place for us to go as anything but a mining colony. The soil is hostile to us for the purposes of farming. It has a hard time holding a useful atmosphere. The dust storms are dangerous. But popular imagination likes Mars so we obsess about its ability to support life of its own.

[@BuriedErect]

Hey guys, just a bit of friendly feedback: the slide background for pathological science was really busy and definitely not my fave. Consider using a different one? Thanks for the great content! :)

[@IceMetalPunk]

The many comments about climate change here, and at least one about evolution, make me sad. You'd think the people watching a science channel's video would understand science a bit more than to jump on the bandwagon of "see? Science has been wrong, so these things I don't like / I've been told are wrong are also wrong, too!"

[@David-di5bo]

And that's why they can only get their opinions published in the KZbin comments section, not scientific literature.

[@howtubeable]

But global warming and evolution should be questioned if data arises that contradicts part of the theory. I hope you're not suggesting we accept the scientific interpretation of data on blind faith.

[@wymanmanderly551]

Howard Wiggins and who would better interpret the data then people who spent decades of their life studying it? Some internet bloggers or doctors in theology, maybe?

[@joshr7781]

Howard Wiggins well you already have "blind faith" by believing evolution.

[@Ahhh714]

Howard Wiggins As should theory of plate tectonics, theory of germ and disease, theory of heliocentrism; but it's beyond illogical to take a neutral position on these theories that have gone through the stringent critique of the scientific method for centuries.

[@shibolinemress8913]

Water "memory" sounds just like the nonsense taught in homeopathy.

[@amyschlabitz9109]

At 1:56 Hank says that Lowell’s telescope was built “in the Arizona desert”. Lowell observatory is on a mountain in Northern Arizona, Flagstaff, near a ski resort. Not what we typically think of as Arizona Senoran desert.

[@lostXvig]

"perhaps if you add some N-rays" that is just mean

[@stanleysmith7551]

Rumour has it n-rays can make you a kang n' shiet. 😏

[@chrysalizubeth88]

That whole polywater thing reminded me of a Kurt Vonnegut novel.

[@francoislacombe9071]

I wonder if that polywater thing inspired, at least in part, the weird contagious water in the TOS Star Trek episode, The Naked Time.

[@rach_laze]

Francois Lacombe I was thinking the same thing, also the Dr who episode 'the waters of mars' has a similar thing where the water is just a bit wrong and infects and changes people (it's been a looooong time since I watched star trek so can't remember details v well)

[@chadcastagana9181]

8:02 "The original 1962 paper" on polywater