Free Republic

Stanford University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced Wednesday that he would resign from his post after an independent investigation found “serious flaws” in some of the research he oversaw decades earlier. The panel of experts, which formed in January to look into allegations of research misconduct, found that Tessier-Lavigne did not personally engage in any fraud or manipulation of research data, nor did he have any knowledge of the malpractice going on in the lab. Still, the report found that on various occasions, when concerns about his papers emerged, Tessier-Lavigne “failed to decisively and forthrightly correct mistakes in the scientific record.”...

Republican Ohio State Rep. Nino Vitale released a video showing a live experiment with students who placed an oxygen-reading device into their face masks to check if the levels were safe. Republican Ohio State Rep. Nino Vitale released a video showing a live experiment with students who placed an oxygen-reading device into their face masks to check if the levels were safe. Vitale began the video by explaining the device he was holding is an instant oxygen sensor that also senses other gases and beeps if the gas levels rise or fall to unsafe levels. The Occupational Safety and Health...

You’ve probably been asked to do a performance review at some point in your career. It was probably anxiety-inducing, and it probably didn’t accomplish much. Worse: it was probably mandatory. Career experts have long advised managers to do away with these kinds of evaluations, backed by heaps of studies deeming the practice outdated, costly, and largely ineffective. Last month, researchers at Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania found another reason to give them the boot. Turns out, they’re also sexist.

The dreaded midlife crisis may come about because it coincides with life’s peak time for misery, a study released this week says, according to a report.That peak time would be around age 47, Dartmouth College professor and former Bank of England policy maker David Blanchflower claims in a study, after examining trends in 132 countries to compare the relationship between well-being and age.  A typical individual’s well-being reaches its minimum point – on both sides of the Atlantic and for both males and females – in midlife, Blanchflower wrote in his report for the National Bureau of Economic Research.In order to better understand age’s relationship...

The number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States was lower in 2016 than at any time since 2004. This decline is due mainly to a large drop in the number of new unauthorized immigrants, especially Mexicans, coming into the country. The origin countries of unauthorized immigrants also shifted during that time, with the number from Mexico declining and the number rising from only one other region, Central America, according to the latest Pew Research Center estimates. Here are five facts about the unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S.: 1. There were 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S....

If it’s Tuesday we must be transforming. So welcome to #TransformationTuesday - in which we explore all the ways large and small that Obama and his mignons are still trying and/or succeeding in fundamentally transforming America. Today I bring you a small story (via Instapundit) that highlights, bigly, how science has been transformed from, well, science, to fraud: The Inside Story Of How An Ivy League Food Scientist Turned Shoddy Data Into Viral Studies. “Brian Wansink won fame, funding, and influence for his science-backed advice on healthy eating. Now, emails show how the Cornell professor and his colleagues have hacked...

Vegetable prices may be going up soon, as a shortage of migrant workers is resulting in lost crops in California. Farmers say they're having trouble hiring enough people to work during harvest season, causing some crops to rot before they can be picked. Already, the situation has triggered losses of more than $13 million in two California counties alone, according to NBC News. The ongoing battle about U.S. immigration policies is blamed for the shortage. The vast majority of California's farm workers are foreign born, with many coming from Mexico. However, the PEW Research Center reports more Mexicans are leaving...

Allegations of fake research hit new high 7/9/2005, 6:32 p.m. ET By MARTHA MENDOZA The Associated Press (AP) — Allegations of misconduct by U.S. researchers reached record highs last year as the Department of Health and Human Services received 274 complaints — 50 percent higher than 2003 and the most since 1989 when the federal government established a program to deal with scientific misconduct. Chris Pascal, director of the federal Office of Research Integrity, said its 28 staffers and $7 million annual budget haven't kept pace with the allegations. The result: Only 23 cases were closed last year. Of those,...