[FormerLurker]

The Hitler diaries, Piltdown man, cold fusion. The list is endless.

The Hitler diaries I've heard mentioned briefly on a commercial, I have no idea what a Piltdown man is (any relation to Piltdown_Woman?), and the jury is still out on cold fusion.

[discostu]

The jury is WAY in on cold fusion, at least the version of cold fusion that was touted in the late 80s, it was a hoax. The Hitler diaries was a forgery that the world went gaga over for about 72 hours (long enough for the forger to sell the diaries to Rupert Murdoch), Piltdown Man was a "missing link" around the turn of the 20th century some guy dug up in his backyard that turned out to be a statue or some such (it's one of the most famous scientific hoaxes, the connection to Piltdown_Woman would be that by taking that handle she makes it quite clear she is a skeptic).

The big problem with scientists is how they approach something new. Because all scientists are hoping to find the big revolutionary thing that completely changes their field, the first thing they tend to think when somebody comes out with something new is how it's going to change the field. Rather than taking a skeptical view point and wondering if the person is full of crap, they assume he's genuine and start running with it. This is why they're notoriously easy to BS.