[grey_whiskers]

in reality it involves thousands of man-hours of painstaking work in labs using the most cutting-edge technology available, with adamant conclusions being drawn only after making completely sure, through multiple avenues of inquiry, that the data is solid

You do explain the ideal, but individual mileage may vary.

See for example John Darsee, Hwang Woo-Suk; and of course for waters muddied for a long time see David Baltimore.

For other sniping read Gary Taubes' Nobel Dreams about Carlo Rubbia...

Cheers!

[Quark2005]

You do explain the ideal, but individual mileage may vary.

Oh, I agree, the process isn't perfect, but it's far better than the alternatives!

The way the system is set up, the 'bull' tends to iron itself out over time - the only question is how much time....