Posted on 02/19/2005 7:36:30 AM PST by Woodworker
Panel says professor of human origins made up data, plagiarized works
A flamboyant anthropology professor, whose work had been cited as evidence Neanderthal man once lived in Northern Europe, has resigned after a German university panel ruled he fabricated data and plagiarized the works of his colleagues. Reiner Protsch von Zieten, a Frankfurt university panel ruled, lied about the age of human skulls, dating them tens of thousands of years old, even though they were much younger, reports Deutsche Welle. "The commission finds that Prof. Protsch has forged and manipulated scientific facts over the past 30 years," the university said of the widely recognized expert in carbon data in a prepared statement.
Protsch's work first came under suspicion last year during a routine investigation of German prehistoric remains by two other anthropologists. "We had decided to subject many of these finds to modern techniques to check their authenticity so we sent them to Oxford [University] for testing," one of the researchers told The Sunday Telegraph. "It was a routine examination and in no way an attempt to discredit Prof. von Zieten." In their report, they called Protsch's 30 years of work a "dating disaster."
Among their findings was an age of only 3,300 years for the female "Bischof-Speyer" skeleton, found with unusually good teeth in Northern Germany, that Protsch dated to 21,300 years. Another dating error was identified for a skull found near Paderborn, Germany, that Protsch dated at 27,400 years old. It was believed to be the oldest human remain found in the region until the Oxford investigations indicated it belonged to an elderly man who died in 1750. The Herne anthropological museum, which owned the Paderborn skull, did its own tests following the unsettling results. "We had the skull cut open and it still smelt," said the museum's director. "We are naturally very disappointed."
Protsch, known for his love of Cuban cigars and Porsches, did not comment on the commission's findings, but in January he told the Frankfurter Neue Presse, "This was a court of inquisition. They don't have a single piece of hard evidence against me." The fallout from Protsch's false dating of northern European bone finds is only beginning.
Chris Stringer, a Stone Age specialist and head of human origins at London's Natural History Museum, said: "What was considered a major piece of evidence showing that the Neanderthals once lived in northern Europe has fallen by the wayside. We are having to rewrite prehistory." "Anthropology now has to revise its picture of modern man between 40,000 and 10,000 B.C.," added Thomas Terberger, an archaeologist at the University of Greifswald. Frankfurt University's president, Rudolf Steinberg, apologized for the university's failure to curb Protsch's misconduct for decades. "A lot of people looked the other way," he said.
Would you like to start a business with me. I have this idea of making special pancake pans that have faces of different famous people on them that will transfer to every pancake made.
For instance, we could have the Ronald Regan memorial pancake or flapjack maker etc. What do you think? It would make millions.
Wow! Impressive! Was that designed or not?
I don't have any experience at coding computer stuff. I doubt if I could tell anything about your work.
HUH??
YOU are the one who brought this DESIGNED software into question: not me!
| It is a conceit of the fragmented modern mind that "only subject matter experts" are qualified to discuss any particular subject matter. In fact, any of us who are familar with logic as it applies to evaluating the internal consistency of truth claims are qualified to discuss the biologists' interpretation of their evidence.
So how can you discuss the biologists' interpretation of their evidence if you don't acutally understand the underlying science behind their interpretation? (If you're familiar with assembly language -- especially Motorola 68HC11 E9 ASM, then please ignore this and let me know so that I can find something more suitable) http://members.iglou.com/darkstar/G9L4-2.txt Examine that and tell me if you think that I could have coded it in a more efficient fashion. |
Great minds..........
I've had experience with acid etching circuit boards and aluminum front panels.
I WAS GOING TO TAKE AN OLD FRY PAN AND DO JUST WHAT YOU'VE SUGGESTED!
(ARRGH! I hate that CAPSLOCK key!!!!!! On my desktop computer, it is GONE! not so on this laptop...)
yet...............
Since I am a biologist, I guess Phil would think I am not qualified to practice logic. ;-)
We need to be the first to get to market. I can see it now-
The Divine Pan Company
"dead faces on your hotcakes"
I think Elvis would go over bigtime. There is no limit to the tastelessness of the American people. Of course we could include recipes for cranberry or chocolate chip pancakes that would make it more tastefull. The special Elvis pancake topped with pecans and powdered sugar that looks like cocaine.
Wow!
Your panties are REALLY in a wad!
Take a break or I'll have some random alpha particles tossed into your memory cells.
Then you should have made YOUR intentions more clear to begin with.
What's that old saying (I think it has to do with husbands saying dumb things to their wives), "If anything I say can be taken so that you are offended by it; I meant it the other way."
they are "Nasty!")
Toll house chips are better than M&Ms, but I like both. ;-)
When I first read the title of this thread, I thought maybe the prof tried to date the dean of the school and it didn't go well.
If you are a programmer, I'm sure you've been involved in customer testing. So yes, someone with no experience in coding can tell you whether or not you did a good job writing the code.
I know, just get some hot lard going and duck the celebrity's face right in it on the spot! (you probably dont want to tell them beforehand)
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