Free Republic

Professor Charles Lieber’s arrest on Jan. 28 made headlines on all the major U.S. media. After all, he was not only a Harvard professor, he was a world-class researcher in nanotechnology, working on highly sensitive research projects for the U.S. government. The FBI complaint alleges that he had been secretly participating in China’s “Thousand Talents Plan” since 2011, paid some $600,000 a year plus expenses to open and operate a lab at the Wuhan University of Technology (yes, that Wuhan). We know that China contracts with American experts in this way in order to steal their research and gain commercial...

One of the most brilliant scientific researchers of recent years stands accused of committing an elaborate scientific fraud, fooling many eminent experts. In 2001, a team led by Hendrik Schoen appeared to have invented the smallest organic transistor ever made. Only a single molecule in length, it was hailed as a huge breakthrough, capable of transforming the world of computers. But, as BBC Two's Horizon programme shows this week, the "breakthrough" led to his disgrace and began a cascade of events that would result in one of the most intriguing science stories of recent years. When he published his work,...