Forget Chess: Artificial Intelligence Is Now Debating People
New IBM system shows off argumentation skills.
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Improving Support for Young Biomedical Scientists
Three steps that could be taken by funding agencies to support young investigators in more constructive and effective ways: (1) greatly expand the use of the New Innovator/Starting Grants awards, (2) increase the funding of young investigators through requests for applications, and (3) experiment with separate competitions for Early Stage Investigators when awarding traditional investigator-initiated R01 grants.
Joint Statement on EPA Proposed Rule and Public Availability of Data
Joint Statement on EPA Proposed Rule and Public Availability of Data
Response to a proposed rule announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a 24 April 2018 press release.
Social media for social change in science
Opinion pieces challenges the dichotomy that use of social media for public engagement with science and working to change policy and remove systemic barriers to inclusion are mutually exclusive.
Societal Inequalities Amplify Gender Gaps in Math
Countries that are generally more egalitarian, or that have institutions more conductive to equality, have a lower gender performance gap in math, suggesting that this gap is partly shaped by more general societal inequalities.
Scientists Beware: The Price Is High, the Payoff Uncertain at Glossy Publications Aimed at Europe's Decision-Makers
Scientists Beware: The Price Is High, the Payoff Uncertain at Glossy Publications Aimed at Europe's Decision-Makers
Customers question whether paid articles in digital magazines are worth the money.
The Science of Fake News
Fake news has a long history, but there are new unanswered scientific questions raised by the proliferation of its most recent, politically oriented incarnation.
The Spread of True and False News Online
To understand how false news spreads, Vosoughi et al. used a data set of rumor cascades on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. About 126,000 rumors were spread by ∼3 million people. False news reached more people than the truth; the top 1% of false news cascades diffused to between 1000 and 100,000 people, whereas the truth rarely diffused to more than 1000 people. Falsehood also diffused faster than the truth.
Artificial Intelligence Could Identify Gang Crimes—and Ignite an Ethical Firestorm
Artificial Intelligence Could Identify Gang Crimes—and Ignite an Ethical Firestorm
A new algorithm is trying to automate the process of identifying gang crimes. But some scientists warn that far from reducing gang violence, the program could do the opposite by eroding trust in communities, or it could brand innocent people as gang members.
Not So Many Uncited Papers, Actually
How many scientific papers drop into the void, never to be cited by anyone, ever again? There are all sorts of estimates floating around, many of them rather worryingly high, but this look at the situation by Nature suggests that things aren't so bad.
Meet the 'Data Thugs' out to Expose Shoddy and Questionable Research
Striking success has been had in catalyzing retractions by publicly calling out perplexing data and spotting anomalies in the literature.
Researchers Debate Whether Journals Should Publish Signed Peer Reviews
HHMI meeting examines ways to improve manuscript vetting: little consensus on whether reviewers should have to publicly sign their critiques, which traditionally are accessible only to editors and authors.
Cheating on my Mentor
For the first 2 years of my Ph.D. program, my primary adviser was always available when I needed help, promptly responding to emails and meeting with me when questions arose. But that abruptly changed when he went on sabbatical and left the country.
Harassment in Science Is Real
"…cultural change rests with individual scientists, teams, and professional societies."
Automatic Error Spotter Gains in Popularity
According to its developers, Statcheck gets it right in more than 95% of cases. Some outsiders still aren’t convinced.
Authorship and Contribution Disclosures
Journals are adopting policies that require the disclosure of individual authors’ contributions. However, it is not clear whether and how these disclosures improve upon the conventional approach.
How the News Media Activate Public Expression and Influence National Agendas
How the News Media Activate Public Expression and Influence National Agendas
The active participation of the people is one of the central components of a functioning democracy. Research performed a real-world randomized experiment in the United States to understand the causal effect of news stories on increasing public discussion of a specific topic.
The Preprint Dilemma
Biologists are posting unreviewed papers in record numbers. Here's a survival guide.
Germany Seeks ‘Big Flip’ in Publishing Model
Over the last 2 years more than 150 German libraries, universities, and research institutes have formed a united front trying to force academic publishers into a new way of doing business.
Fostering Reproducibility in Industry-Academia Research
Cultural differences between industry and academia can create or increase difficulties in reproducing research findings.
Cash Bonuses for Peer-Reviewed Papers Go Global
China's rewards are richest, but many nations now offer incentives for publishing in top journals.
Funders Groan Under Growing Review Burden
The number of grant applications is going up in almost every country and field, whereas budgets are mostly flat or shrinking.
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