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Andriy Tykhonovych Slyusarchuk (Ukrainian: Андрі́й Ти́хонович Слюсарчу́к, born 10 May 1971) is a Ukrainian mnemonist who has claimed to be a general aviation pilot, psychotherapist, Doctor of Science in medicine, psychiatrist, psychologist and neurosurgeon. He has performed brain surgery throughout Ukraine in state and municipal hospitals. Slyusarchuk has been employed by the V. Chornovol Lviv State Institute of Modern Technology and Management, the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, the P.L. Shupyk National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education, and the A. P. Romodanov Institute of Neurosurgery. He has lectured at the Lviv Polytechnic, and worked for the government of Ukraine as an adviser to Oleksandr Turchynov.
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Slyusarchuk claimed to have set several world records in mnemonics by memorizing data and figures (such as pi) and performing complex calculations in his mind. Because of this, he came to be known as "Doctor Pi".
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Slyusarchuk defrauded two Ukrainian presidents: Viktor Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych. The Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) referred to his activities as "the largest-scale fraud in Ukraine's 20 years of independence". On 14 February 2014, the Sykhiv Raion Court sentenced Slyusarchuk to eight years in prison.
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== Education and career ==
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Slyusarchuk's education began in an institutional school for intellectually-disabled infant orphans in the village of Hryshkivtsi (Berdychiv Raion of Zhytomyr Oblast). He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, oligophrenia, cerebral palsy, hepatitis and nephropathy. Slyusarchuk claimed he obtained a Doctor of Science degree, which allowed him to go into medical practice, performing neurosurgery, appearing on radio and television, granting interviews and publicly demonstrating his mnemonic skills. He met a Ukrainian president who authorized him to establish the National Institute of Brain, attended private clubs and meetings of Ukrainian nomenklatura, befriended ministers and received a State Prize. Slyusarchuk forged documents, cheated the public at chess matches and memory demonstrations and practiced medicine without a license. He was interviewed by major newspapers, including Trud: As a teacher, as a psychiatrist, I can say pleno jure (with full right): today it is mostly the dependent children who attend universities in this country. All is about money, there is no natural scientific selection. Previously, in the 1980s and 90s, you had to withstand intellectual contest. Today there is no necessity for it. Now a lot of mediocrities grind away at their studies. But with mother's and father's money, they manage to buy not only diplomas but also positions.
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== Biography ==
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The details of Andriy Slyusarchuk's life were uncovered through investigative journalism. Slyusarchuk was born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine on 10 May 1971. His 21-year-old mother, Natalia Tykhonovna Slyusarchuk of Zhytomyr, left her newborn son at a maternity home. She did not know the name of the father of her child, and Slyusarchuk's middle name was recorded on his birth certificate as "Tykhonovych" (the masculine version of Natalia Slyusarchuk's patronymic). He was hospitalized at the Zhytomyr psychiatric hospital eight times between 1974 and 1987. From 1980 to 1987 (second to eighth grade) Slyusarchuk lived and studied at an institutional school for young orphans in the town of Hryshkivtsi in Berdychiv Raion, receiving a certificate for the completion of his education there. Nearly all the documents pertaining to his education at the school were later destroyed; his birth date became 19 May 1974 on some documents, yielding negative results for official inquiries about his time at the school. From 1987 to 1989, Slyusarchuk studied in the 208th group at the inter-regional Higher Vocational School of Railway Transport in Kozyatyn, Vinnytsia Oblast, to become a plasterer-tiler-facing worker. On 2 October 1989, according to order No. 31, he was transferred to the Specialized Vocational School No. 62 in Chervonohrad, Lviv Oblast. According to teachers there, Slyusarchuk walked with a briefcase and a stethoscope like a doctor and conducted hypnosis sessions at a nearby school to earn money. On 1 June 1990, he received a certificate for the completion of his course; although his occupation was listed as "assistant foreman”, he was not appointed to a job. In 1993, Slyusarchuk was turned down for a position as a neurosurgeon at the hospital in Novoyavorivsk (Lviv Oblast), but later practiced medicine elsewhere. On 27 July 1996, the first criminal complaint was filed against Slyusarchuk. The Zhydachiv Raion police in Lviv Oblast accused him of fraud, investigating the case for eight years. According to the complaint, Slyusarchuk diagnosed a woman with a terminal illness, promised to cure her with expensive drugs, stole $665 from her and disappeared; it indicated that he had a diploma from the M. I. Pirogov Vinnytsia Medical Institute. In 1999, Slyusarchuk taught at the Departments of Engineering and Pedagogical Training at Lviv Polytechnic for about six months. According to his colleagues, Slyusarchuk lectured on the psychology of managing people. His lectures were popular, with students cutting classes to listen to him, and were also attended by other teachers. On 17 July 2000, a second criminal complaint was brought against Slyusarchuk in Lviv. According to complainants Oleg and Bogdana Gamalii, they paid him $1,500 to treat their two young children; the children's health worsened following his treatment. After five years, the complaint was dropped. Between 2003 and 2006 Slyusarchuk lived in a Lviv Polytechnic National University dormitory where he fraudulently diagnosed students and "treated" them with psychotropic drugs. He extorted large amounts of money from parents for treatment, telling them that their children would commit suicide without it, and distributed unapproved drugs for $4,000 per ampoule. On 28 February 2006, Slyusarchuk claimed to have set a record by memorizing the numbers which make up pi. Journalists from Ekspres and Moskovskij Komsomolets noted that at his public performances, he was attended by a nearby assistant with a computer (and, perhaps, a small earphone). In March 2006, Slyusarchuk began work as an associate professor at the Chornovil Lviv State Institute of Modern Technology and Management and became a professor in the general-law department that year. At the end of October 2008 the media reported that he had applied for emigration to Canada, where he wanted undertake studies "impossible to undertake in Ukraine."
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From June 2008 to February 2010, Slyusarchuk was a professor of neurosurgery at the P.L. Shupyk National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education. According to department head Mykola Polishchuk, when Slyusarchuk read several pages from a medical book given to him by Polishchuk and recited them from memory he was hired. Slyusarchuk lectured on the subject of memory, and Polishchuk said that colleagues had found Slyusarchuk's 2002 dissertation on the Internet. Polishchuk later found a 2000 dissertation by Nikolai Ershov in the Russian State Library in Moscow; the only difference between Ershov's and Slyusarchuk's dissertations was in the title. After Polishchuk's report to the rector, a dismissal order for Slyusarchuk was issued. When the academic administration requested verification from the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education of Russia for Slyusarchuk's credentials, it was told that there was no record of him as a professor or a Doctor of Science. He was a professor in the Department of Information Systems and Networks at Lviv Polytechnic from September 2009 to June 2011. From 9 December 2009 to 11 March 2010, Slyusarchuk was an adviser to Oleksandr Turchynov in the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers. He co-hosted the program Mind Games on Radio Era from 2009 to 2011. On 22 December 2009, Slyusarchuk discussed an Institute of the Brain with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko; Yushchenko issued a decree establishing it that same day. On 26 December, the Mirror Weekly published an interview with Slyusarchuk where he claimed that he had been offered the position of head of the institute and hoped to implement his plans. He said in another interview that the institute's annual budget would be ₴500 million. In 2010 the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, headed by Dmytro Tabachnyk, reportedly gave Slyusarchuk a document appointing him a professor at the department of neurosurgery of the A. P. Romodanov Institute of Neurosurgery. The Higher Attestation Commission of Ukraine refused to recognize the professorship, nullifying a professorship allegedly given to him in Russia; later the Russian professorship was proved to be fraudulent. In 2010 Slyusarchuk practiced disaster medicine, performed surgery throughout Ukraine and conducted behavioral experiments on rats in his one-room apartment with his assistant Chervoniy, using a neuromagnetic stimulator and other devices. A newspaper article about the devices called them part of a prototypical psychotropic weapon. On 25 May 2011, Dmytro Pavlychko, Levko Lukyanenko, Yuri Palchukovsky and Volodymyr Pylypchuk appealed to President Viktor Yanukovych to establish the Institute of the Brain and to invite Slyusarchuk to head it because he was threatening to leave Ukraine for intellectual reasons. According to Slyusarchuk, the institute's primary aim would be "to engage specialists, to be active — [to] have the possibility to be a scientist". Anatoly Kashpirovsky, whom Slysarchuk called "my idol in the profession", also lobbied for the institute's establishment. On 9 June 2011 he was first criticized in the press, by the weekly 2000. On 30 September 2011, Slysarchuk received the 2011 State Prize of Ukraine for "scientific achievements in the field of education": for the series of works The Complex of Educational Information Technologies for Presenting, Memorizing and Processing Superlarge Information Objects in the Learning Process. The Lviv newspaper Ekspres published the first of a series of articles criticizing him, "The Sensational Exposure of Pseudo-professor Pi", on 6 October 2011.
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It was followed by "The First Victims of Pseudo-professor Pi", "Pseudo-doctor Slyusarchuk Kills People", "The Cheap Tricks of Professor Pi", "The New Victims of the Pseudo-Doctor", "Pseudo-doctor Slyusarchuk is in a Trap", "Pseudo-doctor Slyusarchuk Buried His Mother Alive", "The Pseudo-Doctor Sows New Deaths", "It is Just a Shock. The Pseudo-doctor Kills the Child of a Priest", "The Pi Record is Cancelled", "The Pi Record is Falsified," "The Secret Protectors of Doctor Pi", "The Pseudo-Doctor Again Picked Up a Scalpel", "The Perverts of Minister Tabachnyk", "The Pseudo-Doctor, Sex and Drugs", "The Grave Sin of Minister Tabachnyk", "Three More New Victims of the Pseudo-Doctor" (a video), "The New Attitude of Doctor Pi", "The Intelligentsia of the Lviv Oblast Demand that Tabachnyk, Who is an Accessory of Doctor Pi, Be Relieved of His Position", "The Computer Operator of Doctor Pi Speaks Out", "New Actions Brought Against the Pseudo-Doctor", "A New Death in the Case of Doctor Pi", "The Millions of Doctor Pi Against Ekspres", "The Inquest Breaks the Action Brought Against Doctor Pi", "Doctor Pi is Ignorant of Even Arithmetic", "Doctor Pi Took Up to Tens of Thousands". After the Ekspres articles were published, criminal complaints were again brought against Slyusarchuk. On 14 November 2011 he was charged with fraud by the Berkut, and on 21 November he was informed that his records memorizing pi were canceled and removed from The Book of Records of Ukraine. Between 2 February and 1 March 2012, Slyusarchuk underwent a medical and psychiatric examination at the Lviv Oblast Psychiatric Hospital. The examination found him partially sane, authorizing a psychiatrist to supervise and treat him in a prison if and when needed. Between 2 July and fall 2012, Slyusarchuk received a second psychiatric examination at the Pavlov Psychiatric Hospital in Kyiv. On 14 February 2014 the Sykhiv Raion Court sentenced him to eight years in prison, with the judge reading the 150-page sentence based on the 26-volume criminal-case transcript.
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=== Biography based on Slyusarchuk's own interviews ===
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According to a birth certificate shown by him to journalists, Slyusarchuk was born in the village of Tuğ in the Hadrut Rayon of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. His father was Mushegyan Vartan Aramovich, an ethnic Armenian. His mother, a Ukrainian, was Ruslana Tykhonovna Slyusarchuk. The Hadrut Rayon civil registry reportedly changed his birth details to his mother's by request in 1984, and he became Andriy Tykhonovych Slyusarchuk.
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Slyusarchuk said that he graduated from a secondary school in Vinnytsia at the age of nine. His parents, medical professionals (his mother a pediatrician and his father a cardiac surgeon), died in a car accident the year he graduated from secondary school.
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During the 1980s he was subjected to punitive psychiatry, physically abused and sent to a psychiatric hospital where he was tied to a bed, given psychoactive drugs and injected with sulfozin. When the psychiatrists asked him which books he was reading, Slyusarchuk said that he was reading medical literature and works by Ivan Pavlov and Vladimir Lenin. He was sent to an institution for the mentally-ill children.
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Slyusarchuk was placed in a Soviet orphanage where he was misunderstood by his teachers and encouraged to conform. When he tried to retrieve his secondary-school certification to enter a higher educational institution, he was labeled mentally ill and punished. At age 11, Slyusarchuk ran away from the orphanage.
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He taught himself by reading the book Your Abilities, Man, which was given to him by Soviet psychiatrist Andrei Snezhnevsky (who examined him when he was a child). When Slyusarchuk arrived in Moscow he found a Gypsy camp, where he was accepted, fed and taught to beg for money. At the time, he felt the environment was what he needed; he learned about Gypsy hypnotism and its use.
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After living with the Gypsies for about a year, Slyusarchuk met an employee of the Russian National Research Medical University. They became friends, and through him Slyusarchuk received an appointment with Soviet Minister of Health Yevgeniy Chazov.
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With Chazov's help, at age 12 Slyusarchuk was admitted for studies at the general-therapy department of the Russian State Medical University. He specialized in neurosurgery under Professor E. I. Gusev (Гусев Е.И.), and his teachers included neurologists V. A. Karlov (Карлов В. А.), A. N. Konovalov and A. M. Vein (Вейн А.М.). Slyusarchuk claimed to have graduated from the Russian National Research Medical University with an honorable diploma at 18, beginning a postgraduate course without the usual internship.
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His partial self-reported timeline was:
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1985 — Entered the 2nd Moscow State Medical University, named after Nikolay Pirogov and now known as the Russian National Research Medical University.
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1992 — Entered the St Petersburg University medical psychology faculty.
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1998 — Defended his Candidate of Sciences dissertation.
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2003 — Defended his Doctor of Sciences dissertation.
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2006 — Claimed a world record for memorizing 5,100 digits in 117 seconds, not accepted by international organizations.
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In June 2009, after claiming a world record for memorizing pi by being able to recite randomly selected sequences from the first 30 million places of pi, Slyusarchuk was congratulated by Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko and funding for a research center for the development of Slyusarchuk's methodology was discussed. A December 22 press release from the President of Ukraine reported that Yushchenko and Slyusarchuk had discussed an Institute of Brain Studies to prevent and treat neurological disorders, focusing on social problems such as drug and alcohol abuse. Yushchenko issued a decree providing for the Institute of Brain Studies, for research in neurology, psychiatry, psychology and neurorehabilitation, to be established within one month.
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Slyusarchuk claimed that his memorization skills were based on mental associations between figures, images, words, numbers (mnemonics) and a photographic memory of everything on which he concentrates. According to the scientists verifying Slyusarchuk's records, "The mnemonic technique can be used by any person".
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A February 2010 article in the newspaper Novaya reported that Slyusarchuk's student, Alexander Chervonyi, claimed that he could reproduce many of his teacher's memory performances including the recitation of randomly-selected sequences from the first five million decimal places of pi.
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Slyusarchuk became interested in chess. In April 2011, he defeated the chess program Rybka in an exhibition match in Kyiv while blindfolded. On 26 May, Slyusarchuk said that he memorized 2,600 books on chess in preparation for the game with Rybka. The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian newspaper published an account of Slyusarchuk's victory over Rybka as "Oh, the wonders of gullibility", quoting the Internet-based chess newspaper Chess Today: "What can help [to prove that it was a mystification] are Slyusarchuk’s numerous absurd statements which show his complete ignorance of chess—quite unforgivable for a guy who has read, as is claimed, more than 2000 chess books within several months!"
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According to Slyusarchuk's friend, journalist Igor Yurchenko, no one argued that Slyusarchuk played chess better than a world champion or a grandmaster; at the time, Slyusarchuk stressed that it was not a chess event but a demonstration of memory. Sponsors bought Slyusarchuk a heavy-duty computer which played many games daily with another comparable computer, and he memorized the strategy of these games. Memorizing thousands of chess games reportedly helped him defeat the Rybka-4; according to Yurchenko, Slyusarchuk just recalled memorized games.
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== Mnemonics and hypnosis ==
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Slyusarchuk claimed to have set records for memorizing large amounts of digital data, sequences of geometric figures, words and other information, including one million digits of the figure pi. By 2008, he claimed to have memorized two million decimal places of pi and about 7,000 volumes of text; by the following year, his claim had increased to 15,000 volumes.
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By June 2009 Slyusarchuk claimed to have set a record by memorizing the first 30 million decimal places of pi, which were printed in 20 volumes of text. He claimed to have memorized 200 million decimal places of pi by October 2010. None of the claimed pi records appear on the Pi World Ranking list.
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Slyusarchuk was known for his hypnotic skill; he claimed the ability to hypnotize people to feel no pain when burned. On a TV show, he hypnotized students of the L'viv University of Modern Technology (Львівський державний інститут новітніх технологій та управління ім. В. Чорновола) into believing that the onions they ate were apples. Slyusarchuk demonstrated hypnosis of a salesman who accepted a ₴1 bill, thinking it was a ₴500 bill. His televised demonstration of chess-position memory (memorizing all pieces on 80 boards) was criticized by invited chess master Grigoriy Timoshenko, who said that he was 99.9-percent sure that the performance was fake, and a New York Times article called Slyusarchuk "an illusionist".
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== Forgery and fraud ==
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On 6 October 2011 the Lviv newspaper Ekspres published its first article critical of Slyusarchuk, "The Sensational Exposure of Pseudo-Professor Pi", accusing him of forgery and fraud and investigating him in subsequent articles. Three weeks later, the newspaper published a letter from the Russian National Research Medical University saying that Slyusarchuk had not studied at the university. On 10 January 2012 the newspaper released a video of brain surgery performed by Slyusarchuk, surrounded by assistants in an operating room; in the video, he wiped his scalpel with cotton wool before incising the patient's brain. On 14 March Ekspres published an interview with Andriy Novosad, who told reporters that he wrote a computer program which Slyusarchuk tested with radio equipment for the pi demonstrations and created articles which were published in Slyusarchuk's name.
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After the Ekspres articles attracted widespread publicity Slyusarchuk denied the accusations in interviews for other media sources, saying that he had applied to the General Prosecutor of Ukraine to clarify the situation and disprove the Ekspres allegations. On 14 November 2011, the Ukrainian police detained him on suspicion of forgery and fraud.
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During the investigation, senior officials of the Ministry of Education and Science, Youth and Sport of Ukraine (including department heads and the vice-minister) had told the press that Slyusarchuk's documents and scientific titles were valid according to Ukrainian law and protocol. Large portions of Slyusarchuk's scientific works were considered classified, with state secrets privilege in Ukraine and Russia.
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At Slyusarchuk's trial people who admired him and invited him to work for them testified that although they were aware that he was not a doctor, they did not report him; he continued to practice neurosurgery in hospitals.
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From 2 February to 1 March 2012, Slyusarchuk underwent a psychiatric examination at Lviv Oblast Psychiatric Hospital. The examination found Slyusarchuk partially sane from a legal standpoint; he had a "mixed personality disorder with a predominance of dissocial, hysterical and narcissistic elements". According to Alexander Soroka, Slyusarchuk is mentally ill but responsible for his actions; if such a person is imprisoned, they would be supervised and treated by a psychiatrist as needed. The examination results were questioned by Ukrainian psychiatrist Semyon Gluzman: "If Doctor Pi begins to testify, a lot of compromising materials on the powerful of the world can appear. But in this way, it all can be attributed to his mental illness. I saw many performances of Slyusarchuk on television, listened to his speeches on radio and did not notice any signs of mental illness". According to Gluzman, none of his colleagues suspected that Slyusarchuk was mentally ill.
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He received a second psychiatric examination at Pavlov Psychiatric Hospital in Kyiv from 2 July to the fall of 2012. Ministry of Internal Affairs public-affairs department head Volodymyr Polishchuk said, "Independent examination [was] conducted to check Slyusarchuk's mental health and his possible psychic and hypnotic abilities". Slyusarchuk's first attorneys had based their strategy on a finding of mental incompetence, a strategy with which he disagreed. In his final testimony at the trial Slyusarchuk said, "The logic of such 'expert opinions' is simple: to diminish the defendant's attempts to adduce evidence in his defense, to force court and public not to believe a word said by him, he is declared out of his mind. The true value of such 'examinations' is known because since the USSR punitive psychiatry has been a trusted servant of the NKVD and the KGB." According to investigators, he did not graduate from a university; his background consisted of an institutional school, a sewing vocational school in Chervonohrad and treatment at the Zhytomyr psychiatric hospital. With his forged credentials, he worked as a neurosurgeon and held senior positions for long periods.
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According to a former agent of the USSR secret service who knew Slyusarchuk by sight, he was probably a product of a secret KGB pilot project. The agent was aware of a program in which orphans with unusual abilities were recruited throughout the Soviet Union; many died as a result of neurological experiments, but Slyusarchuk survived. He believes that Slyusarchuk participated in the secret pilot projects, receiving a professorship in return. His medical knowledge was derived from books and his memory was actually faulty; over time, he came to believe that he actually held the university diplomas. According to the agent, sealed documents about Slyusarchuk are stored in the KGB archives.
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Slyusarchuk maintained that his case was fabricated by the Prosecutor General and the Security Service of Ukraine. In 2005, he reportedly accidentally damaged his original diploma from the Russian National Research Medical University; a month later he received a duplicate, and denied any forgery. In 2003 Slyusarchuk reportedly met with Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents, agreeing in writing not to disclose the results of his scientific works and advising the Ukrainian government. In 2011, he traveled to Moscow and asked the former FSB curator for help. When Slyusarchuk was told that the FSB would confirm his education and academic degrees if he cooperated with them, he refused.
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Under questioning, the head of the university archives testified that Slyusarchuk showed her his damaged diploma in 2005 and his full name was legible. Verifying his surname in the registry, the woman submitted a request to the rector for approval. He did so, adding the instructions: "Carry out according to procedure"; the university neither proved nor disproved whether Slyusarchuk originally received a diploma from them.
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At a 16 December 2011 press conference, Minister of Education and Science Dmytro Tabachnyk said that his ministry's Russian counterpart admitted that it had mistakenly issued Slyusarchuk a duplicate diploma. At the press conference, Slyusarchuk's diplomas (including a duplicate) were demonstrated to be scanned documents.
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== Conviction and sentencing ==
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In the Verkhovna Rada, Slyusarchuk's activities were called "the largest-scale fraud in the 20 years of Ukrainian independence". According to the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency, his defrauding of government agencies is unprecedented. In 2012, Ukrainsky Medychny Chasopys (Ukrainian Medical Journal) published the outcome of his case entitled, "Head doctors who let the person without medical training into operating room should be held criminally responsible." In the article, Ukrainian psychiatrist Semyon Gluzman expressed the opinion that Slyusarchuk skillfully took advantage of poor security; if he had chosen a lower-profile specialty, he might have succeeded. According to Gluzman, Ukraine has hundreds of people with the degree of Doctor of Sciences with expertise comparable to Slyusarchuk's. In the journal, Doctor of Science Olga Bogomolets wrote that the admission of a person without medical training to an operating room violated laws clearly regulating who can practice medicine, when and where; a hospital supervising physician who violates the law must be held accountable.
|
||||
On 14 February 2014, the Sykhiv Raion Court sentenced Slyusarchuk to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of five counts of illegal medical activities and two counts of murder by negligence: a 52-year-old man named Lozovyi and three-year-old Danylo Prokopchuk of Ternopil Oblast. He was also found guilty of knowingly using forged documents and five counts of appropriating property by deception and breach of confidence (fraud). The court upheld victim claims, with Slyusarchuk fined about $40,000 (the amount of money paid for his services). He was also fined ₴70,000 to compensate Lozovyi's family and ₴30,000 for each of the other four victims. Slyusarchuk was fined a total of ₴500,000 in victim compensation and ₴44,000 in state fines. The court found that Slyusarchuk's diplomas from the Moscow and Vinnytsia medical universities were falsified.
|
||||
In a five-bed prison cell furnished with a table, a washstand, a toilet, bookshelves, a TV and a radio, he reads books on medicine, the criminal code and the criminal-procedure code. In September 2014, Slyusarchuk dismissed his attorneys, telling them that for what he paid for their services he could have bought ten more diplomas. He distrusts defense attorneys, feeling that they do their job poorly, and hoped to appeal his conviction at the regular session of the Lviv Oblast Appeal Court scheduled for 1 October 2014.
|
||||
|
||||
== State award ==
|
||||
On 30 September 2011, Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych issued Decree No 960/2011 awarding Slyusarchuk the 2011 State Prize of Ukraine for "scientific achievements in the field of education" for a series of works: "The complex of educational information technologies for presenting, memorizing and processing superlarge information objects in the learning process". Slyusarchuk's research involved the technology of inputting large amounts of information into electronic databases and its playback. Portions on which Slyusarchuk worked are stamped "secret". Slyusarchuk's portions were published in Russia and are secret. His research was nominated by the academic administration of Lviv Polytechnic for the State Prize, and the issue was debated in Kyiv by a commission of Ukrainian scientists.
|
||||
As a State Prize laureate Slyusarchuk would have received ₴150,000; he did not, after his detention for fraud by the Berkut on 14 November 2011. The decree awarding the State Prize is unrevoked, describing his credentials as a professor of Information Systems and Networks at Lviv Polytechnic and a Doctor of Sciences in medicine.
|
||||
|
||||
== Documentaries ==
|
||||
Documentaries and TV programs have been made about Slyusarchuk, including a 2008 BBC documentary. In 2009 the STB Channel broadcast the documentary, Pravyla Zhyttya: Povelyteli Svidomosti (The Rules of Life: The Rulers of Consciousness). In 2012 the HTH channel broadcast a documentary by Oleg Vasilevsky, Nezbagnenna Afera Doktora π (The Incredible Fraud of Doctor Pi). On 26 December 2012 the ТСН channel broadcast a documentary, Ukrainskiе Sensatsyi: Rascryli Vse Tainy "Doktora Pi" (Ukrainian Sensation: The Secrets of Doctor Pi).
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Potti"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:59:31.805946+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:55.346672+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Potti"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:59:31.805946+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:55.346672+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anil_Potti"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:59:31.805946+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:55.346672+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Bibliothek des Konservatismus"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliothek_des_Konservatismus"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:26.409809+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Library of Conservatism (German: Bibliothek des Konservatismus (BdK)) is a specialized scientific library and think tank in Berlin. Its focus is non-fiction literature by conservative, right-wing and libertarian authors from the 18th to the early 21st century. The principal foundation for the library was laid by the writer and publicist Caspar von Schrenck-Notzing who gave his extensive private collection of books. The BdK opened in 2012 in Berlin. So far, its catalogued stock comprises around 35,000 items. The library is financed and supported by the Foundation for Conservative Education and Research (Förderstiftung Konservative Bildung und Forschung, FKBF).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Establishment ==
|
||||
The writer and publicist Caspar von Schrenck-Notizing (1927–2009) was the scion of an old Bavarian family and a bestselling author and conservative critique in post-war Germany, who founded the bimonthly journal "Criticón" in 1970 that became a focal point for conservative and right-wing intellectuals in the Federal Republic of Germany.
|
||||
In 2000, he established the Foundation for Conservative Education and Research (FKBF) in Munich to preserve his private library of around 20,000 books. Since 2007, Dieter Stein, the editor of weekly newspaper Junge Freiheit, is the chairman of the foundation. In 2012, the library opened to the public in Berlin. In addition to Schrenck-Notizing's collection it received as a bequest the library of the conservative social philosopher Günter Rohrmoser of Stuttgart University (around 10,000 books) and further donations.
|
||||
The FKBF owns a modern building in Berlin that was a gift by the shipowner and entrepreneur Folkard Edler from Hamburg. The building is opposite of the Universität der Künste (Berlin University of the Arts) in Charlottenburg.
|
||||
The director of the library is Wolfgang Fenske, a doctor of Protestant theology and former pastor. In an interview with Hessische Rundfunk (Public Broadcasting Corporation of Hesse), Fenske said that he was drawn into conservative thinking by his opposition to his school teachers of the generation of 1968. In a talk with public radio Deutschlandfunk, Fenske maintained that even modern conservative thinking is rooted in ancient and Christian natural rights philosophy.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Holdings ==
|
||||
At the time of opening, the BdK held about 60,000 titles, now they claim to own more than 136,000 items, mainly books, but also 500 journals and political posters since 1848 as well as graphics. Around a quarter of their stock (34,000 items) are catalogued. The main body of writings is from conservative and right-wing authors since 1789 until the early 21st century. Among the books there are works (often early prints) of British writers from Edmund Burke to Roger Scruton, French personalities from Richelieu to Louis-Ferdinand Céline, conservative Germans from the arts and letters like Richard Wagner, Stefan George, philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte and conservative politician Otto von Bismarck as well as authors from the movement of the "Conservative Revolution" of the interwar period like Arthur Moeller van den Bruck, Ernst Jünger, Carl Schmitt, Oswald Spengler and also Thomas Mann. This was a focus of the collection of Schrenck-Notzing and his collaborator at Criticón Armin Mohler. The library owns mainly works of political science, history, sociology, arts and some on economics. In 2012, the BdK also acquired a large collection of several thousand books and pamphlets of the German Pro Life movement.
|
||||
The library is a member of the Association of German Libraries (Deutscher Bibliotheksverband). This has drawn criticism from left wing organizations who called the library a "hard right" institution. Among the critics in 2013 were student representatives of Technische Universität Berlin and the head of the Berlin Young Socialists (Jusos), Kevin Kühnert, now a vice chairman of the German Social Democrats SPD.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Other activities ==
|
||||
Besides providing access to a large body of non-fiction literature, the BdK also is considered as a think tank of the modern conservative and right-wing movement in Germany. Every one or two weeks the foundation holds talks and seminars in the rooms of the library in central Berlin (Charlottenburg, near the Bahnhof Zoo train station). They had speakers and guest from European universities, journalists but also right-wing politicians mainly from the Christian Democrats and the Alternative for Germany. The head of the antifascist association Apabiz called the library a "showcase project of the New Right" and criticized that CDU politicians had no inhibitions to meet and talk there.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Library network exclusion ==
|
||||
In November 2025, it was reported that the library would be excluded from the Lower Saxony state-run Joint Library Network (GBV) of the northern German states, which would make the library's books no longer searchable. Director Wolfgang Fenske stated he believed the exclusion was based on ideology and that he would sue to prevent it. In May 2025, two Alliance 90/The Greens members of the Berlin House of Representatives submitted an inquiry regarding the library's affiliation with a local library network in Berlin.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Official website (in German)
|
||||
44
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Redheffer-0.md
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44
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Redheffer-0.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Charles Redheffer"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Redheffer"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:58.927602+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Charles Redheffer was an American inventor who claimed to have invented a perpetual motion machine.
|
||||
First appearing in Philadelphia, Redheffer exhibited his machine to the public, charging high prices for viewing. When he applied to the government for more money, a group of inspectors were sent to examine the machine. It was discovered the machine was actually powered by a device Redheffer claimed was powered by the machine.
|
||||
Redheffer moved to New York City and set up a similar scam after rebuilding his machine. However, an engineer detected that it was a fake by listening to its unsteady motions at an exhibition. He discovered that the machine was operated by a man using a crank in a room on the floor above. Redheffer returned to Philadelphia. He later claimed to have created another machine, but refused to demonstrate it to anyone. He managed to get a patent for his machine in 1820, but after this his fate is unknown.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Personal life ==
|
||||
Little has been recorded about Redheffer's life, other than his connection to the hoax. According to one source, he was from Germantown in Philadelphia, but most sources simply state that he appeared in Philadelphia with his machine. Redheffer disappeared from public view after the discovery of the fraud, and his fate is unknown.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Appearance in Philadelphia ==
|
||||
Charles Redheffer and his machine became well known in Philadelphia in 1812. Redheffer claimed he had invented a perpetual motion machine and exhibited it in a house near the Schuylkill River in the outskirts of the city. He charged an admission fee of $5 (some sources claim $1) for men to view it; depending on the source, women were admitted free or at a charge of $1. The machine caused a sensation, and Redheffer lobbied for funds to build a larger version.
|
||||
On January 21, 1813, eight city commissioners visited Redheffer to inspect the machine. They had to do so through a barred window, as Redheffer was concerned anyone going near the machine might damage it. One of the inspectors, Nathan Sellers, was accompanied by his son Coleman, who noticed something odd about the gears. The machine itself was said to be powering a separate device through a series of gears and weights. Coleman noticed that the cogs were worn on the wrong side and suggested that the device was in fact powering the machine.
|
||||
The elder Sellers was convinced the machine was a hoax. To validate his suspicions, he hired local engineer Isaiah Lukens to build a similar machine, using a hidden clockwork motor as a power source. They then arranged a demonstration of the machine to Redheffer, who was immediately convinced and offered to buy it. Meanwhile, Redheffer's machine appeared in the Philadelphia Gazette. Civil engineer Charles Gobort offered to bet sums of money ranging from $6,000 to $10,000 that the machine was genuine, and that Redheffer had discovered perpetual motion.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Move to New York City ==
|
||||
|
||||
His ruse revealed, Redheffer immediately departed for New York City where he was still unknown. He changed his machine somewhat so that it could not be detected as easily, and he exhibited it as he had done in Philadelphia.
|
||||
When mechanical engineer Robert Fulton went to see the machine, he noticed that the machine was unsteady as if someone were driving it manually and irregularly with a crank. Fulton also detected that the sound was uneven, uncharacteristic of a machine's motions. He announced the machine was a fraud, and challenged Redheffer exclaiming he would expose the secret power source, otherwise he would pay for all the damage he would cause. Redheffer agreed, so Fulton removed some boards from the wall alongside the machine and exposed a catgut cord that led to the upper floor. Upstairs he found an old man who was turning a hand-crank with one hand and eating bread with the other. Spectators realized they had been duped and destroyed the machine; Redheffer fled the city.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Later appearances ==
|
||||
Redheffer appears to have constructed another machine in 1816, which he stated his intention to demonstrate to a group of men including the mayor and chief justice of Philadelphia. However, despite several meetings, Redheffer refused to demonstrate the machine to them.
|
||||
On July 11, 1820, the U.S. Patent Office granted a patent to Charles Redheffer (or Charles Redheiffer) for a device listed as "machinery for the purpose of gaining power". (All patents up to 1836 were lost in the 1836 U.S. Patent Office fire. If recovered, it would be X-Patent X3,215.)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Notes ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
Force, Peter (1821). A National Calendar ... Volume 2. Davis and Force.
|
||||
Ogden Niles, William (1817). Niles' weekly register, Volume 11. H. Niles.
|
||||
Ord-Hume, Arthur W. J. G. (2006). Perpetual Motion: The History of an Obsession. Adventures Unlimited Press. ISBN 978-1-931882-51-4.
|
||||
Weiss, Harry B.; Ziegler, Grace M. (1978). Thomas Say, early American naturalist. Ayer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-405-10737-5.
|
||||
@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._D._C._Willard"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:01:44.075278+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:24.902918+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
22
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_de_Loys-0.md
Normal file
22
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_de_Loys-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "François de Loys"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/François_de_Loys"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:36.472378+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Louis François Fernand Hector de Loys (1892–1935) was a Swiss oil geologist. He is remembered today for the claim that he discovered a previously unknown primate, De Loys's ape (Ameranthropoides loysi), during a 1920 oil survey expedition in Venezuela. The identity of the animal he photographed has long been established with considerable confidence to be a spider monkey, and the identification as a new species is generally regarded as a hoax.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Brian Regal, Human Evolution: A Guide To The Debates, pp. 63–64 (ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2004). ISBN 1-85109-423-7
|
||||
Robert Silverberg, Scientists and Scoundrels: A Book of Hoaxes, pp. 178–187 (New York: Crowell, 1965). ISBN 978-0-8032-5989-8
|
||||
Dunning, Brian (March 20, 2012). "Skeptoid #302: De Loys' Ape". Skeptoid.
|
||||
Viloria, A. L.; Urbani, F.; Urbani, B. (1998). "François de Loys (1892-1935) y un hallazgo desdenado: La historia de una controversia antropologica". Intercienca (in Spanish). 32 (2): 94–100.
|
||||
Viloria, A. L.; Urbani, F.; McCook, S.; Urbani, B. (1999). "De Lausanne aux forêts vénézuéliennes. Mission géologique de François de Loys (1892-1935) et les origines d'une controverse anthropologique". Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences Naturelles (in French). 86 (3): 157–174.
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "German National Library of Science and Technology"
|
||||
chunk: 1/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_National_Library_of_Science_and_Technology"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:27.590220+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The German National Library of Science and Technology (German: Technische Informationsbibliothek), abbreviated TIB, is the national library of the Federal Republic of Germany for all fields of engineering, technology, and the natural sciences. It is jointly funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the 16 German states. Founded in 1959, the library operates in conjunction with the Leibniz Universität Hannover. In addition to acquiring scientific literature, it conducts applied research in such areas as the archiving of non-textual materials, data visualization and the future Internet. The library is also involved in a number of open access initiatives. With a collection of about 8.9 million items in 2012, the TIB is the largest technology and natural science library in the world.
|
||||
|
||||
== Collection ==
|
||||
The TIB acquires literature in all engineering fields as well as architecture, information technology, chemistry, mathematics, physics and other basic sciences. It is a particular specialist in the acquisition of "gray literature"; that is, literature difficult to obtain and not available via the standard book or journal trade. It also holds a large number of standards, norms, patents, source data, scientific conference proceedings, government research papers and dissertations. Special collections include the "Albrecht Haupt Collection" of digitally rendered architectural drawings, and a regional focus on technical literature from East Asia and Eastern Europe. The film and audiovisual material held previously by IWF Knowledge and Media (IWF Wissen und Medien) is now held by TIB.
|
||||
The TIB's holdings total 10 million media units (as of December 31, 2022):
|
||||
|
||||
6.1 million books
|
||||
3.4 million non-electronic materials such as micro-materials
|
||||
143.3 million metadata in the index
|
||||
about 54,650 licensed and digitized electronic journals
|
||||
about 6,950 continuously held journals (non-electronic)
|
||||
about 6,560 subject databases
|
||||
In 2010, the physical collection occupied 125 kilometres (78 mi) of shelving.
|
||||
|
||||
== Services ==
|
||||
|
||||
=== Open Research Knowledge Graph ===
|
||||
To counteract the flood of publications in the sciences, TIB is developing the Open Research Knowledge Graph, with which the scientific contributions from scientific publications can be organized in a flexible database (the Knowledge Graph). In 2024, the TIB published the ORKG ASK service, which enables AI-supported scientific questions to be answered on the basis of a corpus of 80 million scientific publications.
|
||||
|
||||
=== DOI Registration Agency ===
|
||||
In 2005 the TIB became the world's first Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registration agency for research data sets in the fields of technology, natural sciences and medicine. It offers registration for the results of any publicly funded research conducted in Europe.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Depository library ===
|
||||
The TIB is a legal deposit library for research projects sponsored by various agencies of the German Federal Government, in particular:
|
||||
|
||||
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
|
||||
Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) in the areas of energy, aviation, and aerospace research
|
||||
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in energy research and energy technologies
|
||||
Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV)
|
||||
|
||||
=== Leibniz Open Access Repository ===
|
||||
The TIB is a member of the Leibniz Association, a consortium of 87 non-university research institutes in Germany. In support of the Association's open access goals, the TIB operates the Leibniz Open Access Repository in cooperation with Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure (formerly Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe). The TIB advises the Leibniz Association's various member organizations, scientists and staff on depositing publications in the repository according to open access guidelines.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Competence Center for Non-Textual Material ===
|
||||
The amount, usage and importance of non-textual materials such as 3D models, AV media and research data is continually increasing and only a small proportion can be searched at the present time. The goal of the TIB Competence Centre for Non-Textual Materials (Kompetenzzentrum für nicht-textuelle Materialien, abbreviated to KNM) is to fundamentally improve access to, and the use of, such non-textual materials. The TIB also develops new multimedia analysis methods such as morphology, speech or structure recognition to create indexing and metadata to help researchers and educators make better use of these complex materials. In addition, the competence center is dedicated to the preservation of multimedia objects, the assignment of DOI, and knowledge transfer.
|
||||
|
||||
=== GetInfo online service ===
|
||||
TIB operates the GetInfo portal for science and technology with interdisciplinary search capabilities for the other German National Libraries as well as access to more than 150 million data sets from other specialized databases, publishers and library catalogs. The TIB also makes scientific videos of lectures, conferences, computer animations, simulations and experiments available via GetInfo. These video items can be searched free-of-charge and can be downloaded via Flash Player.
|
||||
|
||||
== Partnerships ==
|
||||
The TIB partners with a variety of national and international libraries, institutions and associations.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Goportis library network ===
|
||||
The TIB is one of three partners in the Leibniz Library Network for Research Information consortium Goportis, the others being the German National Library of Economics (ZBW) and German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED). This initiative develops and operates online search services, online full-text delivery services, licensing agreements, non-textual materials, document preservation efforts, data storage, and open access.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Institutional partners ===
|
||||
The TIB is also the scientific information provider for researchers in the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union, including Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Ukraine. It also collaborates with numerous organizations in China, Japan and Eastern Europe. Notable institutional partnerships include:
|
||||
|
||||
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
|
||||
DataCite e.V.
|
||||
German Physical Society (DPG)
|
||||
Library of the Delft University of Technology (TU), Delft, Netherlands
|
||||
State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine (SSTL), Kyiv, Ukraine
|
||||
Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), Ohio, United States
|
||||
Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Moscow, Russia
|
||||
Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology (GPNTB), Moscow, Russia
|
||||
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
|
||||
|
||||
=== Other partners ===
|
||||
International Association of Technological University Libraries
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "German National Library of Science and Technology"
|
||||
chunk: 2/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_National_Library_of_Science_and_Technology"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:27.590220+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Research projects ==
|
||||
As part of the German national research infrastructure, the TIB conducts its own applied research, particularly in the field of information science. In cooperation with a variety of other institutions, these projects focus on the areas of visual searching, data visualization, the Semantic Web, and the Future Internet.
|
||||
|
||||
=== PROBADO 3D ===
|
||||
PROBADO is a project to develop tools for the automatic indexing, storage and delivery of non-textual documents such as 3D models. Its goal is to enable academic libraries to deal with multimedia objects just as easily as with textual information. Tools include searching by intuitive drawing in 2D and 3D and delivery of results while drawing. For this initiative the TIB partnered with the Technical University of Darmstadt, the University of Bonn and the Technical University of Graz.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Visual access to research data ===
|
||||
This project, funded by the Leibniz Association, is a joint effort of the TIB, the GRIS Darmstadt (Interactive Graphics Systems at the Technical University of Darmstadt) and the IGD (Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics). It deals with developing approaches to the interactive, graphical access to research data in order to make it easily represented and searchable. The project is tasked with developing methods for data analysis, visual search systems, metadata-based searching and prototype implementation.
|
||||
|
||||
=== SCOAP3-DH ===
|
||||
SCOAP3 (Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics) is a global consortium of organizations in high energy physics, physics research centers and leading international libraries. Its goal is to convert essential journals in particle physics that are presently financed by subscriptions into open access journals with the support of the publishers. SCOAP3-DH is funded by the German Research Foundation, working in cooperation with the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) and the Max Planck Society (MPS).
|
||||
|
||||
=== Other research projects ===
|
||||
Additional TIB research projects include:
|
||||
|
||||
arXiv-DH: development the Open Access platform arXiv for German universities and other institutions
|
||||
DP4lib: development of a reusable and flexible infrastructure for digital preservation
|
||||
Knowledge Exchange: a national initiative in Germany to extend the use of information and communications technology in research and teaching
|
||||
KomFor: a Center of Expertise for Earth and Environment research data
|
||||
Linked Heritage: metadata, standards, persistent identification and linked data systems for digital cultural heritage in Europe
|
||||
STI Adaptations to Mobile Web Devices: approaches for enhancing access to STI through mobile devices
|
||||
TIB-Transfer: development and implementation of a concept for the commercialization of research results
|
||||
ViFaChem II: development of concepts and tools for the Virtual Library of Chemistry II
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
German National Library
|
||||
German National Library of Economics
|
||||
German National Library of Medicine
|
||||
List of libraries in Germany
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
|
||||
Official website (in German and English)
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Gerstein Science Information Centre"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerstein_Science_Information_Centre"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:28.812586+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Gerstein Science Information Centre is the University of Toronto's flagship library supporting the sciences and health sciences. The largest science and health science academic library in Canada, Gerstein has a collection of over 945,000 print volumes of journals and books, and also provides access to over 100,000 online journals and books. It is located in the Sigmund Samuel Library Building on the St. George campus in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
|
||||
The Gerstein Science Information Centre's collection consists primarily of material on the sciences, including the health sciences, medicine, physics, chemistry, biology and their subfields, with the exception of mathematical journals and forestry, botany and geology materials. The library provides varying degrees of access to students, faculty, external researchers, and members of the public.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== History ==
|
||||
The library originally existed as the main University of Toronto library, and maintained this status from 1892 to 1973. In 1973 the humanities and social sciences materials were moved to the then newly built Robarts Library, and the remaining collection was divided between the undergraduate Sigmund Samuel Library and the Science and Medicine Library. In 1997, the Science and Medicine Library was renamed the Gerstein Science Information Centre after a significant donation from a benefactor, the Frank Gerstein Charitable Foundation.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Renovation work ==
|
||||
|
||||
The most recent renovations at Gerstein were similarly funded by the Frank Gerstein Charitable Foundation and the Bertrand Gerstein Family Foundation, and were completed in the fall of 2008. The Gerstein Reading Room, a spacious study area for students restored to its 1892 original state, was the end product of the renovations. The stunning ceiling architecture revealed by the renovation came as a surprise to Diamond and Schmitt Architects, who made their discovery while renewing the heritage wing of the Centre. The renovation also included the addition of group study rooms for students. The previous expansion of 2003, the Morrison Pavilion, provides students with modern study carrels equipped with power outlets and wired Ethernet connections and was possible due to a donation by University of Toronto alumni Russell and Katherine Morrison.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Coat of arms ==
|
||||
|
||||
The entrance to the library features a stained glass window with the Samuel family crest, as Sigmund Samuel's donation led to the construction of the Sigmund Samuel Library Building. Below the coat of arms is the phrase Honos Alit Artis (Latin), meaning "honour exalts the arts."
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Robarts Library
|
||||
University of Toronto Libraries
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
|
||||
Official website
|
||||
University of Toronto Libraries
|
||||
50
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruko_Obokata-0.md
Normal file
50
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruko_Obokata-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Haruko Obokata"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haruko_Obokata"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:44.870523+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Haruko Obokata (小保方 晴子, Obokata Haruko; born 1983) is a former stem-cell biologist and research unit leader at Japan's Laboratory for Cellular Reprogramming, Riken Center for Developmental Biology. She claimed in 2014 to have developed a radical and remarkably easy way to generate stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells that could be grown into tissue for use anywhere in the body. In response to allegations of irregularities in Obokata's research publications involving STAP cells, Riken launched an investigation that discovered examples of scientific misconduct on the part of Obokata. Attempts to replicate Obokata's STAP cell results failed. The ensuing STAP cell scandal gained worldwide attention.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Early life, education and career ==
|
||||
Obokata was born in Matsudo, Chiba, Japan, in 1983. She attended Toho Senior High School, which is attached to Toho University, and graduated from Waseda University with a B.S. degree in 2006, and an M.S. degree in applied chemistry in 2008. Obokata later joined the laboratory of Charles Vacanti at Harvard Medical School, where she was described as "a lab director’s dream" with "fanatical devotion". In 2011, Obokata completed her Ph.D. in Engineering at the Graduate School of Advanced Engineering and Science at Waseda University. Obokata became a guest researcher at the Riken Center for Developmental Biology in 2011, and in 2013 became head of the Lab for Cellular Reprogramming.
|
||||
According to an Asahi Shimbun news report, Obokata offered to retract her doctoral dissertation following allegations that she plagiarized segments of her dissertation from publicly available documents from the U.S. National Institute of Health website. In October 2014, an investigative panel appointed by Waseda University gave Obokata one year to revise her dissertation or lose her degree. In 2015, Waseda University announced that it was revoking Obokata's doctoral degree.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== STAP cell reports ==
|
||||
At Riken, Obokata studied stem cells in collaboration with Vacanti, Teruhiko Wakayama, and Yoshiki Sasai, with two of her research papers accepted for publication in Nature in 2013. In a note to Vacanti, Sasai wrote that Obokata had discovered "a magic spell" that led to their experimental success, described later in The Guardian as "a surprisingly simple way of turning ordinary body cells…into something very much like embryonic stem cells" by soaking them in "a weak bath of citric acid." This procedure was reported to "wash away [the cells'] developmental past," transforming them into "cellular infants, able to multiply abundantly and grow into any type of cell in the body, a superpower known as pluripotency." Upon publication of the papers, Obokata "was hailed as a bright new star in the scientific firmament and a national hero."
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== STAP cell controversy ==
|
||||
Within days of publication of the Nature articles, "disturbing allegations emerged [...] images looked doctored, and chunks of [...] text were lifted from other papers." Critics noted that images in the published articles were similar to those published in Obokata's doctoral thesis, the latter involving different experiments than those presented in the Nature publications.
|
||||
In 2014 Riken launched an investigation into the issue, and announced on April 1 that Obokata was guilty of scientific misconduct on two of the six charges initially brought against her. The Riken investigation document reported:
|
||||
|
||||
In manipulating the image data of two different gels and using data from two different experiments, Dr. Obokata acted in a manner that can by no means be permitted. This cannot be explained solely by her immaturity as a researcher. Given the poor quality of her laboratory notes it has become clearly evident that it will be extremely difficult for anyone else to accurately trace or understand her experiments, and this, too, is considered a serious obstacle to healthy information exchange. Dr. Obokata’s actions and sloppy data management lead us to the conclusion that she sorely lacks, not only a sense of research ethics, but also integrity and humility as a scientific researcher.
|
||||
Obokata apologised for her "insufficient efforts, ill-preparedness and unskillfulness", and claimed she had only made "benevolent mistakes"; she denied the charge that she had fabricated results, and denied that she lacked ethics, integrity, and humility. Obokata also reported that her STAP cells existed. The Guardian reported that although Obokata's collaborators initially supported her, "one by one they relented and asked Nature to retract the articles." In June 2014, Obokata agreed to retract both papers.
|
||||
Near the time of retraction, "genetic analysis showed that the STAP cells didn’t match the mice from which they supposedly came." Although Obokata claimed not to know how this was possible, "the obvious, and rather depressing, explanation is that her so-called STAP cells were just regular embryonic stem cells that someone had taken from a freezer and relabelled." In July 2014, Obokata participated, with monitoring by a third party, in Riken's effort to experimentally reproduce the original STAP cell findings. Those efforts failed to replicate the results originally reported.
|
||||
Although cleared of misconduct, Sasai was criticized for inadequate supervision of Obokata, and he described himself as "overwhelmed with shame". After spending a month in hospital, Sasai took his own life on August 5, 2014.
|
||||
Obokata resigned from Riken in December 2014.
|
||||
In a February 2015 article, The Guardian reported that Obokata was guilty of "unbelievable carelessness", having "manipulated images and plagiarised text." Obokata was also described as exhibiting hubris: "If Obokata hadn’t tried to be a world-beater, chances are her sleights of hand would have gone unnoticed and she would still be looking forward to a long and happy career in science. [...] By stepping into the limelight, she exposed her work to greater scrutiny than it could bear."
|
||||
In 2016, Obokata's book Ano hi (あの日- That Day) was published by Kodansha. In her account of the controversy, Obokata relates her association with Wakayama, writing that "crucial parts of the STAP experiments were handled only by Wakayama", that she received the STAP cells from Wakayama, and that Wakayama "changed his accounts of how the STAP cells were produced." Obokata later wrote "I feel a strong sense of responsibility for the STAP papers [...], "I never wrote those papers to deceive anyone," and "STAP was real."
|
||||
A short essay by Obokata appeared in the May 17, 2018, issue of Shukan Bunshun magazine, in which she described herself as "a person who has been hounded".
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Academic dishonesty
|
||||
Scientific misconduct
|
||||
Masayuki Yamato
|
||||
List of scientific misconduct incidents
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
STAP HOPE PAGE Archived March 31, 2016, at the Wayback Machine by Haruko Obokata, March 25, 2016
|
||||
Center for Developmental Biology at RIKEN
|
||||
Laboratory for Cellular Reprogramming at RIKEN
|
||||
29
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadore_Nabi-0.md
Normal file
29
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadore_Nabi-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Isadore Nabi"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadore_Nabi"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:41.275479+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Isadore Nabi (sometimes Isidore Nabi or Isador Nabi) was a pseudonym used by a group of scientists including Richard Lewontin, Richard Levins, Robert MacArthur, and Leigh van Valen in the 1960s. Inspired by the work of Nicolas Bourbaki, they allegedly hoped to create a unified approach to evolutionary biology. However, the project was aborted and the name was reused in the 1980s for satirical purposes.
|
||||
Nabi's biography was listed in American Men and Women of Science, articles and letters were published in prominent journals under his name, and he was listed on the editorial board of Evolutionary Theory.
|
||||
He has primarily written on sociobiology. His article, "An Evolutionary Interpretation of the English Sonnet" was delivered as the First Annual Piltdown Lecture on Man and Nature and appeared under the heading "Advances in Sociobiopsy". (The author was noted as a "Satirical Commentator".) He has also written articles critical of the systems-theoretical approach to mathematical ecology, as illustrated by what our laws of motion in physics would look like if early physicists had used the methods of the systems ecologists (this time listing the author as "Intrepid Investigator"). In 2002 he published a piece (under the name "Isador Nabi") on stock tips in Gene Watch. It was identified as humor.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Biography ==
|
||||
His biography in American Men and Women of Science reads:
|
||||
|
||||
NABI, ISIDORE, b Brno, Czech, July 22, 10; m 30; c 6. POPULATION BIOLOGY. Educ: Cochabamba Univ, AB, 30; Nat Univ Mex, MD. 36. Hon Degrees: PhD, Cochabamba Univ, 50; LLB. Nat Univ Mex, 39. Prof Exp: Petrol geologist. Ministeno de Fomento, Venezuela, 40-42; instr biol. Hunter Col, 45-47; resident path, Kings County Hosp. Brooklyn, 47-49; ed & publisher, Boletin de Medicina Forensics, Caracas, 49-51; lectr & res assoc path, Univ Venezuela, 51-56; Guggenheim fel biol, Yeshiva Univ, 56-57; res assoc pharmacol, NY Univ, 62-65; res assoc anat, 65-67, evolutionary biol, 67-71, RES ASSOC BIOL, UNIV CHICAGO, 71- Concurrent Pos: Consult, Standard Oil Co, 45-47 & Kings County Coroner, 47-49; NIH res grant, 65. Mem: Soc Study Evolution; Am Col Legal Med; Int Acad Path Res: Cytopathology; forensic cytology; paleocytopathology. Mailing Add: Dept of Biol Univ of Chicago Chicago IL 60637.
|
||||
Nabi was supposedly born in 1910 in La Paz, Bolivia. After a precocious stay in medical school, he received an M.D. in 1936. He went on to attend grammar and secondary schools, finally receiving a Ph.D. at the Cochabamba University. For a period he resided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as well as Caracas, Venezuela, where he headed the local affiliate of what was then called Esso Oil. He also was a practicing brain surgeon and editor of the revolutionary journal El Fomento. Despite his multi-tasking, he managed to publish a number of articles and addresses in population biology, evolution, and ecology.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Controversy ==
|
||||
In 1981, Nabi had a letter published in Nature complaining that Richard Dawkins suggested both that we were "robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes ... they control us body and mind" and that we need to fight against the tendencies of our genes. Similarly, E. O. Wilson has said that neurobiology provided "a genetically accurate and hence completely fair code of ethics" but also warned against the naturalistic fallacy.
|
||||
Wilson complained to Nature magazine that Nabi was an invented character and insisted that he "lifted the two 1975 phrases of mine out of context in a way that reverses the meaning of one". The editors suggested that Nabi was a pseudonym of Lewontin's. Lewontin wrote to insist he was not "Isidore Nabi", citing Nabi's biography in American Men and Women of Science and editorial board position on Evolutionary Theory. Isidore Nabi replied to insist that he was not Isadore Nabi, the author of the letter.
|
||||
This all led to a Nature editorial in the fall of 1981 which stated that Nabi was the pen name of Richard Lewontin, Leigh van Valen, and Richard Lester and decrying its use as deceptive. Richard Lester wrote an outraged reply insisting that he had not been involved at all and suggesting Nature was irresponsible in not checking with him first. The editors suggested that Richard Lester was a pseudonym of Richard Levins.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
33
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alfred_Talent-0.md
Normal file
33
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alfred_Talent-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "John Alfred Talent"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Alfred_Talent"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:10.795081+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
John Alfred Talent (18 October 1932 – 27 March 2024) was an Australian palaeontologist whose research and teaching career was spent largely at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He is remembered particularly for leading the effort in the 1980s and 1990s to expose the large body of fraudulent publications by Vishwa Jit Gupta of Panjab University, which is collectively known as the Himalayan fossil hoax.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Biography ==
|
||||
Talent was born to Alfred George Talent and Thelma Emily (née Henderson) at Ascot Vale, Victoria. He studied science at the University of Melbourne, graduating in science with majors in geology, chemistry and mathematics in 1953 and completing his master's degree in 1955 with a dissertation on Studies in the stratigraphy and paleontology of some paleozoic limestones of Eastern Victoria. He obtained a PhD in 1959 on the thesis Contributions to the stratigraphy and palaeontology of the Silurian and Devonian of Gippsland. He followed this in 1966 by taking a bachelor of arts degree in 1966 with majors in French and fine arts, and a minor in Arabic.
|
||||
Talent was awarded the a post-doctoral fellowship from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) with which he spent time in Brussels, Belgium, between 1961 and 1962. He worked there as Research Associate at the Institut royal des Sciences naturelles de Belgique (the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences). He was initially employed as a geologist under the Department of Mines, Government of Victoria. In early 1967, he was visiting faculty at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Late in the year he got appointment in the faculty of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, as UNESCO professor. In 1969, he joined the department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, a newly established faculty at Macquarie University. After normal retirement, he was elected Emeritus Professor, the position he held till his death.
|
||||
Talent served as president of the International Palaeontological Association in 1999. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1996.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Contributions ==
|
||||
His interests covered many fossil animal taxa, particularly brachiopods and conodonts. He worked collaboratively with scientists in many other countries, notably Russia, as well as in Australia where his principal collaborator Ruth Mawson and numerous graduate students helped to build a legacy of inter-related publications. Mass extraction of silicified fossils from limestone samples using a specially built facility at Macquarie University provided ample material for these studies.
|
||||
Talent was a long-term contributor to the International Commission on Stratigraphy's Subcommission on Devonian Stratigraphy, working to align geological time-intervals around the world.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Unmasking the Himalayan fossil hoax ==
|
||||
Although it had been clear to many Indian palaeontologists that Vishwa Jit Gupta's work on the geology of the Himalayas contained so many implausible statements that it was useless as a basis for subsequent work, the full extent of the anomalies was unclear because it had been assumed that the problems were caused by incompetence. Talent and collaborators worked diligently for several years to catalogue the various types of misrepresentation involved, concluding that deliberate deception by Gupta took many forms, that his body of work was "fictitious".
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Eponymy ==
|
||||
Talent had many species and genera named in his honour, including:
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
53
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_hoax_email-0.md
Normal file
53
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_hoax_email-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Mars hoax email"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_hoax_email"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:37.613468+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
A hoax circulated by email in 2003 claimed that Mars would look as large as the full Moon to the naked eye on August 27 of that year. The hoax has since resurfaced each time before Mars is at its closest to Earth, about every 26 months.
|
||||
It began from a misinterpretation and exaggeration of a sentence in an email message that reported the close approach between Mars and the Earth in August 2003. At that time, the distance between the two planets was about 55,758,000 kilometres (34,646,000 mi), which was the closest distance between them since September 24, 57,617 BC, when the distance has been calculated to have been about 55,718,000 kilometres (34,622,000 mi).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Background ==
|
||||
Both Earth and Mars are in elliptical orbits around the Sun in approximately the same plane. By the nature of the laws of physics, the distance between them varies periodically from a minimum equal to the distance between their orbits at some point along them, to a maximum when they are on opposite sides of the Sun. These minimum (opposition) and maximum distances vary considerably as the two planets progress along their elliptical orbits, and occur about every 780 days. Mars was closer to the Earth in August 2003 (at the opposition) than it had been since 57,617 BC, and than it will be until 2287.
|
||||
There was another opposition on 30 October 2005, but with a minimum distance about 25% greater than in 2003 (as reported in the original email) and apparent diameter correspondingly smaller. The magnitude was −2.3, about 60% as bright as 2003. (The Moon has an apparent diameter of around 30 minutes of arc, i.e., 1800 arcseconds, with magnitude of about −12.7 when full, about 9,000 times brighter than Mars in the 2003 approach.)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Origin ==
|
||||
The Mars hoax originated from an email message in 2003, sometimes titled "Mars Spectacular", with images of Mars and the full moon side by side:
|
||||
|
||||
The Red Planet is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.
|
||||
The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles (55,763,108 km) of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of – 2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest 75-power magnificationMars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10 p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3:00 a.m.
|
||||
By the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30 a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month. Share this with your children and grandchildren. NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN
|
||||
|
||||
Although the e-mail itself is correct except for the statement that "it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again" (in fact, Mars will definitely come closer in 2287), the hoax stemmed from a misinterpretation of the sentence "At a modest 75-power magnification Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye". The message was often quoted with a line break in the middle of this sentence, leading some readers to mistakenly believe that "Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye" when, in reality, this sentence means that Mars enlarged 75 times will look as big as the moon unenlarged.
|
||||
Mars, normally never more than a dot in the night sky, could not suddenly become visibly large due to normal variations in orbit. If Mars did appear as large as the moon it would be so close that it would cause tidal and gravitational effects—Mars has about twice the diameter of the Moon, and hence would be about twice as far away for the same apparent size. It has nine times the mass of the Moon, and would have about the same tidal effect (nine times the larger mass divided by relative distance cubed).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Resurfacing ==
|
||||
The hoax has resurfaced a number of times since 2003, often showing an altered image of twin moons over the Nilov Monastery, and may continue to do so, always announcing an imminent close Earth–Mars approach. The content of the original email, although almost entirely correct for August 27, 2003, has falsely been redated to announce a new close Earth–Mars approach—the real close approach was in 2003 only—also misinterpreting the original email by saying that Mars will look as large as the Moon. The later emails are incorrect, as Mars will not come as close to Earth as it did in 2003 until August 28, 2287.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
List of hoaxes
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
The Mars Hoax Goes Viral (NASA article from 2006) Archived 2015-08-16 at the Wayback Machine
|
||||
Beware the Mars Hoax (NASA article from 2005)
|
||||
Snopes page on the Mars Spectacular
|
||||
Sky and Telescope Magazine: Mars Hoax Returns Archived 2012-02-14 at the Wayback Machine
|
||||
BBC News: The perennial Mars hoax e-mail
|
||||
2006 Mars Hoax Powerpoint Presentation
|
||||
MSNBC Video on the Mars hoax
|
||||
MSNBC Cosmic Log
|
||||
Exposing PseudoAstronomy - Episode 118: The Big Mars Hoax/The Two Moons Hoax
|
||||
Italian guys exposing the Mars hoax
|
||||
Mars Hoax warning at mars.nasa.gov (2018?)
|
||||
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The Mechanical Turk (German: Schachtürke, lit. 'chess Turk'), also known as the Automaton Chess Player or simply the Turk (Hungarian: A Török), was a chess-playing machine first displayed in 1770, which appeared to be able to play a strong game of chess autonomously, but whose pieces were in reality moved via levers and magnets by a chess master hidden in its lower cavity. The machine was toured and exhibited for 84 years as an automaton, and continued giving occasional exhibitions until 1854, when it was destroyed in a fire. In 1857, an article published by the owner's son provided the first full explanation of the mechanism, which had been widely suspected to be a hoax but never accurately described while the machine still existed.
|
||||
Constructed by Wolfgang von Kempelen to impress Empress Maria Theresa, the Turk won most games, including those against statesmen such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Benjamin Franklin. It was purchased in 1804 by Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, who continued to exhibit it. Chess masters who operated it over this later period included Johann Allgaier, Boncourt, Aaron Alexandre, William Lewis, Jacques Mouret and William Schlumberger, but its operators during Kempelen's original tour remain unknown. The device could also perform the knight's tour, a puzzle that required the player to move a knight to visit every square of a chessboard exactly once.
|
||||
|
||||
== Construction ==
|
||||
|
||||
A performance in 1769 by the French illusionist François Pelletier at the court of Empress Maria Theresa in Schönbrunn Palace prompted Wolfgang von Kempelen to promise to return to the Palace within a year with an invention that would surpass Pelletier's illusions.
|
||||
|
||||
The result was the Automaton Chess Player, later known as the Turk, which Kempelen brought to a working state within 1769 and completed in early 1770. The machine consisted of a life-sized model of a human head and torso, with a black beard and grey eyes, and dressed in Ottoman robes and a turban – "the traditional costume", according to the technology writer Tom Standage, "of an oriental sorcerer". Its left arm held a long Ottoman smoking pipe when at rest, while its right lay on a cabinet that was "three feet and a half long, two feet deep, and two and a half feet high". Placed on the top of the cabinet was a chessboard. The front of the cabinet consisted of three doors, an opening and a drawer, which could be opened to reveal a red and white ivory chess set.
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The interior had complications designed to mislead observers. When opened on the left, the front doors of the cabinet exposed gears and cogs resembling clockwork. The section was designed so that if the back doors of the cabinet were open at the same time one could see through the machine. The other side of the cabinet did not house machinery; instead it contained a red cushion and some removable parts, as well as brass structures. This too was designed to provide a clear line of vision through the machine. Underneath the robes of the Ottoman model, two other doors were hidden. These also exposed clockwork machinery and provided a similarly unobstructed view through the machine. The design allowed the presenter of the machine to open every available door to the public, to maintain the illusion of a purely clockwork mechanism.
|
||||
Neither the clockwork visible on the left side of the machine nor the drawer that housed the chess set extended fully to the rear of the cabinet; they instead went only one-third of the way. A sliding seat was also installed, allowing the operator inside to move from place to place and thus evade observation as the presenter opened various doors. The sliding of the seat caused dummy machinery to slide into its place to further conceal the person inside the cabinet.
|
||||
The chessboard on the top of the cabinet was thin enough to allow magnetic attraction. Each chess piece had a small, strong magnet attached to its base, and when placed on the board it would attract a magnet attached to a string under its place on the board. This allowed the operator inside the machine to see which pieces moved where on the chessboard. The underside of the chessboard was marked with squares numbered 1 to 64, helping the operator to see which places on the board were affected by a player's move. The internal magnets were positioned so that outside magnetic forces would not influence them, and Kempelen would often allow a large magnet to sit at the side of the board in an attempt to show that the machine was not influenced by magnetism.
|
||||
As a further means of misdirection, the Turk came with a small wooden coffin-like box that the presenter would place on the top of the cabinet. Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, a later owner of the machine, did not use the box, but Kempelen often peered into it during play, suggesting that it controlled some aspect of the machine. Some believed the box to have supernatural power; Karl Gottlieb von Windisch wrote in his 1784 book Inanimate Reason that "[o]ne old lady, in particular, who had not forgotten the tales she had been told in her youth ... went and hid herself in a window seat, as distant as she could from the evil spirit, which she firmly believed possessed the machine."
|
||||
The interior contained a pegboard chessboard connected by something like a pantograph to the model's left arm. The metal pointer on the pantograph moved over the interior chessboard and would simultaneously move the arm of the Turk over the chessboard on the cabinet. The range of motion allowed the operator to move the Turk's arm up and down, while turning the lever would open and close the Turk's hand, allowing it to grasp the pieces on the board. The board and mechanism were visible to the operator by candlelight. Other parts of the machinery made a clockwork sound when the Turk made a move, further adding to the machinery illusion; and the Turk could make various facial expressions. A voice box was added following the Turk's acquisition by Mälzel, allowing the machine to say "Échec!" (French for "Check!") during games.
|
||||
The operator inside the machine had tools to assist in communicating with the presenter. Two brass discs equipped with numbers were positioned opposite each other on the inside and outside of the cabinet. A rod rotated the discs to a desired number, which acted as a code between the two.
|
||||
|
||||
== Exhibition ==
|
||||
The Turk made its debut in 1770 at Schönbrunn Palace, about six months after Pelletier's act. Kempelen addressed the court, presenting what he had built, and began the demonstration of the machine and its parts. Kempelen began every showing of the Turk by opening the doors and drawers of the cabinet, allowing members of the audience to inspect the machine. He would then announce that the machine was ready for a challenger.
|
||||
Kempelen insisted that the Turk would use the white pieces and have the first move (as the convention that White moves first was not yet established, there was no redundancy). Between moves, the Turk kept its left arm on the cushion. It could nod twice if it threatened its opponent's queen and three times upon placing the king in check. If an opponent made an illegal move, the Turk would shake its head, move the piece back and make its own move, thus forcing a forfeit of its opponent's move. Louis Dutens, a traveller who observed a showing of the Turk, "attempted to practice a small deception, by giving the Queen the move of a Knight, but my mechanic opponent was not to be so imposed on; he took up my Queen and replaced her in the square she had been removed from". Kempelen made it a point to traverse the room during the match, and invited observers to bring magnets and iron bars to the cabinet to test whether the machine operated via a lodestone.
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The first person to play against the Turk was Ludwig von Cobenzl, an Austrian courtier at the palace. Along with other challengers that day, he was quickly defeated, with observers of the match stating that the machine played aggressively and typically beat its opponents within thirty minutes.
|
||||
Another part of the machine's exhibition was the completion of the knight's tour, a famed puzzle requiring the player to move a knight around a chessboard, visiting each square once along the way. While most experienced chess players of the time still struggled with this, the Turk could complete the tour without any difficulty from any starting point thanks to a pegboard marked with a closed-loop solution (a "reentrant tour"). Furthermore, the Turk could converse with spectators using a letterboard. The operator during the period when Kempelen presented the machine at Schönbrunn Palace, whose identity is unknown, was able to do this in English, French and German. Carl Friedrich Hindenburg, a mathematician, kept a record of the conversations during the Turk's time in Leipzig and published it in 1784. Topics of questions put to and answered by the Turk included its age, marital status and secret workings.
|
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||||
== European tour ==
|
||||
Following word of its debut, interest in the machine grew across Europe. However, Kempelen avoided exhibiting the Turk, often lying about its repair status to prospective challengers. Von Windisch wrote that Kempelen "refused to gratify his friends, and many curious people of different countries, who wished to see this boasted machine, under a pretence that it had received damage by being removed from place to place". In the decade following its debut at Schönbrunn Palace, the Turk only played one opponent, Robert Murray Keith, a Scottish diplomat, and Kempelen went as far as dismantling the Turk entirely following the pair of games. He was quoted dismissing the invention as a mere trifle, as he was not pleased with its popularity and preferred to continue work on machines that replicated human speech.
|
||||
In 1781, Kempelen was ordered by Emperor Joseph II to reconstruct the Turk and deliver it to Vienna for a state visit from Grand Duke Paul of Russia and his wife. The appearance was so successful that the Grand Duke suggested a tour of Europe for the Turk, a request to which Kempelen reluctantly agreed.
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||||
The Turk began its European tour in April 1783, in France. A stop at Versailles beginning on 17 April preceded an exhibition in Paris, where it lost a match to the Duke of Bouillon. Upon arrival in Paris in May, it was displayed to the public and played a variety of opponents, including a lawyer named Mr Bernard, one of five French players regarded as of second rank. Demands increased for a match with François-André Danican Philidor, who with Legall de Kermeur was considered the best chess player of his time. Moving to the Café de la Régence, the machine played many of the most skilled players, often losing (e.g. against Bernard and Verdoni), until securing a match with Philidor at the Académie des Sciences. While Philidor won his match with the Turk, Philidor's son noted that his father called it "his most fatiguing game of chess ever". The Turk's final game in Paris was against Benjamin Franklin, then the American ambassador to France. Franklin reportedly enjoyed the game with the Turk and remained interested in the machine for the rest of his life, keeping a copy of Philip Thicknesse's book The Speaking Figure and the Automaton Chess Player, Exposed and Detected in his personal library.
|
||||
Following his tour of Paris, Kempelen moved the Turk to London, where it was exhibited daily for five shillings. Thicknesse was a sceptic and sought out the Turk in an attempt to expose its inner workings. While he respected Kempelen as "a very ingenious man", he asserted that the Turk was an elaborate hoax with a small child inside the machine, describing the machine as "a complicated piece of clockwork ... which is nothing more, than one, of many other ingenious devices, to misguide and delude the observers". In a popular book first published in 1784, and largely devoted to the tricks of Joseph Pinetti, Henri Decremps has "Van Estin" (a fictionalized version of Kempelen) attribute the operation of "an automaton chess player, similar to the one shewn at Paris and Vienna, by a German mechanick" to "a dwarf, a famous chess player, who was hidden in the commode".
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||||
After a year in London, Kempelen and the Turk travelled to Leipzig, stopping in various European cities along the way. From Leipzig, they went to Dresden, where Joseph Friedrich Freiherr von Racknitz viewed the machine and published his findings with illustrations showing how he believed it operated. They then moved to Amsterdam, after which Kempelen is said to have accepted an invitation to the Sanssouci palace in Potsdam. Frederick is said to have enjoyed the Turk so much that he paid a large sum to Kempelen in exchange for its secrets. Frederick never divulged these but was reportedly disappointed to learn how the machine worked. However, this story is apocryphal: there is no evidence of the Turk's encounter with Frederick, the first mention of which comes in the early 19th century, by which time the Turk was incorrectly said to have played against George III of Great Britain. It seems most likely that the machine stayed dormant at Schönbrunn Palace for over two decades, although Kempelen attempted unsuccessfully to sell it in the final years before his death at 70 on 26 March 1804.
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== Mälzel ==
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Following the death of Kempelen, the Turk remained unexhibited until 1805, when Kempelen's son decided to sell it to Johann Nepomuk Mälzel, a Bavarian musician with an interest in machines and devices. Mälzel, whose successes included patenting a form of metronome, had tried to buy the Turk before Kempelen's death. That attempt failed, owing to Kempelen's asking price of 20,000 francs; his son sold the machine to Mälzel for half this sum. On acquiring the Turk, Mälzel learned how it worked and returned it to working order. His goal was to make explaining the Turk a greater challenge. The completion of this task took ten years, during which the Turk still made appearances, most notably with Napoleon Bonaparte.
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||||
In 1809, Napoleon I of France arrived at Schönbrunn Palace to play the Turk. The details of the encounter have been published over the years in numerous accounts, among which even those by Silas Mitchell and George Allen (see below) are contradictory (Allen's being the more plausible). According to Bradley Ewart, it is believed that the Turk sat at its cabinet, and Napoleon sat at a separate chess table. Napoleon's table was in a roped-off area and he was not allowed to cross into the Turk's area, with Mälzel crossing back and forth to make each player's move and allowing a clear view for the spectators. According to a brief eyewitness report, the Turk made a gesture with his hand to Napoleon before the start of the match. In a surprise move, Napoleon took the first turn instead of allowing the Turk to make the first move, as was usual; but Mälzel allowed the game to continue. Shortly thereafter, Napoleon attempted an illegal move. The Turk returned the piece to its original place and continued the game. Napoleon attempted the illegal move a second time, and the Turk responded by removing the piece from the board entirely and taking its turn. Napoleon then attempted the move a third time, the Turk responding with a sweep of its arm, knocking all the pieces off the board. This reportedly amused Napoleon, who then played a real game with the machine, completing nineteen moves before tipping over his king in surrender. Alternative versions of the story include playing the machine at a later time, playing one game with a magnet on the board, or playing a game with a shawl around the head and body of the Turk in an attempt to obscure its vision – all of them probably apocryphal, in contrast to the stories that he was a bad loser and often indulgently allowed to win by stronger opponents.
|
||||
In 1811, Mälzel brought the Turk to Milan for a performance with Eugène de Beauharnais, Prince of Venice and Viceroy of Italy. Beauharnais enjoyed the machine so much that he offered to buy it from Mälzel. After some protracted bargaining, Beauharnais acquired the Turk for 30,000 francs – three times what Mälzel had paid – and kept it for four years. In 1815, Mälzel returned to Beauharnais in Munich and asked to buy back the Turk. There are differing accounts of the conditions of the sale.
|
||||
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||||
As he left Bavaria with the Turk, Mälzel was once again "travelling showman of the wooden genius. Other automata were adopted into the family, and a handsome income was realised by their ingenious proprietor." He brought the Turk back to Paris, where Boncourt is thought to have been its primary operator, and where Mälzel made the acquaintance of many of the leading chess players at Café de la Régence. He stayed in France with the Turk until 1818, when he moved to London and held a number of performances with it and many of his other machines. In London, Mälzel and his act received much press, and he continued to improve the machine, ultimately installing a voice box so that it could say "Échec!" when placing a player in check.
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||||
In 1819, Mälzel took the Turk on a tour of the United Kingdom. There were several new developments in the act, such as allowing the opponent the first move and eliminating the king's bishop's pawn from the Turk's pieces. This pawn handicap created further interest in the Turk, and spawned a book by W. Hunneman chronicling these matches. Despite the handicap, the Turk (operated by Mouret at the time) ended up with forty-five victories, three losses and two stalemates.
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== North American tour ==
|
||||
The appearances of the Turk were profitable for Mälzel, and he continued by taking it and his other machines to the United States. In 1826, he opened an exhibition in New York (in the National Hotel, on 112 Broadway) that was very popular, averaging a hundred people in April, while in May "the hall was filled, and sometimes two hundred were turned away for lack of seats". It prompted many newspaper articles and anonymous threats of exposure of the hoax. Mälzel's problem was finding a talented operator for the machine, having trained an unknown woman in France before touring the United States. The "subsistence" in Paris of a former operator from Alsace, William Schlumberger "was both scanty and precarious"; and Mälzel induced him to come to Boston. As the Turk's main operator in the new world, Schlumberger "considered himself to have been fairly and kindly treated by Maelzel, and remained faithfully attached to his person and his interests to the last".
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||||
Upon Schlumberger's arrival, the Turk debuted in Boston, in the Julien Hall. Mälzel claimed that "the players of Boston are at least equal to those of New York" and promised that in Boston the Turk would offer to play not only endgames but also full games. The Turk was exhibited in Boston for several weeks, and the tour moved to Philadelphia for nearly three months, during which period it "lost a full game over the course of two exhibitions to a 'Mrs. Fisher', described in the front-page Baltimore Gazette headline as a 'Lady' of the city". Following Philadelphia, the Turk moved to Baltimore, where it played for several months, losing a game against the 89-year-old Charles Carroll, a signatory of the Declaration of Independence.
|
||||
Mälzel continued with exhibitions around the United States until 1828, when he took some time off and visited Europe, returning in 1829. Throughout the 1830s, he continued to tour the United States. In Richmond, Virginia, the Turk was observed by Edgar Allan Poe, writing for the Southern Literary Messenger. Poe's "Maelzel's chess-player", published in April 1836 (and owing much to a book by David Brewster published in 1832), is the most famous essay on the Turk, even though many of its hypotheses were incorrect: little or nothing else written on the same subject can "approach [its] literary brilliance". By this time, frequent exhibition of the Turk and publication of numerous descriptions, however mistaken, of its workings and human agency, had reduced interest in it. The star attraction among Mälzel's exhibits was now the highly dramatic "Conflagration of Moscow". Mälzel travelled farther in 1836–37 – to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, and New Orleans in the United States; and to Havana – and back to Philadelphia, where he spent more time preparing his Moscow diorama.
|
||||
In November 1837 Mälzel took the Turk on his second tour to Havana. While in Cuba, Schlumberger died of yellow fever in February 1838, leaving Mälzel without an operator or, as the other members of his company now deserted him, any other assistant. A broken man, deeply in debt and drinking heavily, Mälzel died at sea in July 1838 at the age of 65 during his return trip, leaving his machinery with the ship's captain.
|
||||
|
||||
== Later years ==
|
||||
On the return of the ship on which Mälzel had died, his various machines, including the Turk, fell into the hands of the businessman John Ohl, a friend of his. Ohl attempted to auction off the Turk; but, owing to low bidding, ultimately bought it himself for $400 (equivalent to $12,000 in 2025), and less than half the winning bid for the "Panorama of Moscow", as an investment. Only when John Kearsley Mitchell – from Philadelphia, Edgar Allan Poe's personal physician, long deeply curious about the Turk – approached Ohl did the Turk change hands again. However, what Mitchell received turned out to be incomplete:
|
||||
|
||||
The five crates were found to contain pieces of Maelzel's other automata ... mixed in with the components of the Turk, several pieces of which were also missing and had to be retrieved from other boxes in Ohl's warehouse at Lombard Street Wharf. The Turk had lost its clothes, legs, pipe, and part of its head; a list drawn up by Mitchell of "things to be found and looked for" also included the cabinet doors, castors, and chessmen.
|
||||
Mitchell formed a club to restore the Turk for public appearances, completing the work in 1840.
|
||||
As interest in the Turk continued, Mitchell and his club deposited it to the Philadelphia Museum (founded by Charles Willson Peale), the ground floor of whose building – "at Ninth and George (now Sansom) Streets" – had since its opening in December 1838 been occupied by Nathan Dunn's Chinese Museum.
|
||||
Although the Turk still occasionally gave performances – and for that on 4 December 1840 it was advertised as "[having] been seen by more eyes than any terrestrial object ever exhibited" – these were devoid of professional showmanship and had little appeal. It was eventually relegated to a back corner of the museum and forgotten.
|
||||
Dunn's entire Chinese collection left Philadelphia for good in December 1841; but the Chinese Museum remained "the popular, but not accurate, name given to the whole building". As for the Philadelphia Museum, Edmund Peale (a grandson of the founder) bought the collection in 1845; he then quickly moved it into "the former Masonic Hall in Chestnut Street above Seventh ... All was ready by January 1846." The Chinese Museum building on George Street became the place where "[all Philadelphia society's] great public meetings came to be held as a matter of course".
|
||||
On 5 July 1854, a fire that had started at the National Theatre reached the Museum and destroyed the Turk. Mitchell's son Silas Mitchell arrived, but too late: he believed he had heard "through the struggling flames. ... the last words of our departed friend, the sternly whispered, oft repeated syllables, échec! échec!!"
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== Publication of the mechanism ==
|
||||
According to James Cook, by the mid-1820s "hundreds, if not thousands, of 'approaches' had been made toward discovering the secret [of the mechanical Turk], many of which were actually very close to the answer". The young Robert Willis (later a mechanical engineer and architectural historian) carefully observed Mälzel's exhibitions of the Turk, and in an 1821 booklet summarily dismissed some earlier theories: "[I]t has been suggested that [Mälzel] might touch certain springs, or pull 'a wire not much thicker than a hair', or be furnished with a powerful magnet. But such conjectures are unworthy of serious refutation". Willis noted anomalies such as the lack of correlation between the degree to which the clockwork was wound up and the number of moves the Turk then executed. He showed how "any person, well skilled in the game, and not exceeding the ordinary bulk or stature, may secretly animate the Automaton" – even if with some inaccuracies, notably that "[the operator's] head being above the table, he will see the chess-board through the waistcoat, as easily as through a veil".
|
||||
In 1826, the Massachusetts physician Gamaliel Bradford published a booklet, The History and Analysis of the Supposed Automaton Chess Player of M. de Kempelen, in which he considered a number of ways in which the Turk might be directed by Mälzel or another person outside it or by an operator within it. Even if not an automaton, concluded Bradford, "it must be admitted to be one of the most ingenious, & completely successful contrivances, which has ever been offered to the public".
|
||||
The hoax was exposed in 1827 during a match in Baltimore when the unusually high temperature rendered the operator, William Schlumberger, faint. He signalled to Mälzel to stop the game; but before Mälzel could act on this, Schlumberger, in desperation, escaped from the cabinet of the Turk. That he did so was not entirely clear to the audience; however, two teens enjoying a free view of the performance from a nearby rooftop saw and understood what had happened. One told his father, who told the Baltimore Gazette, which published an article on its front page saying that "This ingenious contrivance ... has at length been discovered by accident to be merely the case in which a human agent has always been concealed, when exhibited to an audience." Although Mälzel withdrew the Turk from his travelling show (which continued with "The Conflagration of Moscow" and "The Trumpeter"), the Gazette story had little impact, with George Allen writing:
|
||||
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[N]obody credited the pretended discovery. The world had set its heart upon believing that the secret, which had puzzled mechanicians, mathematicians, and monarchs, for more than half a century, was something quite too deep to be penetrated by a couple of boys. The National Intelligencer, of Washington ... sagaciously treated the Gazette article as having emanated from Maelzel himself – "the tale of a discovery was but a clever device of the proprietor to keep alive the interest of the community in his exhibition".
|
||||
Lesser newspapers, suggests Allen, were too timid to contradict the prestigious Intelligencer and Mälzel's business was little impacted.
|
||||
Of the many contemporary books and articles written about the mechanism of the Turk, most were inaccurate and drew incorrect inferences. An exception was "Automate joueur d'échecs", published in the popular magazine Le Magasin pittoresque in 1834, and widely believed to have been informed, or perhaps even written, by one of the Turk's operators, Jacques Mouret. In 1836, Mathieu de Tournay based a more detailed description of the Turk for the chess magazine Le Palamède on the Magasin pittoresque article.
|
||||
It was not until Silas Mitchell's article for The Chess Monthly in 1857 that the secret was fully revealed. Mitchell, son of the final private owner of the Turk, wrote that "perhaps no secret was ever kept as the Turk's has been. Guessed at, in part, many times, no one of the several explanations in our possession has ever practically solved this amusing puzzle". As the Turk had been lost to fire, Mitchell felt that there were "no longer any reasons for concealing from the amateurs of chess, the solution of this ancient enigma". A biographical history about the Chess-player and Mälzel was also presented in Willard Fiske's The Book of the First American Chess Congress (1859). The account, "The Automaton Chess-Player in America", was written by the academic George Allen in the form of a letter to William Lewis, a former operator of the Turk.
|
||||
In 1859, a letter published in the Philadelphia Sunday Dispatch by William F. Kummer, who worked as an operator under John Mitchell, revealed how a candle inside the cabinet had provided light for the operator. A series of tubes led from the lamp to the turban of the Turk for ventilation. Smoke rising from the turban would be disguised by that from the other candelabra where the game was played. The American Chess Magazine published an account in 1889 of the Turk's match with Napoleon. The story was basically a review of previous accounts, and a substantive account only came in 1947, when Chess Review published a two-part article by Kenneth Harkness and Jack Straley Battell that provided a full history and description of the Turk, complete with new diagrams that synthesized information from previous publications. An article written in 1960 for American Heritage by Ernest Wittenberg provided new diagrams describing how the operator sat inside the cabinet.
|
||||
Not all the 20th-century accounts were advances. Henry A. Davidson's 1945 book A Short History of Chess takes seriously Poe's erroneous notion that the player sat inside the Turk figure. In his The Machine Plays Chess? (1978), Alex G. Bell opts for "a mind-reading act". Charles Michael Carroll's The Great Chess Automaton (1975) focuses more on the studies of the Turk. Bradley Ewart's Chess: Man vs. Machine (1980) discusses the Turk as well as other purported chess-playing automata. It was not until the creation of Deep Blue, IBM's computer that in 1997 defeated the world (human) champion, that interest increased again, and two more books devoted to the Turk were published: Gerald Levitt's The Turk, Chess Automaton and Tom Standage's The Turk.
|
||||
|
||||
== Legacy ==
|
||||
|
||||
The Turk's popularity and mystery inspired a number of inventions and imitations. The first appeared while Mälzel was in Baltimore. Created by two brothers named Walker, the "American Chess Player" made its debut in May 1827 in New York. Mälzel viewed the machine and attempted to buy it, but his offer of a 15-game match between the two machines for a stake of $3,000 was declined, as was his offer to buy the machine. The American Chess Player toured for a number of years but never received the fame that Mälzel's machine did and eventually fell into obscurity. Others included Ajeeb, or "The Egyptian", an American imitation built by Charles Hopper that President Grover Cleveland played in 1885; and Mephisto, advertised as the "most famous" machine, of which little is known.
|
||||
In 1784 the Turk was visited in London by the prebendary Edmund Cartwright, who was so intrigued that he questioned whether it would be more difficult to construct a power loom than a device that would play chess. Cartwright would patent the prototype for a power loom within the year.
|
||||
Genuine chess-playing automata did not emerge until 1912, when El Ajedrecista was built by Leonardo Torres Quevedo. It was exhibited at the new laboratory of Mécanique physique et expérimentale of the University of Paris, on boulevard Raspail, and used electromagnets to win rook and king versus king endgames.
|
||||
37
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Turk-7.md
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||||
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|
||||
title: "Mechanical Turk"
|
||||
chunk: 8/8
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Turk"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:38.944310+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
=== In literature and the arts ===
|
||||
The Turk has inspired works of various kinds of fiction. An early example is Jean Paul's story Menschen sind Maschinen der Engel, written in 1785. Its narrator starts by saying that we humans are merely the furniture of the true inhabitants of the world, angels; and it is "obvious [that] our industriousness, which works against our happiness, is conducive to other beings' happiness, whose hands conduct ours as their tools". Chess-playing machines exemplify the building by machines (that is, people) of machines; of which the narrator's description culminates in a "deliberate confusion of chess-playing humans and chess-playing machines", leaving the reader "incessantly bewildered about the status of the story's actors (as well as the reader's own status) as machine or as human".
|
||||
Fiction has also been passed off as fact. In 1859 an article in Littell's Living Age purported to be an account of the Turk from the celebrated French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin; its content soon reappeared in Robert-Houdin's memoir. Its many errors ranged from mistaken dates to outright inventions, most conspicuously the story of "an officer by the name of Worousky" whose legs had been amputated after battle, but who was rescued by Kempelen and smuggled back to Russia inside the machine. Standage sums it up: "Robert-Houdin's entire account must be dismissed as fiction." Paul Metzner remarks that "This story, contained in [Robert-Houdin's] very popular autobiography, seems to have revived interest in the Turk." The fiction was subsequently repeated as fact, notably in Encyclopædia Britannica: the 11th edition, and in other editions as well.
|
||||
This tale of concealing a Pole named Worousky within the Turk "had the legs its protagonist lacked". Sheryl N. Hamilton mentions "dramatic plays, at least three novels, and even a silent film" deriving from this fantasy of Robert-Houdin's. One such novel is Sheila E. Braine's The Turkish Automaton (1898). Another is Henry Dupuy-Mazuel's Le Joueur d'échecs (1926), published in English translation as both The Chess Player and The Devil Is an Empress. Plays include Jules Adenis and Octave Gastineau's La Czarine, first performed in 1868. The silent film deriving from Robert-Houdin's fictional version via Dupuy-Mazuel's is Raymond Bernard's feature The Chess Player (Le Joueur d'échecs, 1927), in which a young Polish nationalist on the run from the occupying Russians is hidden inside a chess-playing automaton.
|
||||
There have also been derivatives independent of Robert-Houdin. Ambrose Bierce's 1899 short story "Moxon's Master" is a morbid tale about a chess-playing automaton that resembles the Turk, as described by Poe. Gene Wolfe's 1977 science fiction short story "The Marvelous Brass Chessplaying Automaton" is about a device very similar to the Turk. Robert Löhr's 2007 novel The Chess Machine (published in the UK as The Secrets of the Chess Machine) focuses on the man inside the machine, a dwarf named Tibor.
|
||||
In the first of his Theses on the Philosophy of History (1940), philosopher and critic Walter Benjamin likened strict Marxist historiography to the Mechanical Turk: "one can imagine a philosophical counterpart to this device. The puppet called 'historical materialism' is to win all the time. It can easily be a match for anyone if it enlists the services of theology, which today, as we know, is wizened and has to keep out of sight."
|
||||
Jane Irwin's webcomic and later graphic novel Clockwork Game: The Illustrious Career of a Chess-Playing Automaton is based on the Turk.
|
||||
A film inspired by the Turk is Tod Browning's White Tiger (1923). Its three main characters, who find themselves partners in crime, include one who is both a "double-crossing hood" and a "genius at chess". Essential to the trio's scheme to make a killing is "the chess-playing Turk", whose cabinet serves to conceal either its operator or a burglar. There have been at least two television films based on the Turk. A 13-episode French–Italian–Austrian–Hungarian series, Les Évasions célèbres (Famous Escapes) was broadcast in France on ORTF in 1972 as well as elsewhere (e.g. East Germany in 1977). One 55-minute episode, Le Joueur d'échecs (Der Schachspieler), directed by Christian-Jaque, has Napoleon (Robert Manuel) encounter the automaton in Kempelen's castle, play against it, and lose. El jugador de ajedrez or Le Joueur d'échecs de Maelzel, a 54-minute television film produced in Mexico and France and directed by Juan Luis Buñuel, was first broadcast in 1981 as one of a series of films based on Poe. A chess-playing computer named "the Turk" is a plot device in the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Reconstructions ===
|
||||
|
||||
From 1984 to 1989, John Gaughan, an American manufacturer of equipment for magicians based in Los Angeles, spent $120,000 (equivalent to $370,000 in 2025) building his own version of Kempelen's machine. The machine uses the original chessboard, which had been stored separately and was not destroyed in the fire. The first public display of Gaughan's Turk was in November 1989 at the Los Angeles Conference on Magic History. The machine was presented much as Kempelen had presented the original, except that its opponent was a computer running a chess program.
|
||||
At Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum, an information technology museum in Paderborn, Germany, researchers and engineers under Bernhard Fromme spent just over a year creating another replica, unveiling it in 2004; it has continued to be exhibited there since.
|
||||
|
||||
== Notes ==
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== Sources ==
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
|
||||
Mechanical Turk player profile and games at Chessgames.com
|
||||
Dunning, Brian (21 July 2015). "Skeptoid #476: The Chess-Playing Mechanical Turk". Skeptoid.
|
||||
Irwin, Jane (2008–2013). Clockwork Game: The Illustrious Career of a Chess-Playing Automaton. Webcomic with annotations. As a codex: Irwin, Jane (2013). Clockwork Game: The Illustrious Career of a Chess-Playing Automaton. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Fiery Studios. ISBN 978-0-9743110-2-9 – via Internet Archive.
|
||||
38
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephisto_(automaton)-0.md
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|
||||
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|
||||
title: "Mephisto (automaton)"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
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||||
category: "reference"
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:40.117669+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Mephisto was a 19th-century pseudo-automaton chess player built in London by the Alsatian artificial limb maker Charles Godfrey Gumpel (c. 1835–1921). It took some 6 or 7 years to build and was first shown in 1878 at Gumpel's home in Leicester Square, London.
|
||||
Unlike earlier so-called "chess automatons" such as The Mechanical Turk and Ajeeb, which concealed a human player inside the cabinet, Mephisto was operated remotely by a chess master located in a different room and connected via a system of mechanical and electrical transmissions, leading later commentators to describe it as a "pseudo-automaton". It is most closely associated with the Hungarian-British master Isidor Gunsberg, who served as its principal operator during public exhibitions and on tour.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Description ==
|
||||
Mephisto consisted of a life-size figure representing the mythical Mephistopheles. Dressed in elegant red velvet attire, the figure had a cloven hoof as a foot and was seated in an armchair in front of an unenclosed, open-sided table with a chessboard and pieces. This setup was intended to reassure the player that there were no hidden compartments beneath the board where a person could hide (as in "The Turk").
|
||||
Contemporary accounts describe the figure's head and upper body as rigid. Its right arm extended over the board to "indicate" moves, while assistants manually moved the chess pieces following the operator's instructions. The chessboard contained shallow recesses that held the bases of the chess pieces in place, preventing them from slipping when the table was jostled. The figure itself was firmly bolted to the table and its arm was given enough reach to cross the board without destabilizing the entire structure.
|
||||
Before each exhibition, members of the public were invited to inspect the contraption to convince themselves that no player was hidden inside. This was a key element of Mephisto's publicity and of its distinction from earlier chess "automatons".
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== History ==
|
||||
Gumpel completed Mephisto in the mid-1870s, and was first shown in 1878 at Gumpel's home in Leicester Square, London. It soon attracted attention in London chess circles. In 1878 the machine, with Gunsberg operating, was entered in the Counties Chess Association tournament in London. It scored sufficiently well for contemporary writers to credit it as the first "automaton" to win a formal chess event. Mephisto also had a dedicated chess club that met for exhibitions and games against local amateurs and visiting masters.
|
||||
In 1879 Mephisto went on tour around Britain and continental Europe, with Gunsberg playing remotely for most of the displays. Reports from these exhibitions indicated that the automaton defeated all male challengers in public play, while against women it was said to obtain a clearly winning position before deliberately losing and then extending its hand in a gallant gesture of courtesy.
|
||||
Mephisto's most prominent international appearance came at the Paris Exposition of 1889, where it was exhibited at the International Theatre. Gumpel engaged the French master Jean Taubenhaus as the hidden operator, and the automaton attracted considerable press coverage as a novelty of both chess and mechanical ingenuity. After the close of the exposition the apparatus was dismantled; its subsequent fate and present whereabouts are unknown.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Legacy ==
|
||||
Chess historians often view Mephisto as a transitional device between deceptive chess "automatons" and later, more advanced, automatic chess-playing machines. Its controlled public image and "machine-like" behavior foreshadowed the later interest in mechanical and electronic chess-playing machines.
|
||||
The name Mephisto was later revived by the German company Hegener & Glaser for a line of dedicated chess computers beginning in 1980. Mephisto went on to win multiple World Microcomputer Chess Championships from 1984 to 1990. Hegener & Glaser was subsequently acquired by Saitek in 1994, which continued to market standalone chess computers under the brand Mephisto.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
The Turk hoax of 1769 to 1854, destroyed in fire
|
||||
Ajeeb hoax of 1868 to 1929, destroyed in fire
|
||||
El Ajedrecista of 1912, an electromechanical machine with true integrated automation, that is extant
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
58
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacirema-0.md
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||||
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|
||||
title: "Nacirema"
|
||||
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source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacirema"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:42.426206+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Nacirema ("American" spelled backwards) is a term used in anthropology and sociology in relation to aspects of the behavior and society of citizens of the United States. The neologism attempts to create a deliberate sense of self-distancing in order that American anthropologists might look at their own culture more objectively, thus comparing emic and etic views of it.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== "Body Ritual among the Nacirema" ==
|
||||
|
||||
The original use of the term in a social science context was in "Body Ritual among the Nacirema", which satirizes anthropological papers on "other" cultures, and the culture of the United States. Horace Mitchell Miner wrote the paper and originally published it in Volume 58, Issue 3 of American Anthropologist issued June 1956.
|
||||
In the paper, Miner describes the Nacirema, a little-known tribe living in North America. The way in which he writes about the curious practices that this group performs distances readers from the fact that the North American group described actually corresponds to modern-day Americans of the mid-1950s.
|
||||
Miner presents the Nacirema as a group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. The paper describes the typical Western ideal for oral cleanliness, as well as providing an outside view on hospital care and on psychiatry. The Nacirema are described as having a highly developed market economy that has evolved within a rich natural habitat.
|
||||
Miner's article became a popular work, reprinted in many introductory textbooks and used as an example of process analysis in the literature text The Bedford Reader. The article received the most reprint permission requests of any article in American Anthropologist.
|
||||
Some of the popular aspects of Nacirema culture include: medicine men and women (doctors, psychiatrists, and pharmacists), a charm-box (medicine cabinet), the mouth-rite ritual (brushing teeth), and a cultural hero known as Notgnihsaw (Washington spelled backwards). These ritual purification practices are prescribed as how humans should comport themselves in the presence of sacred things. These sacred aspects are the rituals that the Nacirema partake in throughout their lives.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== "The mysterious fall of the Nacirema" ==
|
||||
In 1972, Neil B. Thompson revisited the Nacirema after the fall of their civilization. Thompson's paper, unlike Miner's, primarily offered a social commentary focused on environmental issues. Thompson paid special attention to the Elibomotua (automobile backwards) cult and its efforts to modify the environment.
|
||||
|
||||
The high esteem of the cult is demonstrated by the fact that near every population center, when not disturbed by the accumulation of debris, archaeologists have found large and orderly collections of the Elibomotua cult symbol. The vast number of these collections has given us the opportunity to reconstruct with considerable confidence the principal ideas of the cult. The newest symbols seem to have nearly approached the ultimate of the Nacirema's cultural ideal. Their colors, material, and size suggest an enclosed mobile device that corresponds to no color or shape found in nature, although some authorities suggest that, at some early time in the development, the egg may have been the model. The device was provided with its own climate control system as well as a system that screened out many of the shorter rays of the light spectrum.
|
||||
This article is reprinted and appears as the final chapter in an anthology, Nacirema: Readings on American Culture. The volume contains an array of scholarly investigations into American social anthropology as well as one more article in the Nacirema series, by Willard Walker of Wesleyan University: "The Retention of Folk Linguistic Concepts and the ti'ycir (teacher) Caste in Contemporary Nacireman Culture" which laments the corrosive and subjugating ritual of attending sguwlz (schools). On phonology, the anthropologist notes:
|
||||
|
||||
The vowel system of Secular Nacireman consists of nine phonemically distinct vowels distinguished on the basis of three degrees of tongue height and three degrees of tongue advancement. ... There can be no question as to the validity of these nine vocalic phonemes, for each is attested by a number of minimal pairs elicited independently from several informants. Curiously enough, however, most informants insist that only five vowels exist in the language: these are called ˀey, ˀiy, ˀay, ˀow, and yuw, and are invariably cited in precisely that order. ... The discovery of the widespread myth of the five-vowel system prompted the present writer to conduct a series of intensive interviews and administer questionnaires to a sample of Nacireman informants with a view to mapping the general outlines of Nacireman folk linguistics. This research strategy ultimately provided compelling evidence that it is the ti'yčɨr caste that has disseminated the notion of the five-vowel system.
|
||||
This refers to the traditional enumeration of the 5 vowel letters in the English alphabet (A, E, I, O, and U), which is in contrast to the much larger number (varying between accents) of distinct vowel sounds in the language (see English phonology § Vowels).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Nacirema vs. Teamsterville ==
|
||||
Gerry Philipsen (1992) studies what he terms "speech codes" among the Nacirema, which he contrasts with the speech codes of another semi-fictionalized group of Americans, the inhabitants of Teamsterville culture. His Nacirema comprises primarily middle-class west-coast Americans.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Iracema – 1865 indigenous novel by José de Alencar, with a character named after the anagram of "America"
|
||||
Motel of the Mysteries (1979), an illustrated book by David Macaulay depicting burial customs of the "Yanks of East Usa"
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
Notes
|
||||
|
||||
Further reading
|
||||
|
||||
Burde, Mark (2014). "Social-Science Fiction: The Genesis and Legacy of Horace Miner's 'Body Ritual among the Nacirema'". American Anthropologist. 116 (3): 549–61.
|
||||
Hagan, Helene E. (August 1998). "The People of Niram". Coastal Post. Marin County, California.
|
||||
Spradley, James P.; Rynkiewich, Michael A., eds. (1975). The Nacirema: Readings on American Culture. Boston: Little Brown and Co.
|
||||
Philipsen, Gerry (1992). Speaking Culturally: Explorations in Social Communication. SUNY Press. ISBN 0-7914-1164-8.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Body Ritual among the Nacirema (PDF) from American Anthropologist, June 1956
|
||||
Body Ritual among the Nacirema in Wikisource format.
|
||||
The Mysterious Fall of the Nacirema from Natural History, December 1972 (Internet Archive Aug 07, 2004 version)
|
||||
"Battle RItual among the Nacirema" by Finn Johannson at Ethnography.com (2015)
|
||||
Who are the Nacirema from Living Anthropologically, (2013, revised 2018)
|
||||
46
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasology-0.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Nasology"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasology"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:43.713061+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Nasology: Or, Hints towards a Classification of Noses (reissued as Notes on Noses) was a 1848 book published in London under the authorship of Eden Warwick, pen name of a George Jabet, an elaborate parody on phrenology, 282 pages thick. There were several editions of the book in the mid-19th century, and it was taken seriously, in press and among doctors.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== The author ==
|
||||
|
||||
George Jabet (1815–1873) was a solicitor and he was actively involved in the public life of Birmingham, being associated with many literary and educational societies of the city. In addition to Nasology, he published several other books under the pen name Eden Warwick, the first one being The Poets' Pleasaunce, or, Garden of All Sorts of Pleasant Flowers (1847), as its Preface says, "to illustrate the extent of homage which our best Poets, prior to the present century, have paid to Nature, in Flowers" and "it is intended to exhibit a History of the Poetry in Flowers".
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== The book ==
|
||||
Nasology originated as a paper communicated to a small literary society as Handsworth, later expanded into a book. However the title proved to be unattractive, and the publisher reissued the book under the title Notes on Noses in 1859.
|
||||
The book has a pronounced anti-scientific stance, which probably did not reflect actual Jabet's views on science. For example, the book jokingly criticizes the contemporary science, saying that it works for monetary gain, rather than for the advancement of knowledge, especially picking on geology: instead of "raising and elevating the mind" it facilitates "the discovery of minerals, or the boring of artesian wells".
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
=== Nasal classification ===
|
||||
Warwick states that "besides being an ornament to the face, or a convenient handle by which to grasp an impudent fellow, it is an important index to its owner's character; and that the accurate observation and minute comparison of an extensive collection of Noses of persons whose mental characteristics are known, justifies a Nasal Classification." Then the book proceeds with the latter, recognizing six main classes, with detailed analysis, at the same time noting that "there are infinite crosses and intermixtures".
|
||||
|
||||
Below is a sample description.
|
||||
|
||||
Class II. The Greek, or Straight Nose, is perfectly straight; any deviation from the right line must be strictly noticed. If the deviation tend to convexity, it approaches the Roman Nose, and the character is improved by an accession of energy; on the other hand, when the deviation is towards concavity, it partakes of the “Celestial,” and the character is weakened. It should be fine and well chiselled, but not sharp.
|
||||
It indicates Refinement of character, Love for the fine arts and belles-lettres, Astuteness, Craft, and a preference for indirect, rather than direct action. Its owner is not without some energy in pursuit of that which is agreeable to his tastes; but, unlike the owner of the Roman Nose, he cannot exert himself in opposition to his tastes. When associated with the Roman Nose, and distended slightly at the end by the Cogitative, it indicates the most useful and intellectual of characters; and is the highest and most beautiful form which the organ can assume.
|
||||
|
||||
In addition, the book has chapters "Of Feminine Noses" ("The subject of Nasology would not be complete without some observations on the Feminine Nose, because sex modifies the indications, some of which, though disagreeable and repulsive in a man, are rather pleasing, fascinating, and bewitching in a woman, and vice versâ.") and "Of National Noses" ("Every nation has a characteristic Nose; and the less advanced the nation is in civilization, the more general and perceptible is the characteristic form.").
|
||||
On importance of the "nasal classification", Warwick maintains: "We all acknowledge the impression given by the mind to the mouth and eyes because they express Temper and Passion - feelings which interest us in our mutual intercourse. The nose is not influenced by feelings which agitate and vary the mind. Unmovable and Unvaried." "The Nose is an important Index to Character."
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Influence ==
|
||||
Started as a parody, the "science" of nasology, it was taken seriously. During late 19th century nearly all American newspapers and many magazines, including Saturday Evening Post, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times, Washington Post, had articles on the topic. It also influenced real medicine and doctors.
|
||||
Sharrona Pearl described it as "widely read and enduring" and as an example of "tongue-in-cheek treatment of pocket physiognomy" of the 19th century.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Gustavus Kohen, Noses, 1883, (readable in Google Books) a rip-off of Jabet's book by a "Phrenologist, Physiologist, and Physiognomist", who "has from the deep knowledge of Human nature thus acquired, been enabled to assist thousands of persons to success in life."
|
||||
Mrs. Mary Olmstead Stanton, The Encyclopedia of Face and Form Reading: How to Read Character and Personal Characteristics by the General Appearance, 1900, (readable in Google Books) has a chapter with an elaborate classification of noses vs. human characters
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "National Research Council Canada National Science Library"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Research_Council_Canada_National_Science_Library"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:29.974732+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The National Science Library (NSL), formerly known as the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information or CISTI, began in 1917 as the library of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC). NRC is the Government of Canada's premier research and technology organization (RTO), working with clients and partners to provide innovation support, strategic research, scientific and technical services. The library took on the role of national science library unofficially in 1957 and became the official National Science Library in 1966.
|
||||
The National Science Library is located in Ottawa, Ontario, and houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections of publications in science, technology, engineering and medicine. It is part of NRC's Knowledge, Information and Technology Services Branch and provides NRC and Canada's research community with information and information services to accelerate discovery, innovation and commercialization.
|
||||
The NRC Research Press joined the library in 1992. On September 1, 2010, NRC Research Press became a private company called Canadian Science Publishing and is no longer directly affiliated with CISTI or the NRC.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Partnership initiatives ==
|
||||
Shared library services – The NSL works with other Government of Canada science-based departments on a number of collaborative initiatives to realize common goals and improve library and knowledge service delivery. The Library currently provides services to four federal departments/agencies, including licensing and acquisitions, cataloguing, reference, library website and document delivery. It also provides all technical library support services to Health Canada as part of a partnership that began in 2010.
|
||||
Federal Science Library (FSL) – A partnership of seven Government of Canada science departments/agencies implementing a common platform and processes to deliver information discovery and access services to clients. A three-year FSL implementation project was launched in October 2014, with the NSL serving as the project's technical lead.
|
||||
WorldWideScience Alliance – the Library has been a member of this global science search engine since June 2008.
|
||||
DataCite – NRC's National Science Library is a founding member of this worldwide consortium for allocating DOIs to datasets.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Scientific article discovery and digital infrastructure ==
|
||||
In December 2013, the NSL implemented a digital repository that holds a number of collections, including the NRC Archives photograph collection of over 12,000 photos dating back to 1916.
|
||||
In June 2011 the library launched the CISTI Mobile website which provides location and search services to popular mobile devices including Android, Blackberry and iPhone platforms. The mobile website provides federated searching across several science and technology information sources at and beyond the National Science Library. The site was likely the first Canadian federal library mobile website.
|
||||
In April 2010 the library implemented a federated search system allowing the public to search its local and licensed resources together - including a combined search of NPArC, and the NSL catalogue and the NRC Research Press. NRC researchers are also able to combine searches with these and other publisher sites and databases that the NSL licenses on their behalf.
|
||||
In June 2009 the library launched the NRC Publications Archive (NPArC), an institutional repository providing a single place to search and discover the scientific publications of the National Research Council. It contains tens of thousands of freely available scientific articles, technical reports, book chapters and other NRC-authored publications.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Research data discovery and stewardship ==
|
||||
The National Science Library is a leader and participant in a number of initiatives to support data stewardship and discovery in Canada, including being a founding member of both DataCite and Research Data Canada.
|
||||
In May 2012, the library launched DataCite Canada, a data registration service that allows Canadian data centres to register research data sets and assign Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Document delivery ==
|
||||
From the late 1990s until 2010, the library was one of the largest providers of documents in the areas of science technology and medicine in the world.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Organizational membership ==
|
||||
NRC NSL is a member of
|
||||
|
||||
the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)
|
||||
the Canadian Library Association (CLA)
|
||||
International DataCite Federation
|
||||
International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI)
|
||||
Research Data Canada
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
NRC National Science Library
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "National Science Library (Bangladesh)"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Library_(Bangladesh)"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:31.131492+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The National Science Library is a state owned and supported science library of Bangladesh.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== History ==
|
||||
The National Science Library was established in 1981 under the Bangladesh National Scientific and Technical Documentation Centre. Its functions are to collect scientific publications and books.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "National Science Library (Georgia)"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Library_(Georgia)"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:32.299075+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The National Scientific Library (Georgian: ეროვნული სამეცნიერო ბიბლიოთეკა) is a library in Tbilisi, Georgia. National Scientific Library is a biggest library in Georgia. Established in 1941, it initially served only the employees of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences. Presently library has three buildings: founded in 1941 former Central Library of Georgian Academy of Sciences, founded in 1965 Science and Technology Library and founded in 1961 Library-Museum of Ioseb Grishashvili.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
List of libraries in Georgia (country)
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
31
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ompax_spatuloides-0.md
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31
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ompax_spatuloides-0.md
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@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Ompax spatuloides"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ompax_spatuloides"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:46.010349+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Ompax spatuloides was a hoax fish "discovered" in Australia in August, 1872. Said to be poisonous, it could be found on some lists of Australian fishes through the 1930s.
|
||||
The fish was a joke perpetrated by people at Gayndah station, Queensland, who prepared it from the body of a mullet, the tail of an eel and the head of a platypus or needlefish. They served it cooked for Karl Theodor Staiger, the director of the Brisbane Museum, and he forwarded a sketch and description of the fake to expert Francis de Laporte de Castelnau, who described the supposed "species" in 1879. The first publication was in the proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, in which Count Castelnau gave his description with figures reproducing the sketches executed at the time by "a draughtsman" at Staiger's request.
|
||||
Doubts about the existence of the species were expressed as soon as 1881, when William John Macleay included it in a faunal list, but the name continued to appear throughout the twentieth century.
|
||||
Staiger is quoted as saying the fish was brought to him by indigenous people who had obtained it around ten miles away. The components of the specimen were said by an anonymous confessor writing to the Sydney Morning Herald in 1930 to have been sourced from the tail of an eel, a mullet's body, and the head of an Australian lungfish. The last animal, the Australian lungfish, was an extraordinary fish whose existence had only become known to European researchers just a few years before. The addition of a platypus bill, seemingly shown in profile in Castelnau's accompanying figure, is also reported in the letter revealing the hoax.
|
||||
In selecting the name of the genus, Castelnau says "In our present knowledge of this singular fish, some inconvenience might arise from giving it a significant name; and I think it is preferable to design it under the mysterious historical one of Ompax."
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Notes ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
Castelnau, F. (1879). "On a new ganoïd fish from Queensland". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 3: 164–165. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.22233.
|
||||
Finney, Vanessa (2023), Putting Nature in its Place: The Australian Museum, 1826 to 1890, Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney.
|
||||
Helfman, G.; Collette, B.B.; Facey, D.E.; Bowen, B.W. (2009). The Diversity of Fishes: Biology, Evolution, and Ecology. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781444311907.
|
||||
Macleay, W. (1881). "Descriptive catalogue of the fishes of Australia. Part IV". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 6: 202–387. doi:10.5962/bhl.part.11870.
|
||||
Saunders, B. (2012). Discovery of Australia's Fishes: A History of Australian Ichthyology to 1930. Csiro Publishing. ISBN 9780643106727.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Australian Sporting Records (1998): 117. Bantam Books.
|
||||
Whitley, Gilbert P. (1933): Ompax spatuloides Castelnau, a mythical Australian fish. Am. Nat. 67(713): 563–567. [1]
|
||||
56
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgueil_(meteorite)-0.md
Normal file
56
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgueil_(meteorite)-0.md
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@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Orgueil (meteorite)"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgueil_(meteorite)"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:47.190863+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Orgueil is a scientifically important carbonaceous chondrite meteorite that fell in southwestern France in 1864.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== History ==
|
||||
The Orgueil meteorite fell on May 14, 1864, a few minutes after 20:00 local time, near Orgueil in southern France. About 20 stones fell over an area of 5-10 square kilometres. A specimen of the meteorite was analyzed that same year by François Stanislaus Clöez, professor of chemistry at the Musée d'Histoire Naturelle, who focused on the organic matter found in this meteorite. He wrote that it contained carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, and its composition was very similar to peat from the Somme valley or to the lignite of Ringkohl near Kassel. An intense scientific discussion ensued, continuing into the 1870s, as to whether the organic matter might have a biological origin.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Curation and Distribution ==
|
||||
Orgueil specimens are in curation by bodies around the world. Given the large mass, samples are in circulation for nondestructive (and with sufficient justification, destructive) study and test.
|
||||
|
||||
Source: Grady, M. M. Catalogue of Meteorites, 5th Edition, Cambridge University Press
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Composition and classification ==
|
||||
|
||||
Orgueil is one of five known meteorites belonging to the CI chondrite group (see meteorites classification), and is the largest (14 kilograms (31 lb)). This group has a composition that is essentially identical to that of the sun, excluding gaseous elements like hydrogen and helium. Notably though, the Orgueil meteor is highly enriched in (volatile) mercury - undetectable in the solar photosphere, and this is a major driver of the "mercury paradox" that mercury abundances in meteors do not follow its volatile nature and isotopic ratios based expected behaviour in the solar nebula.
|
||||
Because of its extraordinarily primitive composition and relatively large mass, Orgueil is one of the most-studied meteorites. One notable discovery in Orgueil was a high concentration of isotopically anomalous xenon called "xenon-HL". The carrier of this gas is extremely fine-grained diamond dust that is older than the Solar System itself, known as presolar grains.
|
||||
In 1962, Nagy et al. announced the discovery of 'organised elements' embedded in the Orgueil meteorite that were purportedly biological structures of extraterrestrial origin. These elements were subsequently shown to be either pollen (including that of ragwort) and fungal spores (Fitch & Anders, 1963) that had contaminated the sample, or crystals of the mineral olivine.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Seed capsule hoax ==
|
||||
In 1965, a fragment of the Orgueil meteorite, kept in a sealed glass jar in Montauban since its discovery, was found to have a seed capsule embedded in it, whilst the original glassy layer on the outside remained apparently undisturbed. Despite great initial excitement, the seed capsule was shown to be that of a European rush, glued into the fragment and camouflaged using coal dust. The outer "fusion layer" was in fact glue. Whilst the perpetrator is unknown, it is thought that the hoax was aimed at influencing 19th century debate on spontaneous generation by demonstrating the transformation of inorganic to biological matter.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Claim of fossils ==
|
||||
|
||||
Richard B. Hoover of NASA has claimed that the Orgueil meteorite contains fossils, some of which are similar to known terrestrial species. Hoover has previously claimed the existence of fossils in the Murchison meteorite. NASA has formally distanced itself from Hoover's claims and his lack of expert peer-reviews.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Glossary of meteoritics
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Nagy B, Claus G, Hennessy DJ (1962) Organic Particles Embedded in Minerals in Orgueil and Ivuna Carbonaceous Chondrites. Nature 193 (4821) p. 1129
|
||||
Fitch FW, Anders E (1963) Organized Element - Possible Identification in Orgueil Meteorite. Science 140 (357) p. 1097
|
||||
Gilmour I, Wright I, Wright J 'Origins of Earth and Life', The Open University, 1997, ISBN 0-7492-8182-0
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
The Orgueil meteorite from The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight
|
||||
The Orgueil meteorite hoax
|
||||
"Orgueil". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Pacific Northwest tree octopus"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Northwest_tree_octopus"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:48.363137+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Pacific Northwest tree octopus is an Internet hoax created in 1998 by a humor writer under the pseudonym Lyle Zapato. Since its creation, the Pacific Northwest tree octopus website has been commonly referenced in Internet literacy classes in schools and has been used in multiple studies demonstrating children's gullibility regarding online sources of information.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Description ==
|
||||
This fictitious endangered species of cephalopod was given the Latin name Octopus paxarbolis (the species name being coined from Latin pax, the root of Pacific, and Spanish arbol meaning "tree"). It was purportedly able to live both on land and in water, and was said to live in the Olympic National Forest and nearby rivers, spawning in water where its eggs are laid. The Pacific Northwest tree octopus was said to prey on insects, small vertebrates, and bird eggs. Its major predator was said to be the Sasquatch, a mythical creature said to inhabit the same region, as well as bald eagles and cats. The conceit of the website was that the Pacific Northwest tree octopus was an endangered species, threatened by habitat loss, overexploitation for the fashion industry during the early 20th century, and eradication as a nuisance animal by loggers.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Reception and legacy ==
|
||||
The tree octopus hoax website was used in a 2007 study on 13-year-old U.S. school children's ability to critically evaluate online information for reliability. A 2018 study replicated the experiment in a Dutch school class of 27 children.
|
||||
The 2007 U.S. study found that slightly more than half (27) of the 53 school children taking part in the study reported the website as being very reliable. Only 6 out of the 53 school children (11%) viewed the website as unreliable. Each of these 6 school children had just participated in a lesson that used this website to teach them to be suspicious of information online. In the 2017 Dutch study only 2 out of the total 27 school children (7%) recognized that the website was a hoax.
|
||||
In 2018, the website was selected as one of 30 websites to form the initial collection of the Library of Congress's Web Culture's Web Archive.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Drop bear
|
||||
Spaghetti-tree hoax
|
||||
Dihydrogen monoxide hoax
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Official site
|
||||
"New Literacies for New Times: Preparing our Students for the 21st Century" (PDF). Archived from the original on 2012-02-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (178 KiB) Professor Leu's teaching tool.
|
||||
28
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinabuch-0.md
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28
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinabuch-0.md
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@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Palestinabuch"
|
||||
chunk: 1/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinabuch"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:49.528067+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Palestinabuch (Book of Palestine), also Palestina Buch, Palästinabuch or Palästina Buch, is an allegedly lost manuscript by the German-Dutch historian and antisemite Herman Wirth (1885–1981), founder of the German Ahnenerbe, which its adherents claim would have changed the world if it had not disappeared. The myth plays a part in antisemitic theories maintaining that the Ashkenazi Jews descend largely or entirely from the Khazars or from Central Asia.
|
||||
|
||||
== Herman Wirth ==
|
||||
Wirth, who was one of the main spokesmen of Pre-War Ariosophy, first referred to the Palestinabuch in his commentary to the Ura Linda Chronicle (1933), a 19th-century literary forgery that he thought to be genuine. The Chronicle tells the story of a lost civilization in the Polar Region or the Northern Atlantic, from which the Aryan, Hyperborean or Nordic races descended. The Frisian people, as being the direct offspring of the first Nordic settlers, had been able to preserve the cultural traditions of their forebears, which he considered as a key to the understanding of primeval monotheism. According to Wirth, Christ descended from a lost tribe of the original Aryans, who had left their traces in the Near East in the form of Megalithic monuments. Christianity, however, was corrupted by oriental despotism and local superstition, and came back to the Northern Europe in a distorted manner. As Judaism was largely responsible for this distortion, Christianity had to be cleansed from Judaic elements and revert to its original fertility cults, in which the Mother Goddess played a central part.
|
||||
The Palestinabuch may have been conceived as a counterpart to the Ura Linda Chronicle. It was officially titled The Riddle of the Palestine's Megalithic Graves: From JAU to Jesus. By 1969 the proposed title had changed into Between the North Sea and the Sea of Genezareth, implicitly referring to an influential book by the 19th-century reactionary Julius Langbehn, Rembrandt as Educator (1890). The subtitle shifted between The Savior Myth of the Megalithic Religion's Crucified God and The Oriental-Occidental Community of the Megalithic Era.
|
||||
According to Miguel Serrano, Wirth considered the book his main opus, on which he had worked for many years. Both men probably first met in the late 1960s, when Serrano served as a diplomat in Vienna.
|
||||
Wirth's biographers do not mention the topic, though it is conceivable that the manuscripts have been hidden or destroyed by his collaborators because of their antisemitic tendencies. Or that, for the same reason, references to the supposed text have been deliberately ignored by the administrators of his estate. Even Wirth's loyal publisher, the neonazi Wilhelm Landig left several manuscripts Wirth wrote for him unprinted.
|
||||
|
||||
== Miguel Serrano ==
|
||||
Herman Wirth died in February 1981. Some time before, on 3 September 1979, he was interviewed by the Chilean former diplomat and Nazi propagandist Miguel Serrano (1917–2009), who asked him about the history of the Jewish people. The story is told in Serrano's Adolf Hitler: The Ultimate Avatar (1984):
|
||||
|
||||
It is difficult to know the true origin of this people. In the visit I made to professor Herman Wirth, founder of the Ahnenerbe, high specialized organism of investigation of the SS, and one of the most extraordinary students of Nordic pre-antiquity, I asked him about the Jews. He gave me a strange unexpected answer: "Nomadic people, from slaves, who lived on the periphery of the great civilization of the Gobi..." I deeply regret not having asked more about this. [...] When I knew him he was 94 years old and remained agile and alert. Even then, not long before dying, the manuscripts of his work were stolen from him, it is believed by his own collaborators. Marxist infiltrators, or perhaps even Catholics, caused this most valuable work to disappear. The world will never know of it. It is a tragedy as great as the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. At least for me. The identical hand will have committed the same crime to cover up evidence.
|
||||
In subsequent publications Serrano blamed "the Great Conspiracy" for the loss. Wirth's book would have "definitively clarified the true history of the Jews", but "the manuscript may now be found in some synagogue or in the subterranean vaults beneath the Vatican".
|
||||
According to Serrano, Wirth told him that the Frisian Sea-Kings, survivors of the catastrophe of Polar Hyperborea, first met the Jews in Northern Africa, where they were known as Golen (Gauls) or Golem, but the Frisians nicknamed them Triuweden (druids), meaning 'those who have no truth'. Moreover, the Jews then emigrated as parasites on the Hyperborean Aryans after the destruction of the post-Hyperborean civilization of the Gobi Desert (Shambhala).
|
||||
The story plays an important part in Serrano's Esoteric Hitlerism, in which the world is heading towards an ultimate combat between the Aryan forces of Light and the forces of Darkness, embodied in the false ideologies of Judeo-Christianity.
|
||||
|
||||
== Aleksandr Dugin ==
|
||||
During the early 1990s, the Russian political theorist and philosopher Aleksandr Dugin (1962) spent two years studying Wirth's books. He devoted a whole volume, Hyperborean Theory: The Experience of Ariosophic Research (1993), to Wirth's geopolitical and religio-historical views. Apparently, this is "one of the most extensive summaries and treatments of Wirth in any language". Dugin probably first referred to the Palestinabuch in one of his controversial 1993 TV-shows with journalist Yury Vorobyevsky [Юрий Воробьевский], in which he claimed to have had access to the secret KGB-archives on the Ahnenerbe, captured by the Red Army in 1945. He subsequently elaborated the theme, suggesting that Wirth's superior knowledge was based on the Ahnenerbe's "vast archaeological material obtained during excavations in Palestine", to his judgement the most experienced organization of the time. As soon as Wirth's would apply his symbolic historical methods,
|
||||
16
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinabuch-1.md
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16
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinabuch-1.md
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@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Palestinabuch"
|
||||
chunk: 2/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinabuch"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:49.528067+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
[...] there is no line, not a word in the Old Testament that would not succumb to such Hyperborean deconstruction. It is not a question of criticizing the text [...]. What Wirth did was resacralize, reveal the original, Hyperborean gnosis - the true foundation of the Old Testament tradition, free it from biased interpretative models. [...] Unfortunately, now we can only guess about its contents. [...] Already in the 70s, when Wirth almost finished writing it, the only completed edition disappeared without a trace. In the scientist's absence, unknown people entered the house, turned everything upside down, but only took the Palestina Buch. Wirth turned to his students (there were two or three unfinished copies), but the mysterious strangers had also visited them.
|
||||
Dugin, who does not cite any sources, claims that the manuscript counted several thousands of pages. According to Dugin's former associate, Yury Vorobyevsky, the manuscript had already been stolen in the 1950s, probably by the Israeli Secret Service. Scholarly literature on the Ahnenerbe, on the other hand, does not present any evidence that the organisation ever conducted archaeological excavations in Palestine. The only relevant (but non-archaeological) expedition in 1938 went to Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.
|
||||
Since Dugin's and Vorobyevsky's first publications on the topic, the idea of Jewish-American conspiracy being responsible for the loss of Wirth's world-explaining encyclopaedia, has gained foothold in Russian nationalist circles. It is constitutive for an aggressive nationalist approach, in which the values of the Eurasian civilisation are contrasted with the Jewish-imbued worldview of the Anglo-Saxon maritime world.
|
||||
Recently, the idea of a lost Palestinabuch has also gained hold among rightwing radicals in the United States.
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
40
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamiętnik_handlowca-0.md
Normal file
40
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamiętnik_handlowca-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Pamiętnik handlowca"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamiętnik_handlowca"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:50.688121+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Pamiętnik handlowca (A Merchant's Memoir, or Memoirs of a Merchant; in Latin, Memorialium commercatori) is the name of a purported diary written by a Polish merchant, Zbigniew Stefański, in 1625. No copy of the original text is known to exist. The diary was said to be written in Polish and to contain a first-hand account of the Jamestown Colony in Virginia. It was claimed to be the only extant primary source from the Jamestown Colony that provides the perspective of Polish artisans who had been brought in by Captain John Smith in 1608. As the existence of the diary has been confirmed by only a single researcher, its veracity and very existence have been questioned.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Doubts about authenticity ==
|
||||
The Memoir is said to have surfaced in Chicago, Illinois, in 1947, when a person offered to sell it to Mieczysław Haiman, the director of the Polish Museum of America. The book was popularized through the writings of the journalist and ethnographer Arthur Waldo, who claimed to have seen it and to have made a partial copy for his records, but more recently, researchers have questioned the authenticity of the source, which cannot be located in any museum, library, or collection. Waldo claimed that his copy had been given away and refused to provide further details to fellow researchers. James S. Pula in 2008 concluded, "Given all of the vain attempts to locate so much as a single reference to the Pamietnik, let alone an extant copy, it would appear that, unless some independent verification surfaces, Stefański's memoir must be rejected as a legitimate source."
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Contents and import ==
|
||||
The Memoir allegedly revealed much about the Jamestown Colony and gave details of how Polish settlers taught the English pioneers how to dig wells for drinking water, fought a strike for their right to vote, and introduced the settlers to baseball. The book also allegedly confirmed the names of the six Polish settlers in Jamestown, which had previously been known only from secondary sources, often written over 100 years later. The purported existence of the diary may have helped change the perception of Jamestown history. The Poles are known, from primary English sources, to have been hired as skilled artisans, but in Stefański's memoir the six men were to have been presented as merchants or at least as trading officials in Poland.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
"Jamestown Colony: A Political, Social, and Cultural History (2007)"
|
||||
"Jamestown Pioneers from Poland, 1608–1958 (1958)"
|
||||
"Poles in the United States (1912)"
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Craftsmen 1608 Historical Marker (Route 31, Jamestown, Virginia)
|
||||
Following in Godspeeds Wake
|
||||
Generall Historie of Virginia by Captaine John Smith
|
||||
Jamestown 1607
|
||||
Historic Jamestowne
|
||||
Library of Congress: Evolution of the Virginia Colony, 1610-1630
|
||||
20
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_generator-0.md
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20
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_generator-0.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Paper generator"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_generator"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:51.856945+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
A paper generator is computer software that composes scholarly papers in the style of those that appear in academic journals or conference proceedings. Typically, the generator uses technical jargon from the field to compose sentences that are grammatically correct and seem erudite but are actually nonsensical. The prose is supported by tables, figures, and references that may be valid in themselves, but are randomly inserted rather than relevant.
|
||||
Examples include the Postmodernism Generator, snarXiv and SCIgen. The latter has been used to generate many computer science papers that were accepted for publication.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Sokal affair
|
||||
List of scholarly publishing stings
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
19
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man-0.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Piltdown Man"
|
||||
chunk: 1/6
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:54.143803+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Piltdown Man was a paleoanthropological fraud in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. Although doubts about Piltdown Man's authenticity began to be expressed almost immediately after its announcement in 1912, it was still broadly accepted for many years, and the hoax was only definitively exposed in 1953. An extensive scientific review in 2016 established that the hoax had been perpetrated by amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson, apparently in pursuit of recognition from other archaeologists.
|
||||
In 1912, Dawson claimed that he had discovered the "missing link" between early apes and humans. If the Piltdown Man was found to be legitimate, it would have been a crucial transitional form between the two species. In February 1912, Dawson contacted Arthur Smith Woodward, Keeper of Geology at the Natural History Museum, stating he had found a section of a human-like skull in Pleistocene gravel beds near Piltdown, East Sussex. The find of the Piltdown Man, and the claims that Dawson was making were taken seriously due to Dawson's reputation in the archaeology community and for other local archaeological "discoveries". These "discoveries" were later found to also be false. That summer, Dawson and Woodward purportedly discovered more bones and artifacts at the site, which they connected to the same individual. These finds included a jawbone, more skull fragments, a set of teeth, and primitive tools. The fragments of the cranium that Dawson had originally found had human like features, whereas the lower jawbone that they found had resembled a jawbone of an ape. He also claimed that the stone tools and animal fossils were found in the same layer of Earth that the cranium and jawbone were found.
|
||||
Woodward reconstructed the skull fragments and hypothesised that they belonged to a human ancestor from 500,000 years ago. The discovery was announced at a Geological Society meeting and was given the Latin name Eoanthropus dawsoni ("Dawson's dawn-man"). Fossil evidence at the time was not very complete, and while evolutionary theory was being increasingly accepted, it was still lacking a full coherent fossil record to support human evolution. The questionable significance of the assemblage remained the subject of considerable controversy until it was conclusively exposed in 1953 as a forgery. It was found to have consisted of the altered mandible and some teeth of an orangutan deliberately combined with the cranium of a fully developed, though small-brained, modern human.
|
||||
The Piltdown hoax is prominent for two reasons: the attention it generated around the subject of human evolution, and the length of time – 41 years – that elapsed from its alleged initial discovery to its definitive exposure as a composite forgery.
|
||||
|
||||
== Find ==
|
||||
|
||||
At a meeting of the Geological Society of London on 18 December 1912, Charles Dawson claimed that a workman at the Piltdown gravel pit had given him a fragment of the skull four years earlier. According to Dawson, workmen at the site discovered the skull shortly before his visit and broke it up in the belief that it was a fossilised coconut. Revisiting the site on several occasions, Dawson found further fragments of the skull and took them to Arthur Smith Woodward, keeper of the geological department at the British Museum. Greatly interested by the finds, Woodward accompanied Dawson to the site. Though the two worked together between June and September 1912, Dawson alone recovered more skull fragments and half of the lower jaw. The skull unearthed in 1908 was the only find discovered in situ, with most of the other pieces found in the gravel pit's spoil heaps. French Jesuit paleontologist and geologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin participated in the uncovering of the Piltdown skull with Woodward.
|
||||
At the same meeting, Woodward announced that a reconstruction of the fragments indicated that the skull was in many ways similar to that of a modern human, except for the occiput (the part of the skull that sits on the spinal column), and brain size, which was about two-thirds that of a modern human. He went on to indicate that, save for two human-like molar teeth, the jaw bone was indistinguishable from that of a modern, young chimpanzee. From the British Museum's reconstruction of the skull, Woodward proposed that Piltdown Man represented an evolutionary missing link between apes and humans, since the combination of a human-like cranium with an ape-like jaw tended to support the notion then prevailing in England that human evolution began with the brain.
|
||||
30
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man-1.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Piltdown Man"
|
||||
chunk: 2/6
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:54.143803+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The find was considered legitimate by Otto Schoetensack who had discovered the Heidelberg fossils just a few years earlier; he described it as being the best evidence for an ape-like ancestor of modern humans. Almost from the outset, Woodward's reconstruction of the Piltdown fragments was strongly challenged by some researchers. At the Royal College of Surgeons, copies of the same fragments used by the British Museum in their reconstruction were used to produce an entirely different model, one that in brain size and other features resembled a modern human. This reconstruction, by Arthur Keith, was called Homo piltdownensis in reflection of its more human appearance.
|
||||
Woodward's reconstruction included ape-like canine teeth, which was itself controversial. In August 1913, Woodward, Dawson and Teilhard de Chardin began a systematic search of the spoil heaps specifically to find the missing canines. Teilhard de Chardin soon found a canine that, according to Woodward, fitted the jaw perfectly. A few days later, Teilhard de Chardin moved to France and took no further part in the discoveries. Noting that the tooth "corresponds exactly with that of an ape", Woodward expected the find to end any dispute over his reconstruction of the skull. However, Keith attacked the find. Keith pointed out that human molars are the result of side to side movement when chewing. The canine in the Piltdown jaw was impossible as it prevented side to side movement. To explain the wear on the molar teeth, the canine could not have been any higher than the molars. Grafton Elliot Smith, a fellow anthropologist, sided with Woodward, and at the next Royal Society meeting claimed that Keith's opposition was motivated entirely by ambition. Keith later recalled, "Such was the end of our long friendship."
|
||||
|
||||
=== Early criticism ===
|
||||
As early as 1913, David Waterston of King's College London published in Nature his conclusion that the sample consisted of an ape mandible and human skull. Likewise, French paleontologist Marcellin Boule concluded the same in 1915. A third opinion from the American zoologist Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. concluded that Piltdown's jaw came from a fossil ape. In 1923, Franz Weidenreich examined the remains and concluded that they consisted of a modern human cranium and an orangutan jaw with filed-down teeth.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Sheffield Park find ===
|
||||
In 1915, Dawson claimed to have found three fragments of a second skull (Piltdown II) at a new site about two miles (3.2 km) away from the original finds. Woodward attempted several times to elicit the location from Dawson, but was unsuccessful. So far as is known, the site was never identified and the finds appear largely undocumented. Woodward did not present the new finds to the Society until five months after Dawson's death in August 1916 and deliberately implied that he knew where they had been found. Found at the new site was a portion of a frontal bone, an occipital fragment, and a lower first molar tooth. They were believed to belong to a different individual of the same species as the original find. In 1921, Henry Fairfield Osborn, President of the American Museum of Natural History, examined the Piltdown and Sheffield Park finds and declared that the jaw and skull belonged together "without question" and that the Sheffield Park fragments "were exactly those which we should have selected to confirm the comparison with the original type."
|
||||
The Sheffield Park finds were taken as proof of the authenticity of the Piltdown Man: while an ape's jaw and a human skull may have come together by chance, the odds of it happening twice were slim. Even Keith conceded to this new evidence, though he still harboured personal doubts. The Sheffield Park finds changed the narrative from a strange and isolated find to the establishment of a population with multiple individuals.
|
||||
|
||||
== Memorial ==
|
||||
|
||||
On 23 July 1938, at Barkham Manor, Piltdown, Sir Arthur Keith unveiled a memorial to mark the site where Piltdown Man was discovered by Charles Dawson. The memorial was put in place to celebrate the important moment in paleoanthropology that Piltdown man was thought to be. Keith gave a speech, which he finished as follows:
|
||||
|
||||
So long as man is interested in his long past history, in the vicissitudes which our early forerunners passed through, and the varying fare which overtook them, the name of Charles Dawson is certain of remembrance. We do well to link his name to this picturesque corner of Sussex—the scene of his discovery. I have now the honour of unveiling this monolith dedicated to his memory.
|
||||
The inscription on the memorial stone reads:
|
||||
|
||||
Here in the old river gravel Mr Charles Dawson, FSA found the fossil skull of Piltdown Man, 1912–1913, The discovery was described by Mr Charles Dawson and Sir Arthur Smith Woodward, Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, 1913–15.Once the fraud was debunked, the memorial's symbolic meaning got lost, and today there are very few things that point to the town of Piltdown ever having been considered an important archaeological site.
|
||||
|
||||
== Exposure ==
|
||||
18
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man-2.md
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18
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Piltdown Man"
|
||||
chunk: 3/6
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:54.143803+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
=== Scientific investigation ===
|
||||
Some scientists expressed scepticism about the Piltdown find from the beginning. Gerrit Smith Miller Jr., for example, wrote in 1915 that "deliberate malice could hardly have been more successful than the hazards of deposition in so breaking the fossils as to give free scope to individual judgment in fitting the parts together". When Dawson first said he discovered the cranium and jawbone, chemical dating techniques were primitive, meaning that there was heavy reliance on morphological comparison and expert opinions in order to classify and date artifacts and bones. Discoveries that happened after Piltdown Man, such as Australopithecus in South Africa and Homo erectus, contradicted many aspects of the Piltdown Man. These early hominid fossils showed small braincases and human jaws, which was the opposite of what Piltdown Man suggested. Despite this, Piltdown Man was treated as a different lineage for many years instead. In the decades prior to its exposure as a forgery in 1953, scientists increasingly regarded Piltdown as an enigmatic aberration, inconsistent with the path of hominid evolution as demonstrated by fossils found elsewhere.
|
||||
In the early 1950s, Kenneth Oakley, Wilfrid Le Gros Clark, and Joseph Weiner, scientists at the British Museum, developed a new technique for dating fossils called fluorine absorption dating. The longer a specimen had been buried underground, the greater the amount of fluorine it could be expected to absorb. This technique opened the possibility of reexamining and dating old finds to get a more precise age estimation. This new technique found that, while there were substantial amounts of fluorine in the Piltdown skull specimens, there were far lower amounts in the jaw and teeth. They reported that the results "demonstrated quite clearly that the mandible and canine are indeed deliberate fakes". After more testing on the bones, they found that there were anatomical differences between the jaw and cranial bone, which were discovered to have come from different species. They also found that the dental wear patterns were incompatible with human chewing.
|
||||
In November 1953, Time magazine published evidence, gathered variously by Oakley, Le Gros Clark, and Weiner, proving that Piltdown Man was a forgery and demonstrating that the fossil was a composite of three distinct species. It consisted of a medieval human skull, a 500-year-old orangutan lower jaw, and fossil chimpanzee teeth. Someone had created the appearance of age by staining the bones with an iron solution and chromic acid. Microscopic examination revealed file marks on the teeth, and it was deduced that someone had modified the teeth to a shape more suited to a human diet. The article caused the immediate removal of Piltdown Man from all evolutionary charts and a substantial reevaluation of human evolutionary history, though less consequential than it might have been had it been debunked before the reevaluations that had already taken place following the discoveries of Australopithecus and Homo erectus. The debunking of the Piltdown Man prompted investigation of the other bones and artifacts that Dawson had claimed to have found.
|
||||
The Piltdown Man hoax succeeded so well because, at the time of its discovery, the scientific establishment believed that the large modern brain preceded the modern omnivorous diet, and the forgery would have provided exactly that evidence. Dawson's prestige and connections lent the forgery an air of legitimacy. Many of the scientists debating the Piltdown issue worked from casts rather than the actual bones, which hid from the evidence of forgery (such at the microscopic file marks). Stephen Jay Gould argued that nationalism and cultural prejudice played a role in the ready acceptance of Piltdown Man as genuine because it satisfied European expectations that the earliest humans would be found in Eurasia. The British in particular wanted a "first Briton" to set against fossil hominids found elsewhere in Europe. By the late 1940s, however, after many advances in dating technology and acceptance of African hominid fossils, many paleoanthropologists regarded Piltdown Man as at best misinterpreted.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Identity of the forger ===
|
||||
The identity of the Piltdown forger remains unknown, but suspects have included Dawson, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Arthur Keith, Martin A. C. Hinton, Horace de Vere Cole and Arthur Conan Doyle.
|
||||
15
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man-3.md
Normal file
15
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Piltdown Man"
|
||||
chunk: 4/6
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:54.143803+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The focus on Dawson as the main forger is supported by the accumulation of evidence regarding other archaeological hoaxes he perpetrated in the decade or two before the Piltdown discovery. The archaeologist Miles Russell of Bournemouth University analysed Dawson's antiquarian collection, and determined that at least 38 of his specimens were fakes. Among these were the teeth of a multituberculate mammal, Plagiaulax dawsoni, "found" in 1891 (and whose teeth had been filed down in the same way that the teeth of Piltdown Man were to be some 20 years later); the so-called "shadow figures" on the walls of Hastings Castle; a unique hafted stone axe; the Bexhill boat (a hybrid seafaring vessel); the Pevensey bricks (allegedly the latest datable "finds" from Roman Britain); the contents of the Lavant Caves (a fraudulent "flint mine"); the Beauport Park "Roman" statuette (a hybrid iron object); the Bulverhythe Hammer (shaped with an iron knife in the same way as the Piltdown elephant bone implement would later be); a fraudulent "Chinese" bronze vase; the Brighton "Toad in the Hole" (a toad entombed within a flint nodule); the English Channel sea serpent; the Uckfield Horseshoe (another hybrid iron object) and the Lewes Prick Spur. Of his antiquarian publications, most demonstrate evidence of plagiarism or at least naive referencing. Russell wrote: "Piltdown was not a 'one-off' hoax, more the culmination of a life's work." In addition, Harry Morris, an acquaintance of Dawson, had come into possession of one of the flints obtained by Dawson at the Piltdown gravel pit. He suspected that it had been artificially aged – "stained by C. Dawson with intent to defraud". He remained deeply suspicious of Dawson for many years to come, though he never sought to discredit him publicly, possibly because it would have been an argument against the eolith theory, which Morris strongly supported.
|
||||
Adrian Lister of the UK's Natural History Museum has said that "some people have suggested" that there may also have been a second 'fraudster' seeking to use outrageous fraud in the hope of anonymously exposing the original frauds. This was a theory first proposed by Miles Russell. He has explained that the piece nicknamed the 'cricket bat' (a fossilised elephant bone) was such a crudely forged 'early tool' that it may have been planted to cast doubt upon the other finds, the 'Earliest Englishman' in effect being recovered with the earliest evidence for the game of cricket. This seems to have been part of a wider attempt, by disaffected members of the Sussex archaeological community, to expose Dawson's activities, other examples being the obviously fraudulent 'Maresfield Map', the 'Ashburnham Dial', and the 'Piltdown Palaeolith'. Nevertheless, the 'cricket bat' was accepted at the time, even though it aroused the suspicions of some and ultimately helped lead to the eventual recognition of the fraud decades later.
|
||||
In 2016, the results of an eight-year review of the forgery were released, identifying Dawson's modus operandi. Multiple specimens demonstrated the same consistent preparation: application of the stain, packing of crevices with local gravel, and fixation of teeth and gravel with dentist's putty. Analysis of shape and trace DNA showed that teeth from both sites belonged to the same orangutan. The consistent method and common source indicated the work of one person on all the specimens, and Dawson was the only one associated with Piltdown II. The authors did not rule out the possibility that someone else provided the false fossils to Dawson but ruled out several other suspects, including Teilhard de Chardin and Doyle, based on the skill and knowledge demonstrated by the forgeries, which closely reflected ideas fashionable in biology at the time. On the other hand, Stephen Jay Gould judged that Pierre Teilhard de Chardin conspired with Dawson in the Piltdown forgery. Teilhard de Chardin had travelled to regions of Africa where one of the anomalous finds originated, and resided in the Wealden area from the date of the earliest finds (although others suggest that he was "without doubt innocent in this matter"). Hinton left a trunk in storage at the Natural History Museum in London that in 1970 was found to contain animal bones and teeth carved and stained in a manner similar to the carving and staining on the Piltdown finds. Phillip Tobias implicated Arthur Keith in helping Dawson by detailing the history of the investigation of the hoax, dismissing other theories, and listing inconsistencies in Keith's statements and actions. Other investigations suggest that the hoax involved accomplices rather than a single forger.
|
||||
Richard Milner, an American historian of science, argued that Arthur Conan Doyle may have been the perpetrator of the Piltdown Man hoax. Milner noted that Doyle had a plausible motive—namely, revenge on the scientific establishment for debunking one of his favourite psychics—and said that The Lost World appeared to contain several clues referring cryptically to his having been involved in the hoax. Samuel Rosenberg's 1974 book Naked Is the Best Disguise purports to explain how, throughout his writings, Doyle had provided overt clues to otherwise hidden or suppressed aspects of his way of thinking that seemed to support the idea that Doyle would be involved in such a hoax. More recent research suggests that Doyle was not involved. In 2016, researchers at the Natural History Museum and Liverpool John Moores University analyzed DNA evidence showing that responsibility for the hoax lay with Dawson, who had originally "found" the remains. Dawson had initially not been considered the likely perpetrator, because the hoax was seen as being too elaborate for him to have devised; however, the DNA evidence showed that a supposedly ancient tooth Dawson had "discovered" in 1915 (at a different site) came from the same jaw as that of the Piltdown Man, suggesting that he had planted them both. That tooth, too, was later proven to have been planted as part of a hoax.
|
||||
Chris Stringer, an anthropologist from the Natural History Museum, was quoted as saying: "Conan Doyle was known to play golf at the Piltdown site and had even given Dawson a lift in his car to the area, but he was a public man and very busy[,] and it is very unlikely that he would have had the time [to create the hoax]. So there are some coincidences, but I think they are just coincidences. When you look at the fossil evidence[,] you can only associate Dawson with all the finds, and Dawson was known to be personally ambitious. He wanted professional recognition. He wanted to be a member of the Royal Society and he was after an MBE [sic]. He wanted people to stop seeing him as an amateur".
|
||||
52
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man-4.md
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52
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Piltdown Man"
|
||||
chunk: 5/6
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:54.143803+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Legacy ==
|
||||
|
||||
=== Early humans ===
|
||||
In 1912, the majority of the scientific community believed the Piltdown Man was the "missing link" between apes and humans. The Piltdown man delayed the correct understanding of human evolution for many years. However, over time the Piltdown Man lost its validity, as other discoveries such as the Taung Child and Peking Man were made. R. W. Ehrich and G. M. Henderson note, "To those who are not completely disillusioned by the work of their predecessors, the disqualification of the Piltdown skull changes little in the broad evolutionary pattern. The validity of the specimen has always been questioned". Eventually, during the 1940s and 1950s, more advanced dating technologies, such as the fluorine absorption test, proved scientifically that this skull was actually a fraud.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Influence ===
|
||||
The Piltdown Man fraud significantly affected early research on human evolution. Notably, it led scientists down a blind alley in the belief that the human brain expanded in size before the jaw adapted to new types of food. Discoveries of Australopithecine fossils such as the Taung child found by Raymond Dart during the 1920s in South Africa were ignored because of the support for Piltdown Man as "the missing link," and the reconstruction of human evolution was confused for decades. The examination and debate over Piltdown Man caused a vast expenditure of time and effort on the fossil, with an estimated 250+ papers written on the topic. The myth of the Piltdown man created a scientific atmosphere that required more rigorous dating and testing in order for claims made by scientist to be believed. There was also an increase in the transparency of research being done, as well as research being peer reviewed.
|
||||
The book Scientology: A History of Man by L. Ron Hubbard features the Piltdown Man as a phase of biological history capable of leaving a person with subconscious memories of traumatic incidents that can only be resolved by use of Scientology technology. Recovered "memories" of this phase are prompted by one's obsession with biting, hiding the teeth or mouth, and early familial issues. Nominally, this appears to be related to the large jaw of the Piltdown Man specimen. The book was first published in 1952, shortly before the fraud was confirmed, and has since been republished 5 times (most recently in 2007).
|
||||
Creationists often cite the hoax (along with Nebraska Man) as evidence of an alleged dishonesty of paleontologists who study human evolution, although scientists themselves had exposed the Piltdown hoax (and the Nebraska Man incident was not a deliberate fraud). In November 2003, the Natural History Museum in London held an exhibition to mark the 50th anniversary of the exposure of the fraud.
|
||||
Piltdown Man is still used in many training programs to talk about responsible conduct in research and preventing fraud in archaeology.
|
||||
|
||||
== Timeline ==
|
||||
1908: Dawson claims discovery of first Piltdown fragments.
|
||||
1912 February: Dawson contacts Woodward about first skull fragments.
|
||||
1912 June: Dawson, Woodward, and Teilhard de Chardin form digging team.
|
||||
1912 June: Team finds elephant molar, skull fragment.
|
||||
1912 June: Right parietal skull bones and the jaw bone discovered.
|
||||
1912 November: News breaks in the popular press.
|
||||
1912 December: Official presentation of Piltdown Man.
|
||||
1913: David Waterston concludes that the sample is an ape mandible and a human skull.
|
||||
1914: Talgai Skull (Australia) found, and considered (at the time) to confirm Piltdown.
|
||||
1915: Marcellin Boule concludes that the sample is an ape mandible and a human skull. Gerrit Smith Miller concludes the jaw is from a fossil ape.
|
||||
1916 August: Dawson dies.
|
||||
1923: Franz Weidenreich reports the remains consist of a modern human cranium and orangutan jaw with filed-down teeth.
|
||||
1925: Edmonds reports Piltdown geology error. Report ignored.
|
||||
1943: Fluorine content test is first proposed.
|
||||
1948: The Earliest Englishman by Woodward is published (posthumously).
|
||||
1949: Fluorine content test establishes Piltdown Man as relatively recent.
|
||||
1953: Weiner, Le Gros Clark, and Oakley expose the hoax.
|
||||
2003: Full extent of Charles Dawson's career in forgeries is exposed.
|
||||
2016: Study reveals method of Dawson's forgery.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Archaeoraptor
|
||||
Beringer's Lying Stones
|
||||
Bone Wars – similar rivalry and hoaxes over dinosaur bones in the late 19th century
|
||||
Calaveras Skull
|
||||
Cardiff Giant
|
||||
Cheddar Man – a genuine skeleton of an early Briton
|
||||
Himalayan fossil hoax
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
49
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man-5.md
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49
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man-5.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Piltdown Man"
|
||||
chunk: 6/6
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piltdown_Man"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:54.143803+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
The Times, 21 November 1953; 23 November 1953
|
||||
Blinderman, Charles (1986), The Piltdown Inquest, Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, ISBN 978-0-87975-359-7.
|
||||
Dawson, Charles; Woodward, Arthur Smith (18 December 1912). "On the Discovery of a Palæolithic Human Skull and Mandible in a Flint-bearing Gravel overlying the Wealden (Hastings Beds) at Piltdown, Fletching (Sussex)". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 69 (1–4): 117–122. doi:10.1144/GSL.JGS.1913.069.01-04.10. S2CID 129320256.
|
||||
De Groote, Isabelle (10 August 2016). "Solving the Piltdown Man crime: how we worked out there was only one forger". The Conversation. United States. Retrieved 11 August 2016..
|
||||
Feder, Kenneth L. (2008), Frauds, Myths, and Mysteries: Science and Pseudoscience in Archaeology (6th ed.), New York: McGraw-Hill, pp. 73–101, ISBN 978-0-07-340529-2.
|
||||
Grasse, Steven A. (2007). The Evil Empire: 101 Ways That England Ruined the World. Philadelphia, PA: Quirk Books. ISBN 978-1-59474-173-9., The Evil Empire, Google Books
|
||||
Haddon, A. C. (17 January 1913). "Eoanthropus (reporting the 1912 publication by Charles Dawson and Arthur Smith Woodward)". Science. 37 (942): 91–92. doi:10.1126/science.37.942.91. PMID 17745373.
|
||||
Millar, Ronald (1972). The Piltdown Men. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 978-0-575-00536-5. OCLC 2009318..
|
||||
Oakley, Kenneth (October–November 1954). "Solving the Piltdown Problem: Part I". The Archaeological News Letter. 5 (6): 100–101.
|
||||
Oakley, Kenneth (December 1954). "Solving the Piltdown Problem: Part II". The Archaeological News Letter. 5 (7): 121–125.
|
||||
Oakley, Kenneth (February 1955). "Solving the Piltdown Problem: Part III". The Archaeological News Letter. 5 (9): 163–169.
|
||||
Patel, Samir S. (November–December 2016). "Piltdown's Lone Forger". Archaeology. ISSN 0003-8113. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
|
||||
"The Piltdown Hoax". The Archaeological News Letter. 5 (4): 63. August 1954.
|
||||
Redman, Samuel (4 May 2017). "Behind closed doors: What the Piltdown Man hoax from 1912 can teach science today". The Conversation. United States. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
|
||||
Redman, Samuel J. (2016). Bone Rooms: From Scientific Racism to Human Prehistory in Museums. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-66041-0.
|
||||
Roberts, Noel Keith (2000). From Piltdown Man to Point Omega: the evolutionary theory of Teilhard de Chardin. 18 Studies in European Thought. New York: Peter Lang Publishing Inc. ISBN 978-0-8204-4588-5.
|
||||
Russell, Miles (2003), Piltdown Man: The Secret Life of Charles Dawson & the World's Greatest Archaeological Hoax, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing, ISBN 978-0-7524-2572-6.
|
||||
Russell, Miles (2012). The Piltdown Man Hoax: Case Closed. Stroud, Gloucestershire: History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-8774-8..
|
||||
Shreeve, James (1996). The Neanderthal Enigma: Solving the Mystery of Modern Human Origins. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-380-72881-7..
|
||||
Spencer, Frank (1990). Piltdown: A Scientific Forgery. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-858522-0..
|
||||
Walsh, John E. (1996). Unraveling Piltdown: The Science Fraud of the Century and Its Solution. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-44444-2..
|
||||
Weiner, Joseph S. (2003). The Piltdown Forgery: the classic account of the most famous and successful hoax in science. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860780-9..
|
||||
Woodward, A. Smith (1948). The Earliest Englishman. Thinker's Library. Vol. 127. London: Watts & Co. Archived from the original on 21 May 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
"Charles Dawson Piltdown Faker" BBC News
|
||||
Project Piltdown at Bournemouth University
|
||||
Piltdown Man documentary Discovery Channel
|
||||
Piltdown Man at the Natural History Museum, London
|
||||
The Piltdown Plot Archived 14 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine at Clark University
|
||||
Archæological Forgeries
|
||||
The Unmasking of Piltdown Man BBC
|
||||
Fossil fools: Return to Piltdown BBC
|
||||
The Boldest Hoax (about Piltdown Man case) PBS NOVA
|
||||
Sarah Lyell, "Piltdown Man Hoaxer: Missing Link is Found" Archived 21 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times, 25 May 1996. The case for Martin A. C. Hinton as the hoaxer.
|
||||
An annotated bibliography of the Piltdown Man forgery, 1953–2005 Archived 8 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine by Tom Turrittin.
|
||||
Web pages about the Piltdown forgery hosted by the British Geological Survey
|
||||
An annotated select bibliography of the Piltdown forgery by David G Bate
|
||||
20
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)-0.md
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data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)-0.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Project Alpha (hoax)"
|
||||
chunk: 1/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:56.533475+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Project Alpha was an effort by magician James Randi to test the quality of scientific rigor of a well-known test of paranormal phenomena.
|
||||
In the late 1970s, Randi contacted the newly established McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research ("MacLab") with suggestions on how to conduct tests for paranormal phenomena. At the same time, two teenage boys (Steve Shaw, later known as Banachek, and Mike Edwards) independently contacted the McDonnell Laboratory and volunteered as subjects for such tests from 1979 to 1982. They quickly proved to exhibit a range of paranormal abilities far and away better than the other subjects of the experiment. The lab began leaking reports of the pair's capabilities, which were in fact simple magic tricks.
|
||||
When rumors of the test subjects' connection to Randi reached Peter Phillips, head of the MacLab, he instituted tighter protocols for the experiments; the two subjects' results declined sharply. In 1983, Randi held a press conference to expose the deception in the wake of Project Alpha, as there were a number of controversies about the ethics of interference in scientific research and the validity of paranormal research as it then existed. It remains a watershed event in the field of parapsychology.
|
||||
|
||||
== McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research ==
|
||||
In the 1970s, James Smith McDonnell, board chairman of McDonnell Douglas and believer in the paranormal, approached Washington University in St. Louis with plans to set up a permanent PSI research facility. Eventually, physicist Peter Phillips, who was also interested in the field, agreed to lead a parapsychology lab at the school. Phillips had degrees in physics from both Cambridge University and Stanford University. In 1979, McDonnell arranged a US$500,000 grant for the establishment and five years operation of the McDonnell Laboratory for Psychical Research, or MacLab for short. Phillips was most interested in spoon bending, also known as "psychokinetic metal bending", or PKMB.
|
||||
|
||||
== Experiment ==
|
||||
In response to the announcement of this venture, James Randi wrote to the lab with a list of 11 pitfalls and his suggestions on how to avoid them. These suggestions included a rigid adherence to the protocol of the test, so that the subjects would not be allowed to change it during the run. In writing about Project Alpha, he cited Uri Geller, who had changed protocols during tests at Stanford Research Institute. Whenever something did not work, Geller simply did something else instead, which the researchers then reported as evidence of a successful experimental result. Other suggestions from Randi included using only one test object at a time, and permanently marking the object or objects used so they could not be switched with similar objects. He also suggested having as few people in the room as possible to avoid distractions. In addition, Randi offered his services to watch the experiments, noting that a conjurer would be an excellent person to look for fakery. According to Michael Thalbourne, Phillips did not take Randi up on the offer because of the magician's reputation of being "a showman rather than an unprejudiced critic" and his perceived hostility towards psychic claimants. However, on April 1, 1982, Randi awarded Phillips a Straight Spoon award for reconsidering his position on loose controls after what Randi called a "less-than-enthusiastic reception" for his presentation at the 1981 Parapsychological Association conference.
|
||||
While testing applicants, the lab started to focus its energies on two young men, Steve Shaw and Mike Edwards, who were much more successful than other applicants. In fact, the two young men were magicians who had each independently contacted Randi when the opening of the laboratory was announced. They offered to participate as test subjects with Randi's support. Part of Randi's instructions to these men was to tell the truth if ever asked whether they were faking the results. According to Randi, they were never asked this question directly; according to a Washington University spokesman, Fred Volkmann, "Such a confrontation did occur and [Edwards and Shaw] did not own up." Shaw and Edwards recall that they were not asked whether they worked with Randi, but simply told there were rumors to that effect.
|
||||
22
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)-1.md
Normal file
22
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)-1.md
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@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Project Alpha (hoax)"
|
||||
chunk: 2/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:56.533475+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Steven Shaw and Michael Edwards ==
|
||||
When the establishment of the laboratory was announced, Mike Edwards, 18, and Steven Shaw, 17, now known as Banachek, both magicians, each contacted Randi independently with a plan. They proposed to use their skills to deceive the researchers with tricks during the first stages of the investigations. They were chosen as test subjects and the hoax began.
|
||||
The project had originally started with spoon bending, so the two quickly developed a way to accomplish this. Contrary to one of the caveats Randi noted in his letter, the test setup included not one, but many and various spoons, labeled with paper on a loop of string instead of any sort of permanent marking. When starting to bend a spoon, the two magicians would complain the labels were in the way and remove them. They would then simply switch the labels when putting them back and wait. The spoons were measured before and after the experiment, and since all sorts of spoons were used, simply switching the labels would produce different measurements, causing the scientist to believe that something paranormal had occurred. In other cases, they would drop one of the spoons in their lap and bend it below the table with one hand, while pretending to bend a spoon in their other hand, distracting the scientists.
|
||||
Because the studio was set up to allow people in front of the camera to see themselves on monitors, and the videotapes were available to be watched by anyone, the two used the video to critique their own performance. They would deliberately fail on their first attempt at a demonstration and then use the video to find out what was visible to the researchers and what was not. They would then modify their technique so it would not appear on video. Edwards found that one particular camera operator was on guard to capture any attempts at sleight of hand, so he picked the man to assist him in one experiment, and he was replaced by a less competent cameraman. This was also a breach of Randi's caveat of not letting subjects modify anything about the testing protocol; the test run should have been stopped at this point and recorded as a failure.
|
||||
|
||||
=== More experiments ===
|
||||
Edwards and Shaw were so successful at spoon bending that several other tests were invented. In one, they were given pictures in sealed envelopes and then asked to try to identify them from a list shown to them later. The two were left alone in a room with the envelopes. Although there was a possibility that they would peek, this was supposed to be controlled by examining the envelopes later. The envelopes were held closed with four staples, which the magicians simply pried open with their fingernails. They looked at the picture and then resealed the envelope by inserting the staples back into the same holes and forcing them closed by pressing them against the table.
|
||||
In another test, they were asked to influence the burnout point of a common fuse. After they were given a chance to work it with their mind, an increasing amount of current was run through the fuse until it blew. The two proved to have amazing abilities in this test after a few trials, eventually causing the fuses to blow immediately once they got used to it. In fact, they were palming the already blown fuses and then handing them back to the experimenters. They also found that pressing down on one end of the fuse in its holder, or just touching it briefly, caused the instruments to record unusual results that were interpreted by the experimenters as psi effects.
|
||||
In yet another instance, Shaw and Edwards were asked to move small objects in a sealed transparent globe, normally small bits of paper balanced on an edge. At first, they were unable to get anything to happen, but then noticed that the container was being removed to replace the object within. During one such event, they took the opportunity to roll up a small ball of metal foil and drop it into the circular ring cut into the surface of the table that held the globe. This introduced a small gap under one edge, which they could blow into to make the paper move. Other examples included their ability to make digital clocks stop working properly (Edwards put one into a microwave oven for a few seconds), or make images appear on film just by staring at the camera (Shaw spat on the lens).
|
||||
The researchers explained the inadequacies in experimental protocols by drawing a clear distinction between two different stages of an investigation: the exploratory, informal experiments and the formal experiments. During the exploratory phase, the researchers were simply trying to determine whether there was a phenomenon that could be worth further investigation. Later tests would have included the use of much more complicated protocols and expensive equipment. In this way, they were also trying to set up a comfortable, relaxed atmosphere that is believed to be conducive to psychic phenomena. It is during this stage that Shaw and Edwards were able to convince the researchers of their psychic abilities.
|
||||
|
||||
== Revelation and aftermath ==
|
||||
36
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)-2.md
Normal file
36
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)-2.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Project Alpha (hoax)"
|
||||
chunk: 3/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Alpha_(hoax)"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:56.533475+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Phillips decided to release a research brief at a workshop of the Parapsychological Association Convention in August 1981. According to the researchers' official version, in preparation Phillips also wrote to Randi to ask for a tape of fake metal-bending, which was to be shown alongside the recording of Shaw and Edwards. The researchers were looking for critical input from the parapsychology community and afterward released a revised abstract that reflected the received criticism.
|
||||
After the Project Alpha announcements in the press, Randi wrote to the lab again and stated that it was entirely possible the two were magicians using common sleight of hand to fool the researchers. He also started to leak stories that the two were his plants. The story had been widely circulated by the time the meeting was held the next month. Upon returning from the meeting, Phillips immediately changed the test protocols; Shaw and Edwards found that they were no longer able to fool the experimenters so easily, and in most cases, unable to fool them at all. During this time the lab started releasing additional reports that seriously toned down the success rate. In their own words, "We did not conclude that they must be frauds, but only that after extensive testing, they were not behaving nearly as psychically as they had led us to expect."
|
||||
According to Marcello Truzzi, Berthold E. Schwarz was the "chief victim of Project Alpha". Schwarz had written a monograph on Shaw's psychic powers which was withdrawn from publication. Truzzi adds "Dr. Schwarz first became involved with Shaw because Schwarz hoped that Shaw might be able to use PK to help his seriously ill daughter for whom no orthodox medical cure is available." Shaw states that he was unaware of this agenda of Dr. Schwarz.
|
||||
|
||||
== Ending ==
|
||||
In 1983, Randi decided to end the project and announced the entire affair in a press conference and to Discover magazine. At the press conference, Randi introduced the two subjects as psychics, and asked how they achieved their results to which Michael Edwards replied, "To be quite honest, we cheat."
|
||||
Martin Gardner referred to the hoax as a landmark. To counter accusations of unethical conduct on Randi's part, Gardner cites another similar case, that of the "discovery" of N-rays. Loyd Auerbach, noting the less than forty-eight hour notice given to the laboratory of Randi's press conference and the fact that Phillips was not invited to attend it, questioned whether Randi's motives were those of scientific research or showmanship.
|
||||
An internal memo of the United States Central Intelligence Agency accused Randi of "gross distortions". The memo was written "in anticipation of ... discussions with representatives of Congress" regarding CIA research into paranormal abilities, which was contracted to SRI International, and said "This recent adverse publicity to the field of parapsychology should not have any adverse impact on the GRILL FLAME Project".
|
||||
James S. McDonnell, who had provided the money to open the MacLab in 1979, died in on August 22, 1980. In 1985, with no funding forthcoming, the MacLab closed its doors.
|
||||
Randi viewed Project Alpha as "a great success" that "has resulted in some parapsychologists being more careful about their conclusions".
|
||||
|
||||
== Historiography ==
|
||||
In a 2023 series of their podcast World's Greatest Con, Brian Brushwood and Justin Robert Young, incorporating their interviews with those involved in Project Alpha including Shaw and Edwards, made a case that Shaw and Edwards were the ones who led the effort and Randi's involvement has been greatly exaggerated in service of a simpler narrative easy for the masses to understand.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Debunker
|
||||
Extrasensory perception
|
||||
List of scientific skeptics
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Project Alpha at Skeptic's Dictionary
|
||||
Project Alpha hoax Archived 2018-08-04 at the Wayback Machine at the website of Banachek.
|
||||
An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural
|
||||
Project Alpha Introduction Collection of papers at the website of the Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research.'
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Pâté de Foie Gras (short story)"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pâté_de_Foie_Gras_(short_story)"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:53.009473+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
"Pâté de Foie Gras" is a 1956 science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov, originally published by Astounding Science Fiction.
|
||||
Like Asimov's "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline", "Pâté de Foie Gras" is a scientific spoof article, updating one of Aesop's Fables, The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Plot ==
|
||||
A Department of Agriculture employee tells of the discovery on a farm in Texas of a goose that lays golden eggs, and how US government and academic researchers try to solve the mystery of the goose. While its eggs are valuable as pure gold, learning how the bird produces the metal is more important. After the scientists realize that the goose is unharmed despite the enzyme-catalyzed nuclear process that converts oxygen-18 to gold-197 producing gamma rays, they discover that it is immune to all radioactivity, converting any unstable isotope to a stable isotope. The goose is "the perfect defense against the atomic age", one researcher observes; large-scale industrial reproduction of its biological transmutation process would ease nuclear waste disposal and defend against radioactive fallout, and modifying the mechanism would produce any element as needed.
|
||||
The bird poses a dilemma, however. A biopsy of the liver provides no useful results; to learn more, it will be necessary to dissect an intact liver and study developing embryos, but there is only one goose. Since its eggs contain a lot of gold, the bird cannot reproduce due to a heavy-metal poisoning. The narrator decides to contact Isaac Asimov—who is both an experienced writer and biochemist, and whose thiotimoline articles received much public attention—and have him write up the story, soliciting the readers of Astounding for ideas.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Solution ==
|
||||
In a commentary on the story, Asimov wrote that it was his intention for there to be a single solution discoverable by the reader. The hint dropped in the story is the description of an experiment in which the goose's gold production goes up when it is given water enriched with oxygen-18, which would indicate a possible source of the gold produced. This implies that if the goose is maintained in a closed environment, it will convert all the oxygen-18 to gold, while still being able to breathe the predominant oxygen nuclide (oxygen-16). It will excrete all the gold in its eggs, at which point it can be expected to start producing fertile eggs.
|
||||
Advances in science have led to other proposed solutions, such as cloning the goose.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Publication history ==
|
||||
The story was first published in the September 1956 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It appeared in Asimov's 1957 science essay collection Only a Trillion, in his 1968 short story collection Asimov's Mysteries, and in The Complete Stories, Vol. 2. It also appeared in the anthology Where Do We Go from Here? edited by Asimov and in The Edge of Tomorrow.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Pâté de Foie Gras title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
|
||||
47
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Science_Library-0.md
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47
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Science_Library-0.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Radcliffe Science Library"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radcliffe_Science_Library"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:34.566727+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Radcliffe Science Library (RSL) is the main teaching and research science library at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Being officially part of the Bodleian Libraries, the library holds the Legal Deposit material for the sciences and is thus entitled to receive a copy of all British scientific publications.
|
||||
Since 2023 the library has shared its buildings with Reuben College.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== History ==
|
||||
The physician John Radcliffe died in 1714, leaving money in his will to establish the Radcliffe Observatory, the Radcliffe Infirmary and the Radcliffe Library, which was intended to contain "modern books in all faculties and languages, not in the Bodleian Library". The library's building on a site south of the Bodleian Library was completed in 1749 and is now known as the Radcliffe Camera.
|
||||
The scientific books housed in the Radcliffe Camera were transferred to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in 1861. A new Radcliffe Library building opened in 1901, on land next to the museum (on the corner of Parks Road and South Parks Road).
|
||||
In 1927, the library lost its independence, for financial efficiency becoming part of the Bodleian Library. The library took on its current name, the Radcliffe Science Library, and gained the right as a legal deposit library to receive a copy of all new British scientific publications.
|
||||
The building has doors with relief wood carvings by Don Potter, undertaken while he was studying with the sculptor Eric Gill.
|
||||
With the construction of a basement in the 1970s, part of the building was used to form The Hooke Library, a (separate) science lending library for undergraduates, which was named after Robert Hooke, a scientist who worked in Oxford. The Hooke Library housed its collection in the ground floor of the Abbot's Kitchen which was originally part of the University Museum and on the staircase at the eastern end of the Jackson Wing of the RSL. The area which housed the Hooke Library collection became part of the RSL, with the ground floor of the Abbot's Kitchen transformed into a refreshment area and a training room.
|
||||
Until 2007, the library was a reference library rather than a lending library. During 2007 the building and collection of the Hooke Library was integrated into the RSL.
|
||||
In December 2018 it was announced that the premises would be used as the basis of a new non-residential graduate college of the university, Reuben College, alongside the library. The library closed for refurbishment in December 2019 and reopened in October 2023.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== The building ==
|
||||
The RSL building consists of three parts, developed as expansion of the library was necessary:
|
||||
|
||||
The Jackson Wing, parallel to South Parks Road, is Grade II listed. Designed by Sir Thomas Jackson it opened in 1901. This wing housed parts of the RSL and previously housed part of the Hooke Library on the staircase at its east end. It is arranged over 3 floors, all above ground, and contained two reading rooms and administration offices.
|
||||
The Worthington Wing, parallel to Parks Road and also Grade II listed, was designed as an extension to the Jackson Wing in 1934 by Hubert Worthington. The wing extends to the north of the western end of the Jackson Wing and contained two reading rooms, on the first and second floors, and the library entrance hall on the ground floor.
|
||||
The Lankester Room and Main Stack, a two-storey extension under the lawn of the museum, built 1971–1974. The Lankester Room was a large reading room of the library containing the book collection. The stack contained additional storage for library materials.
|
||||
From 2023 the library occupies the second floors of the Jackson and Worthington buildings, the former Lankester room and stack are a museum Collections Teaching and Research Centre for the university and other spaces are used by Reuben College or shared.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Gallery ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Hassall, T. G. (1972). "Roman finds from the Radcliffe Science Library extension, Oxford, 1970-71" (PDF). Oxoniensia. 37: 38–50. Retrieved 28 April 2011.
|
||||
Information boards, concerning the 2007 transformation
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Media related to Radcliffe Science Library at Wikimedia Commons
|
||||
Radcliffe Science Library website
|
||||
@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/4
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_mercury"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:24:54.198267+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:57.782261+00:00"
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||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_mercury"
|
||||
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|
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|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:24:54.198267+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:57.782261+00:00"
|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_mercury"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:24:54.198267+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:57.782261+00:00"
|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_mercury"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:24:54.198267+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:30:57.782261+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Regional Planetary Image Facility"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_Planetary_Image_Facility"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:35.677978+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Regional Planetary Image Facilities (RPIFs) are planetary image and data libraries located throughout the United States and abroad that are funded by the host institutions. They once had funding from NASA. A network of these facilities was established in 1977 to maintain photographic and digital data as well as mission documentation.
|
||||
Each facility's general holding contains images and maps of planets and their satellites taken by solar system exploration spacecraft. These planetary image facilities are often open to the public. The facilities are primarily reference centers for browsing, studying, and selecting lunar and planetary photographic and cartographic materials. Experienced staff can assist scientists, educators, students, media, and the public in ordering materials for their own use.
|
||||
Since it was formally established, the network of RPIFs once numbered nine U.S. facilities and seven in other countries. The first RPIF to be established outside of the U.S. was in England in 1980 at the University College London (UCL), and since then RPIFs have been set up in Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, and Japan.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Resources and services offered ==
|
||||
The RPIFs store and maintain a variety of planetary data and imagery, making them unique resources covering decades of planetary science. Among the offerings are:
|
||||
|
||||
Digital and non-digital data and supporting documents from U.S. and foreign lunar and planetary missions flown since 1959
|
||||
The Earth Impact Database at the Canadian RPIF at the University of New Brunswick
|
||||
More than 10,000 planetary images from Earth-based telescopes, Photographic Lunar Atlas and Rectified Lunar Atlas at the University of Arizona Space Imagery Center
|
||||
A collection of near-infrared reflectance spectra of small areas of the lunar surface and 3-D Prints of Planetary Landscapes at the University of Hawaii RPIF
|
||||
An inventory of 120,000 United States Geological Survey (USGS) lunar and planetary maps at the USGS Astrogeology RPIF
|
||||
The Cornell University Meteorite Collection inventory at the Cornell University RPIF
|
||||
An extensive collection of online maps, publications, and outreach tools maintained by the Lunar and Planetary Institute RPIF
|
||||
The Ronald Greeley Center for Planetary Studies (RGCPS), the Arizona State University RPIF, holds over 200,000 images and negatives from planetary missions, from the Lunar Orbiters of the 1960s to the Galileo mission to Jupiter that ended in the early 2000s.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Official website
|
||||
Locations
|
||||
Die Welt der Planeten im Bild
|
||||
35
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinogradentia-0.md
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35
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Rhinogradentia"
|
||||
chunk: 1/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinogradentia"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:01.299956+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Rhinogradentia is a fictitious order of extinct shrew-like mammals invented by German zoologist Gerolf Steiner. Members of the order, known as rhinogrades or snouters, are characterized by a nose-like feature called a "nasorium", which evolved to fulfill a wide variety of functions in different species. Steiner also created a fictional persona, naturalist Harald Stümpke, who is credited as author of the 1961 book Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia (translated into English in 1967 as The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades). According to Steiner, it is the only remaining record of the animals, which were wiped out, along with all the world's Rhinogradentia researchers, when the small Pacific archipelago they inhabited sank into the ocean due to nearby atomic bomb testing.
|
||||
Successfully mimicking a genuine scientific work, Rhinogradentia has appeared in several publications without any note of its fictitious nature, sometimes in connection with April Fools' Day.
|
||||
|
||||
== Background ==
|
||||
Rhinogradentia, their island home of Hy-yi-yi, zoologist Harald Stümpke, and a host of other people, places, and documents are fictional creations of Gerolf Steiner (1908–2009), a German zoologist. Steiner is best known for his fictional work as Stümpke, but he was an accomplished zoologist in his own right. He held a professorship at the University of Heidelberg and later the Technical University of Karlsruhe, where he occupied the department chair from 1962 to 1973.
|
||||
Steiner was also interested in illustration, and in 1945 drew a picture for one of his students as thanks for some food. He took inspiration from a short nonsense poem by Christian Morgenstern, The Nasobame (Das Nasobēm) about an animal that walked using its nose. He took to the drawing, made a copy for himself, and later incorporated the creatures into his teaching. According to Bud Webster, Steiner's motivation for writing a book about them was instructional, to illustrate "how animals evolve in isolation", but Joe Cain speculates that the success of the joke may have led to a teaching and writing career based on that rather than the other way around.
|
||||
|
||||
== Harald Stümpke's account ==
|
||||
Steiner's fictional author, credited as "quondam curator of the Museum of the Darwin Institute of Hy-yi-yi, Mairuwili", provides a very detailed account of the order and individual species, written in a dry, scholarly tone. Michael Ohl wrote that the book is written "in truly amusing attention to detail and using what is immediately recognizable as a practiced scientific patois". The evidently expert voice of the author, his competent writing, and apparent familiarity with conventions of academic literature set the work apart as a rare example at the intersection of fiction and scholarship. Steiner credits himself by name as illustrator of the book, and explains how that role led him to possess the only remaining record of Rhinogradentia.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Discovery and study at Hy-yi-yi ===
|
||||
According to Stümpke, Rhinogradentia were native to Hy-yi-yi, a small Pacific archipelago comprising eighteen islands: Annoorussawubbissy, Awkoavussa, Hiddudify, Koavussa, Lowlukha, Lownunnoia, Mara, Miroovilly, Mittuddinna, Naty, Nawissy, Noorubbissy, Osovitissy, Ownavussa, Owsuddowsa, Shanelukha, Towteng-Awko, and Vinsy. The islands occupied 1,690 km2 (650 sq mi) and the archipelago's highest peak, 2,230 m (7,320 ft), was on its main island, Hiddudify (Hy-dud-dye-fee).
|
||||
The first description of Hy-yi-yi published in Europe was that of Einar Pettersson-Skämtkvist, a Swedish explorer who arrived in Hiddudify by chance in 1941, after escaping from a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. Each of the islands was home to distinctive fauna, dominated by Rhinogradentia, the only mammals other than humans and one species of shrew. In the time after the war, a number of scientists took interest in the rhinogrades and began formal research into their physiology, morphology, behaviors, and evolution.
|
||||
In the late 1950s, nearby nuclear weapons testing by the United States military accidentally caused all of the islands of Hy-yi-yi to sink into the ocean, destroying all traces of the rhinogrades and their unique ecosystem. Also killed were all the world's Rhinogradentia researchers, who were attending a conference on Hy-yi-yi at the time. The book's epilogue, credited to Steiner in his capacity as the book's illustrator, explains that Stümpke had sent the book's materials to Steiner to serve as the basis for illustrations in preparation for publication. Following the disaster, it is the only remaining record of the subjects it describes.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Biological characteristics and behavior ===
|
||||
|
||||
Rhinogrades are mammals characterized by a nose-like feature called a "nasorium", the form and function of which vary significantly between species. According to Stümpke, the order's remarkable variety was the natural outcome of evolution acting over millions of years in the remote Hy-yi-yi islands. All the 14 families and 189 known snouter species descended from a small shrew-like animal, which gradually evolved and diversified to fill most of the ecological niches in the archipelago — from tiny worm-like beings to large herbivores and predators.
|
||||
Many rhinogrades used their nose for locomotion, for example the "snout leapers" like Hopsorrhinus aureus, whose nasorium was used for jumping, or the "earwings" like Otopteryx, which flew backwards by flapping its ears and used its nose as a rudder. Some species used their nasorium for catching food, for example by using it to fish or to attract and trap insects. Other species included the fierce Tyrannonasus imperator and the shaggy Mammontops.
|
||||
Pettersson-Skämtkvist's early descriptions of the animals he encountered on Hy-yi-yi led zoologists to name them after the title creature in Christian Morgenstern's The Nasobame. In the poem, which exists outside of this fictional universe and also served as an inspiration for Steiner, the Nasobame is seen "striding on its noses" (auf seinen Nasen schreitet).
|
||||
|
||||
=== Genera ===
|
||||
Stümpke's book classifies 138 species of rhinograde in the following fictitious genera:
|
||||
|
||||
The names generally refer to particular forms or functions of the nasorium of animals in that genus, typically providing vernacular names for clarity.
|
||||
44
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinogradentia-1.md
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44
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Rhinogradentia"
|
||||
chunk: 2/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinogradentia"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:01.299956+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Publication history ==
|
||||
Steiner's books as Stümpke have been translated into other languages, sometimes crediting other names based on the country of publication. "Harald Stümpke", "Massimo Pandolfi", "Hararuto Shutyunpuke", and "Karl D. S. Geeste" are pseudonyms. Translator names are real.
|
||||
|
||||
Stümpke, Harald (1957). Bau und Leben der Rhinogradentia. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag. ISBN 3-437-30083-0. OCLC 65616734.
|
||||
Stümpke, Harald (1962). Anatomie et Biologie des Rhinogrades — Un Nouvel Ordre de Mammifères (Trans. Robert Weill). Paris: Masson. ISBN 978-2-10-005449-7. OCLC 46829688.
|
||||
Stümpke, Harald (1967). The Snouters: Form and Life of the Rhinogrades (Trans. Leigh Chadwick). Garden City, NY: The Natural History Press. OCLC 436148.
|
||||
Pandolfi, Massimo (1992). I Rinogradi di Harald Stümpke e la zoologia fantastica (Trans. Achaz von Hardenberg). Padua: Franco Muzzio. ISBN 88-7021-485-0. OCLC 875787215.
|
||||
Shutyunpuke, Hararuto (1997). Bikōri: atarashiku-hakken-sareta-honyūrui-no-kōzō-to-seikatsu. Tokyo: Hakuhinsha. ISBN 4-938706-19-9. OCLC 76500640.
|
||||
Geeste, Karl D. S. (1988). Stümpke's Rhinogradentia: Versuch einer Analyse. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag. ISBN 3-437-30597-2. OCLC 28345723.
|
||||
|
||||
== Legacy ==
|
||||
|
||||
Rhinogradentia is considered one of the best known biological hoaxes and scientific jokes and Steiner's pseudonymous works on the subject continue to be reprinted and translated. The first edition did not explicitly state that it was a hoax.
|
||||
Following the publication of the French translation, George Gaylord Simpson wrote a seemingly serious review which extended the hoax in a 1963 issue of the journal Science, taking issue with the way Stümpke named the animals as "criminal violations of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature". Simpson also noted that Stümpke neglected to include an unrelated mathematical concept, a "rotated matrix".
|
||||
Since the book's original publication several scientists and publishers have written about Rhinogradentia as though Steiner's account were true, though it is unclear how many of those who continued and popularized the joke did so intentionally. Wulf Ankle wrote that the order "is not a poetic invention, but has really lived". Rolf Siewing's Zoology Primer lists them as an order of mammal, noting that their existence is doubted. Erich von Holst celebrated the discovery of "a completely new animal world". Timothy E. Lawlor's widely read textbook Handbook to the Orders and Families of Living Mammals includes an entry for Rhinogradentia that does not acknowledge its fictional nature. The East German Liberal-Demokratische Zeitung took note of the nuclear demise of the rhinogrades, writing that they would still be alive "had we, the peaceable powers, managed in time to implement widespread disarmament and prohibit the production and testing of nuclear weapons."
|
||||
|
||||
Prior to the publication of Leigh Chadwick's English translation, an abbreviated version ran in the April 1967 edition of Natural History, a magazine published by the American Museum of Natural History. It comprised material from the book's introduction, first chapter, selected descriptions of genera, and the epilogue, and was presented as the lead story, without qualification, by the normally serious publication. The following month, The New York Times ran a story about the snouters on the front page, based on the Natural History article. According to the magazine's editorial director, they had "received more than 100 letters and telegraphs about the snouters, most of them from people who forgot that the article was published on April Fool's Day." Natural History printed several letters to the editor in its June–July issue, and conveyed to the Times the content of several more, ranging from skeptical to fascinated and continuations of the joke. One reader, entomologist Alice Gray, expressed thanks for the article, which enabled her family to identify an animal-shaped metal bracelet from the South Pacific as having been modeled after a "Hoop Snouter", and included a drawing to preserve the record because, she said, it had been melted down with some toy soldiers and a spoon by a young cousin with a new casting set.
|
||||
Decades later, papers are still published purporting to continue Stümpke's research or otherwise paying homage to Steiner's hoax. In a 2004 paper in the Russian Journal of Marine Biology, authors Kashkina & Bukashkina claim to have discovered two new marine genera: Dendronasus and an as yet unnamed parasitic taxon. The Max Planck Institute for Limnology announced a new species discovered in the Großer Plöner See. On April Fools' Day in 2012, the National Museum of Natural History in France announced the discovery of a wood-eating termite-like genus, Nasoperferator, with a rotating nose resembling a drill.
|
||||
Rhinogradentia has been included in a number of museum exhibitions and collections. The National Museum of Natural History's Nasoperferator announcement was accompanied by a two-month exhibit honoring the animals, featuring purported stuffed specimens in its gallery of extinct species. Mock taxidermies of rhinogrades have also been included in an exhibit at the Musée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel, and in the permanent collections of the Musée zoologique de la ville de Strasbourg and the Salzburg Haus der Natur.
|
||||
Three real species have been named after Steiner and Stümpke: Rhinogradentia steineri, a snout moth, Hyorhinomys stuempkei, a shrew rat also known as the Sulawesi snouter, and Tateomys rhinogradoides, the Tate's shrew rat.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Caminalcules, another fictional group of animals introduced as a tool for understanding phylogenetics
|
||||
Codex Seraphinianus
|
||||
Eoörnis pterovelox gobiensis – an older biological hoax, a fictional bird
|
||||
Fictitious entry
|
||||
Lists of fictional species
|
||||
Pacific Northwest tree octopus
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
|
||||
Les Rhinogrades (in French)
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_National_Public_Library_for_Science_and_Technology"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:36.875920+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Russian National Public Library for Science and Technology (Russian: Государственная Публичная Научно-Техническая Библиотека России, romanized: Gosudarstvennaya Publichnaya Nauchno-Tekhnicheskaya Biblioteka Rossii), abbreviated GPNTB (Russian: ГПНТБ) is a national library for engineering, science, and technology in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1958 on the basis of the State Science Library of the Ministry of Higher Education of the Soviet Union. It is located in Khoroshyovsky district of Moscow.
|
||||
The mission of the library is to collect and store national and foreign science and technical literature, then disseminate information and bibliographical services for commercial, organisations and other institutions of the Russian Federation, development and application of up-to-date automated information technologies.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
List of libraries in Russia
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Official website
|
||||
39
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCIgen-0.md
Normal file
39
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCIgen-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "SCIgen"
|
||||
chunk: 1/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCIgen"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:03.709962+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
SCIgen is a paper generator that uses context-free grammar to randomly generate nonsense in the form of computer science research papers. Its original data source was a collection of computer science papers downloaded from CiteSeer. All elements of the papers are formed, including graphs, diagrams, and citations. Created by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, its stated aim is "to maximize amusement, rather than coherence." Originally created in 2005 to expose the lack of scrutiny of submissions to conferences, the generator subsequently became used, primarily by Chinese academics, to create large numbers of fraudulent conference submissions, leading to the retraction of 122 SCIgen generated papers and the creation of detection software to combat its use.
|
||||
|
||||
== Sample output ==
|
||||
Opening abstract of Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy:
|
||||
|
||||
Many physicists would agree that, had it not been for congestion control, the evaluation of web browsers might never have occurred. In fact, few hackers worldwide would disagree with the essential unification of voice-over-IP and public/private key pair. In order to solve this riddle, we confirm that SMPs can be made stochastic, cacheable, and interposable.
|
||||
|
||||
== Prominent results ==
|
||||
In 2005, a paper generated by SCIgen, Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy, was accepted as a non-reviewed paper to the 2005 World Multiconference on Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics (WMSCI) and the authors were invited to speak. The authors of SCIgen described their hoax on their website, and it soon received great publicity when picked up by Slashdot. WMSCI withdrew their invitation, but the SCIgen team went anyway, renting space in the hotel separately from the conference and delivering a series of randomly generated talks on their own "track". The organizer of these WMSCI conferences is Professor Nagib Callaos. From 2000 until 2005, the WMSCI was also sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The IEEE stopped granting sponsorship to Callaos from 2006 to 2008.
|
||||
|
||||
Submitting the paper was a deliberate attempt to embarrass WMSCI, which the authors claim accepts low-quality papers and sends unsolicited requests for submissions in bulk to academics. As the SCIgen website states: One useful purpose for such a program is to auto-generate submissions to conferences that you suspect might have very low submission standards. A prime example, which you may recognize from spam in your inbox, is SCI/IIIS and its dozens of co-located conferences (check out the very broad conference description on the WMSCI 2005 website).
|
||||
|
||||
Computing writer Stan Kelly-Bootle noted in ACM Queue that many sentences in the "Rooter" paper were individually plausible, which he regarded as posing a problem for automated detection of hoax articles. He suggested that even human readers might be taken in by the effective use of jargon ("The pun on root/router is par for MIT-graduate humor, and at least one occurrence of methodology is mandatory") and attribute the paper's apparent incoherence to their own limited knowledge. His conclusion was that "a reliable gibberish filter requires a careful holistic review by several peer domain experts".
|
||||
|
||||
=== Schlangemann ===
|
||||
The pseudonym "Herbert Schlangemann" was used to publish fake scientific articles in international conferences that claimed to practice peer review. The name is taken from the Swedish short film Der Schlangemann.
|
||||
|
||||
In 2008, in response to a series of Call-for-Paper e-mails, SCIgen was used to generate a false scientific paper titled Towards the Simulation of E-Commerce, using "Herbert Schlangemann" as the author. The article was accepted at the 2008 International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE 2008), co-sponsored by the IEEE, to be held in Wuhan, China, and the author was invited to be a session chair on grounds of his fictional Curriculum Vitae. The official review comment: "This paper presents cooperative technology and classical Communication. In conclusion, the result shows that though the much-touted amphibious algorithm for the refinement of randomized algorithms is impossible, the well-known client-server algorithm for the analysis of voice-over-IP by Kumar and Raman runs in _(n) time. The authors can clearly identify important features of visualization of DHTs and analyze them insightfully. It is recommended that the authors should develop ideas more cogently, organizes them more logically, and connects them with clear transitions." The paper was available for a short time in the IEEE Xplore Database, but was then removed. The entire story is described in the official "Herbert Schlangemann" blog, and it also received attention in Slashdot and the German-language technology-news site Heise Online.
|
||||
In 2009, the same incident happened and Herbert Schlangemann's latest fake paper PlusPug: A Methodology for the Improvement of Local-Area Networks was accepted for oral presentation at the 2009 International Conference on e-Business and Information System Security (EBISS 2009), also co-sponsored by IEEE, to be held again in Wuhan, China.
|
||||
In all cases, the published papers were withdrawn from the conferences' proceedings, and the conference organizing committee as well as the names of the keynote speakers were removed from their websites.
|
||||
|
||||
=== List of works with notable acceptance ===
|
||||
|
||||
==== In conferences ====
|
||||
|
||||
Rob Thomas: Rooter: A Methodology for the Typical Unification of Access Points and Redundancy, 2005 for WMSCI (see above)
|
||||
Mathias Uslar's paper was accepted to the IPSI-BG conference.
|
||||
Professor Genco Gulan published a paper in the 3rd International Symposium of Interactive Media Design.
|
||||
A 2013 scientometrics paper demonstrated that at least 85 SCIgen papers have been published by IEEE and Springer. Over 120 SCIgen papers were removed according to this research.
|
||||
41
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCIgen-1.md
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41
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCIgen-1.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "SCIgen"
|
||||
chunk: 2/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCIgen"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:03.709962+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
==== In journals ====
|
||||
Students at Iran's Sharif University of Technology published a paper in Elsevier's Journal of Applied Mathematics and Computation. The students wrote under the surname "MosallahNejad", which translates literally from Persian language (in spite of not being a traditional Persian name) as "from an Armed Breed". The paper was subsequently removed when the publishers were informed that it was a joke paper.
|
||||
Mikhail Gelfand published a translation of the "Rooter" article in the Russian-language Journal of Scientific Publications of Aspirants and Doctorants in August 2008. Gelfand was protesting against the journal, which was apparently not peer-reviewed and was being used by Russian PhD candidates to publish in an "accredited" scientific journal, charging them 4,000 Rubles to do so. The accreditation was revoked two weeks later. (See Dissernet for related information.)
|
||||
Springer Science+Business Media and IEEE were also the subject of similar pranks.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Spoofing Google Scholar and h-index calculators ===
|
||||
Refereeing performed on behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has also been subject to criticism after fake papers were discovered in conference publications, most notably by Labbé and a researcher using the pseudonym of Schlangemann.
|
||||
Cyril Labbé from Grenoble University demonstrated the vulnerability of h-index calculations based on Google Scholar output by feeding it a large set of SCIgen-generated documents that were citing each other, effectively an academic link farm, in a 2010 paper. Using this method the author managed to rank "Ike Antkare" ahead of Albert Einstein for instance.
|
||||
|
||||
=== 2013 retractions ===
|
||||
In 2013, over 122 published conference papers created by SCIgen were retracted by Springer and the IEEE. Unlike previous submissions that were intended to be pranks, this submission were largely made by Chinese academics, who were using SCIgen papers to boost their publication record.
|
||||
|
||||
=== SciDetect ===
|
||||
In 2015, SciDetect was released by Springer. This software, developed by Cyril Labbé, is designed to automatically detect papers generated by SCIgen.
|
||||
|
||||
=== 2021 report ===
|
||||
In 2021, a study was published on 243 SCIgen papers that had been published in the academic literature. They found that SCIgen papers made up 75 per million papers (< 0.01%) in information science, and that only a small fraction of the detected papers had been dealt with.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Ball, Philip (2005). "Computer conference welcomes gobbledegook paper". Nature. 434 (7036): 946. Bibcode:2005Natur.434..946B. doi:10.1038/nature03653. PMID 15846311.
|
||||
kdawson (24 December 2008). "Software-Generated Paper Accepted At IEEE Conference". Slashdot. VA Linux Systems Japan. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
|
||||
Peter-Michael Ziegler (26 December 2008). "Dr. Herbert Schlangemann - oder die Geschichte eines pseudowissenschaftlichen Nonsens-Papiers (in German)". Heise Online. Heise Zeitschriften Verlag. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Copy of the fake paper: Towards the Simulation of E-Commerce by Herbert Schlangemann
|
||||
SCIgen - An Automatic CS Paper Generator
|
||||
SCIgen detection website
|
||||
17
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal-0.md
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17
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|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
chunk: 1/4
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:02.514203+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
German physicist Jan Hendrik Schön (born August 1970 in Verden an der Aller, Lower Saxony, West Germany) briefly rose to prominence after a series of apparently successful experiments with semiconductors that were discovered later to be fraudulent. Before he was exposed, Schön had received the Otto-Klung-Weberbank Prize for Physics and the Braunschweig Prize in 2001, as well as the Outstanding Young Investigator Award of the Materials Research Society in 2002, all of which were later rescinded. He was also supposed to receive the William L. McMillan Award from the University of Illinois in 2002, but due to the intervention of Daniel C. Ralph of Cornell University (who was on the committee of the McMillan Award), Schön was never given the award.
|
||||
The scandal provoked discussion in the scientific community about the degree of responsibility which coauthors and reviewers of scientific articles bear in cases of scientific misbehavior. The discussion mainly concerned whether peer review, traditionally designed to find errors and determine relevance and originality of articles, should also be required to detect deliberate fraud.
|
||||
|
||||
== Beginning of fame ==
|
||||
Schön's topic of research was condensed matter physics and nanotechnology. He received his PhD from the University of Konstanz in 1997. During late 1997, he was hired by Bell Labs, where he worked on electronics in which conventional semiconducting elements (such as silicon) were replaced by crystalline organic (meaning carbon-based) materials. Schön, however, claimed spectacular ability for changing the conductivity of the organic materials, well beyond anything achieved to date. His measurements in most cases confirmed various theoretical predictions, notably that the organic materials could be made to display superconductivity or be used in lasers. The findings were published in prominent scientific publications, including the journals Science and Nature, and gained worldwide attention. However, no research group anywhere in the world succeeded in reproducing the results claimed by Schön.
|
||||
In 2001, he was listed as an author on an average of one newly published research paper every eight days. In the same year, he announced in Nature that he had produced a transistor on the molecular scale. Schön claimed to have used a thin layer of organic dye molecules to assemble an electric circuit that, when acted on by an electric current, behaved as a transistor. The implications of his work were significant. It would have been the beginning of a transition from using silicon-based electronics and toward using organic electronics. It would have allowed the continued miniaturization of transistors past the point at which silicon breaks down, which would continue Moore's law for much longer than was then predicted. It also would have drastically reduced the cost of electronics.
|
||||
A major element of Schön's work claimed that successful observation of various physical phenomena in organic materials was dependent on the transistor setup. Specifically, Schön claimed to use a thin layer of aluminium oxide which he incorporated into his transistors using laboratory facilities at the University of Konstanz. However, while the equipment and materials used were common in laboratories all over the world, none succeeded in preparing aluminium oxide layers of similar quality to the ones claimed by Schön.
|
||||
25
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal-1.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Schön scandal"
|
||||
chunk: 2/4
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:02.514203+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Allegations and investigation ==
|
||||
Soon after Schön published his work on single-molecule semiconductors, others in the physics community alleged that his data contained anomalies. Julia Hsu and Lynn Loo originally noticed problems with Schön's paper describing the assembly of molecular transistors while attempting to patent research concerning lithography, realizing that Schön had duplicated some numbers. Hsu and Loo had attempted initial experiments to gather evidence for their patent but relied on the scientific outcomes of Schön's work. It was not until April 19, 2002, when Loo and Hsu were meeting with their patent lawyer John McCabe, that they noticed the duplicated data. Hsu and Loo both contacted Robert Willett, who then contacted one of his old postdoctoral students, Lydia Sohn, telling her to look out for a correction in one of Schön's papers. Sohn, then of Princeton University, noticed that two experiments carried out at very different temperatures had identical noise. When the editors of Nature mentioned this to Schön, he claimed to have accidentally submitted the same graph twice. Paul McEuen of Cornell University then found the same noise in a paper describing a third experiment. More research by McEuen, Sohn, Loo, and other physicists revealed a number of examples of duplicate data in Schön's work. McEuen gathered the six most convincing pieces of evidence regarding Schön's fabrication of data he could find, and sent it to Schön, John A. Rogers, Bertram Batlogg, and editors from the journals Science and Nature. In response, Lucent Technologies (which managed Bell Labs) soon began a formal investigation.
|
||||
During May 2002, Bell Labs established a five-person committee to investigate, with Malcolm R. Beasley from Stanford University as chair. The remaining four members were Supriyo Datta of Purdue University, Herwig Kogelnik of Bell Labs, Herbert Kroemer of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Don Monroe of Agere Systems. The committee obtained information from all of Schön's coauthors and interviewed the three principal ones (Zhenan Bao, Bertram Batlogg and Christian Kloc). The committee found that none of the three authors ever saw Schön take measurements from his devices in real time. It examined electronic drafts of the disputed articles, which included processed numeric data. The committee requested copies of the raw data, but found that Schön had kept no laboratory notebooks. His raw data files had been erased from his computer. According to Schön, the files were erased because his computer had limited hard drive space. Additionally, all of his experimental samples, working, and non-working devices had either been discarded or damaged beyond repair, so the committee was unable to conduct examinations of those.
|
||||
On September 25, 2002, the committee released its report publicly. The report contained details of 24 allegations of misconduct on Schön's part. They found evidence of scientific misconduct in at least 16 of them, while the remaining 8 were either unrelated to publications or were "troubling", but lacked compelling evidence of misconduct. They found that whole data sets had been reused for a number of different experiments. They also found that some of his graphs, which had purportedly been plotted from experimental data, had instead been produced using mathematical functions.
|
||||
The report found that all of the misdeeds had been performed by Schön alone. All of the coauthors (including Bertram Batlogg, who was the head of the team) were exonerated of scientific misconduct. However, the report was critical of whether or not the coauthors were sufficiently critical in questioning and validating the results of Schön's papers. This caused widespread debate in the scientific community on how the blame for misconduct should be distributed among co-authors, particularly when they share a significant part of the credit.
|
||||
|
||||
== Aftermath and sanctions ==
|
||||
Schön acknowledged that the data were incorrect in many of these articles. He claimed that the substitutions could have occurred by honest mistake. He omitted some data and stated that he did so to show more convincing evidence for behavior that he observed. However, he also claimed that he had observed genuine physical effects.
|
||||
Researchers at Delft University of Technology and the Thomas J. Watson Research Center had since performed experiments similar to Schön's, without achieving similar results. Even before the allegations had become public, several research groups had tried to reproduce most of his spectacular results with respect to the topic of the physics of organic molecular materials, without success.
|
||||
In June 2004, the University of Konstanz issued a press release stating that Schön's doctoral degree had been revoked due to "dishonourable conduct". Department of Physics spokesman Wolfgang Dieterich termed the affair the "biggest fraud in physics in the last 50 years" and said that the "credibility of science had been brought into disrepute". Schön appealed the ruling, but on October 28, 2009, it was upheld by the university. In response, Schön sued the University of Konstanz and appeared in court to testify on September 23, 2010. The court overturned the decision on September 27, 2010. However, in November 2010 the university acted to appeal the court's ruling. The state court ruled in September 2011 that the university was correct in revoking his doctorate. The Federal Administrative Court sustained the state court's decision in July 2013, and the Federal Constitutional Court confirmed it in September 2014. The FCC declined to hear Schön's further complaint.
|
||||
In October 2004, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, the German Research Foundation) Joint Committee announced sanctions against him. Schön was deprived of his right to vote in DFG elections or serve on DFG committees for an eight-year period. During that period, Schön was also unable to serve as a peer reviewer or apply for DFG funds.
|
||||
Following the scandal, Schön returned to Germany and accepted a job with a company as a process engineer.
|
||||
|
||||
== Withdrawn journal articles ==
|
||||
On October 31, 2002, Science withdrew eight articles written by Schön:
|
||||
52
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal-2.md
Normal file
52
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal-2.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Schön scandal"
|
||||
chunk: 3/4
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:02.514203+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
J. H. Schön; S. Berg; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2000). "Ambipolar Pentacene Field-Effect Transistors and Inverters". Science. 287 (5455): 1022–3. Bibcode:2000Sci...287.1022S. doi:10.1126/science.287.5455.1022. PMID 10669410. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.298.5595.961b, PMID 12416506)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; R. C. Haddon; B. Batlogg (2000). "A Superconducting Field-Effect Switch". Science. 288 (5466): 656–8. doi:10.1126/science.288.5466.656. PMID 10784445. S2CID 37783357. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.298.5595.961b, PMID 12416506)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2000). "Fractional Quantum Hall Effect in Organic Molecular Semiconductors". Science. 288 (5475): 2338–40. doi:10.1126/science.288.5475.2338. PMID 17769842. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.298.5595.961b, PMID 12416506)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; A. Dodabalapur; B. Batlogg (2000). "An Organic Solid State Injection Laser". Science. 289 (5479): 599–601. Bibcode:2000Sci...289..599S. doi:10.1126/science.289.5479.599. PMID 10915617. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.298.5595.961b, PMID 12416506)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2000). "A Light-Emitting Field-Effect Transistor". Science. 290 (5493): 963–6. Bibcode:2000Sci...290..963S. doi:10.1126/science.290.5493.963. PMID 11062124. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.298.5595.961b, PMID 12416506)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; H. Y. Hwang; B. Batlogg (2001). "Josephson Junctions with Tunable Weak Links". Science. 292 (5515): 252–4. doi:10.1126/science.1058812. PMID 11303093. S2CID 38719808. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.298.5595.961b, PMID 12416506)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; A. Dodabalapur; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2001). "High-Temperature Superconductivity in Lattice-Expanded C60". Science. 293 (5539): 2432–4. Bibcode:2001Sci...293.2432S. doi:10.1126/science.1064773. PMID 11533443. S2CID 28759665. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.298.5595.961b, PMID 12416506)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; A. Dodabalapur; B. Batlogg (2001). "Field-Effect Modulation of the Conductance of Single Molecules". Science. 294 (5549): 2138–40. doi:10.1126/science.1066171. PMID 11701891. S2CID 21937245. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.298.5595.961b, PMID 12416506)
|
||||
On December 20, 2002, Physical Review withdrew six articles written by Schön:
|
||||
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2001). "Hole transport in pentacene single crystals". Physical Review B. 63 (24) 245201. Bibcode:2001PhRvB..63x5201S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.63.245201. (Retracted, see doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.66.249903)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; R. Laudise; B. Batlogg (1998). "Electrical properties of single crystals of rigid rodlike conjugated molecules". Physical Review B. 58 (19): 12952–12957. Bibcode:1998PhRvB..5812952S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.58.12952. (Retracted, see doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.66.249904)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2000). "Mobile iodine dopants in organic semiconductors". Physical Review B. 61 (16): 10803–10806. Bibcode:2000PhRvB..6110803S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.61.10803. (Retracted, see doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.66.249905)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; D. Fichou; B. Batlogg (2001). "Conjugation length dependence of the charge transport in oligothiophene single crystals". Physical Review B. 64 (3) 035209. Bibcode:2001PhRvB..64c5209S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.64.035209. (Retracted, see doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.66.249906)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2001). "Low-temperature transport in high-mobility polycrystalline pentacene field-effect transistors". Physical Review B. 63 (12) 125304. Bibcode:2001PhRvB..63l5304S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.63.125304. (Retracted, see doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.66.249907)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2001). "Universal Crossover from Band to Hopping Conduction in Molecular Organic Semiconductors". Physical Review Letters. 86 (17): 3843–6. Bibcode:2001PhRvL..86.3843S. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.3843. PMID 11329338. (Retracted, see doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.289902, PMID 12557900, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
On February 24, 2003, Applied Physics Letters withdrew four articles written by Schön:
|
||||
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Z. Bao (2002). "Nanoscale organic transistors based on self-assembled monolayers". Applied Physics Letters. 80 (5): 847. Bibcode:2002ApPhL..80..847S. doi:10.1063/1.1445804. (Retracted, see doi:10.1063/1.1553995)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; C. Kloc (2001). "Fast organic electronic circuits based on ambipolar pentacene field-effect transistors". Applied Physics Letters. 79 (24): 4043. Bibcode:2001ApPhL..79.4043S. doi:10.1063/1.1426684. (Retracted, see doi:10.1063/1.1556138)
|
||||
J. H. Schön (2001). "Plastic Josephson junctions". Applied Physics Letters. 79 (4): 2208–2210. Bibcode:2001ApPhL..79.2208S. doi:10.1063/1.1408277. (Retracted, see doi:10.1063/1.1556139, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; C. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2000). "Perylene: A promising organic field-effect transistor material". Applied Physics Letters. 77 (23): 3776. Bibcode:2000ApPhL..77.3776S. doi:10.1063/1.1329634. (Retracted, see doi:10.1063/1.1556140)
|
||||
On March 5, 2003, Nature withdrew seven articles written by Schön:
|
||||
|
||||
J. H. Schön; M. Dorget; F. C. Beuran; X. Z. Zu; E. Arushanov; C. Deville Cavellin; M. Laguës (2001). "Superconductivity in CaCuO2 as a result of field-effect doping". Nature. 414 (6862): 434–6. Bibcode:2001Natur.414..434S. doi:10.1038/35106539. PMID 11719801. S2CID 4389580. (Retracted, see doi:10.1038/nature01462, PMID 12621438, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; T. Siegrist; M. Steigerwald; C. Svensson; B. Batlogg (2001). "Superconductivity in single crystals of the fullerene C70". Nature. 413 (6858): 831–3. Bibcode:2001Natur.413..831S. doi:10.1038/35101577. PMID 11677603. S2CID 4317548. (Retracted, see doi:10.1038/nature01463, PMID 12621439, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; H. Meng; Z. Bao (2001). "Self-assembled monolayer organic field-effect transistors". Nature. 413 (6857): 713–6. Bibcode:2001Natur.413..713S. doi:10.1038/35099520. PMID 11607026. S2CID 4409433. (Retracted, see doi:10.1038/nature01464, PMID 12621440, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; A. Dodabalapur; Z. Bao; Ch. Kloc; O. Schenker; B. Batlogg (2001). "Gate-induced superconductivity in a solution-processed organic polymer film". Nature. 410 (6825): 189–92. Bibcode:2001Natur.410..189S. doi:10.1038/35065565. PMID 11242074. S2CID 205014750. (Retracted, see doi:10.1038/nature01465, PMID 12621441, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2000). "Superconductivity at 52 K in hole-doped C60". Nature. 408 (6812): 549–52. Bibcode:2000Natur.408..549S. doi:10.1038/35046008. PMID 11117735. S2CID 4396847. (Retracted, see doi:10.1038/nature01466, PMID 12621442, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2000). "Superconductivity in molecular crystals induced by charge injection". Nature. 406 (6797): 702–4. Bibcode:2000Natur.406..702S. doi:10.1038/35021011. PMID 10963589. S2CID 207845002. (Retracted, see doi:10.1038/nature01467, PMID 12621443)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; E. Bucher; B. Batlogg (2000). "Efficient organic photovoltaic diodes based on doped pentacene". Nature. 403 (6768): 408–10. Bibcode:2000Natur.403..408S. doi:10.1038/35000172. PMID 10667788. S2CID 4391485. (Retracted, see doi:10.1038/nature01468, PMID 12621444)
|
||||
On March 20, 2003, Advanced Materials withdrew two articles written by Schön:
|
||||
|
||||
J. H. Schön; H. Meng; Z. Bao (2002). "Self-Assembled Monolayer Transistors". Advanced Materials. 14 (4): 323–326. doi:10.1002/1521-4095(20020219)14:4<323::AID-ADMA323>3.0.CO;2-5. (Retracted)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; C. Kloc; J. Wildeman; G. Hadziinoannou (2001). "Gate-Induced Superconductivity in Oligophenylenevinylene Single Crystals". Advanced Materials. 13 (16): 1273–1274. doi:10.1002/1521-4095(200108)13:16<1273::AID-ADMA1273>3.0.CO;2-P. (Retracted)
|
||||
On May 2, 2003, Science withdrew two more articles written by Schön:
|
||||
|
||||
J. H. Schön; M. Dorget; F. C. Beuran; X. Z. Xu; E. Arushanov; M. Laguës; C. Deville Cavellin (2001). "Field-Induced Superconductivity in a Spin-Ladder Cuprate". Science. 293 (5539): 2430–2. Bibcode:2001Sci...293.2430S. doi:10.1126/science.1064204. PMID 11577230. S2CID 31378437. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.300.5620.737c, PMID 12730577)
|
||||
J. H. Schön; E. G. Emberly; G. Kirczenow (2002). "A Single Molecular Spin Valve". Science. 296 (5567). doi:10.1126/science.1070563. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.300.5620.737b, PMID 12730576)
|
||||
|
||||
== Further questionable journal articles ==
|
||||
The retraction notices from February 24, 2003, in Applied Physics Letters relayed concerns about seven articles written by Schön and published in the Applied Physics Letters:
|
||||
45
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal-3.md
Normal file
45
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Schön scandal"
|
||||
chunk: 4/4
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schön_scandal"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:02.514203+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Z. Bao (2002). "Organic insulator/semiconductor heterostructure monolayer transistors". Applied Physics Letters. 80 (2): 332. Bibcode:2002ApPhL..80..332S. doi:10.1063/1.1431697. S2CID 95860889.
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; A. Dodabalapur; B. Crone (2001). "Grain boundary transport and vapor sensing in α-sexithiophene". Applied Physics Letters. 79 (24): 3965. Bibcode:2001ApPhL..79.3965S. doi:10.1063/1.1423787.
|
||||
J. H. Schön; C. Kloc (2001). "Charge transport through a single tetracene grain boundary". Applied Physics Letters. 78 (24): 3821. Bibcode:2001ApPhL..78.3821S. doi:10.1063/1.1379986.
|
||||
J. H. Schön; C. Kloc (2001). "Organic metal–semiconductor field-effect phototransistors". Applied Physics Letters. 78 (22): 3538. Bibcode:2001ApPhL..78.3538S. doi:10.1063/1.1376666.
|
||||
J. H. Schön; C. Kloc; B. Batlogg (2000). "Efficient photovoltaic energy conversion in pentacene-based heterojunctions". Applied Physics Letters. 77 (16): 2473. Bibcode:2000ApPhL..77.2473S. doi:10.1063/1.1318234.
|
||||
J. H. Schön; C. Kloc; B. Batlogg (1999). "Reversible gas doping of bulk α-hexathiophene". Applied Physics Letters. 75 (11): 1556. Bibcode:1999ApPhL..75.1556S. doi:10.1063/1.124753.
|
||||
J. H. Schön; Ch. Kloc; R. A. Laudise; B. Batlogg (1998). "Surface and bulk mobilities of oligothiophene single crystals". Applied Physics Letters. 73 (24): 3574. Bibcode:1998ApPhL..73.3574S. doi:10.1063/1.122828.
|
||||
The retraction notice from March 20, 2003, in Advanced Materials mentions concerns about another article written by Schön:
|
||||
|
||||
J. H. Schön; C. Kloc; Z. Bao; B. Batlogg (2000). "Electron Transport in Fluorinated Copper-Phthalocyanine". Advanced Materials. 12 (20): 1539–1542. doi:10.1002/1521-4095(200010)12:20<1539::AID-ADMA1539>3.0.CO;2-S.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Bogdanov affair (in 2002)
|
||||
Hwang affair (in 2005)
|
||||
Haruko Obokata (STAP cell controversy in 2014)
|
||||
List of experimental errors and frauds in physics
|
||||
List of scientific misconduct incidents
|
||||
Plastic Fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World
|
||||
Scientific misconduct
|
||||
Victor Ninov
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Reich, Eugenie Samuel (2009). Plastic Fantastic. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-230-62384-2.
|
||||
Kaiser, David (2009). "Physics and Pixie Dust". American Scientist. 97 (6): 496. doi:10.1511/2009.81.496. Book review of Plastic Fantastic
|
||||
Agin, Dan (2006). Junk Science: How Politicians, Corporations, and Other Hucksters Betray Us. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-35241-7.
|
||||
D'Anna, Gianfranco (July 2010). Il Falsario (in Italian). Milano: Mursia. ISBN 978-88-425-4197-4. Provides a plausible reconstruction
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
"Bell Labs announces results of inquiry into research misconduct" (Press release). Bell Labs. 25 September 2002. Archived from the original on 17 April 2016.
|
||||
"The Dark Secret of Hendrik Schön – programme summary". BBC. 5 February 2004.
|
||||
Investigation Finds that One Lucent Physicist Engaged in Scientific Misconduct Physics Today, 2002
|
||||
NPR Science Friday report (10/18/2002)
|
||||
"An Interview with Eugenie Samuel Reich". Sigma Xi. June 2009. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Author who interviewed 126 scientists and journal editors about Schön's frauds.
|
||||
@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Reuben"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T06:59:35.519489+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:00.148714+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
47
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skvader-0.md
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||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
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|
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|
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category: "reference"
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|
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date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:04.854490+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The skvader (pronounced [ˈskvɑ̌ːdɛr]) is a Swedish fictional creature that was constructed in 1918 by the taxidermist Rudolf Granberg and is permanently displayed at the museum at Norra Berget in Sundsvall. It has the head, forequarters and hindlegs of a European hare (Lepus europaeus), and the back, wings and tail of a female wood grouse (Tetrao urogallus). It was later jokingly given the Latin name Tetrao lepus pseudo-hybridus rarissimus L.
|
||||
The term has taken on a general meaning of two disparate elements put together, often conveying a sense of a less fortunate such combination.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Name ==
|
||||
The name is a combination of two words, explained by the Svenska Akademiens ordbok (Dictionary of the Swedish Academy) as being from the "prefix skva- from skvattra (quack or chirp), and the suffix -der from tjäder (wood grouse)".
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Origins ==
|
||||
The skvader originates from a tall tale hunting story told by a man named Håkan Dahlmark during a dinner at a restaurant in Sundsvall in the beginning of the 20th century. To the amusement of the other guests, Dahlmark claimed that he in 1874 had shot such an animal during a hunt north of Sundsvall. On his birthday in 1907, his housekeeper jokingly presented him with a painting of the animal, made by her nephew and shortly before his death in 1912, Dahlmark donated the painting to a local museum. During an exhibition in Örnsköldsvik in 1916 the manager of the museum became acquainted with the taxidermist Rudolf Granberg. He then mentioned the hunting story and the painting and asked Granberg if he could re-construct the animal. In 1918 Granberg had completed the skvader and it has since then been a very popular exhibition item at the museum, which also has the painting on display.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Similar creatures ==
|
||||
|
||||
A strikingly similar creature called the "rabbit-bird" was described by Pliny the Elder in Natural History. This creature had the body of a bird with a rabbit's head and was said to have inhabited the Alps.
|
||||
Other similar creatures include the Bavarian wolpertinger, the Austrian raurakl, the Thuringian Forest's rasselbock, the Palatinate's Elwedritsche, and the American jackalope.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Symbolism ==
|
||||
|
||||
The skvader has since then often been seen as an unofficial symbol of Sundsvall and when the province Medelpad was to be given a provincial animal (in addition to the provincial flower) in 1987, many locals voted for the skvader. The final choice was a kind of compromise, the mountain hare, which is the front-end of the skvader.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Other uses ==
|
||||
|
||||
The term skvader can be used colloquially in Swedish to mean 'a combination of contradicting elements'.
|
||||
Skvader also became the nickname in the 1950s and 1960s for a bruck, a combination of bus and truck (lorry in British English) with the front-end of a bus taking passengers and the back-end as an open loading bay. The skvader was used on small bus routes in Norrland and to deliver milk from small farmers to the nearest dairy.
|
||||
"Skvaderns" is also a herbal liqueur made with herbs from the forest Lunde Skog, the place Skvaderns first were shot at.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
The Skvader, museum site (in Swedish)
|
||||
The Skvader, museum of hoaxes
|
||||
Forgeries and Frauds
|
||||
22
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonic_Library_in_Prague-0.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Slavonic Library in Prague"
|
||||
chunk: 1/4
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonic_Library_in_Prague"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:38.078618+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Slavonic Library (Czech: Slovanská knihovna) in Prague is a publicly accessible specialised research library for the field of Slavic Studies. It is one of the largest and most important Slavic libraries in Europe. Since its foundation in 1924, it has been systematically complementing, processing and making accessible its collection of world research Slavic (mainly historical, philological and political-science) literature and selected original production of Slavic authors. Its depositories contain more than 850,000 volumes of library documents, a collection of maps, posters, visual and artistic materials, and numerous collections of special documents.
|
||||
The Slavonic Library provides library and information services concerning the political, economic and cultural life of the Slavic nations, their mutual relations and their relations to other nations in the past as well as the present. Documents can be studied in the library's public reading room, provided with free internet access, an extensive reference library and open-access shelving with a large number of volumes.
|
||||
The library processes and edits specialised bibliographies and publications in its field. It organizes cultural events, professional seminars, conferences and exhibitions. Following the decision of the International Committee of Slavists, it has fulfilled the function of the centre for recording and processing materials related to the international congresses of Slavists.
|
||||
|
||||
The Slavonic Library is a section of the National Library of the Czech Republic but acts autonomously in professional library issues. It consists of departments for collection acquisitions, cataloguing and for services.
|
||||
|
||||
== The History of the Slavonic Library ==
|
||||
The library was founded in 1924 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czechoslovak Republic as its Russian Library. Its establishment was related to the so-called Russian Action of the Czechoslovak government, initiated by President T. G. Masaryk. The programme provided unprecedented aid to émigrés from the area of the emerging Soviet Union. The foundation of the library had been initiated by the Russian literary historian, bibliographer and journalist Vladimir Nikolaevich Tukalevskii (1881‒1936), who headed the library in the first years of its existence. Tukalevskii donated his entire private book collection imported from Russia to the library to form the basis of its future collections.
|
||||
In 1927, the library began to acquire literature of other Slavic nations and changed its name to the ‘Slavonic Library of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’. The financial generosity of the Czechoslovak government made it possible to accumulate a remarkable collection of books within a short time – by the end of the 1930s, its book collections already comprised more than 220,000 volumes.
|
||||
The Slavonic Library was originally housed in the Governor's Summer Palace in the Royal Game Reserve in Prague-Bubeneč. This space was no longer sufficient for the rapidly growing collection. The Ministry of Education and National Enlightenment thus offered the library a shelter in the Klementinum. The Slavonic Library moved there in 1929 and has been there ever since. At the end of December 1938, the library ceased to be controlled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In February 1942, the library was transferred under German administration and merged with the Land and University Library. The Second World War was a very difficult time for the operation of the library, but its actual library activities were not paralysed.
|
||||
After the war, especially in the first half of the 1950s, the character of the library was significantly compromised by acquisitions of unrelated Soviet literature. In 1956, the Slavonic Library gradually began to return to its original mission. It revived its original scheme of acquisition and international cooperation, in particular in the exchange of publications. Nevertheless, it was not possible to renew the scientific activities of the Slavonic Library and re-establish the severed ties with western institutions focused on Slavic Studies until the social and political changes in 1989.
|
||||
In 1958, the Slavonic Library was incorporated into the State (now National) Library as its autonomous section and has remained so to this day.
|
||||
20
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonic_Library_in_Prague-1.md
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|
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title: "Slavonic Library in Prague"
|
||||
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|
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source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonic_Library_in_Prague"
|
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category: "reference"
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:38.078618+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== The Book Collection ==
|
||||
The book collection of the Slavonic Library comprises more than 850,000 library units (as of June 2018). On average, it is augmented by 9,000 new volumes of books and several hundred titles of periodicals every year. It is a varied collection of Slavic Studies literature, complexly mapping the historical, literary, philological and cultural topics of all Slavic nations. The core of individual national sections is formed by personal libraries acquired through donation or purchase in the first decades of the library's existence. Since the early 1930s, the acquisitions were carried out systematically according to a thematic plan of acquisition.
|
||||
The Slavonic Library owns several hundred historical manuscript books and several thousand early printed books published before 1800, but most of the collection is formed by the production of the 19th‒21st centuries. The holdings are complemented by a number of collections of special non-library documents.
|
||||
Almost all catalogue records of books and periodicals are available in the electronic catalogue of the Slavonic Library. Likewise the scanned general card catalogue of the Slavonic Library, used until 1996, and the scanned card catalogue of the Russian Historical Archives Abroad from 1923 to 1945 are accessible. The inventory lists of available collections of special documents can be found in the catalogue Special Collections of the Slavonic Library.Important Collections
|
||||
The most valuable parts of the holdings include several thematically coherent collections.
|
||||
The Library of A. F. Smirdin contains more than 11,000 volumes of Russian literature published between the 1700s and the middle of the 19th century. The collection was created by the bookseller, publisher and cultural benefactor Alexandr Fillippovich Smirdin (1795‒1857) from Saint Petersburg.
|
||||
A unique collection related to Dubrovnik, Croatia, is the collection of Ragusan literature, created by the Croatian Slavist, Prof. Milan Rešetar (1860–1942). This thematically coherent collection contains nearly 2,500 printed books and 250 manuscripts. It comprises works by Dubrovnik writers, Dubrovnik printed books since the 16th century and publications about Dubrovnik issued in the world until the 1920s.
|
||||
The Russian manuscript tradition is demonstrated by the collection of manuscripts assembled in northern Russia by the folklorist, expert in Old Russian literature and linguist Aleksandr Dmitrievich Grigorʼev (1874–1945). It comprises 68 manuscripts of both sacred and secular character from the 17th–19th centuries written in the River Pinega basin in the Arkhangelsk Gubernia and in the southern shore of the White Sea.
|
||||
After the Second World War, the Slavonic Library was enriched by collections created by the Russian Historical Archives Abroad, an archival-documentary institution unique in the world, which existed in Prague in 1923‒1945. The archives collected archival and printed documents concerning the revolutionary movement in Russia at the turn of the 20th century, the First World War in Russia, the revolutionary events of 1917, the Civil War, the development in the USSR and the phenomenon of the Russian anti-Bolshevik emigration. In 1945, the archives were closed and the archival collections were handed over to the USSR, while the collections of books, magazines and newspapers became part of the Slavonic Library.
|
||||
The Slavonic Library is one of the central institutions that make it possible to study the phenomenon of the political emigration from the territory of the Russian Empire after 1917. The books and periodicals issued by Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian émigrés all over the world mainly in 1918–1945 form a collection that is unique in the world. Most of these documents were gathered by the Russian Historical Archives Abroad. The books and periodicals are complemented by several collections of archival character, a collection of the works of art by Ukrainian émigrés, and collections of invitations and posters documenting the public life in emigration. In 2007, UNESCO included the Slavonic Library's collection of periodicals issued by Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian émigrés in 1918–1945 in its Memory of the World International Register.
|
||||
36
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonic_Library_in_Prague-2.md
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|
||||
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|
||||
title: "Slavonic Library in Prague"
|
||||
chunk: 3/4
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonic_Library_in_Prague"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:38.078618+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
=== Collections of Special Documents ===
|
||||
A valuable part of the holdings is the section of special collections containing documents of non-library character. Many of them are related to the topic of Russian and Ukrainian emigration of the interwar period: these are parts of the personal estates of the Russian émigrés Petr N. Savitskii, Antonii V. Florovskii, Alfred L. Bem and Vladimir N. Tukalevskii; the collection of the administrative documents of the Russian Historical Archives Abroad; and the collection of leaflets and invitations to cultural and social events of Russian and Ukrainian émigrés related to the activities of diverse Ukrainian organisations functioning in interwar Czechoslovakia. Another unique collection is the set of more than a thousand hand-painted posters and leaflets made by Ukrainian émigrés in former Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1945.
|
||||
Other interesting documents include the correspondence of the Lusatian cultural figure Michał Hórnik, the protoiereus Nikolai N. Ryzhkov, the Ukrainian poet Lesia Ukrainka, the documents of the Leningrad artist Vadim M. Rokhlin, and the archive of clippings of articles about Yugoslavia from Czech periodicals in 1934‒1939. The items preserved in fragments include the correspondence of famous writers (P. I. Chaadaev, L. N. Tolstoi, F. M. Dostojevskii, A. M. Remizov and others) as well as many other documents mainly from the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century concerning Slavic culture.
|
||||
The library also owns several extensive collections of visual materials. The collection of art works made by Ukrainian artists – émigrés, most of whom studied or worked at the Ukrainian Studio of Fine Arts in Prague, contains more than 500 documents. It mainly comprises works by 43 artists, many of whom (for example Vasyl Kasiian, Halyna Mazepa, Ivan Kulets, Nataliia Gerken-Rusova and Mykola Bytynskyi) later won international recognition. Also the origin of the collection of 161 Ukrainian ex libris is connected with these émigrés. The core of the collection of posters, comprising several thousand units, is formed by Russian posters from the First World War, the revolutionary year of 1917, the Civil War and the first decades of the existence of the USSR. The collection of photographs (often hand-coloured) from Subcarpathian Rus', Slovakia and Moravian Slovakia made by the Czech official, translator and amateur photographer Rudolf Hůlka (1887–1961) in the 1920s is of significant value for ethnography, the history of architecture and research into everyday life.
|
||||
The collection of historical maps is quite varied, albeit not very big. It comprises several hundred original maps (including several hand-drawn maps), representing the entire Slavic world from the end of the 16th century until the middle of the 20th century.
|
||||
Digitisation and Microfilming
|
||||
The Slavonic Library continuously implements specialised microfilming and digitisation projects focused on the preservation and better accessibility of unique and endangered parts of its collections. The access to digital documents and to the information on the existence of a microfilm copy is provided through the electronic catalogue of the Slavonic Library.
|
||||
Approximately 1,050 titles of periodicals (ca 370,000 pages) were microfilmed by 2012. These mainly included newspapers from the period of the Russian Revolution and Civil War and printed periodicals issued by Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian émigrés all over the world.
|
||||
Within the National Programme for the Digitisation of Rare Documents Memoriae Mundi Series Bohemica (LPIS 6), especially the most precious historical manuscripts are digitised. Early printed books, published before 1800, and the book and magazine production of the 19th century (more than 34,000 documents) have been digitised thanks to a joint project of the National Library of the CR and Google. As part of the development of the National Digital Library, the printed production issued by Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian émigrés in 1918–1945 in Czechoslovakia is being digitised (the state of digitisation as of June 2018: 255 titles of periodicals and 1,800 volumes of monographs).
|
||||
|
||||
== Other Scientific Activities ==
|
||||
Within the scope of its activities, the Slavonic Library is involved in the implementation of a number of Czech as well as international scientific, bibliographical, library science or publishing projects. It organises conferences, lectures and prepares popularising exhibitions.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Publication Activities ===
|
||||
The library mainly processes and edits specialised bibliographies and special lists of literature. It also publishes paper proceedings and books presenting its collections. It issues the electronic quarterly New Acquisitions of Slavic Studies Publications in the Collections of the Slavonic Library.
|
||||
|
||||
=== International Congresses of Slavists – Bibliography ===
|
||||
Following the decision of the International Committee of Slavists, the Slavonic Library has fulfilled the function of the centre for recording and processing published papers and other materials related to the international congresses of Slavists since 1973. The bibliographies of all organised congresses are available in the form of the electronic database BibSlavKon, which has been developed by the SL in cooperation with the Eastern Europe Department of the Berlin State Library.
|
||||
|
||||
=== The Rudolf Medek Prize ===
|
||||
The Slavonic Library and the Russian Tradition association annually award the Rudolf Medek Prize to remarkable figures focused on the issues of Czech-Russian relations (Czechoslovak-Soviet) relations, the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe, and the promotion of democracy and the pro-European orientation of the Czech Republic.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
List of libraries in the Czech Republic
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
26
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonic_Library_in_Prague-3.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Slavonic Library in Prague"
|
||||
chunk: 4/4
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavonic_Library_in_Prague"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:38.078618+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Literature ==
|
||||
Rachůnková, Zdeňka (2002). The Slavonic Library. Prague: National Library of the Czech Republic. pp. 3-28. ISBN 8070503947.
|
||||
Vacek, Jiří (2016). Slovanská knihovna - můj osud. Prague: National Library of the Czech Republic. ISBN 9788070506714.
|
||||
2Strnadel, Jiří (1976). Padesát let Slovanské knihovny v Praze. Prague: Státní knihovna ČSR - Slovanská knihovna. pp. 73–122..
|
||||
Řeháková, Michaela; Babka, Lukáš (2005). Soupis publikací vydaných Slovanskou knihovnou )1924 - 2004) [The List of Publications Issued by the Slavonic Library (1924–2004). Published on the Occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Activities of the Slavonic Library]. Prague: National Library of the Czech Republic - Slavonic Library. ISBN 8070504595.M
|
||||
Vacek, Jiří; Babka, Lukáš (2009). Voices of the Banished. Periodical Press of the Emigration from Soviet Russia (1918–1945). Prague: National Library of the Czech Republic. ISBN 978-80-7050-559-5.
|
||||
Richard J. Kneeley – Edward Kasinec; The Slovanská knihovna in Prague and its RZIA Collection, Slavic Review 51 (1992), no. 1, pp. 122–130.
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
The Slavonic Library website
|
||||
The electronic catalogue of the Slavonic Library
|
||||
The card catalogue of the Slavonic Library
|
||||
The card catalogue of the books from the Russian Historical Archives Abroad
|
||||
Special collections of the Slavonic Library
|
||||
New Acquisitions of Slavic Studies Publications in the Collections of the Slavonic Library
|
||||
The electronic database BibSlavKon
|
||||
@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ chunk: 1/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:12:24.453966+00:00"
|
||||
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||||
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|
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|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:12:24.453966+00:00"
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||||
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|
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|
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|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T07:12:24.453966+00:00"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:07.214905+00:00"
|
||||
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|
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data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Yoo-geun-0.md
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title: "Song Yoo-geun"
|
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category: "reference"
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tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:08.408373+00:00"
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|
||||
|
||||
Song Yoo-geun (born November 27, 1997) is a South Korean person who gained recognition as a child prodigy in South Korea since 2004. After graduating college in 2009, he was involved in a number of controversies during his ultimately unsuccessful doctorate program at Korean University of Science and Technology (UST), including one involving his paper in October 2015 written with his advisor, Park Seok-jae. The paper, entitled "Axisymmetric, Nonstationary Black Hole Magnetospheres: Revisited" appeared in the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ). However, the paper was soon retracted due to concerns that it plagiarized a 2002 book chapter.
|
||||
|
||||
== Life before October 2015 ==
|
||||
Song Yoo-geun left a prodigy school he attended in 2003. Six months of independent study enabled him to solve pre-calculus problems. In August 2004, at age 6, he passed the "Craftsman Information Processing" (정보처리기능사) certification examination. In November of the same year, his parents tried to enroll him at a local elementary school (Shim Seok Elementary School; 심석초등학교) as a sixth grader. While Song did not perform well, obtaining a score of 12% on his math exam, his parents maintained that Song was neither used to, or interested in, calculating equations that lacked meaning. Although the school allowed this at first, it later reversed its decision, citing administrative difficulties. Song's parents took the elementary school to court, where the court ruled that the school's decision was unlawful in April 2005, allowing Song to study there as a sixth grader.
|
||||
As Korean students must enroll in middle school within 30 days of the beginning of the school year, Song could not enroll in middle school even after winning the lawsuit. Song's parents decided to opt for a Korean equivalent of the GED. Song passed the test, which gave him the right to enroll in high school in May 2005. He then went on to pass the test that certified him as a high school graduate in August 2005. Thus, Song finished the twelve-year curriculum spanning elementary school – middle school – high school in nine months, setting a new record.
|
||||
In October 2005, he applied and was accepted to Inha University through its early decision plans, which allow exceptional students to bypass the Korean equivalent of SATs, at age 7, making him the youngest university student ever. During his interview with Inha University, Song demonstrated his understanding of the Schrödinger equation, a partial differential equation which is of central importance to quantum mechanics theory. Considering his young age, Inha University formed a committee of seven, named "Song Yoo-Geun Committee," including professors and his mother, who gave him private lessons instead of the usual classroom style lectures. Inha University also provided Song with his own lab, and a residence space, so that he can stay with his parents, at his parents' request. His first semester GPA was 3.8/4.5, approximately equivalent to a B+. However, In December 2008, a mere two years after he had begun his studies, he decided to withdraw from Inha University, since he felt it was "difficult to study within the framework that the professors have arbitrarily decided for themselves." He said, "I want to study string theory or big bang theory, but I cannot do that as an undergraduate student." Of the 140 credits required for graduation, Song received 53 credits from Inha University, and 113 credits from an on-line degree institution. On this, Inha University said, that it "respects Song's decisions." To fulfill the total credit hours to apply to a graduate school, he achieved a Bachelor's degree using the Credit Bank System.
|
||||
He began at UST as a master's student in February 2009, with the intention of studying astronomy. Like Inha University, UST formed a committee of professors, titled "Song Yoo-Geun Project," and Song was given private lessons in lieu of classroom lectures. The topics of the lectures included quantum field theory, nuclear physics, astronomy, and topology. The university set aside 100 million Korean won (approximately US$80,000) for Song's classes and research. In February 2010, UST announced that Song had been accepted to its combined master's and Ph.D. program, with the goal of obtaining a Ph.D. in 2012.
|
||||
He studied under the guidance of Park Seok-jae, whose specialized area is black hole modeling. He passed his candidacy exam in November 2014, by a presentation entitled "Gromov-Witten Invariants on Real Hypersurfaces of Kähler Manifold," and declared his intention to become a mathematician to the press. However, he again changed his mind to study black holes.
|
||||
|
||||
== Controversy ==
|
||||
|
||||
=== Air purification system controversy ===
|
||||
During a press conference in 2005, after he was admitted to Inha University, he brought a machine that purifies air, and gave a demonstration of it. The press and the Inha University officials reported that Song claimed it to be a machine that he invented himself, to thank the Korean citizens for their support. It became known later that the machine was in fact designed by a small company. According to the CEO of JC Technologies, Song's father told him that being able to show off the machine in front of the press would help with its sales, and he had borrowed the machine from the company. Song's father quickly admitted this misunderstanding, saying that "Song has ambitions to study air purification methods using photosynthesis, so he just did a demonstration. There may have been parts where we were misunderstood, as this was our first large-scale press conference."
|
||||
|
||||
=== Plagiarism controversy ===
|
||||
In 2015, The Astrophysical Journal (ApJ) retracted Song's paper due to a plagiarism issue. ApJ noticed that the paper plagiarized a 2002 book chapter, which had originally been a paper published by Song's advisor, Park Seok-jae.
|
||||
23
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_Yoo-geun-1.md
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|
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|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:08.408373+00:00"
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|
||||
|
||||
Song & Park (2015) draws extensively from an earlier publication by Park, "Stationary Versus Nonstationary Force-Free Black Hole Magnetospheres," in Black Hole Astrophysics 2002: Proceedings of the Sixth APCTP Winter School (World Scientific Publishing Co., 2002). In fact, the differences are modest, mostly confined to an alternate formulation of the analytic results, and could raise the question of copyright violation. Park (2002) is not part of the peer-reviewed literature, and scientists frequently use a conference proceeding as the rough draft of a subsequent submission to a professional peer-reviewed journal. However, in this case the overlap between the 2002 book chapter and 2015 paper is exceptionally large.
|
||||
"This article by Yoo Geun Song & Seok Jae Park has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief due to an unacceptably large overlap with "Stationary Versus Nonstationary Force-Free Black Hole Magnetospheres," published in Black Hole Astrophysics 2002: Proceedings of the Sixth APCTP Winter School (World Scientific Publishing Co., 2002). Please see https://aas.org/posts/news/2015/11/astrophysical-journal-paper-retracted-plagiarism for a more complete explanation."
|
||||
Park first denied the plagiarism controversy towards Song, insisting he will "resign his position if any part of his paper is found unoriginal." He also argued that Song's work on partial differential equation is totally of Song, and is worthy to be a "meaningful contribution as a doctoral student." Against the argument that several parts of Song's paper appeared to overlap Park's proceeding in 2002, Park said that the proceeding is conventionally not considered as an 'official' paper, so citing the proceeding paper is not a requirement nor an offence against academic integrity or research ethics.
|
||||
UST took disciplinary actions against Park and Song where Park was dismissed as a professor from UST and Song was subjected to 2 weeks suspension.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Doctorate degree ===
|
||||
As UST requires one published paper in a journal listed in the Science Citation Index as a graduation requirement, the retracted article would have qualified Song to apply for a Ph.D. degree. He published another paper and held his defense in June 2018, but did not pass it. UST policy allows 9 years for doctorate students so he was let out of the program in September 2018, and he filed for an injunction to stop this move in December 2018, at which time he enlisted in the Korean army. But his request was denied by the court in July 2019, thus making him officially no longer a student at UST.
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Hwang Si-young (November 5, 2005). "Eight-year-old physics genius enters university". The Korea Herald.
|
||||
"Astrophysical Journal Paper Retracted for Plagiarism". American Astronomical Society. November 24, 2015. - retraction notice for Song Yoo Geun's publication in Astrophysical Journal
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency"
|
||||
chunk: 1/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus-triggered_acquisition_of_pluripotency"
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category: "reference"
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||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:09.670612+00:00"
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||||
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|
||||
|
||||
Stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) was a proposed method of generating pluripotent stem cells by subjecting ordinary cells to certain types of stress, such as the application of a bacterial toxin, submersion in a weak acid, or physical trauma. The technique gained prominence in January 2014 when research by Haruko Obokata et al. was published in Nature. Over the following months, all scientists who tried to duplicate her results failed, and suspicion arose that Obokata's results were due to error or fraud. An investigation by her employer, RIKEN, was launched. On April 1, 2014, RIKEN concluded that Obokata had falsified data to obtain her results. On June 4, 2014, Obokata agreed to retract the papers. On August 5, 2014, Yoshiki Sasai—Obokata's supervisor at RIKEN and one of the coauthors on the STAP cell papers—was found dead at a RIKEN facility after an apparent suicide by hanging.
|
||||
STAP would have been a radically simpler method of stem cell generation than previously researched methods as it requires neither nuclear transfer nor the introduction of transcription factors.
|
||||
|
||||
== Overview ==
|
||||
Haruko Obokata claimed that STAP cells were produced by exposing CD45+ murine spleen cells to certain stresses including an acidic medium with a pH of 5.7 for half an hour. Following this treatment, the cells were verified to be pluripotent by observing increasing levels of Oct-4 (a transcription factor expressed in embryonic stem cells) over the following week using an Oct4-GFP transgene. On average only 25% of cells survived the acid treatment, but over 50% of those that survived converted to Oct4-GFP+CD45− pluripotent cells. The researchers also claimed that treatment with bacterial toxins or physical stress were conducive to the acquisition of pluripotent markers. STAP cells injected into mouse embryos grew into a variety of tissues and organs found throughout the body. According to the researchers, the chimaeric mice "[appeared] to be healthy, fertile, and normal" after one-to-two years of observation. Additionally, these mice produced healthy offspring, thereby demonstrating germline transmission which is "a strict criterion for pluripotency as well as genetic and epigenetic normality."
|
||||
STAP cells were supposedly able to differentiate into placental cells, meaning they would be more potent than embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). It was not clear why ordinary cells do not convert into stem cells when subjected to similar stimuli under ordinary conditions, such as acidity in the body; Obokata et al. suggested that in vivo inhibitory mechanisms may block conversion to pluripotency. Research is underway to generate stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency (STAP) cells using human tissue: in February 2014, Charles Vacanti and Koji Kojima (Harvard researchers originally involved in the discovery and publication of STAP) claimed to have preliminary results of STAP cells generated from human fibroblasts, but concomitantly cautioned that these preliminary results require further analysis and validation.
|
||||
|
||||
== History ==
|
||||
In the early 2000s, Charles Vacanti and Martin Vacanti conducted studies that led them to the idea that stem cells—spore-like cells—could be spontaneously recovered from ordinary tissues that are stressed via mechanical injury or increased acidity.
|
||||
The technique for producing STAP cells was subsequently studied by Obokata at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), while she was studying as a post doc under Charles Vacanti, and then at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology in Japan. In 2008, while working at Harvard Medical School, she verified at the request of Charles Vacanti that some of the cultured cells she was working with shrank to the size of stem cells after being mechanically injured in a capillary tube. She went on as directed, to test the effects of various stimuli on cells. After modifying the technique, Obokata was able to show that white blood cells from newborn mice could be transformed into cells that behaved much like stem cells. She repeated the experiment with other cell types including brain, skin, and muscle cells with the same result.
|
||||
Initially Obokata's findings were met with skepticism, even among her coworkers. "Everyone said it was an artefact – there were some really hard days", she recalled. The manuscript describing the work was rejected multiple times before its eventual publication as an article (together with a shorter jointly-written "letter") within the journal Nature. A series of experiments, first turning a mouse embryo green by fluorescently tagging STAP cells, then videotaping the transformation of T-cells into pluripotent cells, finally convinced skeptics that the results were real.
|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
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|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulus-triggered_acquisition_of_pluripotency"
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||||
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||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:09.670612+00:00"
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
=== Investigation into disputed claims ===
|
||||
In the months after the two Nature papers were released, all scientists who tried to duplicate Obokata's results failed and suspicion arose that her results were due to error or fraud. An investigation into alleged irregularities was launched by RIKEN on February 15, 2014. The allegations questioned the use of seemingly duplicated images in the papers, and reported failure to reproduce her results in other prominent stem-cell laboratories. Nature also announced that they were investigating. Several stem-cell scientists defended Obokata or reserved their opinion while the investigation was ongoing. To address the problem of reproducibility in other laboratories, Obokata published some technical 'tips' on the protocols on March 5 while promising that the detailed procedure would be published in due course.
|
||||
On March 11, Teruhiko Wakayama, one of Obokata's coauthors, urged all the researchers involved to withdraw the articles, citing many "questionable points". Charles Vacanti said he opposed their retraction and posted a "revised protocol" for creating STAP cells on his own website, which was taken down after he resigned his BWH post.
|
||||
On March 14, RIKEN released an interim report of the investigation. Out of the six items being investigated, the committee concluded that there was inappropriate handling of data on two items, but did not judge the mishandling as research misconduct. On April 1, RIKEN concluded that Obokata had engaged in "research misconduct", falsifying data on two occasions. The co-authors were cleared of misconduct, but bore "grave responsibility" for not verifying the data themselves. RIKEN also announced that an internal group had been established to verify whether the ‘stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency’ is reproducible. Obokata maintained her innocence and said she would appeal the decision. On June 4, 2014, Obokata agreed to retract both the article and the "letter". The article was officially retracted on July 2, 2014. An article analyzing the controversy concluded that while issues of image manipulation, duplication and plagiarism were potentially detectable, the reviewers could not have concluded that the article was the product of academic misconduct prior to acceptance.
|
||||
In the wake of the controversy, observers, journalists, and former members of RIKEN have stated that the organization is riddled with unprofessional and inadequate scientific rigor and consistency, and that this is reflective of serious issues with scientific research in Japan in general.
|
||||
RIKEN commissioned a team of scientists to attempt to verify Obokata's original results and asked Obokata to participate in the effort. On August 5, 2014, Obokata's supervisor and co-author of the original paper, Yoshiki Sasai, was discovered dead by apparent suicide by hanging in a building at the RIKEN facility in Kobe, Japan. On September 24, 2015, the RIKEN scientists reported that Obokata's STAP cells came from embryonic stem cell contamination, while on the same day, research groups who had attempted to reproduce the STAP protocol jointly reported that they had found it irreproducible.
|
||||
|
||||
== Implications ==
|
||||
If the findings had proven to be valid, stimulus-triggered pluripotency cells could have been generated more easily and efficiently than by existing iPS techniques. Adapted to human tissue, the technique could have led to cheap and simple procedures to create patient-specific stem cells. Stem-cell researcher Dusko Ilic of King's College London called STAP cells "a major scientific discovery that will be opening a new era in stem-cell biology". Shinya Yamanaka, a pioneer of iPS research, called the findings "important to understand nuclear reprogramming ... [and] a new approach to generate iPS-like cells". The idea that STAP cells can form placental tissue meant they could have made cloning considerably easier by bypassing the need for a donor egg and in vitro cultivation.
|
||||
One previous way of creating stem cells has been via genetic manipulation of adult cells into iPS cells. Progress on iPS-based therapies has been slow due to regulatory hurdles surrounding genetic manipulation. Additionally, iPS techniques have an observed efficiency of around 1%, significantly lower than the claimed efficiency of STAP.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Induced stem cells
|
||||
Muse cell
|
||||
Stem cell controversy
|
||||
Masayuki Yamato
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Baumann, Kim (2014). "Stem cells: Reprogramming with low pH". Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. 15 (3): 149. doi:10.1038/nrm3754. ISSN 1471-0072. PMID 24518367.
|
||||
Obokata, Haruko; Sasai, Yoshiki; Niwa, Hitoshi; Kadota, Mitsutaka; Andrabi, Munazah; Takata, Nozomu; Tokoro, Mikiko; Terashita, Yukari; Yonemura, Shigenobu; Vacanti, Charles A.; Wakayama, Teruhiko (January 29, 2014). "Bidirectional developmental potential in reprogrammed cells with acquired pluripotency". Nature. 505 (7485): 676–687. Bibcode:2014Natur.505..676O. doi:10.1038/nature12969. PMID 24476891. S2CID 54564044. (Retracted, see doi:10.1038/nature13599, PMID 24990752, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
Update on the STAP cell papers. March 6, 2014
|
||||
"The rise and fall of STAP". Nature.
|
||||
"The Stress Test". The New Yorker.
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
STAP HOPE PAGE Archived March 31, 2016, at the Wayback Machine by Haruko Obokata, March 25, 2016
|
||||
Stress turns ordinary cells pluripotent News release at RIKEN with videos.
|
||||
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||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TR_Araña"
|
||||
category: "reference"
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||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:26:16.876612+00:00"
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||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:14.304013+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "The Truth About Hansel and Gretel"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truth_About_Hansel_and_Gretel"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:16.605846+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Truth About Hansel and Gretel (German: Die Wahrheit über Hänsel und Gretel) is a 1963 book written by German children's author and humorist Hans Traxler, which described how an amateur archaeologist named Georg Ossegg uncovered evidence that the story about Hansel and Gretel was based on real events, just as Heinrich Schliemann discovered the city of Troy from Ancient Greek legends. The book immediately became a bestseller, but in several months Traxler confessed it was a hoax.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Summary ==
|
||||
According to the book, Ossegg determined that the fairytale, Hansel and Gretel, was based on the story of a 17th-century baker named Hans Metzler and his sister Grete. Hans and Grete Metzler lived in a village in the Spessart Forest during the Thirty Years' War, and killed a woman named Katharina Schraderin in order to steal her recipe for Nürnberger Lebkuchen (gingerbread).
|
||||
In reality, Ossegg did not exist and the details of the story were fabricated by Traxler. Vanessa Joosen has called the book a "fictive nonfictional text", which "carries the features of a nonfictional text but consciously misleads the reader".
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== In popular culture ==
|
||||
Despite its fictional nature, the hoax convinced many in Germany at the time, and continues to have some traction. In 1987, a one-hour twenty-two minute movie, Ossegg oder Die Wahrheit über Hänsel und Gretel, loosely based on the novel, was released in Germany.
|
||||
In Italy, Traxler's book was published in 1981. The story was believed to be true by Giuseppe Sermonti.
|
||||
In the 1980s, in another area neighboring the Spessart Forest, German pharmacist Karlheinz Bartels published a joking theory that Snow White was based on a real person named Maria Sophia Margarethe Catharina, Baroness von und zu Erthal. The theory was primarily inspired by Traxler's book.
|
||||
In October 2021, Tim Harford released the episode "The Truth About Hansel and Gretel" of his podcast Cautionary Tales about Traxler's satire.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Ossegg oder Die Wahrheit über Hänsel und Gretel at IMDb
|
||||
Die angebliche Hexe war eine Bäckerin (in German)
|
||||
Ossegg oder Die Wahrheit über Hänsel und Gretel (in German)
|
||||
25
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline-0.md
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||||
---
|
||||
title: "Thiotimoline"
|
||||
chunk: 1/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:11.958549+00:00"
|
||||
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|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Thiotimoline is a fictitious chemical compound conceived by American biochemist and science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It was first described in a spoof scientific paper titled "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" in 1948. The major peculiarity of the chemical is its "endochronicity": it starts dissolving before it makes contact with water.
|
||||
Asimov went on to write three additional short stories, each describing different properties or uses of thiotimoline.
|
||||
|
||||
== Chemical properties ==
|
||||
In Asimov's writings the endochronicity of thiotimoline is explained by the fact that in the thiotimoline molecule, there is at least one carbon atom such that, while two of the carbon's four chemical bonds lie in normal space and time, one of the bonds projects into the future and another into the past. Thiotimoline is derived from the bark of the (fictitious) shrub Rosacea karlsbadensis rufo, and the thiotimoline molecule includes at least fourteen hydroxy groups, two amino groups, and one sulfonic acid group, and possibly one nitro compound group as well. The nature of the hydrocarbon nucleus is unknown, although it seems in part to be an aromatic hydrocarbon.
|
||||
|
||||
== Background ==
|
||||
In 1947 Asimov was engaged in doctoral research in chemistry and, as part of his experimental procedure, he needed to dissolve catechol in water. As he observed the crystals dissolve as soon as they hit the water's surface, it occurred to him that if catechol were any more soluble, then it would dissolve before it encountered the water.
|
||||
By that time Asimov had been writing professionally for nine years and would soon write a doctoral dissertation. He feared that the experience of writing readable prose for publication (i.e. science fiction) might have impaired his ability to write the turgid prose typical of academic discourse, and decided to practice with a spoof article (including charts, graphs, tables, and citations of fake articles in nonexistent journals) describing experiments on a compound, thiotimoline, that was so soluble that it dissolved in water up to 1.12 seconds before the water was added.
|
||||
Asimov wrote the article on 8 June 1947, but was uncertain as to whether the resulting work of fiction was publishable. John W. Campbell, the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, accepted it for publication on 10 June, agreeing to Asimov's request that it appear under a pseudonym in deference to Asimov's concern that he might alienate potential doctoral examiners at Columbia University if he were revealed as the author.
|
||||
Some months later Asimov was alarmed to see the piece appear in the March 1948 issue of Astounding under his own name, and copies of the issue circulated at the Columbia chemistry department. Asimov believed that Campbell had done so out of greater wisdom. His examiners told him that they accepted his dissertation by asking a final question about thiotimoline, resulting in him having to be led from the room while laughing hysterically with relief. The article made Asimov famous for the first time outside science fiction, as chemists shared copies of the article. He heard that many children went to the New York Public Library trying to find the nonexistent journals.
|
||||
|
||||
== "The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline" ==
|
||||
In 1952, Asimov wrote a second spoof scientific paper on thiotimoline called "The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline". Like the first, it included charts, graphs, tables, and citations of fake articles from fake journals (along with one real citation: Asimov's own earlier spoof article from Astounding, which was listed tongue-in-cheek as the Journal of Astounding Science Fiction). This second article described the use of thiotimoline to establish a quantitative classification of "certain mental disorders". It also expounds a putative rationale for thiotimoline's behaviour: namely that the chemical bonds in the compound's structural formula are so starved of space that some are forced into the time dimension. According to the second article, thiotimoline's time of solubility varies depending on the determination of the person adding the water. It also claims that one effect is that when people with multiple personalities add the water, some parts of the thiotimoline dissolve before others, due to some of the individual's personalities being more determined than others. "The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline" appeared in the December 1953 issue of Astounding.
|
||||
The first two thiotimoline "articles" appeared together in Asimov's first collection of science essays, Only a Trillion (1957), under the joint title "The Marvellous Properties of Thiotimoline". Asimov also included the original article in his 1972 collection The Early Asimov. The first article also appeared in Fifty Years of the Best Science Fiction from Analog (Davis Publications, 1982).
|
||||
22
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline-1.md
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22
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Thiotimoline"
|
||||
chunk: 2/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:11.958549+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== "Thiotimoline and the Space Age" ==
|
||||
Asimov wrote a third thiotimoline article on 14 November 1959 called "Thiotimoline and the Space Age". Instead of a fake scientific paper, this third article took the form of an address by Asimov to the 12th annual meeting of the American Chronochemical Society, a nonexistent scientific society. In his address, Asimov "describes" his first experiments with thiotimoline in July 1947, and timing the compound's dissolution with the original endochronometer, "the same instrument now at the Smithsonian". Asimov laments the skepticism with which chronochemistry has been greeted in America, noting with sorrow that his address has only attracted fifteen attendees. He then contrasts the thriving state of chronochemistry in the Soviet Union, with the research town of Khrushchevsk, nicknamed "Tiotimolingrad", established in the Urals.
|
||||
According to Asimov, two Scottish researchers have developed a "telechronic battery", which uses a series of 77,000 interconnected endochronometers to allow a final sample of thiotimoline to dissolve up to a day before water is added to an initial sample. Asimov says there is "strong, if indirect, evidence that the Soviet Union possesses even more sophisticated devices and is turning them out in commercial quantities". He believes that the Soviets are using telechronic batteries to determine ahead of time whether satellite launches will be successful.
|
||||
Finally, Asimov describes attempts to create a "Heisenberg failure", to get a sample of thiotimoline to dissolve without later adding water to it. In every case where the thiotimoline dissolved, some accident occurred that caused some water to be added to it at the proper time. Several attempts to create a Heisenberg failure in the mid-1950s coincided with hurricanes Carol, Edna, and Diane striking New England in such a manner as to suggest that nature would find a way to add water whatever man decided, if man were to be resolute in not adding water. Asimov speculated that Noah's flood might have been brought about by thiotimoline experiments among the ancient Sumerians. He then concludes with some speculation about thiotimoline's potential applications as a weapon of mass destruction by deliberately using it to artificially induce hurricanes.
|
||||
"Thiotimoline and the Space Age" appeared in the October 1960 issue of Astounding, which was then in the final stages of changing its name to Analog. The article was reprinted in full in Opus 100 (1969) and The Asimov Chronicles: Fifty Years of Isaac Asimov (1989).
|
||||
|
||||
== "Thiotimoline to the Stars" ==
|
||||
Asimov's final piece on thiotimoline was a short story titled "Thiotimoline to the Stars", which he wrote for Harry Harrison's anthology Astounding (1973). In it, Admiral Vernon, Commandant of the Astronautic Academy, gives a speech to the graduating "Class of '22". Vernon's speech explains that thiotimoline was first mentioned in 1948 by a semi-mythical scientist named Azimuth or Asymptote, but that serious study of the compound didn't begin until the 21st century scientist Almirante worked out the theory of hypersteric hindrance. Later scientists worked out ways to form endochronic molecules into polymers, allowing large structures such as spaceships to be built out of endochronic materials. One effect of endochronicity is that if one fails to add water to an object that has reacted to water, the object will travel into the future in search of water to interact with.
|
||||
An individual with sufficient inborn talent, Vernon explains, can perfectly balance a starship's endochronicity with relativistic time dilation, so that a ship traveling at relativistic speeds can age at the same rate as the rest of the universe, allowing it to return to its starting point within months, rather than centuries, of its departure. Vernon emphasizes that starship pilots are expected to match endochronicity with relativity exactly: a sixty-second difference between the two is regarded as barely acceptable, and a 120-second difference is considered grounds for dismissal. Vernon also emphasizes that endochronic molecules are unstable, and must be renewed before each trip, so that an endochronic ship that finds itself lost might not have sufficient endochronicity to return to its proper time. A ship that finds itself in the future might be able to re-endochronize itself if the technology still exists; a ship that finds itself in the past will be marooned there.
|
||||
Finally, Vernon reveals that the auditorium where he is giving his speech is actually an endochronic starship, and that during his speech, they have all flown to the outskirts of the Solar System. The graduates felt no acceleration because canceling out time dilation also caused the canceling out of inertia. When Vernon concludes his speech, the graduates will be landing in the United Nations Port at Lincoln, Nebraska, where they will be spending the weekend.
|
||||
After they land, Vernon receives an awful shock and passes out when his pilot informs him that the ship is surrounded by Indians. Vernon wrongly assumed the pilot meant Red Indians, and thought that they had landed centuries in the past. But the pilot only meant that they had landed at the correct time but near Calcutta, India.
|
||||
Asimov included "Thiotimoline to the Stars" in his 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories.
|
||||
29
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline-2.md
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29
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|
||||
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|
||||
title: "Thiotimoline"
|
||||
chunk: 3/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiotimoline"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:11.958549+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Other references to thiotimoline ==
|
||||
In Glen Bever's story "And Silently Vanish Away" a chemist with the unique ability to use psychokinetic catalysis to speed up difficult reactions is shocked by a lab explosion and the mixture he was working on gets changed. Under analysis the structure never appears to be the same twice and when the substance is injected into lab rats they start to silently and suddenly vanish. It is found that one part of the compound is a molecule which spreads out into four dimensions. The four-dimensional molecule is thiotimoline. The story appeared in the November 1971 issue of Analog Science Fiction/Science Fact.
|
||||
Topi H. Barr's story "Antithiotimoline" deals with a chemist who accidentally creates a thiotimoline-like compound which extrudes only into the past, enabling the scientist to create images of past events. The narrator complains that thiotimoline is extremely difficult to obtain, and suspects that the CIA or other agencies are controlling the supply for their own reasons. The story appeared in the December 1977 issue of Analog.
|
||||
Spider Robinson's story "Mirror mirror, off the wall", published in Time Travelers Strictly Cash in 1981, also references thiotimoline.
|
||||
In Robert Silverberg's 1989 story "The Asenion Solution", thiotimoline is used to send excess quantities of plutonium-186 to the end of time, where they will fall over the brink into anti-time and lead to the Big Bang. "The Asenion Solution" appeared in the Asimov festschrift Foundation's Friends.
|
||||
The November/December 2001 and March/April 2002 issues of the IEEE Design & Test of Computers included spoof articles on the use of thiotimoline for debugging computers.
|
||||
In the game We Happy Few, a mysterious liquid called "motilene" acts as the primary source of electrical power in the setting, and is pumped throughout the city in pipes in lieu of a traditional electrical grid, or alternatively placed into special jars to act as portable batteries. A research note can be found in one location which makes reference to "thiomotilene crystals" and their "endochronic properties", which in turn strongly suggests motilene's name be derived from thiotimoline.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
|
||||
Tachyons in fiction
|
||||
List of fictional elements, materials, isotopes and atomic particles
|
||||
Pâté de Foie Gras, another Asimov scientific spoof about a goose which actually laid golden eggs
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Thiotimoline series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
|
||||
"The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline", "The Micropsychiatric Applications of Thiotimoline", and "Thiotimoline and the Space Age" on the Internet Archive
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Time travel claims and urban legends"
|
||||
chunk: 1/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel_claims_and_urban_legends"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:13.108313+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Multiple accounts of people who allegedly travelled through time have been reported by the press or circulated online. These reports have turned out to be either hoaxes or else based on incorrect assumptions, incomplete information, or interpretation of fiction as fact. Many are now recognized as urban legends.
|
||||
|
||||
== Alleged time travelers ==
|
||||
|
||||
=== Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain ===
|
||||
|
||||
In 1911, Charlotte Anne Moberly (1846–1937) and Eleanor Jourdain (1863–1924) published a book entitled An Adventure, under the names of "Elizabeth Morison" and "Frances Lamont". They described a visit to the Petit Trianon, a small château in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, where they claimed they saw ghosts, including that of Marie Antoinette and others. Their story caused a sensation but was not taken seriously.
|
||||
|
||||
=== "Chaplin's Time Traveller" ===
|
||||
In October 2010, Northern Irish filmmaker George Clarke uploaded a video clip entitled "Chaplin's Time Traveller" to YouTube. The clip analyzes bonus material in a DVD of the Charlie Chaplin film The Circus. Included in the DVD is footage from the film's Los Angeles premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1928. At one point, a woman is seen walking by, holding up an object to her ear. Clarke said that, on closer examination, she was talking into a thin, black device that had appeared to be a "phone". Clarke concluded that the woman was possibly a time traveller. The clip received millions of hits and was the subject of televised news stories.
|
||||
Nicholas Jackson, associate editor for The Atlantic, says the most likely answer is that she was using a portable hearing aid, a technology that was just being developed at the time. Philip Skroska, an archivist at the Bernard Becker Medical Library of Washington University School of Medicine, thought that the woman might have been holding a rectangular ear trumpet. New York Daily News writer Michael Sheridan said the device was probably an early hearing aid, perhaps an Acousticon manufactured by Miller Reese Hutchison.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Present-day hipster at 1941 bridge opening ===
|
||||
|
||||
A photograph from 1941 of genuine authenticity of the re-opening of the South Fork Bridge in Gold Bridge, British Columbia, is sometimes alleged on the internet to show a time traveler. It was claimed that his clothing and sunglasses were of the present day and not of the styles worn in the 1940s, while his camera was anachronistically small.
|
||||
Further research suggested that the man's present-day appearance would not necessarily have been out of place in 1941. The style of sunglasses he is wearing first appeared in the 1920s. On first glance, the man is taken by many to be wearing a printed T-shirt, but on closer inspection, it seems to be a sweater with a sewn-on emblem, the kind of clothing often worn by sports teams of the period. The shirt resembles one worn by the Montreal Maroons, an ice hockey team from that era. The remainder of his clothing would appear to have been available at the time, though his clothes are far more casual than those worn by the other individuals in the photograph. His camera is smaller than most of that era, but cameras of that size did exist; while it is unclear what make his camera was, Kodak had manufactured portable cameras of equivalent size since 1938.
|
||||
The "Time Traveling Hipster" became a case study in viral Internet phenomena which was presented at the Museums and the Web 2011 conference in Philadelphia.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Mobile device in 1943 ===
|
||||
A photograph from 1943 of genuine authenticity, showing a scene of holidaymakers on Towan Beach in Newquay, Cornwall, was uploaded to Twitter in November 2018 by multimedia artist Stuart Humphryes, which was alleged by some viewers to show a time traveller operating an anachronistic mobile device, such as a phone. This tweet was picked up by news outlets including Fox News in the US, and various tabloid newspapers in the UK, such as The Daily Mirror. Fuelled by media websites such as LADbible it gained global coverage via news outlets in Russia, Iran, Taiwan, Hungary, China and Vietnam. amongst others. Humphryes, the original uploader, was quoted in these stories as dismissing the time travel theories, stating that the man in question was probably just rolling a cigarette.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Rudolph Fentz ===
|
||||
The story of Rudolph Fentz is an urban legend from the early 1950s and has been repeated since as a reproduction of facts and presented as evidence for the existence of time travel. The essence of the legend is that in New York City in 1951 a man wearing 19th-century clothes was hit by a car. The subsequent investigation revealed that the man had disappeared without a trace in 1876. The items in his possession suggested that the man had traveled through time from 1876 to 1951 directly.
|
||||
The folklorist Chris Aubeck investigated the story and found it originated in a science fiction book, A Voice from the Gallery (1953) by Ralph M. Holland, which had copied the tale from "I'm Scared" (1951), a short story by Jack Finney (1911–1995).
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Time travel claims and urban legends"
|
||||
chunk: 2/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel_claims_and_urban_legends"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:13.108313+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
=== Mike "Madman" Marcum ===
|
||||
In 1995, a caller to Art Bell's syndicated radio show Coast to Coast AM named Mike Marcum claimed to have discovered a means of time travel using a Jacob's ladder. In attempting to build a larger version of this device, Marcum admitted that he had stolen several power transformers from the local power company, St. Joseph Light and Power in King City, Missouri; in using them to power his "time machine" he caused a local blackout that brought him to the attention of authorities. Police records confirmed that he had been arrested for this theft and sentenced to 60 days in jail plus a suspended sentence. He called the radio show again in 1996, stating he was building a second "time machine" from legally acquired parts, and was 30 days from completing the device. He claimed to have sent around 200 items and small animals through this device and announced that he would travel through it himself. Marcum then "disappeared" in 1997. His absence led to a number of theories, as well as giving birth to a number of urban legends.
|
||||
In 2015, Bell interviewed him again on his radio show, Midnight in the Desert, where Marcum claimed that he had been transported two years into the future and 800 miles (1,300 km) away, landing near Fairfield, Ohio, but suffered amnesia. While living in a homeless shelter, Marcum slowly remembered his name, his Social Security number, and other memories that enabled him to re-enter society. However, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has no record of him being reported as a missing person.
|
||||
|
||||
=== John Titor ===
|
||||
|
||||
Between 2000 and 2001, an online bulletin board user who self-identified as John Titor became popular, claiming to be a time traveler from 2036 on a military mission. Holding the many-worlds interpretation as correct and consequently every time travel paradox as impossible, he stated that many events which occurred up to his time would indeed occur in this timeline. These included a devastating civil war in the US in 2008 followed by a short nuclear World War III in 2015, which will "kill three billion people".
|
||||
In the years following his last posts and disappearance in 2001, the failure to fulfill his specific predictions led to a decrease in his popularity. Criticism has pointed out flaws in Titor's stories, and investigations suggested his character may be a hoax and a creation of two siblings from Florida.
|
||||
The story has been retold on numerous websites, in a book, in the Japanese visual novel/anime Steins; Gate, and in a play. He may also have been discussed occasionally on the radio show Coast to Coast AM.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Bob White/Tim Jones ===
|
||||
Similar to John Titor, Bob White, or Tim Jones sent an unknown number of spam emails between 2001 and 2003. The subject of the emails was always the same: an individual seeking someone who could supply a "Dimensional Warp Generator." In some instances, he claimed to be a time traveler stuck in 2003, and in others he claimed to be seeking the parts only from other time travelers. Several recipients began to respond in kind, claiming to have equipment such as the requested dimensional warp generator. One recipient, Dave Hill, set up an online shop from which the time traveler purchased the warp generator (formerly a hard drive motor), while another Dave charged thousands of dollars for time-travel "courses" before he would sell the requested hardware.
|
||||
The name "Bob White" was taken from an alias that the second Dave used when responding (a reference to the "Bob-Whites" of Trixie Belden-fame).
|
||||
Soon afterward, the time traveler was identified as professional spammer Robert J. Todino (known as "Robby"). Todino's attempts to travel in time were a serious belief, and while he believed he was "perfectly mentally stable," his father was concerned that those replying to his emails had been preying on Todino's psychological problems.
|
||||
In his book Spam Kings, journalist Brian S. McWilliams, who had originally uncovered Todino's identity for Wired magazine, revealed that Todino had been previously diagnosed with dissociative disorder and schizophrenia, explaining the psychological problems of which his father had spoken. Todino's time traveller was referenced in the song "Rewind" by jazz trio Groovelily on their 2003 album Are we there yet? The song used phrases taken from Todino's emails within its lyrics.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Andrew Carlssin ===
|
||||
Andrew Carlssin was supposedly arrested in March 2003 for SEC violations for making 126 high-risk stock trades and being successful on every one. As reported, Carlssin started with an initial investment of $800 and ended with over $350,000,000, which drew the SEC's attention. Later reports suggest that after his arrest, he submitted a four-hour confession wherein he claimed to be a time traveler from 200 years in the future. He offered to tell investigators such things as the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and the cure for AIDS in return for a lesser punishment and to be allowed to return to his time craft, although he refused to tell investigators the location or workings of his craft. A mysterious man posted his bail, and Carlssin was scheduled for a court hearing but was never seen again; records show that he never existed.
|
||||
The Carlssin story likely originated as a fictional piece in Weekly World News, a satirical newspaper, and was later repeated by Yahoo! News, where its fictitious nature became less apparent. It was soon reported by other newspapers and magazines as fact. This, in turn, drove word-of-mouth spread through email inboxes and internet forums, leading to far more detailed descriptions of events.
|
||||
@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Time travel claims and urban legends"
|
||||
chunk: 3/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel_claims_and_urban_legends"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:13.108313+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
=== Håkan Nordkvist ===
|
||||
A video uploaded in 2006 shows a Swedish man named Håkan Nordkvist claiming he was accidentally transported to 2046 while attempting to fix the sink in his kitchen. There in the future, he immediately met someone who turned out to be himself, about 70 years old, and with whom he "had a great time". He filmed short footage of the two smiling and hugging each other and showing the tattoo they had on their right arms.
|
||||
The story was part of a marketing campaign promoting the insurance company's pension plans.
|
||||
|
||||
=== iPhone in a 1860 painting ===
|
||||
|
||||
Some online viewers claimed that an 1860 painting by Austrian artist Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller titled The Expected depicted a woman holding a mobile phone and staring down at it while strolling along a country path. However, art experts debunked these claims, stating that the alleged mobile phone the woman was holding in the painting was actually a prayer book.
|
||||
|
||||
== Alleged time-travel technology ==
|
||||
|
||||
=== Die Glocke ===
|
||||
|
||||
Die Glocke ("The Bell") is a purported Nazi time machine that was supposedly part of a flying saucer.
|
||||
|
||||
=== The Chronovisor ===
|
||||
Italian Benedictine monk Pellegrino Ernetti claimed to have used a time viewer that could film the past without sound. Using this device, which he called the "chronovisor", he allegedly was able to obtain a photograph of the Crucifixion of Jesus and view other scenes from ancient Rome, such as a performance of the lost play Thyestes.
|
||||
Author Paul J. Nahin has suggested that a short story by Horace Gold (using the pen name Dudley Dell) called "The Biography Project" published in Galaxy Science Fiction magazine might have provided the inspiration for Ernetti's claim.
|
||||
According to Guardian writer Mark Pilkington: "Ernetti's glory was short-lived. Another magazine revealed that Christ was a reversed image of a postcard from the Santuario dell'Amore Misericordioso, in the town of Collevalenza. More recently, doubt has been cast on his 'transcription' of Thyestes, and an apparent deathbed confession has also surfaced."
|
||||
|
||||
=== Iranian time machine ===
|
||||
In April 2013, the Iranian news agency Fars reported that a 27-year-old Iranian scientist had invented a time machine that allowed people to see into the future. A few days later, the story was removed and replaced with one quoting an Iranian government official who said no such device had been registered.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Philadelphia Experiment and Montauk Project ===
|
||||
|
||||
The Philadelphia Experiment is the name given to a naval military experiment which was supposedly carried out at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sometime around 28 October 1943. It is alleged that the U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Eldridge was to be rendered invisible (or "cloaked") to enemy devices. The experiment is also referred to as Project Rainbow. Some reports allege that the warship traveled back in time for about 10 seconds; however, popular culture has represented far longer time jumps.
|
||||
The story is widely regarded as a hoax. The U.S. Navy maintains that no such experiment occurred, and details of the story contradict well-established facts about the Eldridge as well as the known laws of physics.
|
||||
The Montauk Project was alleged to be a series of secret United States government projects conducted at Camp Hero or Montauk Air Force Station on Montauk, Long Island, for the purpose of exotic research, including time travel. Jacques Vallée describes allegations of the Montauk Project as an outgrowth of stories about the Philadelphia Experiment.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
List of creepypastas
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
20
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trixolan-0.md
Normal file
20
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trixolan-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Trixolan"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trixolan"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:15.442248+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
Trixolan (TX) is a purportedly therapeutic agent based on Viroxan, a citronella-based substance used by Stephen Herman, a Californian doctor who used it to treat AIDS patients. State medical officials stated that the drug hastened the deaths of at least two AIDS patients.
|
||||
Herman surrendered his medical license in 1991 when prosecutors agreed they would, in return, drop civil charges of gross negligence, incompetence, dishonesty and other offenses. In 1994, in the first AIDS medical fraud case to come to trial in the United States, a Los Angeles County jury ordered two doctors and a hospital that used Viroxan to pay five patients a total of $2.7 million. Herman had been dropped from the suit when he declared bankruptcy.
|
||||
Trixolan was linked in headlines to American fugitive Robert Lee Vesco and to Donald A. Nixon, President Richard Nixon's nephew.
|
||||
In the early 1980s Donald Nixon's wife contracted breast cancer and was treated with chemotherapy. In the search for a remedy for her cancer, he met with Dr. Stephen Herman, who claimed that Viroxan could boost the immune system and could get rid of many diseases, including cancer. Donald Nixon gave his wife Trixolan and claimed that it cured his wife's cancer and her arthritis.
|
||||
Nixon asked the Federal Government for $300 million to test the drug. When no funding was forthcoming, he formed a partnership with Vesco and other partners. Nixon was placed under house arrest in Cuba when he went to visit Vesco — who had fled to Cuba to avoid prosecution for securities fraud — for financing.
|
||||
Purportedly, Vesco introduced Nixon to Fidel Castro and his brother Raul, and Fidel set up four laboratories in Cuba with his nephew Antonio Fraga Castro as head of the project to develop the formula. They claim Trixolan suppresses cancer and cures AIDS, arthritis and the common cold - all of which are diseases related to immunity.
|
||||
Castro imprisoned Vesco in 1996, convicting him of fraud, saying he had defrauded a state-run biotechnology laboratory run by Castro's nephew in a scheme to "develop" TX. Associated Press reported that he had been convicted of marketing Trixolan without government permission. Vesco died of lung cancer in 2007.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
55
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_encabulator-0.md
Normal file
55
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_encabulator-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Turbo encabulator"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo_encabulator"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:17.763732+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The turbo encabulator is a fictional electromechanical machine with a satirical technobabble description that became a famous in-joke among engineers after a report about it by John Quick was published by the British Institution of Electrical Engineers in their Students' Quarterly Journal in 1944. Technical documentation has been written for the non-existent machine, and there are a number of parody marketing videos.
|
||||
|
||||
...The original machine had a base-plate of prefamulated amulite, surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two main spurving bearings were in a direct line with the pentametric fan. The latter consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzlevanes, so fitted to the ambifacient lunar waneshaft that side fumbling was effectively prevented. The main winding was of the normal lotus-o-delta type placed in panendermic semi-boloid slots in the stator, every seventh conductor being connected by a non-reversible tremie pipe to the differential girdlespring on the "up" end of the grammeters...
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== History ==
|
||||
|
||||
An early popular American reference to the turbo encabulator appeared in an article by New York lawyer Bernard Salwen in the April 15, 1946, issue of Time magazine. Part of Salwen's job was to review technical manuscripts, including an Arthur D. Little Industrial Bulletin which had reprinted Quick's piece, and he was amused enough by it to include the description in his article.
|
||||
In response to a letter printed in the May 6 issue of Time from W. E. Habig of Madison, N.J. asking "What is a 'dingle arm'?”, the editors described it as "An adjunct to the turbo-encabulator, employed whenever a barescent skor motion is required." A month later a response to reader mail on the feature appeared in the June 3, 1946 issue:
|
||||
|
||||
If the sackful of mail we have received from you is any indication, the story of "The Turbo-Encabulator in Industry" struck many a responsive chord. Aside from those of you who wanted to be reassured that TIME hadn't been taken in, we received the customary complaints about using too much technical jargon for the layman, observations such as "My husband says it sounds like a new motor; I say it sounds like a dictionary that has been struck by lightning"; suggestions that it "might have come out of the mouth of Danny Kaye," and plaintive queries like: "Is this good?" Wrote one bemused U.S. Navyman: "It'sh poshible." To some the turbo-encabulator sounded as though it would be a "wonderful machine for changing baby's diapers." A reader from Hoboken assumed that it would be on sale soon in Manhattan department stores. Many of you wrote in to thank us for illuminating what you have long wanted to tell your scientist friends."
|
||||
In 1962 a turbo encabulator data sheet was created by engineers at General Electric's Instrument Department, in West Lynn, Massachusetts. It quoted from the previous sources and was inserted into the General Electric Handbook. The turbo encabulator data sheet had the same format as the other pages in the G.E. Handbook. The engineers added "Shure Stat" in "Technical Features", which was peculiar only to the Instrument Department, and included the first known graphic representation of a "manufactured" turbo encabulator using parts made at the Instrument Department.
|
||||
Circa 1977, Bud Haggart, an actor who appeared in many industrial training films in and around Detroit, performed in the first film realization of the description and operation of the turbo encabulator, using a truncated script adapted from Quick's article. Haggart convinced director Dave Rondot and the film crew to stay after the filming of an actual GMC Trucks project training film to realize the turbo encabulator spot.
|
||||
Another version was done by Mike Kraft, who had previously worked with Bud Haggart and known as the "retro encabulator" using an Allen-Bradley motor control center and referencing other brands owned by Rockwell Automation. This version was put online and made its way to eBaum’s World, where it gained quite a bit of notoriety.
|
||||
The term, in both textual and video format, has continued to appear in newer media.
|
||||
In 2022, Mike Kraft returned to narrate another video describing the "SANS ICS HyperEncabulator", making many references to previous versions.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Significance ==
|
||||
The turbo encabulator has become a humorous example of obfuscation by excessive jargon in the fields of science and engineering. The term has also been used as a classic example of technobabble.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Blinkenlights – Hacker jargon for computerised blinking lights
|
||||
Parody science – Spoof of scientific writing or practice
|
||||
Thiotimoline – Fictional organic compound from short stories by Isaac Asimov
|
||||
This Island Earth – 1955 film by Jack Arnold and Joseph M. Newman
|
||||
Unobtainium – Rare or fictional material
|
||||
Write-only memory (joke) – Humorous fictional type of computer memory
|
||||
Widget (economics) – Abstract name for a unit of production
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Copy, with errors, of original article, prepared by Arthur D. Little
|
||||
Digital archive of original article
|
||||
Selected videos
|
||||
Turbo Encabulator, original filmed version by Bud Haggart
|
||||
Rockwell Turbo Encabulator by Bud Haggart (with an addition in the form of a narrated history)
|
||||
Chrysler Turbo Encabulator by Bud Haggart (as "Mastertech", with the addition of a faux diagnostic procedure)
|
||||
Chrysler Turbo Encabulator, new version by Bud Haggart (as "Viper Automotive Mastertech Tips", with faux diagnostic procedure)
|
||||
Rockwell Retro Encabulator (Mike Kraft)
|
||||
SANS ICS Hyper Encabulator (Mike Kraft)
|
||||
49
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villejuif_leaflet-0.md
Normal file
49
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villejuif_leaflet-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Villejuif leaflet"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villejuif_leaflet"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:18.923543+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The Villejuif leaflet, also known as the Villejuif flyer and the Villejuif list, was a pamphlet which enjoyed wide distribution. The leaflet listed a number of safe food additives with their E numbers as alleged carcinogens. The leaflet caused mass panic in Europe in the late 1970s and 1980s. One of the entries on the list was citric acid (E330).
|
||||
Its name derives from its false claim to have been produced at the hospital in Villejuif.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== History ==
|
||||
The earliest known sighting of the leaflet was in February 1976, in the form of a single typewritten page in France. Homemade copies were spread across Europe for a decade in the form of a leaflet or flyer pamphlet that was distributed between friends and apart from citric acid included 16 other chemicals in a list of substances that it called dangerous toxins and carcinogens. The original author of the typewritten list was never found, and the leaflet affected about 7 million people in its uncontrollable propagation. In a survey of 150 housewives, 19% said they have stopped buying these brands, and 69% planned to do so.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== List contents ==
|
||||
Multiple versions of this leaflet circulated, the exact set of suspect and dangerous substances differing from version to version. The following substances have been included on at least one such leaflet:
|
||||
|
||||
Toxic: E102, E110, E120, E123, E124, E127, E211, E220 (Sulfur dioxide), E225, E230, E239, E250, E251, E252, E311, E312, E320, E321, E330 (Citric Acid, listed as "most dangerous"), E407, E450
|
||||
Suspect: E125, E131, E141 (Chlorophyll derivatives), E142, E150, E153, E171 (Titanium White), E172 (Iron Oxide), E173 (Aluminium), E210, E212, E213, E214/E215, E216/E217, E221, E222, E223, E224, E226, E231, E232, E233, E240 (Formaldehyde), E338 (Phosphoric acid), E339, E340, E341, E460 (Cellulose), E461, E462, E463, E464, E465, E466
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Research ==
|
||||
This phenomenon became the subject of academic empirical research by J. N. Kapferer, president of the Foundation for the Study and Information on Rumors (an organisation in Paris, France) and professor of communication at L'Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales and l'Institut Supérieur des Affaires (a university in France) because of its persistence contrary to all official denials about the safety of citric acid and its wide distribution, as about half of all French housewives had been exposed to it. The resulting scientific paper was published in 1989 in the 53rd volume of the Public Opinion Quarterly, a journal associated with the American Association for Public Opinion Research and published by the University of Chicago Press (now published by the Oxford University Press).
|
||||
According to a 1990 book also written by Jean-Noël Kapferer, the leaflet drew the attention of experts, who immediately recognised its dubious nature. The leaflet wrongly listed E330, citric acid, as the most dangerous of all carcinogens.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Spread ==
|
||||
The rumour, considered one of the most important experienced in the French society, spread via a translated leaflet in Great Britain, Germany, Italy, the Middle East, and Africa.
|
||||
Journalists working for newspapers distributed the list of alleged carcinogens verbatim; even a 1984 book written by a medical doctor aiming at informing the general public about the dangers of cancer included the substances in the flyer in a list of carcinogens, without checking the flyer's accuracy.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== False connection with the hospital of Villejuif ==
|
||||
It was reproduced many times by many individuals as friends sought to inform other friends of the harmful chemicals in their food, and in the course of uncontrolled copying a version of the leaflet included the name of the Villejuif Hospital, making victims to the rumour believe that the list was authorised by it. Even though the hospital (as Gustave-Roussy Institute) denied any association, it was unable to stop the further dissemination of the flyer, which went on from hand to hand until at least 1986 and was passed to elementary schools, organisations, and even various hospitals, while medical schools and pharmacy schools also fell victim to the list because of its (unauthorised and untrue) reference to the well-known hospital of Villejuif.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Possible explanations ==
|
||||
Citric acid is important for a chemical process named Krebs cycle, but Krebs means cancer in German, and it has been suggested that this linguistic confusion may have been responsible for false claims that citric acid is carcinogenic.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
|
||||
Chemophobia
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
53
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_to_Hell-0.md
Normal file
53
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_to_Hell-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Well to Hell"
|
||||
chunk: 1/1
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Well_to_Hell"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:20.105350+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
The "Well to Hell", also known as the "Siberian hell sounds", is an urban legend regarding a putative borehole in the Siberian region of Russia, which was purportedly drilled so deep that it broke through into Hell.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Legend and basis ==
|
||||
The legend holds that a team of Soviet engineers purportedly led by an individual named "Mr. Azakov" in an unnamed place in Siberia had drilled a hole that was 14.4 km (9 miles) deep before breaking through to a cavity. Intrigued by this unexpected discovery, they lowered an extremely heat-tolerant microphone, along with other sensory equipment, into the well. The temperature deep within was 1,000 °C (1,800 °F), heat from a chamber of fire from which screaming could be heard.
|
||||
The Soviet Union had, in fact, drilled a hole more than 12 km (7.5 miles) deep, the Kola Superdeep Borehole, located not in Siberia but on the Kola Peninsula, which shares borders with Norway and Finland. Upon reaching the depth of 12,262 m (40,230 feet) in 1989, geological anomalies were found, although they reported no supernatural encounters. The recording of "tormented screams" was later found to be looped together from various sound effects, sometimes identified as the soundtrack of the 1972 movie Baron Blood.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Propagation ==
|
||||
The story was reported to first have been published by the Finnish newspaper Ammennusastia, a journal published by a group of Pentecostal Christians from Leväsjoki, a village in the municipality of Siikainen in Western Finland. Rich Buhler, who interviewed the editors, found that the story had been based on recollections of a letter printed in the feature section of a newspaper called Etelä Suomen (possibly the Etelä-Suomen Sanomat). When contacting the letter's author, Buhler found that he had drawn from a story appearing in a Finnish Christian newsletter named Vaeltajat, which had printed the story in July 1989. The newsletter's editor claimed that its origin had been a newsletter called Jewels of Jericho, published by a group of Messianic Jews in California. Here, Buhler stopped tracing the origins any further.
|
||||
American tabloids soon ran the story, and sound files began appearing on various sites across the Internet. Sensational retellings of the legend can be found on YouTube, usually featuring the aforementioned Baron Blood sound effects.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
=== TBN involvement ===
|
||||
The story eventually made its way to the American Christian Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), which broadcast it on the network, claiming it to be proof of the literal existence of Hell.
|
||||
Åge Rendalen, a Norwegian teacher, heard the story on TBN while visiting the United States. Disgusted with what he perceived to be mass gullibility, Rendalen decided to augment the tale at TBN's expense.
|
||||
Rendalen wrote to the network, originally claiming that he disbelieved the tale but, upon his return to Norway, supposedly read a factual account of the story. According to Rendalen, the story claimed not only that the cursed well was real, but that a bat-like apparition (a common pictorial representation of demons, such as in Michelangelo's The Torment of Saint Anthony or the more recent Bat Boy by Weekly World News) had risen out of it before blazing a trail across the Russian sky. To perpetuate his hoax, Rendalen deliberately mistranslated a trivial Norwegian article about a local building inspector into the story, and submitted both the original Norwegian article and the English "translation" to TBN. Rendalen also included his real name, phone number, and address, as well as those of a pastor friend who knew about the hoax and had agreed to expose it to anyone who called seeking verification.
|
||||
However, TBN did nothing to verify Rendalen's claims, and aired the story as proof of the validity of the original story.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Alternative versions ==
|
||||
Since its publicity, many alternative versions of the Well to Hell story have been published. In 1992, the U.S. tabloid Weekly World News published an alternative version of the story, which was set in Alaska where three miners were killed after Satan came roaring out of Hell.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
Darvaza gas crater
|
||||
Mel's Hole
|
||||
Nine Miles Down, a film inspired by the urban legend
|
||||
The Devil Below, a 2021 horror movie about a group of people looking for a burning coal seam. They discuss the Well to Hell.
|
||||
Stull, Kansas
|
||||
The Superdeep, a 2020 Russian horror film directed by Arseny Syuhin, based on the real-life Kola Superdeep Borehole.
|
||||
"Transmission from Hell", a song on the Cradle of Filth album Evermore Darkly..., inspired by the legend.
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Brunvand, Jan Harold (2012). The Encyclopedia of Urban Legends. ABC-CLIO. p. 703. ISBN 978-1-59884-720-8.
|
||||
Brown, Nathan Robert (2011). "Where the Hell is Hell, Anyway?". The Mythology of Supernatural. Penguin Publishing. ISBN 978-1-101-51752-9.
|
||||
Lewis, James R. (2001). Satanism Today. ABC-CLIO. p. 110. ISBN 1-57607-292-4.
|
||||
Heaney, Katie (28 July 2014). "Hell Isn't for Real". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
|
||||
Brunvand, Jan Harold (15 May 1991). "Story of the Well to Hell Digs up Chuckles – Not Screams of the Damned". Deseret News. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
|
||||
17
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds-0.md
Normal file
17
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "When Contact Changes Minds"
|
||||
chunk: 1/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:21.307446+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
"When Contact Changes Minds: An Experiment on Transmission of Support for Gay Equality" is a fraudulent article by then-UCLA political science graduate student Michael LaCour and Columbia University political science professor Donald Green. The article was published in the academic journal Science in December 2014, and retracted in May 2015 after it emerged that the data in the study had been forged by LaCour. The article purported to demonstrate that people's minds on the issue of gay marriage could be changed by conversations with gay canvassers, but not with straight canvassers.
|
||||
|
||||
== Study ==
|
||||
The authors claimed to have investigated whether gay or straight messengers were effective at encouraging voters to support same-sex marriage and whether attitude change persisted and spread to others in voters’ social networks. The purported results, measured by an unrelated panel survey, show that both gay and straight canvassers produced large effects initially, but only gay canvassers’ effects persisted in 3-week, 6-week, and 9-month follow-ups. LaCour and Green (2014) also found strong evidence of within-household transmission of opinion change, but only in the wake of conversations with gay canvassers.
|
||||
The article is ranked in the top 5% of all research output, as scored using Altmetrics.
|
||||
The purported findings made international headlines and received wide media attention including in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Los Angeles Times, and on This American Life. The study attracted widespread attention, in part because it seemed to challenge the conventional understanding of social persuasion that people tend not to change their point of view even when presented with contrasting information.
|
||||
The Yes Campaign in Ireland stated that LaCour and Green (2014) "provided a template" for campaigners to use one-to-one contact and first person accounts to reach out to more conservative voters, leading to the historic Irish referendum legalizing gay marriage on May 22, 2015.
|
||||
20
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds-1.md
Normal file
20
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds-1.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "When Contact Changes Minds"
|
||||
chunk: 2/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:21.307446+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Falsified data ==
|
||||
The "When contact changes minds" study was discredited after a critique by David Broockman, Joshua Kalla, and Peter Aronow on May 19, 2015, titled "Irregularities in LaCour (2014)", concluded that the data had been falsified and no data had been collected. The survey company that LaCour claimed to have used denied performing any work for the study and did not have an employee by the name LaCour listed as his contact with the company. In addition, LaCour had claimed that participants were paid using outside funding, but no organization could be found that had provided the amount of money required to pay thousands of people.
|
||||
The "Irregularities" paper also identified the likely method by which LaCour had forged the data. The baseline survey results appeared to have been taken from an earlier dataset called the Cooperative Campaign Analysis Project (CCAP), to which LaCour had access. The later sets of data appeared to have been simulated from the first using statistical methods to shift the results and by adding normally distributed noise. In addition, the paper noted that canvasser identifiers were missing from the results, making it impossible to verify whether different canvassers produced different results as the original study claimed.
|
||||
Additional evidence of the study's fictitiousness later emerged, such as evidence that LaCour had tried to retroactively claim that the study had been pre-registered using falsified documents.
|
||||
LaCour's coauthor, Donald Green, subsequently requested that the paper be retracted because of “irregularities” in the paper's data and LaCour's failure to give him the raw data on which the paper was based. Yet Green, as senior author on the Science paper, certified that he had examined the raw/original data on his Science/AAAS Authorship Form and Statement of Conflicts of Interest. The Science terms include, prominently, the following statement: “The senior author from each group is required to have examined the raw data their group has produced.”
|
||||
In his letter to the journal, Green wrote: "I am deeply embarrassed by this turn of events and apologize to the editors, reviewers, and readers of Science." Andrew Gelman, a professor of statistics and political science at Columbia University, wrote in The Washington Post that Donald Green had accepted LaCour's data "on faith". On May 28, 2015, the study was retracted by Science, on the basis that incentives to participate in the survey on which the study was based had been misrepresented, that sponsors had been falsely identified, that the authors could not produce the original data, and (citing the findings of Broockman et al.) that there were "statistical irregularities."
|
||||
On May 29, 2015, LaCour uploaded a response to the criticisms. LaCour admitted to some false statements and apologized for "misrepresenting survey incentives and funding", but denied intentionally falsifying the data itself (though he stated that he could not rule out the possibility that he had "mistakenly mixed up" hypothetical data with collected data). He disputed the timeline of events presented in Broockman et al. (2015). He argued that the failure of Broockman et al. to replicate LaCour and Green (2014) was likely the result of a failure to follow the respondent-driven sampling procedure used in LaCour and Green (2014). He stated that Broockman et al. had selected the "incorrect variable" from CCAP (2012) and then manipulated that variable to make the distribution look more like that in LaCour and Green (2014). LaCour claimed that when the "correct" variable is used, the distributions between the CCAP thermometer and the LaCour and Green (2014) thermometer are statistically distinguishable. LaCour said, "selecting the incorrect variable may have been an oversight, but further manipulating that variable to make the distribution look more like LaCour and Green (2014) is a curious and possibly intentional 'error.'" LaCour also claimed that an independent replication supported the main finding reported in LaCour and Green (2014).
|
||||
In the New York Times article, LaCour said the study erred in methods, not results. A subsequent article published by Science indicated that LaCour's response was lacking, failing to address a number of issues while raising new questions about his conduct. A blog post published by Discover stated that LaCour's rebuttal arguments were "very weak" and failed to refute a central criticism of the Broockman paper.
|
||||
After the retraction, the Carnegie Corporation of New York rescinded Donald Green's 2015 Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, revoking a $200,000 award to support Donald Green's research, and Princeton University rescinded an assistant professorship that had been offered to LaCour.
|
||||
The journal Science retracted the article with the concurrence of Green while LaCour did not agree to the retraction.
|
||||
34
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds-2.md
Normal file
34
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds-2.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "When Contact Changes Minds"
|
||||
chunk: 3/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Contact_Changes_Minds"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:21.307446+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
== Popular press ==
|
||||
While Green, David Broockman, and Joshua Kalla conducted numerous interviews with reporters outlining their version of events, LaCour refrained from talking to the media with the exception of a single interview with The New York Times. Various opinions were advanced in the popular media regarding the implications of the scandal and the motivations of the parties involved.
|
||||
The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal speculated that LaCour's argument originally gained acceptance in the scientific community because it "flattered the ideological sensibilities of liberals, who tend to believe that resistance to gay marriage can only be the artifact of ignorance or prejudice, not moral or religious conviction. Mr. LaCour's findings let them claim that science had proved them right." The Journal editorial further argued that the paper and its acceptance reflected a broader phenomenon in the social sciences in which liberals, according to the editorial, "recast stubborn political debates about philosophy and values as disputes over facts that can be resolved by science". New York Magazine columnist Jesse Singal dismissed the Wall Street Journal editorial, arguing that it was silly and uninformed, and suggested instead that the main reason for the article's publication was its contradiction of prior research. Gelman, referring to LaCour's study, said that the journal Science is sometimes called a tabloid "because of its pattern of publishing dramatic but fishy claims (at least in social science)". Conservative pro-gay-marriage columnist S.E. Cupp wrote that, "The doctored study will only encourage the perception that advocates are going too far."
|
||||
As to what motivated LaCour's behavior in the first place, his co-author, Donald Green, has expressed bafflement. New York Magazine points to the pressure that social scientists are under to publish scholarly articles, while stating that "profound pressure to publish certainly can’t explain LaCour’s deception on its own". A New York magazine opinion piece by sociology doctoral candidate Drew Foster argued that the study exposed problems with the culture of political science research and supervision given to junior academics, along with a competitive culture caused by overproduction of PhD students relative to available political science academic positions.
|
||||
|
||||
== Follow-up study ==
|
||||
Following their debunking of When Contact Changes Minds, Broockman and Kalla (2016) conducted an experiment like the one purported to have been conducted by LaCour and Green. Households in Florida were sent a survey on social attitudes and were later visited by canvassers to discuss either recycling or transphobia and transgender rights, with the change in the householders' opinions tracked by follow-up surveys. The study found that extended conversations with canvassers did in fact reduce anti-transgender prejudice and were more effective long-term than attack ads. However, contrary to one of LaCour's claims, the identity of the canvasser did not seem to matter; both transgender and cisgender canvassers had a similar effect.
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
List of scientific misconduct incidents
|
||||
Argument from authority
|
||||
Deep canvassing
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
Notes
|
||||
|
||||
Bibliography
|
||||
LaCour, Michael J.; Green, Donald P. (2014). "When contact changes minds: An experiment on transmission of support for gay equality". Science. 346 (6215): 1366–9. Bibcode:2014Sci...346.1366L. doi:10.1126/science.1256151. PMID 25504721. S2CID 6322609. (Retracted, see doi:10.1126/science.aac6638, PMID 26022417, Retraction Watch)
|
||||
Archived 2015-05-31 at the Wayback Machine. In Annual Meeting of the Midwest Political Science Association.
|
||||
|
||||
LaCour, Michael J.; Vavreck, Lynn (2014). "Improving media measurement: Evidence from the field" (PDF). Political Communication. 31 (3): 408–420. doi:10.1080/10584609.2014.921258. S2CID 143974311.
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Article on Science
|
||||
24
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails-0.md
Normal file
24
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails-0.md
Normal file
@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "When Prophecy Fails"
|
||||
chunk: 1/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:22.517812+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group That Predicted the Destruction of the World is a classic work of social psychology by Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter, published in 1956, detailing a study of a small UFO religion in Chicago called the Seekers that believed in an imminent apocalypse. The authors took a particular interest in the members' coping mechanisms after the event did not occur, focusing on the cognitive dissonance between the members' beliefs and actual events, and the psychological consequences of these disconfirmed expectations. Later archival work has alleged that many of the book's core claims are based on fabrications or exaggerations.
|
||||
|
||||
== Overview ==
|
||||
Festinger, Riecken, and Schachter were already studying the effects of prophecy disconfirmation on groups of believers when they read a story in a local newspaper headlined "Prophecy from Planet. Clarion Call to City: Flee That Flood. It'll Swamp us on Dec. 21". The prophecy came from Dorothy Martin (1900–1992), a Chicago housewife who practised automatic writing, and it outlined a catastrophe predicted for a specific date in their near future. Seeing an opportunity to test their theories with a contemporary case study, the research team infiltrated Martin's followers to collect data before, during, and after the time the prophecy would be refuted.
|
||||
Martin claimed to be receiving messages from superior beings from a planet she referred to as Clarion. A recently published book, Aboard a Flying Saucer by UFO contactee Truman Bethurum, had described his alleged interactions with beings from a planet also named Clarion. The messages received by Martin included a prophecy that Lake City and large portions of the United States, Canada, Central America, and Europe would be destroyed by a flood before dawn on December 21, 1954. Through the restrained recruitment activities of Charles Laughead (a college doctor in Michigan) and other acquaintances, Martin was supported in her mediumship by a small group of believers. Some of the believers took significant actions that indicated a high degree of commitment to the prophecy. Some left or lost their jobs, neglected or ended their studies, ended relationships and friendships with non-believers, gave away money, and/or disposed of possessions to prepare for their departure on a flying saucer, which they believed would rescue them and others before the flood.
|
||||
As anticipated by the research team, the prophesied date passed without any sign of the predicted flood, creating a dissonance between the group's commitment to the prophecy and the unfolding reality. Different members of the group reacted differently. Many of those with the highest levels of belief, commitment, and social support became more committed to their beliefs, began to court publicity in ways they had not before, and developed various rationalizations for the absence of the flood. Some others, with less prior conviction and commitment, and/or less access to ongoing group support, were less able to sustain or increase their previous levels of belief and involvement, and several left the group. The research team's findings were broadly in line with their initial hypothesis about how believers might react to a prophecy disconfirmation, depending on whether certain conditions were in place.
|
||||
|
||||
== Study ==
|
||||
|
||||
=== Hypothesis ===
|
||||
Festinger, Riecken and Schachter used the study to test their theories on how people might be expected to behave when faced with a specific type of dissonance, arising from a failed prophecy. From historical examples, such as the Montanists, Anabaptists, Sabbateans, Millerites and the beginnings of Christianity, the team had seen that in some cases the failure of a prophecy, rather than causing a rejection of the original belief system, could lead believers to increase their personal commitment, and also increase their efforts to recruit others into the belief. They identified five conditions that they proposed could lead to this type of reaction:
|
||||
|
||||
In the case of all conditions being in place, their hypothesis was that believers would find it difficult to abandon their beliefs in the face of disconfirmation, would use their available social support to maintain their beliefs, and would try to increase consonance by recruitment through proselyting, on the grounds that "If more and more people can be persuaded that the system of belief is correct, then clearly it must after all be correct."
|
||||
The research team considered that all of the conditions were likely to be fulfilled in the case study involving Martin and her followers. In this case, if the group's leader could add consonant elements by converting others to the basic premise, then the magnitude of her dissonance following disconfirmation would be reduced. The research team predicted that the inevitable disconfirmation would be followed by an enthusiastic effort at proselyting to seek social support and lessen the pain of disconfirmation.
|
||||
21
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails-1.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "When Prophecy Fails"
|
||||
chunk: 2/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:22.517812+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
=== Methodology ===
|
||||
The study was principally qualitative in nature, with data collected through participant observation, without the permission of the people being observed. The authors of the study and a selection of paid observers infiltrated groups of believers in two locations, in order to collect data as trusted insiders. Posing as people with a genuine personal interest in flying saucers and the group's belief system, the observers built rapport with the group members, aiming to take as passive a role as possible whilst gathering information on the group. Between them, the observers aimed to be present at all key events. Following each notable occurrence, each observer would attempt to excuse themselves in order to write up their notes or record them on audiotape while their memory was still fresh. They would record their notes in a variety of locations, including the bathroom of the house, the porch, or in a nearby hotel room that had been rented for the purpose. In addition to their own notes, the observers collected artifacts such as originals or copies of automatic writing produced by Martin, and transcripts of taped telephone calls that the research subjects themselves had recorded and lent to the observers.
|
||||
In order to protect the privacy of the research subjects, the authors used pseudonyms for all group members and the locations of the study.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Belief system of the research subjects ===
|
||||
The belief system of the group evolved continuously before, during and after the study. Martin's early influences, as outlined in the study, included theosophy, Godfré Ray King, and John Ballou Newbrough, as well as a general interest in flying saucers and extraterrestrial visitors. Martin had previously been involved with L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics movement, and she incorporated ideas from what later became Scientology.
|
||||
Martin began practising automatic writing, initially receiving messages allegedly from her deceased father. Martin believed her father was living in "the astral", which was populated by myriad spirits and beings. She believed that there were different frequencies of spiritual vibration, with less dense frequencies equating to a higher level of existence: higher levels were home to more developed spiritual beings. She went on to believe she was receiving messages from a high-level spiritual instructor called Elder Brother and other spiritual beings called The Guardians, who were living on planets called Clarion and Cerus. Her main source of messages became Sananda, who she understood to be the contemporary manifestation of the historical Jesus. Christianity was therefore central to the belief system as it evolved. As Martin began to draw a group of fellow believers around her, she developed the system alongside others who had studied other aspects of the occult and supposed extraterrestrial life, exposing the system with a wider range of influences. Another group member (pseudonym Bertha Blatsky) also claimed to be receiving and vocalising messages from spacemen, and Martin and "Blatsky" would sometimes undertake a verification process of each other's messages. Based on ongoing direct revelation, the belief system was highly fluid and adaptive.
|
||||
The group understood the Guardians to be benign spiritual teachers of humanity, newly able to make contact with humans through atmospheric changes brought about by the testing of nuclear weapons. They understood that extraterrestrial visits to earth were about to increase, and that it was possible for spacemen to visit in a human form or "sice", making it possible that any newcomer could be a spaceman in disguise. They also believed in a future cataclysmic event that would lead to widespread destruction and the purification of the Earth, and that selected humans would be rescued by space ship by the Guardians in advance of this event – this was the prediction that provided the focal point of the study. Following the failure of this prediction to materialise, those remaining in the group came to believe that their own activities had influenced events and that God had temporarily saved the world from destruction.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Sequence of events ===
|
||||
Festinger, Riecken and Schachter reported the following sequence of events:
|
||||
51
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails-2.md
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51
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "When Prophecy Fails"
|
||||
chunk: 3/3
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Prophecy_Fails"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:22.517812+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
December 17. Ms. Keech received a phone call from person identifying himself as "Captain Video" from outer space, telling her that a saucer was to land in her backyard to pick her up at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. (Festinger considers this call to have been made by a practical joker reacting to press coverage of Keech's group.) Some of the group initially questioned the call, before accepting it and preparing themselves to be collected by the saucer, removing all metal objects from their persons. By 5:30 pm the group appeared to have given up, and were reluctant to discuss the issue of why the saucer had not arrived. When the matter was discussed, they agreed that the event had been a practice session. Ms. Keech received another message later that day that the saucer would pick them up at 1:30 am. The group waited for the saucer until 3:30 am then gave up.
|
||||
Before December 20. The group shuns publicity. Interviews are given only grudgingly. Access to Keech's house is only provided to those who can convince the group that they are true believers. The group evolves a belief system – provided by the automatic writing from the planet Clarion – to explain the details of the cataclysm, the reason for its occurrence, and the manner in which the group would be saved from the disaster.
|
||||
December 20. The group expects a visitor from outer space to call upon them at midnight and to escort them to a waiting spacecraft. As instructed, the group goes to great lengths to remove all metallic items from their persons. As midnight approaches, zippers, bra straps, and other objects are discarded. The group waits.
|
||||
12:05 am. December 21. No visitor. Someone in the group notices that another clock in the room shows 11:55. The group agrees that it is not yet midnight.
|
||||
12:10 am. The second clock strikes midnight. Still no visitor. The group sits in stunned silence. The cataclysm itself is no more than seven hours away.
|
||||
4:00 am. The group has been sitting in stunned silence. A few attempts at finding explanations have failed. Keech begins to cry.
|
||||
4:45 am. Another message by automatic writing is sent to Keech. It states, in effect, that the God of Earth has decided to spare the planet from destruction. The cataclysm has been called off: "The little group, sitting all night long, had spread so much light that God had saved the world from destruction."
|
||||
Afternoon, December 21. Newspapers are called; interviews are sought. In a reversal of its previous distaste for publicity, the group begins an urgent campaign to spread its message to as broad an audience as possible.
|
||||
December 24. The group had invited the press to publicise a new prediction that spacemen would land in a flying saucer and pick them up. While waiting, they sang Christmas carols, watched by "some 200 unruly spectators". The police had to be called to control the mob. The community was not happy with Mrs. Keech.
|
||||
December 26. A warrant was issued for Mrs. Keech and Dr. Armstrong for several charges.
|
||||
|
||||
== Aftermath ==
|
||||
After the failure of the prediction, Martin was threatened with arrest and involuntary commitment, and left Chicago. She later founded the Association of Sananda and Sanat Kumara. Under the name Sister Thedra, she continued to practice channeling and participating in contactee groups until her death in 1992.
|
||||
|
||||
== Findings challenged ==
|
||||
A 2025 article by Thomas Kelly argued that the main theses of the book are false and were known to be false by the authors. On the basis on archival material, Kelly accused the authors of fabricating psychic messages and interfering in a child welfare investigation.
|
||||
Festinger, Riecken and Schachter's study had previously been criticized on methodological grounds. Fernando Bermejo-Rubio summarizes these critiques:
|
||||
|
||||
To start with, When Prophecy Fails has been faulted on methodological grounds. The original observed phenomenon was not an uncontaminated series of events generated by a group in isolation. It was in fact mediated and studied
|
||||
by observers (social scientists and the press) and therefore subjected to interferences and distortions resulting from their presence. It has been remarked that often almost one-third of the membership of the group consisted of participant observers. More significantly, the social scientists themselves contributed to the events described. Furthermore, the media continually badgered the group to account for its commitment; thus, the increased proselytizing and affirmations of faith may have been influenced by media pressure. These conditions make it difficult to determine what might have happened if the group had been left on its own. A second problem is that the working hypothesis of the sociologists seems to have shaped, to a high degree, their perception of the events and the account given of the group, leading to an inaccurate report. That hypothesis involved identifying two phases, a period of secrecy in which the elect did not actively seek to gain followers or influence and, as a reaction to the disconfirmation of a prediction, a period of proselytizing. The portrayal of the group as merely based on a prediction, however, made Festinger and his colleagues overlook other dimensions (spiritual, moral, cultural) which might be crucial for the movement (Van Fossen 1988: 195).
|
||||
|
||||
== Related work ==
|
||||
In 2021, psychologist Stuart Vyse used Festinger, Riecken and Schachter's research when looking at the QAnon conspiracy theory. Vyse asks "Now that the QAnon group's most important prophecy has failed, will they become disillusioned, more committed, or neither?" The first four conditions for increased fervour after disconfirmation are fulfilled with QAnon faithful, only the last condition of continuing social support is the question. As of April 2021, QDrops have stopped but with the Internet these believers will find each other and will continue to socially support each other. Vyse states that all depends on if Donald Trump reemerges or is marginalized and no other "demagogic leader emerges".
|
||||
|
||||
== See also ==
|
||||
|
||||
Unfulfilled Christian religious predictions
|
||||
New religious movement
|
||||
|
||||
== References ==
|
||||
|
||||
== Further reading ==
|
||||
Festinger, Leon; Henry W. Riecken; Stanley Schachter (1956). When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 1-59147-727-1. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) Reissued 2008 by Pinter & Martin with a foreword by Elliot Aronson, ISBN 978-1-905177-19-6
|
||||
Pargament, Kenneth I. (1997). The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. Guilford Press. pp. 150–153, 340, section: "Compelling Coping in a Doomsday Cult". ISBN 1-57230-664-5.
|
||||
Petty, Richard E.; John T. Cacioppo (1996). Attitudes and Persuasion: Classic and Contemporary Approaches. Westview Press. pp. 139: "Effect of Disconfirming an Important Belief". ISBN 0-8133-3005-X.
|
||||
Prilleltensky, Isaac (1997). Critical Psychology: An Introduction. Sage Publications Inc. pp. 35, 37–38. ISBN 0-7619-5211-X.
|
||||
Newman, Dr. David M. (2006). Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of Everyday Life. Pine Forge Press. p. 86. ISBN 1-4129-2814-1.
|
||||
Stangor, Charles (2004). Social Groups in Action and Interaction. Psychology Press. pp. 42–43: "When Prophecy Fails". ISBN 1-84169-407-X.
|
||||
|
||||
== External links ==
|
||||
Pinter & Martin Publishers, publishers of the 2008 edition
|
||||
40
data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Afraid_of_Peer_Review-0.md
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data/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Afraid_of_Peer_Review-0.md
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|
||||
---
|
||||
title: "Who's Afraid of Peer Review?"
|
||||
chunk: 1/2
|
||||
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Afraid_of_Peer_Review?"
|
||||
category: "reference"
|
||||
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
|
||||
date_saved: "2026-05-05T09:31:23.700807+00:00"
|
||||
instance: "kb-cron"
|
||||
---
|
||||
|
||||
"Who's Afraid of Peer Review?" is an article written by Science correspondent John Bohannon that describes his investigation of peer review among fee-charging open-access journals. Between January and August 2013, Bohannon submitted fake scientific papers to 304 journals owned by fee-charging open access publishers. The papers, writes Bohannon, "were designed with such grave and obvious scientific flaws that they should have been rejected immediately by editors and peer reviewers", but 60% of the journals accepted them. The article and associated data were published in the 4 October 2013 issue of Science as open access.
|
||||
|
||||
== Background ==
|
||||
The first fee-charging open access scientific journals began appearing in 2000 with the creation of BioMed Central and then the Public Library of Science. Rather than deriving at least some of their revenue from subscription fees, fee-charging open access journals only charge the authors (or their funders) a publication fee. The published papers are then freely available on the internet. This business model, gold open access, is one of several solutions devised to make open access publishing sustainable. The number of articles published open access, or made freely available after some time behind a paywall (delayed open access), has grown rapidly. A 2013 study showed more than half of the scientific papers published in 2011 were available for free.
|
||||
In part because of the low barrier to entry into this market, as well as the fast and potentially large return on investment, many so-called "predatory publishers" have created low-quality journals that provide little to no peer review or editorial control, essentially publishing every submitted article as long as the publication fee is paid. Some of these publishers additionally deceive authors about publication fees, use the names of scientists as editors and reviewers without their knowledge, and/or obfuscate the true location and identity of the publishers. The prevalence of these deceptive publishers, and what the scientific community should do about them, has been debated.
|
||||
|
||||
== Methods ==
|
||||
|
||||
=== Fake papers ===
|
||||
Bohannon used Python to create a "scientific version of Mad Libs". The paper's template is "Molecule X from lichen species Y inhibits the growth of cancer cell Z". He created a database of molecules, lichens, and cancer cells to substitute for X, Y, and Z. The data and conclusions were identical in every paper. The authors and their affiliations were also unique and fake. The papers all described the discovery of a new cancer drug extracted from a lichen, but the data did not support that conclusion and the papers had intentionally obvious flaws.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Publisher targets ===
|
||||
To build a comprehensive list of fee-charging open access publishers, Bohannon relied on two sources: Beall's List of predatory publishers and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). After filtering both lists for open access journals published in English, that charge authors a publication fee, and that have at least one medical, biological, or chemical journal, the list of targets included 304 publishers: 167 from the DOAJ, 121 from Beall's list, and 16 that were listed by both. The investigation focused entirely on fee-charging open access journals. Bohannon did not include other types of open access journals or subscription journals for comparison because the turnaround time for reviews in traditional journals is too long. The study consequently makes no claim about the relative quality of the different types of journals.
|
||||
|
||||
== Results ==
|
||||
|
||||
=== Acceptance versus rejection ===
|
||||
When Bohannon went public and ended the experiment, 157 of the 304 journals had accepted the paper, 98 had rejected it, 20 were still performing peer review, and 29 had not responded. Since rejections without review represent editorial decisions, Bohannon focused on the 106 journals that “discernibly performed any review.”
|
||||
Of these, only 36 submissions generated review comments recognizing any of the paper's scientific problems; 16 of those 36 papers were accepted in spite of poor reviews. Thus 86 journals which legitimately performed peer review published the sham paper.
|
||||
Many of the journals that accepted the paper are published by prestigious institutions and publishing companies, including Elsevier, SAGE, Wolters Kluwer – through its subsidiary Medknow (Journal of Natural Pharmaceuticals) – and several universities.
|
||||
Among those that rejected the paper are journals published by PLOS (PLOS ONE), MDPI (Cancer) and Hindawi (Chemotherapy Research and Practice, ISRN Oncology). The peer review provided by PLOS ONE was reported to be the most rigorous of all, and it was the only journal that identified the paper's ethical problems, for example the lack of documentation of how animals were treated in the creation of the cancer cell lines.
|
||||
|
||||
=== DOAJ versus Beall's list ===
|
||||
Among the publishers on Beall's list that completed the review process, 82% accepted the paper. Bohannon stated "the results show that Beall is good at spotting publishers with poor quality control." According to Jeffrey Beall, who created the list, this supports his claim to be identifying "predatory" publishers. However, the remaining 18% of publishers identified by Beall as predatory rejected the fake paper, causing science communicator Phil Davis to state, "That means that Beall is falsely accusing nearly one in five."
|
||||
Among the DOAJ publishers that completed the review process, 45% accepted the paper. According to a statement published on the DOAJ website, new criteria for inclusion in the DOAJ are being implemented.
|
||||
|
||||
=== Global map of journal fraud ===
|
||||
Along with the report, Science published a map that shows the location of publishers, editors, and their bank accounts, color-coded by acceptance or rejection of the paper. The locations were derived from IP address traces within the raw headers of e-mails, WHOIS registrations, and bank invoices for publication fees. India emerged as the world's largest base for fee-charging open-access publishing, with 64 accepting the fatally flawed papers and only 15 rejecting it. The United States is the next largest base, with 29 publishers accepting the paper and 26 rejecting it. In Africa, Nigeria has the largest number, of which 100% accepted the paper.
|
||||
|
||||
== Responses ==
|
||||
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