science and ethical dilemmas in the blogosphere
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ScienceandEthicalDilemmasin
theBlogosphere
FranckMarchis
SeniorPlanetaryAstronomerattheCarlSaganCenteroftheSETIIns7tute
LectureforUC-BerkeleyCourseEthicsforAstronomers,Nov262012
[email protected]:@AllPlanets
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Outline
WhoamI? BloggingWhatisthis?Shouldyoublog? The#ArsenicLifeSaga DiscussionPleaseinterruptmeTwee7ngduringthelectureisO
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WhoamI?
AssistantResearcheratUCBerkeleyfromOctober2000toJune2011
StartedbloggingfortheCosmicDiary,aCornerstoneprojectoftheInterna7onalYearofAstronomy(January2009)
PrincipalInves?gatoratSETIIns7tuteinJuly200, Editor&MaintaineroftheCosmicDiaryNetworksinceFeb
2011
JoinTwier(@AllPlanets)inAug2010(1,300followersincluding~60scien7ficjournalists) ManagerofG+,Facebook,TwiKerSETIIns?tuteaccounts
(50followers)sinceJanuary2012
Educa7onPublicOutreachco-leaderforGPI(Jan.2012)
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WhoamI?
Youarewas*ngyour*mewiththisblog.AmI? HighlightedPosts(among13)frommyblog
June2009,Jupitergotabruise April2011,todaytheATAishiberna7ng
July2011,90An7opeCampaignofObserva7on September2012,AMeteoronJupiter April2012,SuKerMillMeteorite
->SciencediscussionThesepostswerequoted/usedinscien7ficmagazineand/ormainstreammedia
->WorkStartednewcollabora7onsfromcolleagueswhocontactedmeaerreadingthem
->PersonalIlearnedalotwhilewri7ngthem
TodayIfocusmostofmyenergyonmicro-blogging(TwiKer)andGoogleHangout(seeSETIG+page)
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BloggingToday
WikipediaDefini?onAblogisadiscussionorinforma7onalsitepublishedontheWorldWideWebandconsis7ngofdiscreteentries("posts")
typicallydisplayedinreversechronologicalorder
BloggingishaschangedovertheyearLate1990s->lengthywebpages
Today->Micro-blogging(TwiKer,Tumblr)Today~160millionpublicblogs(Wordpress5E6,
TumblrE6),TwiKer(140E6,)
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ThereisBloggingandBlogging
Broadvarietyofblogs:
- PersonalBlogsmadeofposts/ar7cles(diary,celebrity,family,wri7ng,art,picture,science,
poli7cs,)- Microblogging(shortpostwithlinks/pictures/
videos/ar7cles,e.g.TwiKer)
- Socialmedia(structureofG+similartoablog,longerpost)
- Themeblogs(groupofbloggerswithcommoninterest)
- Corporateblog(todiscussproducts,situa7onofthecompany,answertocustomers)
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TheRisksofBlogging
Asabloggeryouareexposingyourself,soyouaretakingrisks(somethingIdidnotrealizeun7lrecently)
Legal&socialrisksDefama7onandliabilityComplexrela7onshipwithemployerPoli7caldangerPersonalsafety
Rule:Dontwriteanythingonline(inyourblog,inyourtweet,inyourcommentaries,)thatyouwillnotsayinperson
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ShouldYouBlog?
Blurringofthefron?erbetweenmassmedia,blogs,andsocialmedia.
Journalistshavetheirownblog(noneedforthenewspapertopublishtheiridea)
Scien?stshavetheirownblogtocommenttheworkoftheircolleagues,describedtheirrecentfindings,orkeepadiary
TheBlogosphereisalreadyinfluencingtheworld Scien7stsshouldbepartofit,soyes,youshould.
Excellentprac7cetowriteclearly,compellingly&effec7vely Reanimatethescien7ficdiscussion(e.g.climatechange) Protect&defendyourwork(theworldisaccelera7ng) Blogareessen7altoagoodcareer(directcontactwith
colleagueseverywhereintheworld,withscien7ficjournalists)
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Blogging:Isthatreallyahobby?
Typicalbloggerspends1hperdayonhis/herblog
Work7me?TV7me?WhatAmericandoalldaylong.Source:Bureau
ofLaborSta7s7csCredit:LamThuyVo
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AdvicesforFutureScienceBloggers
Goldenrules:1. Chooseathemeforyourblogbasedonyourinterest,exper7seandpassion.Finda
niche!
2. Dontwriteanythingonline(inyourblog,inyourtweets,inyourcommentaries,)thatyouwillnotsayinperson
Youwanttoberead Learnhowtoproperlytagyourpoststobefoundbysearchengines Adver7seyourpostwithsocialmedia,createanetwork Prac7cewri7ngandreadyourcolleagueblogs
Youwanttohavefun Workingroupifpossible Dontbeafraidtobefunny,provoca7ve,showyourpersonality(seetheSarcas7cRoverTwiKerfeed)
Youwanttolearn Chooseagoodserver(wordpress?)andlearnhowtoconfigureit(templates) Dontwriteonlyaboutyourworkoryourdailylife(thinkbig) Usenewtechnologies(videohangout,onlinetools)
Whatyouwritewillremainandrevealyou Itmaybeeasiertofindajobasasciencewriter SearchcommiKeemembersinuniversi7es&researchins7tutesmayreadyourblog
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#ArsenicLife:TheActors
FelisaWolfe-Simon(FWS)
microbialgeobiologistUSGS
Role:leaderoftheteam
Ques7on:Howflexibleislife?
ThebacteriaGFAJ-1getFelisaajob.
Prof.RosieRedfield(RR)
MicrobiologistatUBC
Role:Blogger&Scien7stQues7on:IsNASAright?
+
TheBlogosphere
Includingother
blogger-scien7sts
+
11co-authors
Scien?sts Scien?sts
FundingIns?tu?on Scien?ficJournal
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TheFactsintheEyesofronos
In2009FWSgotagrantfromNASAAstrobiologyIns7tutetostudylifeinMonoLake
Fieldworkin2009atMonoLaketoisolateamicrobecalledGFAJ-1(GiveFelisaAJob)
SamplegrowthexperimentbyincreasingtheamountofArsenicshowedsurvivalofGFA-1
SynchrotronmeasurementsshowthatAswaschemicallyboundinthecells
SciencepapersubmiKedandpublishinScienceExpressinNovember2010 PressconferenceonDecember2010withFelisa,M.
Voytek(NAIdirector),P.Conradandtheskep7calcounterpoint(StevenBenner,achemist)
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RecipeforDisaster
NASAPress-releasewithahyped7tleAlienLifeDiscoveredonEarth
Press-Conferencefiasco.FWSoverlydrama7c&arrogant,noscien7ficexplana7ons,nomen7onofpreviousworks
TheSciencepaperwasinfactconserva7velywriKenbutnojournalistscaredtoreadit
Wevecrackedopenthedoortowhats
possibleforlifeelsewhereintheuniverse,
whatelsemightwefind?
FWS
Thedefini7onoflifehasjustexpanded.
EdWeiler,NASA-SMDDirector
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AndtheSagaStarted
ProfRosieRedfield(RR),microbiologistattheUniversityofBri7shColumbiaandbigfanofopenscience.
Shewasskep?calsinceNASArecordswerenotgood(seetheMar7anmeteoritein1996.
WhenRRwantstothinksomethingthrough,sheblogsinherblog RRResearchRosieRedfielddescribedthencri7cizedthiswork:
Lotsofflim-flam,butveryli:lereliableinforma*on. IfthisdatawaspresentedbyaPhDstudentattheircommi:eemee*ng,I'd
sendthembacktothebenchtodomorecleanupandcontrols.
Idontknowwhethertheauthorsarejustbadscien*stsorwhethertheyreunscrupulouslypushingNASAsThereslifeinouterspace!agenda.Ihesitatetoblamethereviewers,astheirobjec*onsarelikelytohavebeenoverruledby
Scienceseditorsintheireagernesstoscoresuchahigh-impactpublica*on.
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ConsequencesandFirstResponse
RRblogpostini7atedastrongreac7onintheblogosphere(hadbeenbeentwee7ngupastorm#arseniclife),inthescien7ficcommunity,cri7cizing,arguingaboutthefinding.
Journalistsquicklyreportedonthecontroversy(e.gC.Zimmer,Ofarsenicandaliens:Whatthecri7cssaid )
RonaldRomeland(USGS),seniorresearcher&authorofthepapertothemedia(CarlZimmeratSlate)
Wecannotindiscriminatelywadeintoamediaforumfordebateat
this*me.Ifwearewrong,thenotherscien*stsshouldbemo*vatedtoreproduceourfindings.Ifweareright(andIamstronglyconvincedthatweare)ourcompe*torswillagreeandhelptoadvanceourunderstandingofthisphenomenon.Iameagerforthemtodoso.
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MoreResponsestotheCri7cs
FelisaWolfe-Simondeclinedtocomment,arguingthatthesenega7veremarkstothepressdonotrepresenttheproperwaytoengageinascien*ficdiscourseandwewillnotrespondinthismanner.
NASAspokespersonDwayneBrownTheagencydidntfeelitappropriatetodebatescienceusingthemediaandbloggers.Discourseshouldoccurinscien*ficpublica*ons.
FWS&NASAfailedtounderstandthattheworldhaschangedandtheycouldnotsimplyignorethesecri7cisms
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BiKer&PersonalAKacks
MicrobiologistJonathanEisenoftheUniversityofCaliforniaatDaviscalledthelackofresponseabsurdandtoldCarlZimmerfromSlate,Theycarriedout
sciencebypressreleaseandpressconference.Theyarenowhypocri*califtheysaythattheonlyresponseshouldbeinthescien*ficliterature.
SciencewriterEdYongsresponsetothelaKerinapostonDiscovermagazineswebsite:FelisaWolfe-Simonwouldntdiscussherarsenic-lifefindingswiththepress,butsheshappytosharekeystosuccesswithGlamour.
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Backtothescien7ficliterature
Publica7onintheSciencepaperversioninJune32011with8formalcri7quesandtechnicalresponses
Thecri7cismsfocusedmostlyonthepossibilityofcontamina7onandonwhetherarsenatecompoundswouldbestableenoughtosurviveinthecells.
10samplessenttoothergroupsincludingRosieRedfieldlab.
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FromtheBlogospheretoaNewPaperinScience
RRgatheredateamofscien7stswhocontactedthroughherblog(teamingusingablog) RosieRedfieldpostedregularblogupdatesthroughouttheexperimental
process(openscience)
onAugust2Firstevidencerefu7ngWolfe-Simonetal.sresults. PapersubmiKedtoScienceonJan312012andpostedonarXivfor
comments(viola7onoftheScienceembargo) ResubmiKedaercorrec7ons(commentsandresponsesareonherblog) Acceptedforpublica7ononJune1(revisedversionpostedonarXiv) ResultspresentedinatalkattheJointCongressofEvolu7onaryBiology
onJuly12
SciencepostedTWOpapersrefu7ngthe#arseniclifethesameday Theendofthe#arseniclife
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TheFinalResponses
RRpaper:failtoreproducekeyFWSexperiment(thegrowthofGFAJ-1cellsen7relywithoutP) ScienceJournal:Contrarytoanoriginalreport,thenew
researchclearlyshowsthatthebacterium,GFAJ-1,cannotsubs*tutearsenicforphosphorustosurvive,
FWSwrote,Thereisnothinginthedataofthesenewpapersthatcontradictsourpublisheddata,andaddedthatherteamcon7nuedtobuildonitsoriginalfinding.(NYT).Busyfinishingtheresearchandpreparinganother
paper. Reac7onofProf.J.Eisenblogger
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TheSecondEnding Publica?oninNature:HowGFAJ-1iswell-
adaptedtopickingoutphosphateswhentheyrescarce,survivinginaAs/Px3,0007meshigherthanfoundinthelake
ItisnotETbutitmaybeuseful
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Discussions
RR:Thisisastoryofserialfailure.Leadauthorconvincedofevidencewithoutgoodresearch,seniorauthorsdidntprovidesupervision.Co-authorsshouldhaveacceptedresponsibility.Reviewersfailed,missedalotofproblems.Sciencefailedinselec*ngreviewersandNASAfailedbig*me.BUTtheprocessofsciencedidnotfail.
Mythoughts:Ittookonly18monthstoshowtheflawinthefinding(VSALH84001debatewhichisnotyetseKled16yrslater)
C.ZimmerFirst7methescien*ficcommunityopenlyve:edahigh-profilepaper,andinfluencedhowthepublicatlargethoughtaboutit.
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DiscussionsFailures?
NASAisascien7ficagencywhosefundingdependsonitsscien7ficrelevance.Canascien7ficins7tu7onassumeamediarole?
D.Brown,NASAspokesman:Therealissueisthattherepor*ngworldhaschangedbecauseoftheInternet/bloggers/socialmedia.AbuzztermlikeETwillhaveanyonewithacomputerpu^ngoutanythingtheywantorfeel.NASAdidnthypeanythingothersdid.
Sciencepeer-reviewprocess?Editor(B.Albert)weneedtocreateaprocesstoensure
thatthereviewerswhoprovidetheirfeedbacktousonthemanuscriptaresufficientinaggregatetodealwithallofitsmanydifferentaspects .
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Consequences
The#arsenicliferevealedtothepublicthatscienceisnotalwaysara?onal&civilizedworld
Socialmedia&blogsspeedupthescien?ficdebate,humanizebutmayalsopolarizeit FWSclaimedtohavebeenlaidofffromUSGS.
Didtheysacrificethepawnscien7st?
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Ques7ons&Thoughtsifyoudon'toverstateyourcase,noonewilllisten!
VSExtraordinaryclaimsrequireextraordinaryevidence(C.Sagan)
anditisevenmoretrueinourmodernworld
#ArsenicLifeisthetutorialcaseofoverhypingscienceresultsliketheMarsmeteorite,coldfusion,FasterthanLightNeutrinoandmoretocome(MarsCuriositynextweekannouncement).
Cri7cizinginablogtheresearchfromapeer-reviewedpapercouldbedetrimentaltoscience(seetheclimatechangedebate)
Dontscien7stshavetherightsforfailure?Isntitpartofthescien7ficmethodtobedisproved?
Therewerenoethicalviola?onshereIfapaperisflawed,itshouldbedismissed.Thescien7stshouldnot. Arrogantbehavior?Arescien7stsreadytobecatapultedintheworldoffame? Thepeer-reviewprocessisterriblebutthebestwehave.Bloggingwillnotreplaceitbut
ithelpsenhancingthescien7ficdebate.
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Sources Scien7stinaStrangeLandPOPSCIhKp://www.popsci.com/science/ar7cle/2011-09/scien7st-strange-land BloginWikipedia
hKp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog
SocialMediainWikipediahKp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media
CosmicDiaryblogbyF.MarchishKp://cosmicdiary.org/fmarchis/
PresidentClintonStatementRegardingMarsMeteoriteDiscoveryhKp://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/clinton.html
RRResearchBlogbyRosieRedfieldhKp://rrresearch.fieldofscience.com/ ArsenicLifeinCarlZimmerBlog
hKp://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/category/arsenic-life/
StudiesRebutFindingThatArsenicMaySupportLifeNYThKp://www.ny7mes.com/2012/0/10/science/new-studies-rebut-finding-that-arsenic-may-support-life.html
ArsenicsPoisonousAtmospherehKp://alantownsend.net/2011/0/13/arsenics-poisonous-atmosphere-arseniclife/
ThetreeoflifebyJonathanEisen,Prof.atUCDavishKp://phylogenomics.blogspot.com/
Aperilof"Open"science:Prematurerepor7ngonthedeathof#ArsenicLifehKp://www.labspaces.net/blog/1555/A_peril_of__Open__science__Premature_repor7ng_on_the_death_of__ArsenicLife
CloselyWatchedStudyFailstoFindArsenicinMicrobialDNAhKp://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/02/closely-watched-study-fails-to.html?ref=hp
JournalretreatsfromcontroversialarsenicpaperhKp://www.washingtonpost.com/na7onal/health-science/journal-retreats-from-controversial-arsenic-paper/2012/0/08/gJQAFQbWW_story.html