Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

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Kosstoss
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Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

Post by Kosstoss »

Waste of money or needed research?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8206280.stm
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noobas
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Re: Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

Post by noobas »

important stuff!

but, probably since it was done in canada, us canadians were too polite to refuse:

Oh, no! I really do think this research field is will be very worth this grant of $400 000 of tax payer money for the next three years. Please publish your findings! (It's not like the taxpayers of canada would bat an eye. we pay mroe than anyone else in the world, I'm sure.)
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Ceokittymeow
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Re: Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

Post by Ceokittymeow »

Professor Robert Smith? (the question mark is part of his surname and not a typographical mistake)
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cutiecub
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Re: Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

Post by cutiecub »

noobas wrote:important stuff!

but, probably since it was done in canada, us canadians were too polite to refuse:

Oh, no! I really do think this research field is will be very worth this grant of $400 000 of tax payer money for the next three years. Please publish your findings! (It's not like the taxpayers of canada would bat an eye. we pay mroe than anyone else in the world, I'm sure.)
Hmm and I tought Belgian was on the top 3 world wide (avg 40 - 45% of our paycheck goes to that state directly).
Rulzern
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Re: Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

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Chrisax
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Re: Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

Post by Chrisax »

Note: due to their structure svg files can't be directly displayed with the "IMG" tag as "pure" bitmap images (jpg, gif etc.) are.
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Mortus
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Re: Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

Post by Mortus »

I'd say it's an serious study on how to model the spread of infectious diseases. With a zombie-twist to the scientific paper ipublished under the not-so-appealing name "Infectious Diseases Modelling Research Progress". It doesnt appear to be in any of the university databases yet so I can't make my own opinion about the contents though, just basing this on the BBC article :P

Think of it like this: How many papers on mathematical modelling gets a news slot on BBC?

Btw - this link is definatly going out on my mailing list to my co-students at applied physics :D
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Re: Be AFRAID!!!! - maybe

Post by Elrojo »

I'd postulate that mort is indeed correct on this hypothesis (gotta love sciency speak). Its not the first time that a study may seem quite ridiculous on the face of it but actually have very serious implications.

I remember listening to the Ricky Gervais podcasts (omg if you havent then get them right now!) and Karl Pilkington (orange head) commented that they were now making glasses for flies! The article in actual fact was that they had made glasses so small that they could be worn by a fly. The point was not to fix short sighted flies but to demonstrate that they can make something so small and functional with new equipment.

There are far more ridiculous studies out there. Usually in the human sciences and not in the medical/physical sciences.
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