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I am often amazed at the sort of thing that passes for scientific discovery now. I occasionally try and correct mistakes I see and hear but the overwhelming amount of rubbish that appears makes me want to run back home and hide from the world. I decided, therefore, to have a look around for and a think about ways that one can easily spot bad science and here is the list I have come up with.
- The first announcement of the discovery is to the press.
- There is a claim that the "establishment" is trying to suppress the discovery or stop the research.
- The effect discovered is at the very limit of detection.
- Evidence has been collected in a non-scientific manner.
- Evidence relies strongly on something that has been believed for a long time but never proven.
- The discoverer is a lone inventor.
- The discovery requires a rewrite of large areas of established knowledge.