Close X
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

Online labs can reduce scientific fraud: Study

Darpan News Desk IANS, 06 Oct, 2014 05:34 AM
    Online video games and remote experiments can combat the rising level of errors and fraud in life sciences research, says a new study co-authored by an Indian-origin researcher.
     
    "Online game-like approach are more scientifically rigorous than the standard practice of scientists proposing an explanation for some phenomenon and then testing that hypothesis through experimentation," explained Rhiju Das, assistant professor of biochemistry from the Stanford University.
     
    "Massive online laboratories today use videogames to engage large numbers of non-professional investigators and prevent scientists from manually testing their own hypotheses," Das noted.
     
    Reporting on the success of their own online lab, Das and assistant professor Adrien Treuille from Carnegie Mellon University wrote about a RNA-design project called EteRNA, which has produced unprecedented design insights that have advanced knowledge of RNA (ribonucleic acid).
     
    "We registered more than 150,000 participants who contributed in excess of two million human-hours to EteRNA. That means there were a lot of eyes, a lot of people looking over each other's shoulders as hypotheses were developed and experimental results evaluated. Everything is out in the open," Treuille explained.
     
    If you strip the game part, projects such as EteRNA present a fundamentally new model of remote science that can prevent many common forms of scientific fraud, Das commented.
     
    Online participants use computer design tools to propose RNA designs that meet certain criteria.
     
    The designs are then synthesized in the Stanford lab of Das.
     
    The results are made available to the entire EteRNA community for analysis and use in future design challenges.
     
    The transparency makes it difficult for any individual to retrospectively adjust scientific hypotheses to match experimental results, or to cherry-pick data to reflect a scientist's biases.
     
    The paper was published in the journal Trends in Biochemical Sciences.

    MORE Tech ARTICLES

    Tech skills your ticket to overseas: LinkedIn

    Tech skills your ticket to overseas: LinkedIn
    According to a study by the professional networking site LinkedIn, skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) make up nearly half of the 10 abilities most commonly found among professionals who moved to other parts of the world to pursue career opportunities.

    Tech skills your ticket to overseas: LinkedIn

    A device that connects kids to real games

    A device that connects kids to real games
    Not happy with your kids being hooked to ipads or tablets playing video games? Turn to a new kind of gaming device, developed by an Indian-origin entrepreneur here, that uses the iPad but brings kids back into the real world of play.

    A device that connects kids to real games

    Forget pizza, drone to take your dog on morning walk!

    Forget pizza, drone to take your dog on morning walk!
    Move over pizza delivery by drones. Now, a drone can take your dog on a morning walk while you can continue with sweet dreams in bed.

    Forget pizza, drone to take your dog on morning walk!

    You just can't miss this 'global selfie'

    You just can't miss this 'global selfie'
    NASA has released a new view of our home planet - created from 36,000 selfies that people shared on social networking sites.

    You just can't miss this 'global selfie'

    When diamonds are not a girl's best friend!

    When diamonds are not a girl's best friend!
    Don't buy this piece of diamond for your beloved as it has a tendency to disappear! You read it right.

    When diamonds are not a girl's best friend!

    Coming, a 'broadband wireless' connection for moon dwellers

    Humans colonising the moon or even a distant asteroid in near future is fine but how would they communicate with friends and families on earth, perform large data transfers and enjoy high-definition video streaming?

    Coming, a 'broadband wireless' connection for moon dwellers