April 27, 2024

I, Science

The science magazine of Imperial College

On this week's show: Bad Science - controversial figures, unproven methods, and research that does no good.

This week on I,Science radio we talk all about ‘Bad Science’- is there such thing as Bad Science? Can scientists be bad? What causes scientist to commit scientific fraud? We invited I,Science magazine Editor-in-Chief Jacqueline to tell us why the I,Science team has chosen Bad Science as the topic for the next edition of the I,Science magazine and we discussed what does the term Bad Science means to all the panelists on the show. Remember to send in your pitches for the magazine! We reviewed Ben Goldacre’s book, Bad Science, and explained how placebo effect could explain why homeopathy might sometimes seem to work. We also talked about the recent controversies surrounding Jim Watson and we read a scathing letter sent by Francis Crick to Jim Watson, in which he criticised Watson for his misrepresentation of the history of the discovery of DNA. Emotions ran high when a question if bad scientists can do good science was debated. Finally, we discussed the War of Current between AC and DC power accidentally led to the invention of the electric chair.

Listen below and find the rest of our shows here.

Catch us next Monday at ICRadio.com from 5-6pm!

This week’s I, Science Radio show was hosted by Bernadeta Dadonaite and produced by Rachel Ng. We joined by guests Aaron Hadley, Harry Lampert, Jaqueline Darkwa, and Danielle Ellenby. 

Banner image: Bottles, Pixabay