New York Times Magazine reveals Boslough tried to end the YDIH

 


The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis (YDIH) featured on the New York Times Magazine this week.

The Comet Strike Theory That Just Won’t Die - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The article is well balanced, giving both sides of the story. The most interesting thing I learned was that Mark Boslough, long-time antagonist of the YDIH, has tried to end research into the YDIH.

Apparently, and this is confirmed by those who should know, he wrote to all the editors of journals that ever have published pro-YDIH papers, lobbying them to retract those papers.

I don't know of any scientist that would even think of doing this, yet alone actually carry it out. While it is quite normal to seek a retraction if there is good evidence of some kind of scientific malpractice, such as plagiarism or tampered results, it is not ethical to seek a retraction because you disagree with the science or if requests for samples have been denied. This is because writing to all the editors could bias the scientific process, which is forbidden. The proper way to deal with this is to submit your own paper that focusses exclusively on the science in a respectful way. 

Fortunately, it seems Boslough's letters did not result in any retractions. Nevertheless, they could still have biased the independence of journal editors.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gobekli Tepe's Pillars

Image
Significance: Gobekli Tepe (GT) probably represents the origin of civilisation for most of the world today. Most of us are connected to it in some way, through language and religion (proto-Nostratic), or genetics at least. The Pillars: GT is famous for its anomalous megalithic pillars, and especially the symbols carved on them. Most people think these symbols are telling an important story - they are not just random pictures of animals. Klauss Schmidt, who discovered GT and led its excavation, until his death in 2014, certainly thought so. It follows that the only way we will ever be able to properly understand Gobekli Tepe, and therefore the origin of civilisation, is through reading its pillars. Deutsche Archaeological Institute : the DAI operates the Gobekli Tepe dig. Despite the immense significance of the site, they continue to have a casual disregard for the information encoded on its pillars. Over 60 pillars have been uncovered, but only around 20 are documented by the DAI. Alt
Read more

The meaning of H-symbols at Gobekli Tepe (updated 7th June)

Image
The H and I-symbols at Gobekli Tepe are some of the hardest to decipher, and their precise meaning remains obscure. But there are some good clues, which allow a preliminary interpretation. Let's have a look at all the instances where H and I-symbols occur. Pillar 33: A pair of H-symbols bracket some snakes (meteors) on the inner face. The upper H-symbol is quite faint. An I-symbol appears at ground level below the snake heads, but it is hardly visible here. Also, there are more I-symbols on the side with the tall bending birds. Of course, Pillar 43 has H and I-symbols near the bird with fish/snake. But Pillar 18 has the most H and I-symbols. First, at the top, forming a kind of necklace, together with likely sun and moon symbols. Then on the belt of Pillar 18 surrounded by loops... And then also on the belt buckle surrounding what might be the head of a comet. Pillar 30 has a single H-symbol, ... while Pillar 28 has an H-symbol over another loop, with an I-symbol at the bottom. The
Read more
Image
Decoding Pictish symbols This work is now peer-reviewed and published here . Image from Aberdeenshire.gov.uk/leisure-sport-and-culture/archaeology/sites-to-visit/pictish-symbol-stones/ The Picts lived in Scotland in the 1st millennium AD, and probably before. It is generally thought that the Romans named them after the paint they wore, and they built Hadrian's Wall to protect their lands to the south from them. The Picts are famous for their symbols, which they carved into megalithic pillars. To date, these symbols have remained a mystery, although several people have provided potential interpretations. One of the most well-known is due to Jackson who interpreted them as family crests - he describes his theory in detail in his 1984 book 'The Symbol Stones of Scotland'. In my view, they are instead practically the same system of zodiacal and astronomical symbols we have found across Europe and the Near East, from Palaeolithic caves to Gobekli Tepe, Ca
Read more