The hottest Replication Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Science Topics

Age of Invention: Does History have a Replication Crisis?

Age of Invention, by Anton Howes • 4468 implied HN points • 29 Aug 23
💾 History Research Replication Meta-analysis Historiography
  1. Replication and reproducibility crises exist in science and history, leading to widespread inaccuracies.
  2. Historical myths and inaccuracies can persist for years, even when proven wrong.
  3. There is a need for historians to improve transparency by making archival sources more accessible to reduce errors and biases.

Hillsdale and the N=1 Problem

Aaron Renn • 746 implied HN points • 07 Feb 24
🚌 Education Higher Ed Leadership Replication Success Stories
  1. Hillsdale College's unique success story is hard to replicate by other colleges.
  2. Some successful models, like Hillsdale, are challenging to copy due to unique leadership and historical factors.
  3. Creating models like Hillsdale or other successful entities requires singular leaders and specific conditions that are not easily reproduced elsewhere.

Are experts useless?

Samstack • 1422 implied HN points • 13 Sep 23
🔬 Science Research Replication Experts Predictions Academia
  1. Experts may not be as reliable as we think, with evidence showing they often fare poorly compared to ordinary individuals in making predictions.
  2. There's a growing concern about fraud and publication bias in scientific journals, undermining the credibility of experts' work.
  3. While skepticism towards expertise is warranted, there are strategies for the average person to evaluate research validity and experts can still provide valuable insights.
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Science writing update, August 2023 edition

Science Fictions • 229 implied HN points • 09 Aug 23
🔬 Science Research Medicine Publication Psychology Replication
  1. LK-99, the 'room-temperature superconductor', turned out not to be true despite initial social media hype and extravagant claims.
  2. Transparency in scientific publication processes, like preprints and peer review at eLife, can lead to challenges like circulating false claims.
  3. The approval of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease may not always mean groundbreaking results, highlighting the importance of critically analyzing scientific breakthrough claims.

LK-99 red flags and other miscellany

Dan Elton's Newsletter • 98 implied HN points • 28 Sep 23
🔬 Science Materials Replication Theory Prediction Markets
  1. Potential red flags in scientific research include institutional names, graph quality, and suspicious videos or websites.
  2. Impurities like copper sulfide and uneven copper doping can lead to erroneous results in material studies.
  3. The LK-99 incident highlighted the importance of skepticism, replication, and the limitations of prediction markets and theoretical studies.

Science and Its Discontents

Holodoxa • 139 implied HN points • 29 Mar 23
🔬 Science Research Innovation Metascience Replication Institutions
  1. Current systems for basic scientific research have weaknesses in terms of funding, publication incentives, and impact evaluation. Scientists often spend less time on actual research due to grant application efforts, and research impact is measured ineffectively.
  2. Systemic issues in research science include inefficiencies, triviality, and misaligned incentives, leading to concerns about technological stagnation and economic growth. The replication crisis is a notable problem, affecting various fields due to lack of reproducibility.
  3. Metascience, analyzing and improving scientific methodology, offers hope for enhancing the quality and efficiency of research. It encourages transparency, awareness of limitations, and informed decision-making by scientists, policymakers, and funders, despite facing obstacles in adoption.

When Does Science Self-Correct? Lessons from a Replication Crisis in Early 20th Century Chemistry

The Good Science Project • 63 implied HN points • 14 Nov 23
🔬 Science Chemistry Psychology Replication Applications
  1. Science can struggle to correct errors from the scientific record, even with healthy reforms in place.
  2. Non-replicable findings can still hold influence and get cited as much as replicable ones.
  3. Natural sciences can swiftly correct mistakes with practical consequences, while social sciences face challenges in self-correction due to less tangible applications and high acceptance of contradictory findings.

Adam Grant vs. Coleman Hughes, Part 2: Causation Does Not Imply. . . Anything

Singal-Minded • 1 HN point • 31 Jan 24
🔬 Science Psychology Research Replication Social Dynamics
  1. Be cautious of over-extrapolating findings from laboratory experiments to real-world situations
  2. Research in social psychology, especially in politically charged topics like race, may lack replicability and generalizability
  3. Accuracy in summarizing and citing research in public discussions and writings is important for maintaining credibility

libSQL: Diving Into a Database Engineering Epic

Luminotes • 2 HN points • 23 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Database Engineering Replication
  1. SQLite is widely used and respected in critical industries due to strong engineering ethics and a commitment to reliability and backward compatibility.
  2. Forking a project like SQLite, as seen with libSQL, requires competent developers, a clear purpose, and a focus on maintaining high standards to ensure success.
  3. libSQL offers innovative features like different wire protocols, virtual WAL, user-defined WASM functions, and replication to the edge, showcasing the project's evolution and dedication to excellence.

Economists found something surprising and you wont believe what happened next

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 15 Apr 17
🔬 Science Research Replication Uncertainty Cooperation Experimental
  1. Uncertainty can actually increase cooperation in certain situations.
  2. To address breakdowns in cooperation in scientific studies, integration mechanisms like co-authorship can increase credibility and reliability of results.
  3. In the face of surprising experimental findings, proposing new mechanisms and experiments can lead to advancements in scientific knowledge.

10 Reasons to Doubt Tim’s Vermeer

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 15 Jun 14
🎨 Art & Illustration Documentary Replication Technique
  1. Tim Jenison's device used in 'Tim's Vermeer' is not available for purchase, casting doubt on its accessibility and practicality.
  2. There is a lack of evidence of others successfully replicating Tim Jenison's technique, raising questions about its effectiveness and validity.
  3. Attempting to replicate an image using a contraption like Jenison's mirror on a stick proved to be challenging and not as straightforward as demonstrated in the documentary.