1. Fleischmann says that if you don't believe in
something, you will bias yourself against admitting it's existence as you
design an experiment. In your very
denial of it, you will design your experiment so that it dosen't take into
account or even so that it disproves any particular phenomenon. However, you can be forced into taking some
things into account. Physicists can deny
the existence of gravity all they want, but it will still affect the results of
their experiments.
2. The double blind technique, which involves
the psychological use of plicebos, or suger-pills, in medical testing, could be
easily adapted to be used in research.
If two or more groups of scientists are kept totally isolated, then they
could exchange research at set intervals and go on to test the other's
theories. If any misinformation is in
the research (or thrown in to keep the scientists on their toes) it should be
discovered immediately.
3. In 1903, shortly after the discovery of
X-rays, Rene Blondlot (a French scientist) discovered a new kind of radiation,
which he called N-rays, after the University of Nancy, where he worked. His experiments were confirmed by numerous
scientists in France. Elsewhere, however, scientists could not duplicate his
results. In 1904, Robert Wood, a
physicist from America, observed Blondlot's experiments. He removed an
important piece of Blondlot's equipment, but Blondlot continued to see
N-rays! Wood reported the trick that he
had played on Blondlot, and N-rays were never seen again. Blondlot wanted to see the N-rays so badly
that he actually did see them, and he decieved many other scientists into
believing that they saw them too. Many
years after his fallacy was discovered, however, few people hear about
Blondlot, or his fantastic form of radiation.
4. Any published date should be verified and a
scientist sent from some other agency or research group, possibly even the
government, should be sent to witness the results and duplicate the experiment. Falsification of medical research data should
be closely monitored because of the extreme demand for medical cures and
treatments of so many diseases which are reaching epidemic proportions and the
false claims which are made sometimes get peoples hopes up.