Comments on: Science Suffers From The Idiots At Scientific American

By: Fossil and data access in palaeoanthropology « Physical Anthropology

Fossil and data access in palaeoanthropology « Physical Anthropology — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:05:13 +0000

[...] Science Suffers From The Idiots At Scientific American @ Anthropology.net. [...]

By: Should Neandertals Be Recategorized As A Subspecies Of Humans? « Anthropology.net

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 15:42:13 +0000

[...] Jump to Comments Earlier this week, I saw a friend reading this article, and considering SciAm has proven to be a bastion of intellectual stimulation and unbiased discussion, I decided to share it with [...]

By: Native West Virginians - (WV) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Native West Virginians - (WV) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:25:53 +0000

[...] [...]

By: Darwin

Darwin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:00:36 +0000

Damn. You anthropologists can talk some smack. Cheers to that!

By: The 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus « Anthropology.net

The 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus « Anthropology.net — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:02:32 +0000

[...] want to be the first to break news to you that Science has published White’s contentious 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus! The link is not live yet, but when it is I’ll fill [...]

By: Take your time « A Primate of Modern Aspect

Take your time « A Primate of Modern Aspect — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 14:08:52 +0000

[...] blogs. Scientific American published an editorial, which John Hawks commented on, followed by Kambiz at [...]

By: Kambiz

Kambiz — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 22:14:53 +0000

Now that there’s no restriction to the limits of the ‘printed page,’ would you be willing to name a few other paleoanthropologists who are withholding fossils?

By: henry harpending

henry harpending — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:16:14 +0000

I appreciate the points the site owner would like to make, but let us consider what value a reconstruction will be if it takes years to complete. How many fossils have had their value compromised because of disagreements over the reconstruction?
(This comment from someone who couldn’t tell an arm bone from a leg bone, BTW. This also from someone who spends 1/2 lecture from 15 mya to 2.5mya in his intro class because there is hardly anything to say about that period that we can all believe).

By: Kate Wong

Kate Wong — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:14:56 +0000

Journalistic organizations commonly include unsigned essays from their editorial boards, and Scientific American is no exception. It is true that I did much of the legwork on this particular editorial, but the essay topic was decided by the board as a group, and shaped collectively. There are, of course, other hominin fossils that researchers say they have been denied access to. But because of the finite nature of a printed page, we only had room for one, and we chose to use the most commonly cited example. As for the assertion that there is a conflict of interest and that I exploited my “professional capacity for personal benefit,” I can only say that my involvement with Lucy’s Legacy is well known to my Scientific American colleagues and to most paleoanthropologists. If there was a personal benefit from this editorial, I’m unaware of it.

By: Kambiz

Kambiz — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:35:23 +0000

1,000 apologies to the Sergent of the Grammar Police, John Turner, for my outstanding error. May he have mercy on me.

Yeah, I personally rather have perfectly preserved 17 4.4 million year old mandibular fragments than 17 4.4 million year old fragments that disintegrate in 10 years because some third party, who provided no support in the recovery, reconstruction, and research process, wanted to see the fossil sooner. Call me crazy, but aren’t we here to recover fossils and preserve them so that future generations may learn from them?

While, I don’t consider fossils to be products like vaccines, they both involve scientific research… and I don’t read accusational editorials from people breathing down the necks of HIV vaccine researchers who are still taking 28 years to make a vaccine. People who do have a problem with how long the process takes, should tighten up their belts, roll up their sleaves, goto Ethiopia and find their down damn fossil. The problem is that the people who find the fossils simply aren’t respected and are sidelined by impatient lab scientists who don’t do the dirty work and expect fossils to be delivered to them…. “Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop!”