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We’ve got an interesting discussion going on regarding the decline effect here. David Cooper, one of my former doctoral students, has an interesting viewpoint.

In the meantime, Obama’s wrap up of his successes during the Lame Duck session of Congress curiously didn’t include mention of the COMPETE Act. ScienceInsider takes note here. I think this is probably significant for the science community and we should watch carefully in January as the new Congress gets itself bootstrapped.

The Blizzard missed Washington DC entirely I’m pleased to report. My sympathies to our neighbors in New York and Boston (to say nothing of Philly).

Jonah Lehrer’s piece in the New Yorker

Behind the firewall, here’s the abstract of Jonah’s new piece on the “decline effect”. And here’s Steven Novella’s response on his NeuroLogica Blog.

Basically what’s at stake is our (the community of scientists and those who use scientific results to create informed policies) faith in the Scientific Method (as defined best by Popper).

I’m still working through my own thoughts as to Lehrer’s article. It’s creating a big stir among my colleagues and it deserves a serious response. So stay tuned.