Tag Archives: humble

This Paper Deserves an Award for its Humble Approach to Bold Ideas.

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Speaking Our Truth

Expert science journalists often learn to skim specific sections of scientific papers, particularly those asserting that the research signifies a “significant advancement” or “broadens understanding.” This isn’t because they are inaccurate, but because nearly any research yielding results can make these assertions, and academics are motivated (as we all are) to amplify the significance of their work.

But sometimes, it isn’t a hassle. Following a chain of events initiated by reporter Matthew Sparks and shared on the social platform Bluesky, Feedback uncovered a 2018 paper on the arXiv preprint server that would have claimed the prize for “most honest” research effort. Absolute refusal to make grand claims.

In this study, authors Joseph Redmon and Ali Farhadi detailed the latest iteration of YOLO, an AI framework designed to recognize objects in images. YOLO has even outperformed CAPTCHA tests requiring users to identify all squares containing bicycles and has been utilized to detect smuggling vessels. All said, these achievements are truly impressive (though perhaps alarming), but by 2018, the duo had evidently been coasting.

The title of their paper itself—”YOLOv3: Incremental Improvements”—is telling. The brief summary echoes this sentiment, stating, “we’ve implemented several minor design adjustments to enhance performance.” The essence can be distilled to: ‘You’ve contacted me year-round, yet my research efforts this year were sparse; much of my time was spent on Twitter.’ This line is, in fact, the date noted in the paper.

The authors further admit that the “improvements” largely stemmed from “good ideas taken from others.” They dive into details, first confessing that their tweaks are “not particularly exciting—just a collection of minor updates to enhance functionality.”

They then transition to Section 4, titled “Things I Tried That Didn’t Work.” This section, Feedback argues, should be a standard inclusion in all scientific publications, potentially saving others considerable time.

Despite acknowledging that they only recounted “what we recall,” they do remember an attempt involving something called “focal loss,” which ended up diminishing the model’s accuracy. “YOLOv3 might already be resilient to the focal loss problem, as it differentiates objectness prediction and conditional class prediction, resulting in minimal accuracy loss in most cases. Or maybe not? I’m not entirely sure,” they commented.

Feedback: I must have overlooked this in 2018, or I can’t believe I missed it when the article was spotlighted. Aggregator site Reddit played a role, but thanks to sociologist Per Angel, who mentioned in Bluesky:the restrictions section is a space for academics to practice radical honesty in just one paragraph. Data scientist Johan Ugander remarked that the YOLOv3 paper “deserves an accolade.” A truly candid piece.

Surely, there’s an academic somewhere known for their radical honesty regarding their minimal accomplishments. I’ll send an email to the usual address.

A Touch of Longevity

Clare Boyes once stated: “I understand you steer clear of prescriptive determinism, but I felt compelled to forward you this email I received today from the British Wildlife Newsletter.” It mentioned a book titled Tree Hunting: 1,000 Trees to Find in Towns and Cities Across the UK and Ireland, authored by Paul Wood.

In a similar vein, Robert Master pointed out that a recent special issue titled “How to Live to 100” (TL;DR: Don’t Die) featured a longevity researcher named Paul Lazarus.

Sleep on This

A while back (in July), Feedback reported on receiving a press release staunchly defending the environmental sustainability of avocados, only to find it originated from the World Avocado Organization. We concluded that while these individuals may be correct, they surely operate under a peculiar incentive structure.

We received no additional information from the avocado vendor, but we were inundated with press releases emphasizing the significance of sleep. “Struggling to find a solution? Science confirms that sleeping on it genuinely resolves your issues,” the first message proclaimed. It highlighted “exciting new research” and asserted that “the traditional advice to sleep on things may actually be one of the most effective problem-solving strategies available.”

This is attributed to the brain’s ability to continue processing memories and forging new connections while we sleep, occasionally leading to innovative insights through the amalgamation of new and old concepts. There was talk of memory consolidation, the prefrontal cortex (often seen as the brain’s inner critic), and associative thinking.

The follow-up email delved even further with a dramatic, albeit grammatically questionable, title: “New Study Indicates Rising Mortality Among Young Adults, Experts Warn Continued Sleep Deprivation Could Aggravate This.” The press release linked sleep deprivation with chronic health issues. There was also a quote from a “certified sleep coach”—possibly real?—but our minds conjured an image of a sweaty man in a tracksuit, whistle in hand, shouting, “Give me seven [hours]!” Yet the message remained clear: “Prioritize sleep.”

While it may have been foreshadowing, if you weren’t prepared for it, both emails, of course, came from mattress supplier Amerisleep.

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What Message Is the Humble House Mouse Trying to Convey?

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Feedback is New Scientist Popular Sideways reviews the latest in science and technology news. You can send emails to Feedback@newscientist.com with items that might intrigue our readers.

What is the squeal?

The experience of mouse squeaks is sadly limited to the dead (or sometimes almost alive) ones that our cats insist on bringing into the house. This means that you’ve likely heard a significant portion of the creak.

So, I was taken aback to learn that the squeaking sounds of mice have been largely overlooked by science. Reporter Alex Wilkins has reviewed recent studies and confirms that it is true, as detailed in Biology Letters, with an article titled “Hidden in Plain Sound: The Scientific Possibility of House Mouse Squeak.”

The focus on house mouse vocalizations tends to be on ultrasound sounds that humans cannot perceive. They gained attention, perhaps due to their novelty and surprise factor. Meanwhile, the authors note that the unnoticed squeaks lead to a “lack of research focused on squeaks.”

This is clearly an oversight. The authors argue that squeaks possess “significant scientific potential.” They suggest that “the extent to which squeaks communicate information about the vocalizers and influence listener behavior across various social contexts has not yet been fully explored.”

The feedback suspects that squeaks are a highly effective form of communication. After reading Terry Pratchett, I recall that the ominous character known as the death of the rat can convey much with a well-timed squeak. Perhaps you need a catchphrase: What do you want? Squeak. When do you want it? Squeak!

Determining the penalty

In a somewhat roundabout way, nominal determinism might have relevance here.

Paul Meara points out that a recent feature on body clocks (August 2, p 30) highlighted Angela Leregio, a researcher at MSH Medical School in Hamburg, Germany, who also runs a company called Timemeter.

Unfortunately, the feedback doesn’t speak Portuguese; otherwise, as Paul noted, you would know that “Relógio” translates to “clock.”

Furthermore, feedback recognizes that there have been decades of research into a protein called amyloid related to Alzheimer’s disease.

Thus, we were particularly surprised to discover that the University of Dundee in the UK has an expert on Alzheimer’s named Amy Lloyd.

Tough like a nail

On September 18, the most prestigious awards in the science calendar were presented at the IG Nobel ceremony, known for its whimsical and eccentric research. As the event’s creator stated, “The results are so remarkable that they make people laugh, then think.”

Feedback did not attend the event; however, you can watch the entire show online.

Out of various awards, we were particularly intrigued by the Literary Award, presented to teachers and clinicians William Bennett Bean (1909-1989) for “permanently recording and analyzing the growth rate of one fingernail over 35 years.”

His research began with a simple 1953 study, titled “Notes on Nail Growth,” where Bean shared “observations made over the past decade.”

His work peaked in the 1980s and continued with several similar studies, including “Nail Growth: Observation Over 35 Years,” published in Archives of Internal Medicine. Feedback has reviewed this detailed paper.

Bean described his research as “a comprehensive record of the growth of human deciduous tissues,” providing a slowly moving keratin cymograph that measures the age of unfortunate absissas.

What were the findings? Bean’s initial discovery revealed that different nails grow at different rates, which remained consistent over time.

“In simple terms, toenails grow more slowly than fingernails, while the middle fingernails grow faster compared to the thumb, pinky, or any of the other middle fingernails. By measuring one nail, the growth rate can be inferred for all.”

However, certain factors can cause noticeable delays in nail growth. For instance, Bean experienced a mumps infection in 1950, which resulted in a “decisive slowdown,” but he noted a compensatory speedup afterward. Ultimately, he identified a gradual long-term slowdown. “For example, the average daily growth of the left thumbnail dropped from 0.123 mm per day when he was 32 to 0.095 mm per day at 67.”

Our only question is whether Bean was deserving of an IG Nobel for his notably lengthy research.

Other awards included studies on “the extent to which certain lizards prefer specific types of pizza,” “what a nursing baby experiences when the mother eats garlic,” and “whether cows painted with zebra stripes can avoid being bitten by flies.”

Feedback especially appreciates the Chemistry Award, which investigated whether consuming foods rich in indigestible Teflon results in fewer calories. Rat experiments suggested a successful and non-toxic outcome; nonetheless, we advise readers not to attempt this at home.

To play it safe, you might just consider sprinkling powdered nails and adding too much food on top.

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