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Bell Labs fires Hendrik Schon for Data Falsification

Raiford writes "Bell Labs has fired physicist Hendrik Schon for falsifying scientific data. Schon was thought to be a likely candidate for the Nobel prize based on the promise his reported research findings had for the advancement of molecular scale computing. In a Reuters report the dismissal was described as the only conclusive case of scientific misconduct ever identified in the history of the prestigious laboratory."

2 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. more information by karups2 · · Score: 4, Informative

    3 page executive summary 127 page Committee's Report (Appendix F lists the papers in question; Appendix H gives Schon's response)

  2. Bulltish by Macrobat · · Score: 4, Informative
    Tis a shame to single out a man for damnation on the basis of one slip when damnation is the default case.
    This was not a slip. This was a lie. Scientists do not, by default, distrust one another's ethics. Peer review is meant to weed out misunderstanding and overgeneralization, not fraud. That's not "damnation," that's just healthy skepticism.
    --
    "Hardly used" will not fetch you a better price for your brain.