the error bar

OPEN SCIENCE & ITS ENEMIES, PART III: The Progressives in this episode i conclude my critique of - some parts of - the open science movement by focusing on the positive reforms that might actually work. keywords: open science reform critique commentary. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=41] https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/FZ84B

in this episode i continue discussing some problems in the open science movement. i focus on populist podcasters and the promotion of simplistic heuristics that some scientists argue will improve science. i argue that none of the heuristics will make much difference on their own, & often miss their target. i say 'fucking' about five times. the audio, especially the first 20 minutes, is a bit 'noisy', sorry (ironic, eh?). keywords: openscience reform critique commentary. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=40]

There's no brain news this month, but i take this unique opportunity to provide the first of my three part critique of - some parts of - the Open Science movement. This episode focusses on p-circling & reverse p-hacking. These two pejorative terms describe situations where scientists who *don't like* a particular reported effect, then decide to search for things in the paper which can 'un-explain' it. The reverse p-hacker turns a significant effect into a non-significant, or un-interesting one. These reverse p-hackers selectively adjust their version of data analysis (or interpretation) to *remove* significant p-values. it's the same thing as p-hacking. but backwards. & equally wrong.

in this episode we find out how motivational talk makes you run faster & i ponder on the history of science & the death of ideas long, long after their time. keywords: progress idea Kuhn death revolution. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=38]. image credit: Kaan Durmuş, https://www.pexels.com/photo/military-jet-flying-against-morning-sky-leaving-smoke-trail-19191704/, image re-sized to fit

my name's nick holmes and THIS is the error bar: a podcast about brain science & statistics that's nothing like any other podcast about brain science & statistics. this month's episode reveals the final truth about why men's and women's brains are so very similar or different, and I alog (it's like a blog, but its auditory) about why the problem of sample size in a research study is never really actually a problem at all. at least on its own. it's contextual. right?

my name's nick holmes and THIS is the error bar, where no drinks are served, which has only one song on the jukebox & one programme on the telly: the news. this episode covers mortality rates associated with obsessive compulsive disorder and two newspaper stories about love - just in time for valentine's day. i also waffle on about the pros and cons of looking back over 'the literature' - should we study the literature in the library, or study nature in the lab? keywords: history research meta analysis review. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=36]. image credit: Sergey Yeliseev, https://c1.staticflickr.com/4/3300/3300705817_81944d9608.jpg, image re-sized to fit

my name's nick holmes and THIS is the error bar, a podcast by a middle age man who likes statistics, FOR middle aged men who like statistics. keywords: podcast return season three brains stats. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=35]

how learning to play the piano improves perception, why the brain needs a break, image manipulation & the wonder of winter walking. keywords: bias perception break stress fraud walk. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=34]. image credit: Wallpapers Box, http://wallsbox.blogspot.com/2009/12/winter-wonderland-hd-desktop-wallpapers.html, image re-sized to fit

how different people see the world of colour differently, the study of love that triggered a studied hate & the annual review of the error bar's existence.. keywords: colour love hate difference ReasonsToBe. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=33]. image credit: Gabriel Meono, https://www.deviantart.com/gabrielmeono/art/Free-Eye-close-up-wallpaper-261096307, image re-sized to fit

how the largest part of the brain gets emotional, why older adults don't get emotion, how goldfish can swim 70cm for food & FREE ENERGY forever! keywords: cerebellum emotion goldfish food pong. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=32] image credit: wisc-online.com, https://www.wisc-online.com/assetrepository/viewasset?id=31, image re-sized to fit

how the mouse eye tells the mouse brain that a mouse is scratching itself, how dogs are everywhere & the two scientific cultures of simplifiers & complificators. keywords: mouse itch dogs Occam parsimony SCN. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=31]. image: https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.b57ASewfj-ezQ7pKV0SDbQHaD-&pid=Api, image re-sized to fit

how to massively improve your memory in old age after just a few hours, why scientists won't change their mind, & how the brain is not made of light bulbs... keywords: memory stimulation electromagnetic light. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=30]

bringing you the brain science news before it happens. or sometimes a long, long time afterwards. & sometimes it's not really news at all. more opinion really... keywords: job news revamp advert. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=29]. image credit: www.americanflyers.net, https://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/14111/what-are-the-meanings-of-these-terms-related-to-instrument-flight, image re-sized to fit

the biggest brain scanning study ever, how the error bar was wrong, how magnetically stimulating the head is distracting & some vaguely-interesting news stories. keywords: big data brain scan correction language. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=28]

how the visual brain controls blind people's feet, & how every single brain scanning study ever done needed thousands more participants to be reliable. keywords: movement blind scanning size matters. contains some swearing. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=27]

how to find the clitoris, how COVID shrinks some very important parts of the brain & the Canadian brain disease that isn't. still. keywords: clitoris mapping COVID brain shrink. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=26]. image adapted from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clitoris_3D_(v2).jpg

how your brain is just as good at age 60 as age 30, the neural correlates of near death experience & the most interesting questions in the whole of science. keywords: mental speed reaction time. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=25]. image credit: Dr. Marco Cardinale, http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hbZ_aIisSu8/SSLwsD9eR6I/AAAAAAAAARM/NDFPb262YUk/w1200-h630-p-nu/Squat%20Jump%20Bosco_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg, image edited & re-sized

how your brain lives in the past, the virus causing multiple sclerosis, consciousness explained three times, the scanner that talks scots & a news dump. keywords: illusion face MS consciousness MRI dump. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=24]

how rocket scientists & brain surgeons are just as clever as you, how to publish anything in medical journals, how music affects the brain & 2021 has ended. keywords: rocket brain bogus music year 2021 error. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=23]

how smelling bodily odour stops men from killing & makes women warriors, how alcoholic binges shrink your brain & the wind farms that make you sick. keywords: poo vomit wind baby booze error. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=22]. image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Twemoji_1f4a9.svg/352px-Twemoji_1f4a9.svg.png, image re-sized to fit

how long to hug someone for, how to make many labs make the right work, an update on Canada's mysterious brain disease, & three neuroscientists pass. keywords: hug meta manylabs canada. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=21] image credit: KayAdoptables, https://www.deviantart.com/kayadoptables/art/T-Rex-Hug-time-FREE-LINEART-302887484, image re-sized to fit

on the 25th anniversary of an influential neuroscience paper, the error bar talks to Drs Marie Martel & Luke Miller about how using tools changes our brain. keywords: tool brain hand silver iriki birthday. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=20]

how women are more creative when ovulating, how to treat autism, and the error bar receives a rebuttal. keywords: ovulation Darwin autism therapy balls. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=19]. image credit: Croglog Media, https://joshuaonline.blogspot.com/2018/08/psas-dont-break-eggs.html, image re-sized to fit

the neuroscience of birdsong, Nobel gongs for sensory neuroscientists, the corporate world of brain-hacking and the neuroscience universe loses three stars. keywords: bird song sensation brainhacking loss. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=18]. image credit: Maurice van Bruggen, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_finch#/media/File:Taeniopygia_guttata.JPG, image re-sized to fit

the microwaves in cuba that cook spies' brains & make them hear things, dogs hearing their owners' voices in brain scanners & consciousness explained. again. keywords: havana microwave cuba dogs consciousness. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=17]. image credit: Allan H Frey, https://doi.org/10.1152/jappl.1962.17.4.689, image re-sized to fit

discussing the claim there are no green stars, astrophysicist Dr Ulrike Kuchner & psychophysicist Dr Christopher Taylor describe green valleys flares & chickens. [the error bar is on holiday - again] the original ~32 minute version of this episode came out on March 12th 2021. This is an extended, lesser-edited version which includes more chat, more jokes, more tangential discussions of stars and eyes, and more anecdotes. on the role of errors and mistakes in science and art, Dr Kuchner cites Neil Gaiman, who said: "And now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art." see his whole speech here: https://www.uarts.edu/neil-gaiman-keynote-address-2012 keywords: rod cone astro psycho chicken truth. details, sources and full transcript (of the shorter version) at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=5]. image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/NGC_6826HSTFull.jpg/200px-NGC_6826HSTFull.jpg, re-sized to fit

the error bar talks to Valentine Delrue & Sean Devine, editors at The Journal of Trial and Error (JOTE; https://www.jtrialerror.com/), a journal which gives scientists a platform to talk about error, failure & rejected grant applications. this is the first in a two-part discussion about new journals. keywords: trial error journal failure rejection. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=16] image credit: Henry Oldenburg, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=36495651, image re-sized to fit

as silly season (or cucumber time) continues, newspapers & science websites re-hash stories told decades ago, making more of the same errors, about p, alcohol, rabbits & divorce. keywords: stats p alcohol heart rabbit divorce. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=15] image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rabbits_MyxomatosisTrial_WardangIsland_1938.jpg, image re-sized to fit

how mirror neurons and physics can explain everything about the human brain, the correct way to eat chocolate biscuits & the error bar takes a break. keywords: mirrorneuron physics biscuit summer. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=14]

how scientists lose confidence in their own work, the mega corporations who infiltrate our dreams & music to listen to in the gym after work. keywords: confidence error dreams inception music. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=13]

can humans learn to echolocate? the hostile media effect, the spread of fake news on twitter, & whether brain chemicals predict mathematics education. keywords: echolocation fakenews bias MRS GABA. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar [https://theerrorbar.com?e=12]

how the visual brain processes hands & cutlery, the worst study ever, mirror neurons, alcohol, zombies & the amazing Jane Goodall. keywords: hand tool football mouth booze zombie. contains one strong swear word. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=11)

Episode #10 was edited-down from around 2 hours of raw conversation with Dr Peter Lush from the University of Sussex UK, and Dr Regine Zopf from Macquarie University in Sydney Australia. Listen to the longer, Director's Cut of the discussions here - much more nerdy science information about the Rubber Hand Illusion, just for you - our faithful regular customers ;-) Sorry - there's no transcript for this version - my carpal tunnels won't live to see episode #11. Enjoy!

Dr Peter Lush from the University of Sussex, UK & Dr Regine Zopf from Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia discuss a recent controversy about rubber hands, bodily illusions & hypnotic suggestion. keywords: fake hand RHI body hypnosis suggestion. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=10)

the psychology of misinformation, what we can do to fight fake news & neuromyths, brain size, a new brain disease in Canada & dementia - again.... keywords: fakenews neuromyth atrophy Bonhoeffer. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=9)

explaining how the human brain evolved & develops, the sensitivity of our fingertip nerves, dementia, Elon Musk, horses, inflammation, shamanism & not much more. keywords: evolution development touch dementia. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=8). image credit: User:Charlyzona, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Areabroca.jpg, image edited & re-sized to fit

the brain differences between men & women, how neuroscience can reduce murders, why adults drink wine and why children shouldn't eat sugar. keywords: sex murder gun wine sugar pimple drugs. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=7)

welcome to the error bar, where neuroscience meets uncertainty. the error bar is a podcast about brain science news, error, confusion, uncertainty, and controversy. it comes out at UK time Thursday evenings every 2 weeks. it's aimed at scientists, students, journalists, and the general public. my name's Dr Nick Holmes, I'm a brain scientist and lecturer at the University of Nottingham in the UK, working in the psychology department, studying touch and movement in adults and children. there are two kinds of episode in the podcast – news and discussion. [BONG] that's Big Ben – London's bell. he introduces every news story. the news episodes are 10 minute briefings on the most interesting brain science news stories in the previous two weeks. I scan the main UK newspapers, and some from the English-speaking world; I check medical databases for articles, and pick out stories of interest from my regular reading. the news episodes focus on freely-available articles that are likely of wider interest. each story is briefly summarised, reviewed, and fact-checked. I also cover neuroscience obituaries. [BONG] the discussion episodes are 30 minutes long. they focus on a single claim, topic, or controversy. I aim to interview two guests, one on each side of an argument or approach. and I'll give my own view at the end. so why should you listen to the error bar podcast? it's as short as I can make it – averaging only 1 minute per day. it takes a critical and occasionally-expert view of brain science news that you probably won't find in the media. and I try to be entertaining. you can follow on twitter @BarError, listen at theerrorbar.com, or subscribe with your favourite podcast app. the error bar is open, so pull up a chair and listen to our stories.

are cuttlefish better at delaying rewards than crows & kids? neuroscience manipulation, bullying & failure, and the millions in prize money for migraine research. keywords: cuttlefish cognition openscience scihub. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=6). image credit: By © Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0, image re-sized to fit

discussing the claim that there are no green stars, astrophysicist Dr Ulrike Kuchner from the University of Nottingham & psychophysicist Dr Christopher Taylor from the New England College of Optometry describe green valleys, green flares & the visual abilities of chickens. keywords: colour star photoreceptor chicken truth. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=5)

how your brain does maths while you dream, the brain differences between agreeing & disagreeing with someone & why extreme opinions slow down decisions. keywords: sleep lucid agreement FNIRS EEG stats. details, sources & full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=4)

how social media posts betray relationship breakdown, how lonely brains are different, and the quest for the brain's beauty centre. keywords: breakups loneliness beauty musk wolpert. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=3)

how electrocuting the face & brain reduces obsessive behaviour, how nose-pumping helps with sleep hygiene, & the monkeys who'll swap your iphone for food. keywords: brainstim sleep fly monkey vision. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=2)

the vegetables and vitamins that stop cognitive decline and parkinson's, how city life slows you down, and the continuing failure of computers to be like the brain. keywords: vegetables vitamins brain health telly. details, sources and full transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=1). [apologies the sound is a bit off: working on it!]

[this is a pilot episode, recorded in April 2020, under Covid-19 lockdown and before purchasing a decent microphone.] why cannabis doesn't make you inject cocaine, how burgers don't give you dementia, & whether going into space expands your mind, or your brain keywords: cannabis cocaine burgers dementia space full details, sources, and transcript at the error bar (https://theerrorbar.com?e=0)