Good science

Apropos to yesterday's post on the practice of science, the problems in Dr. Hwang Woo Suk's stem cell research came to light after questions were raised by young Korean scientists online. Per an article by Nicholas Wade in the Dec. 16, 2005 New York Times, "Although the new disclosures are being presented as a blow to Korean science, they can also be seen as a triumph for a cadre of well-trained young Koreans for whom it became almost a pastime to turn up one flaw after another in his work. All or almost all the criticisms that eventually brought him down were first posted on Web sites used by young Korean scientists."

The Korean news website OhMyNews selected the Korean scientists as "Netizens of the Year" to acknowledge "the role played by the online scientific community in South Korea to support honest and collaborative scientific research." The article points out that as a result of South Korea's investment in broadband technology "broad-ranging access to the Internet in South Korea has helped to make possible this scientific discussion and commentary, it is the netizens of the scientific community who have demonstrated a new form of scientific review appropriate for the 21st century."

jd

[See also Rhonda Hauben's post "Korean Cloning Hero Deconstructed Online" on the Telepolis website. I came across the above via her post to nettime-l.]