Space Industry and Business News  
Swedish Scientific Breakthrough On Planting Blooming Was Faked

Research into how plants bloom used fake data.
by Staff Writers
Stockholm (AFP) Apr 18, 2007
A major Swedish scientific breakthrough in plant physiology that was published in the journal Science in 2005 was based on false data, the research group at Umeaa University said Wednesday.

"A guest researcher from China who had been invited to join our team manipulated the data to get false results," professor Ove Nilsson from the Faculty of Science and Agriculture at Umeaa University told AFP.

The research studied one of the most important questions in plant physiology: How do plants know when to bloom?

The Chinese researcher, Tao Huang, claimed to have proven that the florigen molecule that controls plant blooming plays the role of messenger in the process.

Science Magazine named the study the third most important scientific breakthrough of 2005.

The fraud was unveiled in September 2006 when the research group unsuccessfully attempted to repeat the experiments conducted by Tao.

The study was published in Science in September 2005, but the group behind the research asked the US weekly to retract the article once they became aware of the tampering.

According to Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, the group informed the scientific community of the mistake and offered their apologies.

"This incident was extremely embarrassing for our university. These were the worst moments of my career as a researcher," Nilsson said.

Nilsson added that the Chinese researcher, who has now left the Swedish university, has refused to admit to the cheating and has maintained that the results were correct.

"Chinese researchers are under a lot of pressure from their country and are expected to produce a maximum amount of results in order to get a job," he emphasised.

In 2005 another Asian researcher, South Korean Hwang Woo-suk, made the headlines after he was found to have faked his research on human stemcell cloning.

His results were also published in Science, which later published a retraction.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Related Links
Umeaa University
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


New Undersea Vent Suggests Snake-Headed Mythology
Durham NC (SPX) Apr 18, 2007
A new "black smoker" -- an undersea mineral chimney emitting hot, iron-darkened water that attracts unusual marine life -- has been discovered at about 8,500 feet underwater by an expedition currently exploring a section of volcanic ridge along the Pacific Ocean floor off Costa Rica.







  • All Of Russia Will Have Internet And Phone Access
  • Wildblue High-Speed Internet Via Satellite Triples Capacity With New Satellite
  • Publish, Perish Attitudes Make Profs Balk At Online Publication
  • World Getting Ready To Change The Light Bulb

  • Russia Puts 16 Foreign Satellites Into Orbit
  • Indian Space Agency Set For First Commercial Launch Of Foreign Satellite
  • Russia To Launch Four US Satellites In May
  • PSLV-C8 To Be Launched On April 23

  • Nondestructive Testing Keeps Bagram Aircraft Flying
  • New FAA Oceanic Air Traffic System Designed By Lockheed Martin Fully Operational
  • NASA Seeks New Research Proposals
  • Germans Urged To Give Foreign Travel A Rest To Curb Global Warming

  • Raytheon To Supply Canada With Enhanced Position Location Reporting System Terminals
  • Intelsat To Test Internet Routing In Space For The US Military
  • Northrop Grumman And LockMart Team Up For Integrated Air And Missile Defense Battle Command
  • Harris Donates OS/COMET For Use In FalconSAT Program

  • Colombia Launches First Satellite
  • A New Generation Of Space Tethers
  • Rolls-Royce Selects Bristol University For Composites Research
  • Tests Demonstrate Functionality Of Next Generation Processor Router For TSAT

  • Townsend To Lead Ball Aerospace Exploration Systems In Huntsville
  • NASA Nobel Prize Recipient To Lead Chief Scientist Office
  • Kathryn Kynard Plays Key Role In Ares I Upper Stage Engine Development
  • William Shernit Joins Intelsat General As President and CEO

  • Scientists Meet To Review Envisat Results After Five Years Of Operations
  • US Uses Landsat Satellite Data To Fight Hunger And Poverty
  • NOAA And NASA Restore Climate Sensor To Upcoming NPP Satellite
  • High-Resolution Images Herald New Era In Earth Sciences

  • Northrop Grumman Team OCX Bids On The GPS Next Generation Control Segment Contract
  • China Launches Compass Navigation Satellite
  • GPS Significantly Impacted By Powerful Solar Radio Burst
  • Russia To Expand Glonass Satellite Group By Year End

  • The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement