Many thanks to the writers at NBC news for taking a potentially cool technical achievement and completely blowing the writing:

http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/28/17123686-two-rats-thousands-of-miles-apart-cooperate-telepathically-via-brain-implant?threadId=3675800&commentId=74500710#c74500710

No, this is *NOT* telepathy. Electropathy, maybe, if that’s even a word.

Hoorah for bad science reporting!

Ugh.

Agreed, ridiculous reporting.

I hope the scientists who performed the tests have elaborated that this is not telepathy.

sounds like something like a telephone

So, do you guys write angry letters to Hanna-Barbera because Fred Flintstone likes brontosaurus burgers, even though there was no such animal?  Its a headline, its job is to catch a person’s attention in as few words as possible.  Using the word “telepathy” does that, and given that most people think of computers as mysterious black boxes, trying to communicate the story to them in as precise language as humanly possible isn’t going to do anything but turn them off.

Fred Flintstone is not NBC News.

NBC News isn’t Nature, or any other scientific journal.  They make their money off of ratings numbers, not delivering 100% accurate information.

NBC News claims to adhere to good journalistic standards.

So does Fox News, what’s your point?

Coldheart Tucker - 02 March 2013 04:10 PM

So does Fox News, what’s your point?