PODCAST · science
the error bar
by Dr Nick Holmes
fact-checking brain science news and asking brain scientists about mistakes and controversies
Episodes
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Open Science and Its Enemies, Part III: The progressives
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...
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Open Science and its Enemies. Part II: The populists
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…
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Open Science and its Enemies. Part I: The p-circlers
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...
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JUST DIE ALREADY
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...
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YOUR SAMPLE IS SMALL
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…
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DON'T LOOK BACK
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...
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SEASON THREE PREVIEW
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]
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BIAS, FATIGUE, FRAUD? TAKE A HIKE
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…
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EYES WIDE SHUT
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].…
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EMOTIONAL FISH FOOD
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:...
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THE SHAVING FOAM FIRE HOSE OF BRAIN NEWS
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]....
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CLIMBING MOUNT THETA
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]
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HOLDING PATTERN
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:...
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BIG, WRONG AND BORING
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]
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IS IT BIG ENOUGH?
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...
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FINDING THE CLITORIS
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:...
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FLATTENING THE CURVE
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…
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THE FACETIME ILLUSION
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]
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2021: A YEAR IN ERROR
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]
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POO, VOMIT, WIND
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:...
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TIME FOR A HUG
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…
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TOOLS IN THE BRAIN: THE FIRST 25 YEARS
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]
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DARWINIAN OVULATION
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,...
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SONGS AND GONGS
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...
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HAVANA SYNDROME
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]....
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DO CHICKENS SEE GREEN STARS? NERDY BONUS
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,...
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A JOURNAL FOR TRIAL AND ERROR
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...
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RABBIT HOLES AND P-VALUES
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...
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SILLY SEASON
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]
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LOSING CONFIDENCE
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]
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THE ECHOLOCATION CHAMBER
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]
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HAND, FOOT, MOUTH, BALLS
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)
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THE RUBBER HAND DELUSION: NERDY BONUS
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...
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THE RUBBER HAND DELUSION
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…
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MISINFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
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)
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BRAIN GROOVOLUTION
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)....
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SEX, CRIME & DRUGS: THE SIN EPISODE
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)
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THE ERROR BAR: A TRAILER
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...
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OF CUTTLEFISH AND MEN
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…
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DO CHICKENS SEE GREEN STARS?
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...
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EXTREME DREAM ARGUMENTS
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)
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THE BRAIN: A L❤VE STORY
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)
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ELECTROCOMPULSIVE THERAPY
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)
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GREEN PATHS TO BRAIN HEALTH
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…
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CANNABIS BURGERS FOR DEMENITA
[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...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does the error bar have?
the error bar currently has 45 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is the error bar about?
fact-checking brain science news and asking brain scientists about mistakes and controversies
How often does the error bar release new episodes?
the error bar has 45 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to the error bar?
You can listen to the error bar on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts the error bar?
the error bar is created and hosted by Dr Nick Holmes.
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