Science has done it again.He has given us an unthinkable headline again.We have to jump off a plane and there are no parachutes.Can we survive? According to the latest study by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of California, among others, the parachute does not make a difference.Their data confirms what scientists at the University of Cambridge had already described in 2003.
RelatedBut how is it possible? Most readers who have entered this article have been caught by what is now known as a clickbait headline.That is, a headline that induces clicking, but the linked content is not It corresponds exactly to what is advertised.That if, this time, it goes with good intentions.
SERIOUSLY DOES PARACAIDES NOT SAVE LIVES?
Most of us take it for granted.We have seen it in movies and series.We have read it in fiction novels and they have told us that this is really the case.If it is time to jump from a plane, better grab the closest parachute, but maybe they've been lying to us all our lives.
Actually, the paper 'Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial' does not call into question the effectiveness of a parachute.in which the worst nightmare of the jumper is fulfilled and the device does not open.Nor does it tell the story of Guinness heroes like Luke Aikins.The article, published in December in 'The BMJ', actually tells us about something much more serious that survival.It tells us about the power of data and the importance of analyzing the details well before making a judgment.
The details of the controversial paper
The objective of the investigation, carried out for 12 months, between September 2017 and August 2018, was to measure whether using a parachute could prevent serious trauma or even the death of people jumping from an airplane., 92 real passengers of legal age were selected.23 of them decided to participate voluntarily in the risky experiment.The remaining 69 rejected the test (and now we will see why).
Half of the 23 participants were equipped with a real parachute.The other was carrying an empty backpack without knowing it.They all jumped from the same plane and all survived.In addition, the paper , the 23 participants They were at a lower speed and lower altitude than the other 69 shortlisted passengers who decided not to participate in the study.
And it is that the small airplane in which the 23 intrepid subjects of study were was still and on the ground.Yes, the participants jumped to the ground from a height less than two meters.An information that the article does not explain until methodological details and that researchers point out as "minor detail".
The lessons of a safe jump
The authors of this research conducted a randomized controlled trial, that is, they selected the subjects of the experiment randomly.This did not prevent all the selected subjects from being in a plane on the ground, which biased, since the Start, the final result of the experiment.Without this bias, the conclusions of the study would have been very different.If any of the passengers in flight had jumped without a parachute, we all know what the end would have been.
"The parachute study satirically highlights some of the limitations of randomized controlled trials.Still, we believe that this type of trial remains the standard for the evaluation of most new medical treatments.The parachute article suggests, however, that the precise interpretation of these studies requires more than a brief reading of the abstract .Moreover, the interpretation requires a complete and critical evaluation of the study, "the study authors state in their conclusions.
Marijuana has alien genes
Another lesson that can be drawn from this article has to do with our reading habits and some bad vices of journalism.Titulars such as this piece lead to engano on many occasions.And they do not do so much for being biased.in themselves, that too, but because there are few users who enter to read and much less those who reach the end of the article.
Experiments of this type are many on the net.One of the most recurrent is published, from time to time, from the IFL Science website.Through a striking headline ensure in social networks that marijuana contains extraterrestrial genetic material.It has been shared thousands of times and the debates that are mounted on the Sonepic network.And that in the second line of the article it is said that everything is a lie.
Marijuana Contains 'Alien DNA' From Outside Of Our Solar System, NASA Confirms https://t.co/4zEHbQoBgI
-IFLScience (@IFLScience) July 13, 2016
Click, share, tweet, tag, comment, form an opinion in five seconds from a headline.The behavior we show on and off the internet we are increasingly moving away from reflection and the healthy exercise of contrast.If we do not check a headline of fake news , how are we going to read an in-depth scientific study? At what time? We decided to jump into the pool without a parachute?
Images | Unsplash/Quino Al, Jakob Owens, Ben White
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