Youtube: Breeding Ground for Harmful Scientific Misinformation

* courtesy of Slashdot.org
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/uot-ybg120507.php

Article said:

In the first-ever study of its kind, U of T researchers Dr. Kumanan Wilson and Dr. Jennifer Keelan analyzed 153 videos about vaccination and immunization on YouTube, a popular online video-sharing site. Researchers found that more than half of the videos portrayed childhood, HPV, flu and other vaccinations negatively or ambiguously. Of those videos, a staggering 45 per cent contained messages that contradict the 2006 Canadian Immunization Guide, which provides national guidelines for immunization practices. The Canadian recommendations are similar to guidelines from the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"YouTube is increasingly a resource people consult for health information, including vaccination," says first author Keelan, an assistant professor in U of T's Department of Public Health Sciences. "Our study shows that a significant amount of immunization content on YouTube contradicts the best scientific evidence at large. From a public health perspective, this is very concerning."

The research team also found that videos skeptical of vaccinations – many of them highly provocative and powerful – received more views and better ratings by YouTube users than those videos that portray immunizations in a positive light.

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I wonder what your views and comments are with regards to this. This isn't really news to me, as I've had to deal with people who refused to immunize their kids, and even went as far as to keep them out of school due to immunization requirements.

I just wonder, whether it's the general culture of arrogance, ignorance, and disrespect of knowledge in the U.S., that's causing this epidemic... because 20-30 years ago, people listened to their doctors.

But honestly, if I have to deal with one more "MMR causes autism" person, I might flip.

Unfortunately, many folks never get a good science education in school. Courses like biology, chemistry, physics etc. are not always required curricula. When faced with false claims, the uneducated masses are prime fodder for charlatans and pseudo-scientific explanations. They are more apt to listen to an ignorant person than reputable sources.

"YouTube is increasingly a resource people consult for health information..."

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This is a VERY scary statement. :shakehead

I don't doubt it's true, but the thought of people actually looking to YouTube as anything more than entertainment is astounding.

I'm not even a doctor and I get hit sideways by the complete ignorance of people about such things. If you start up a conversation about the flu shot even here you'll get a score of people claiming to have actually gotten the flu from it when that is impossible. Even my own mother said to me once that all those childhood diseases weren't so bad, you just get sick and then it's all over with. Heh, but then I told her she was the lucky one to have survived...

The actual usefulness of vaccines and the actual incidence of harm from requiring that the population get them is all out there. Anybody who reads more than the anti-vaccination websites will see that not only is it not harmful it is drastically, undeniably beneficial. In order to believe anything else requires a Vast Governmental/Medical Conspiracy which if you can really believe in then you have bigger problems.

If people have specific questions or stories they would like the truth about i think you can post here. I have done a lot of research in the last few years to make sure I wanted to vaccinate my own children. Turned out after quite a bit of study I decided without a question of a doubt that I did. And we have some real docs on the board and others in the industry that might chime in too.

I'll be the first to point out that my scientific knowledge is...well...terrible. Despite this, it will be a cold day in hell before I'm taking my medical advice from YouTube.

Regards,
Tempest

Funny you mentioned it, some guy on a local car forum was talking about running cars on water (i.e. self-sustained, just add water to fuel tank), citing a youtube video about a guy in malaysia doing it. I told him he's full of crap.

It isn't just YouTube that people consult. They consult politicians, political parties, and preachers too. The term "harmful scientific misinformation" is a proper viewpoint for each. The harm isn't just to the one accepting the misinformation. The harm is to the whole world.

jzmtl said:

Funny you mentioned it, some guy on a local car forum was talking about running cars on water (i.e. self-sustained, just add water to fuel tank), citing a youtube video about a guy in malaysia doing it. I told him he's full of crap.

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actually, a fuel cell is used to break down the water and hydrogen gas is released - water is the "fuel" that is added to the fuel cell for catalysis to occur. some fuel cell systems are used to just produce electricity and others use combust the hydrogen gas produced. a sister division of the company that i work for is developing these fuel cells.

but, the misconception that water, which can put out fires, is directly "burned", well...???...as the old saying goes, there's a sucker born every minute.


interestingly enough, i believe it is a French company that has built prototype engines that run on *AIR* (compressed air, that is). saw a photo of a small car that was host to the prototype engine - interesting news article.

People don't just get their information from one place do they? There is always a argument for and against, it's up to people to make it.


Banning information or free speech is not the way. The only thing that should be banned, is banning.:banned:

half-watt said:

actually, a fuel cell is used to break down the water and hydrogen gas is released - water is the "fuel" that is added to the fuel cell for catalysis to occur. some fuel cell systems are used to just produce electricity and others use combust the hydrogen gas produced. a sister division of the company that i work for is developing these fuel cells.

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The said video say the guy has been doing it for 20 years, he adds water to tank and claim to feed hydrogen directly to engine, so I don't think it's fuel cell.

But regardless, it takes more energy to break down water than what can be gained from combustion of hydrogen, given current efficiency of internal combustion engine, so no matter how you slice it a car cannot run on water alone without additional energy input.

About the compressed air, a couple of years ago there was a company made a system for frequently stopping vehicles like city bus, garbage truck etc. It use braking energy to compress air, which is used to accelerate it later. I thought it was a pretty damn cool idea, way better than hybrid, but seems it never caught on.

There are a lot of bogus scientific claims, and eventually they ALL will make their way on to youtube. Maybe someone can cull them all for this thread?

I like the engine that runs on H20. When do I get mine?

half-watt said:

actually, a fuel cell is used to break down the water and hydrogen gas is released - water is the "fuel" that is added to the fuel cell for catalysis to occur. some fuel cell systems are used to just produce electricity and others use combust the hydrogen gas produced. a sister division of the company that i work for is developing these fuel cells.

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Except that the fuel cell system is a net energy loss.

LukeA said:

Except that the fuel cell system is a net energy loss.

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It necessitates the input of cheap electricity... from renewable or nuclear sources.

There is a difference between putting up a video claiming that you can run your car on water via some double secret over unity hydrogen conversion process and giving people medical advice.

the one can be amusing, or at the very least the worst it does is distract people from the real solutions to their problems (*cough* newkular *cough*) the other may cause them actual harm ,or even cause my kids actual harm. You loose the group immunity protection when the unprotected numbers reach as little as 5%. So it doesn't take too many crazy people, or people misled and frightened by the crazy people to endanger us all when it comes to vaccinations.

actually, latest R&D is producing positive results. hydrogen makes a nice clean fuel. we have a large portion of an entire division working on producing fuel cells along with our corporate think-tank where i worked for a number of years (on other projects and still do work for at times) before transferring to division level to follow an advanced project (besides it's much closer to home, so a shorter commute).

fuel cells from this division are *ALREADY* powering buses in NA and Europe - though it *IS* a VERY SMALL NUMBER.

i believe it is FOUR (i said that it was a very small number) fuel cell powerplants in buses in California right now. 2002 was the first year a bus IN SERVICE was powered by one of our fuel cells. don't know how many in Europe, but my *guess* is that it is once again a VERY SMALL number.

i'm guessing that city buses are ideal since regenerative braking can make the cells more efficient.

in 2000, Hyundai already had one of our fuel cells in a test vehicle as i recall.

this division is already designing, together with Chevron, hydrogen refueling stations for the states of California and Michigan.


as bob dylan used to sing, "the times they are a changin"!

jzmtl said:

it takes more energy to break down water than what can be gained from combustion of hydrogen, given current efficiency of internal combustion engine, so no matter how you slice it a car cannot run on water alone without additional energy input.

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actually, when water is subjected to RF energy of a precise wavelength, it separates surprisingly easily with great potential for use. this is just one new method of catalyzing water to release hydrogen gas.

the added energy can be "pre-stored" in the fuel cell's design (yes, this would limit the life of the fuel cell). this issue is more "clean" burning vehicles in actual use.

regenerative braking is also a means employed, but instead of charging a battery as in current hybrid powerplant design, it is used to assist in catalyzing water.

added energy. sure - whether it's designed into the powerplant or added via regenerative braking.

the issue is reducing emissions in cities where many vehicles are used.

don't know anything 'bout the u-tube video in question, but there seems to be some misconceptions 'bout the purpose of fuel cell technology.

first off, no one is gonna' invent a sorta' "perpetual motion" machine here. not even our fuel cell division. that's NOT the point of fuel cells.

a major driving force behind the development of fuel cell technology is urban pollution caused by gasoline and diesel powered internal combustion engines.

keep that point in mind and the future of fuel cells looks a bit better.

a second point, for NA and Europe and i would imagine PRC also, is reliance on foreign petroleum.

the fact that popular media makes outlandish claims for fuel cells only tarnishes their image in the minds of clear thinkers like CPF participants obviously are.

I found the video, actually he claims to have been doing this since the 60's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVhXrvCCILw

When I made a topic about the dangers of scientific misinformation in the mainstream press, and more importantly on the internet, I never thought that the chickens were going to come home to roost that quickly.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080501/ap_on_he_me/cdc_measles

There is a measles outbreak unfolding in the U.S., and it's likely going to spill out into an epidemic we haven't seen in decades. Why? Because people aren't vaccinating their children. Latest AMA studies show that over 25% of children reaching school age are not under-vaccinated. Why?

Because their parents listen to idiots on the internet babbling on and on about vaccines and autism, vaccines and diseases... I bet some of them warn that vaccines cause anal leakage. This, despite the fact that 10 out of 12 authors of the original (and only) peer-reviewed paper that made the positive connection, retracted their results, and the other 2 have been taking money from lawyers and civilian groups that want to sue.

Interestingly, 63 of the 64 people infected in this latest outbreak, have not been vaccinated against measles. I wonder why... I think that if they can pinpoint the sites and people who convinced them to forego vaccination, those individuals should be arrested and charged with aggravated assault and conspiracy.

+

Much of the Web is Dis/Misinformation, crap like YouTube just makes the Web more of a garbage can.

This article similar to original topic, so unbelievably sad.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=745889