2018-11-03 New Scientist Australian Edition

SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

LEADERS

3 November 2018 | NewScientist | 3

THE news that gravitational waves

had been detected reverberated

beyond the halls of physics.

Confirming a long-standing

prediction of Einstein’s general

theory of relativity, the discovery

presaged a new era in cosmology.

Then came the doubts. No

experiment could reproduce the

claimed signal, and theorists

began to question whether Joseph

Weber’s massive aluminium

bars, set up at the University of

Maryland, could really have been

moved by ripples in space-time.

The theory and experimental

practice of gravitational-wave

detection have advanced

immeasurably since these events

of the summer of 1969, and few

would bank on history repeating

itself. Yet Weber’s debunked claim

is a reminder of how bias and

wishful thinking can easily colour

the best of scientific minds.

Now, as we report this week,

questions have been raised

about the quality of the analysis

behind the LIGO collaboration’s

celebrated 2015 gravitational

wave detection (see page 28).

The dissenting researchers are

credible and their own analysis

is peer-reviewed. It should not

be dismissed out of hand.

To be clear: few people doubt

gravitational waves are out there

or that LIGO is our best bet to find

them. Its peerless instruments

are the result of decades of

expert development to shut out

extraneous noise that would

confound this delicate detection.

But no scientific discovery

should be beyond scrutiny –

no matter how advanced the

technology that made it, how big

and expert the team behind it, or

how good the internal checks and

balances they employ.

The Weber controversy, which

simmered on until his death in

2000, had an upside: it spurred

the development of superior

detection technologies that

underlie LIGO today. Robust, open

debate is science’s lifeblood. ■

Beyond question?

The LIGO collaboration must fully respond to criticism of its methods

HUMANS are terrible at spotting

liars, so it is no wonder that we

have long sought help from

technology. Now border forces

are interested in a tool that uses

artificial intelligence to detect

liars (see page 5).

It will be trialled at some land

borders into the European Union

between November and May. The

hope is it could detect anyone

coming to a country with plans

to commit a crime or stay longer

than allowed.

However, the technology isn’t

good enough yet to be rolled out,

as those running the project

concede. Worryingly, past trends

with the use of tech suggests this

may not matter for many.

Polygraph-based lie detector

tests are a case in point. Despite

their accuracy rates being poor,

they are still used around the

world, including in some

situations by police in the UK and

the US. Another example is police

use of face-recognition software,

despite reports showing it makes

a significant number of mistakes.

The new tool will only be

advisory and not make decisions

on its own. But history suggests

people will give its advice too

much weight, trusting it when

they shouldn’t. ■

AI turns to border control

Editorial
Editor Emily Wilson
Managing editor Rowan Hooper
Art editor Craig Mackie

News
News editor Penny Sarchet
Editors Jacob Aron, Timothy Revell
Reporters (UK) Jessica Hamzelou
Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Sam Wong
(US) Leah Crane, Chelsea Whyte
(Aus) Alice Klein

Features
Chief features editor Richard Webb
Editors Catherine de Lange, Gilead Amit,
Julia Brown, Daniel Cossins, Kate Douglas,
Alison George, Joshua Howgego,
Tiffany O’Callaghan
Feature writer Graham Lawton

Culture and Community
Editors Liz Else, Mike Holderness, Simon Ings,
Frank Swain

Subeditors
Chief subeditor Eleanor Parsons
Tom Campbell, Chris Simms, Jon White

Design
Kathryn Brazier, Joe Hetzel,
Dave Johnston, Ryan Wills

Picture desk
Chief picture editor Adam Goff
Kirstin Kidd, David Stock

Production
Alan Blagrove, Anne Marie Conlon,
Melanie Green

Contact us
newscientist.com/contact
General & media enquiries
[email protected]
AUSTRALIA
New Scientist Ltd
ABN 22 621 413 170
PO Box 2315, Strawberry Hills, NSW 2012
UK
25 Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9ES
Te l +44 (0)20 7611 1200
US
210 Broadway #201, Cambridge, MA 02139
Te l +1 617 283 3213

© 2018 New Scientist Ltd, England.
ISSN 1032-
New Scientist (Online) ISSN 2059 5387
New Scientist is published weekly by New Scientist
Ltd, 25 Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9ES, UK
Registered as a newspaper.
Printed in Australia by Offset Alpine Printing,
42 Boorea St, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia

Environment

ISO 14001

Certification applies toOffset Alpine Printing