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Study "Proves" Parachutes Ineffective

posted by Fnord666 on Sunday December 23 2018, @03:55PM   
from the Science-Interpretation-Guide dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k5094

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/12/22/679083038/researchers-show-parachutes-dont-work-but-there-s-a-catch

A study has been done, and the surprising result is that parachutes are no more effective than a backpack in preventing injuries when jumping out of an airplane.

It's "common sense" that parachutes work, so it has been a neglected field of science. This surprising and counter-intuitive result is an excellent example of the importance of doing science.

... or maybe it's a perfect example of how top-line study headlines can be mis-representative, especially when portrayed by the mass-media, and how understanding study scope and methodology is important.

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Original Submission

• Re:Appropriate Headline (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 23 2018, @05:31PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 23 2018, @05:31PM (#777866)

  You're an idiot.

  That's literally what the study showed. The fact that the study was deliberately engineered as a sort of commentary is hardly the fault of the editor that gave it that headline.

  For various obvious reasons, the study's purported result isn't valid in real world use, but that's a different matter.

  Parent

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