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As early as March, the Muon g-2 experiment at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) will report a new measurement of the magnetism of the muon, a heavier, short-lived cousin of the electron. The effort entails measuring a single frequency with exquisite precision. In tantalizing results dating back to 2001, g-2 found that the muon is slightly more magnetic than theory predicts. If confirmed, the excess would signal, for the first time in decades, the existence of novel massive particles that an atom smasher might be able to produce, says Aida El-Khadra, a theorist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. "This would be a very clear sign of new physics, so it would be a huge deal."
The measures that g-2 experimenters are taking to ensure they don't fool themselves into claiming a false discovery are the stuff of spy novels, involving locked cabinets, sealed envelopes, and a second, secret frequency known to just two people, both outside the g-2 team. "My wife won't pick me for responsible jobs like this, so I don't know why an important experiment did," says Joseph Lykken, Fermilab's chief research officer, one of the keepers of the secret.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @07:08PM
The winner for best particle of the year is Muon g-2.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Friday January 29 2021, @07:26PM
... rumours are that they have a Result.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 29 2021, @07:47PM
$0 in your budget next year unless you make the front page!
(Score: 4, Informative) by MostCynical on Friday January 29 2021, @08:10PM (2 children)
I have been involved in several randomised/control trials for medical treatments.
The hardest part was preventing the nurses from 'choosing' the group.. if they liked the patient, they would try and get them into the active treatment group, and if they didn't like the patient, they would try and get them into the control (delayed/regular) treatment group..
you don't win friends when you come up with ways to enforce randomisation.
Blind selection is hard to enforce. I applaud these researchers for managing to keep the results "clean"
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday January 29 2021, @09:15PM (1 child)
That explains a lot. Just kidding of course. :)
But seriously- I'm surprised that the nurses knew which was the trial med and which was the placebo. I thought that was all kept very secret.
(Score: 4, Informative) by MostCynical on Friday January 29 2021, @10:39PM
haha ha (twitch)
*
the issue is that there is a difference between randomised (random allocation to group) and double-blind, randomised (patients and therapists don't know which treatment is being provided)
example:
Treatment patients either get an additional treatment that is not available now, say, seven-day-a-week therapy, post knee replacement.
Controls do not get the additional therapy, but stay on the 'usual' post-operative schedule.
Pretty clear which patients are in either group!
(That trial showed that the treatment group length of stay dropped by between 1 and 2 days, and post-operative functioning and readmittion rates improved at the 6, 12 and 18 month reassessments. Total saving per year was in excess of three times the cost of the extra therapists needed to provide the weekend treatment. They didn't employ any - staffing cost caps and all...)
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 30 2021, @02:09AM (2 children)
it's epicycles all the way down.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday January 31 2021, @01:18AM (1 child)
is that what you call an elephant on a bicycle?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 01 2021, @05:08AM
No, it's like an EpiPen. [wikipedia.org] But instead of injecting yourself, you just ride the bike to the hospital!