The Error Bar
@theerrorbar.bsky.social
A podcast about brain science, the media, and statistics. Sampled by Dr Nick Holmes @TheHandLab.bluesky.social
The three* most beautiful words in English:
"I don't know"
* four
"I don't know"
* four
When I talk to students about public speaking or teaching, I always bring this up: Just tell people when you don't know something! It's remarkably powerful b/c it signals to your audience that you know the boundaries of your expertise and they can trust what you DO talk about.
completely outside of politics, this is so charming
November 22, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The three* most beautiful words in English:
"I don't know"
* four
"I don't know"
* four
Can confirm.
The Guardian's Science Weekly podcast is great, it's up there with More or Less for the best media science output.
This latest on paracetamol, vaccines & #autism is superb. Madeleine Finlay, Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social , & their production crew 👏👏👏
open.spotify.com/episode/5LRh...
This latest on paracetamol, vaccines & #autism is superb. Madeleine Finlay, Ian Sample @iansample.bsky.social , & their production crew 👏👏👏
open.spotify.com/episode/5LRh...
Fact-checking Trump’s autism announcement
open.spotify.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Can confirm.
Reposted by The Error Bar
"There’s just too many factors impacting on the proportion of p values that will be between 0.01 and 0.05 to assume that variations in it are either an improvement or a worsening in research practices."
Blog post by @freerangestats.info on "fragile" p values.
#MetaSci
Blog post by @freerangestats.info on "fragile" p values.
#MetaSci
I blogged with some #rstats simulations about the topical question of whether changes in the proportion of p values that fall between 0.01 and 0.05 tells us much about the replication crisis. I conclude 'probably not'. (1/n) freerangestats.info/blog/2025/06...
Power and 'fragile' p-values
What proportion of significant <i>p</i> values should be between 0.01 and 0.05? Turns out the answer is 'it depends'.
freerangestats.info
June 8, 2025 at 7:03 AM
"There’s just too many factors impacting on the proportion of p values that will be between 0.01 and 0.05 to assume that variations in it are either an improvement or a worsening in research practices."
Blog post by @freerangestats.info on "fragile" p values.
#MetaSci
Blog post by @freerangestats.info on "fragile" p values.
#MetaSci
Nice title.
Fantastic blog post on the new EO and #openscience by Kevin Munger
kevinmunger.substack.com/p/open-scien...
kevinmunger.substack.com/p/open-scien...
Open Science and Its Enemies
Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order nominally aimed at “Restoring Gold Standard Science”. Setting aside the absurdity of “restoring” something that never existed, what does that purport to mean...
kevinmunger.substack.com
June 3, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Nice title.
✔️
This story about a 'new' brain disease in Canada has been running for at least 4 years! It's long past time to kill the story.
theerrorbar.com?e=9
theerrorbar.com?e=9
May 15, 2025 at 8:29 PM
✔️
small error bars (usually a good thing) revealed regression-to-the-mean (usually a bad thing)
gave a talk yesterday where i spoke - again - about 'regression to the mean' - how science has *still* not learnt the lessons of Galton (1886) #stats
here's my favourite example, from Science Magazine:
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
& the hot take i just added to pubpeer .com
pubpeer.com/publications...
here's my favourite example, from Science Magazine:
doi.org/10.1126/scie...
& the hot take i just added to pubpeer .com
pubpeer.com/publications...
Mirror Neurons Differentially Encode the Peripersonal and Extrapersonal Space of Monkeys
Actions performed by others may have different relevance for the observer, and thus lead to different behavioral responses, depending on the regions of space in which they are executed. We found that ...
doi.org
October 16, 2024 at 7:15 PM
small error bars (usually a good thing) revealed regression-to-the-mean (usually a bad thing)
Open Science and It's Enemies.
Part III: The progressives
A-log (podcast) link here:
B-log (text) in next post 👇
open.spotify.com/show/3kQAgTp...
Part III: The progressives
A-log (podcast) link here:
B-log (text) in next post 👇
open.spotify.com/show/3kQAgTp...
the error bar
Podcast · [object Object] · fact-checking brain science news and asking brain scientists about mistakes and controversies
open.spotify.com
October 2, 2024 at 5:06 AM
Open Science and It's Enemies.
Part III: The progressives
A-log (podcast) link here:
B-log (text) in next post 👇
open.spotify.com/show/3kQAgTp...
Part III: The progressives
A-log (podcast) link here:
B-log (text) in next post 👇
open.spotify.com/show/3kQAgTp...
August 4, 2024 at 5:03 PM
Part II of my epic criticism of - some parts of - the #openscience / scientific #reform movement. Episode #40
"The populists" (& the podcasters; but not the meek)
Full text transcript, links & references (b-log):
theerrorbar.com?e=40
Podcast audio (a-log):
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the...
"The populists" (& the podcasters; but not the meek)
Full text transcript, links & references (b-log):
theerrorbar.com?e=40
Podcast audio (a-log):
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the...
Open Science and its Enemies. Part II: The populists by the error bar
in this episode i continue discussing some problems in the open science movement. i focus on populist podcasters and the promotion of simplistic heuristics that some scientists argue will improve scie...
podcasters.spotify.com
August 2, 2024 at 7:03 AM
Part II of my epic criticism of - some parts of - the #openscience / scientific #reform movement. Episode #40
"The populists" (& the podcasters; but not the meek)
Full text transcript, links & references (b-log):
theerrorbar.com?e=40
Podcast audio (a-log):
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the...
"The populists" (& the podcasters; but not the meek)
Full text transcript, links & references (b-log):
theerrorbar.com?e=40
Podcast audio (a-log):
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the...
New episode coming some week soon...
...has been a long few months 😴
...has been a long few months 😴
July 17, 2024 at 1:29 PM
New episode coming some week soon...
...has been a long few months 😴
...has been a long few months 😴
tell me about it
Nothing triggers me as much as people not putting error bars in their figures.
God, when did I become this person...
God, when did I become this person...
May 23, 2024 at 12:47 PM
tell me about it
latest episode. Part I of a III-part mini-series on chronic problems in the Open Science movement:
spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/g4Qa0mBeLJb
spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/g4Qa0mBeLJb
Open Science and its Enemies. Part I: The p-circlers by the error bar
There's no brain news this month, but i take this unique opportunity to provide the first of my three part critique of - some parts of - the Open Science movement. This episode focusses on p-circling ...
spotifyanchor-web.app.link
May 20, 2024 at 8:36 PM
latest episode. Part I of a III-part mini-series on chronic problems in the Open Science movement:
spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/g4Qa0mBeLJb
spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/g4Qa0mBeLJb
THIS 👇
in which i explain - at length - why the latest preprint from some so-called open science reformists is pseudo-scholarship.
unlike, uncomment, unsubscribe.
#OpenScience #MetaScience #Criticism
"Open science and its enemies. Part I: The p-circlers"
spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/g4Qa0mBeLJb
unlike, uncomment, unsubscribe.
#OpenScience #MetaScience #Criticism
"Open science and its enemies. Part I: The p-circlers"
spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/g4Qa0mBeLJb
Open Science and its Enemies. Part I: The p-circlers by the error bar
There's no brain news this month, but i take this unique opportunity to provide the first of my three part critique of - some parts of - the Open Science movement. This episode focusses on p-circling ...
spotifyanchor-web.app.link
May 20, 2024 at 8:35 PM
THIS 👇
next month i will have...
A) 44 plays
B) 49.5 plays
C) 10^9 plays coz it will be epic
🧐
A) 44 plays
B) 49.5 plays
C) 10^9 plays coz it will be epic
🧐
April 22, 2024 at 2:38 PM
next month i will have...
A) 44 plays
B) 49.5 plays
C) 10^9 plays coz it will be epic
🧐
A) 44 plays
B) 49.5 plays
C) 10^9 plays coz it will be epic
🧐
🤩
Save the date! The 7th Perspectives on Scientific Error conference will take place on February 5-7, 2025 at
@unibern.bsky.social, Switzerland. If you're interested in errors, fraud, negligence, or hype in science, please join us! errorsin.science
@unibern.bsky.social, Switzerland. If you're interested in errors, fraud, negligence, or hype in science, please join us! errorsin.science
7th Perspectives on Scientific Error conference
Save the date: PSE7 will take place on February 5-7, 2025 in Bern, Switzerland.
errorsin.science
April 18, 2024 at 4:09 AM
🤩
JUST DIE ALREADY
S03E03 #38
in this episode we find out how motivational talk makes you run faster & i ponder on the history of science & the death of [bad] ideas long, long after their time
listen / subscribe: spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/GtHtUY3dyIb
read: theerrorbar.com?e=38
S03E03 #38
in this episode we find out how motivational talk makes you run faster & i ponder on the history of science & the death of [bad] ideas long, long after their time
listen / subscribe: spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/GtHtUY3dyIb
read: theerrorbar.com?e=38
JUST DIE ALREADY
theerrorbar.com
April 5, 2024 at 3:18 PM
JUST DIE ALREADY
S03E03 #38
in this episode we find out how motivational talk makes you run faster & i ponder on the history of science & the death of [bad] ideas long, long after their time
listen / subscribe: spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/GtHtUY3dyIb
read: theerrorbar.com?e=38
S03E03 #38
in this episode we find out how motivational talk makes you run faster & i ponder on the history of science & the death of [bad] ideas long, long after their time
listen / subscribe: spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/GtHtUY3dyIb
read: theerrorbar.com?e=38
YOUR SAMPLE IS SMALL
Episode #37 asks whether it's ever really helpful to criticise a study for having a 'small sample'
It also reveals the final truth about men's & women's brains.
Listen podcast
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the...
Episode #37 asks whether it's ever really helpful to criticise a study for having a 'small sample'
It also reveals the final truth about men's & women's brains.
Listen podcast
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the...
YOUR SAMPLE IS SMALL by the error bar
my name's nick holmes and THIS is the error bar: a podcast about brain science & statistics that's nothing like any other podcast about brain science & statistics.
this month's episode reveals the fi...
podcasters.spotify.com
March 16, 2024 at 6:48 PM
YOUR SAMPLE IS SMALL
Episode #37 asks whether it's ever really helpful to criticise a study for having a 'small sample'
It also reveals the final truth about men's & women's brains.
Listen podcast
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the...
Episode #37 asks whether it's ever really helpful to criticise a study for having a 'small sample'
It also reveals the final truth about men's & women's brains.
Listen podcast
podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the...
hello!
THIS is the error bar, a podcast about neuroscience & statistics which focusses on stories that reach the UK news media. the account is owned by @thehandlab.bsky.social
(i've escaped from twitter.)
the latest podcast, Season 03, Episode 01: Don't Look Back is out!
theerrorbar.com?e=36
THIS is the error bar, a podcast about neuroscience & statistics which focusses on stories that reach the UK news media. the account is owned by @thehandlab.bsky.social
(i've escaped from twitter.)
the latest podcast, Season 03, Episode 01: Don't Look Back is out!
theerrorbar.com?e=36
February 10, 2024 at 8:00 AM
hello!
THIS is the error bar, a podcast about neuroscience & statistics which focusses on stories that reach the UK news media. the account is owned by @thehandlab.bsky.social
(i've escaped from twitter.)
the latest podcast, Season 03, Episode 01: Don't Look Back is out!
theerrorbar.com?e=36
THIS is the error bar, a podcast about neuroscience & statistics which focusses on stories that reach the UK news media. the account is owned by @thehandlab.bsky.social
(i've escaped from twitter.)
the latest podcast, Season 03, Episode 01: Don't Look Back is out!
theerrorbar.com?e=36