Alison Richards reports on the history and medical significance of placebos. Often considered fake treatments, placebos are mainly used to test whether a new medicine works. In clinical trials, an actual medicine is compared with a control group which receives a seemingly identical pill that is only made up of sugar. But frequently the group getting the sugar pill does get some positive benefits. NPR's Rebecca Perl has the conclusion to our series on placebos with a report on how some doctors are using the placebo effect in alternative medicine.
Scientists scramble to get published in the two top scientific journals, Science and Nature .
Having an article featured in these publications can make or break a career, and the peer review process can be brutal. For now, even though it's a slow and cumbersome process, it remains the best way to communicate research. Alison Richards reports. Alison Richards reports that getting published in a prestigious scientific journal can often give a boost to the career of a scientist. But there's a good chance that the findings contained in the article often don't move beyond the publication phase.