Recent comments in /f/askscience

[deleted] OP t1_jduxudi wrote

I see now, it's also because I misunderstood the use of galloping and running at first so I got confused, I am also not very good at writing and wording.

I apologize you for my mistakes both in the comment and in the message too. I never want to sound impolite, I just want to discuss with you guys but English is not my first language.

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rootofallworlds t1_jduxppr wrote

This doesn't seem right, not in all cases anyway.

In most clinical trials the patient knows that it's a clinical trial, what condition is being treated, and that they will be randomly given either the treatment or a placebo. It would be unethical for the participants to not know that.

You seem to be thinking of psychology studies, where it is commonplace to tell subjects and workers a study is about one thing when really it's about another.

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Psykout88 t1_jduvqi3 wrote

I can only operate off the information available to me, just as the rest of us have to. I can't see inside your thoughts, so if there is a misunderstanding there, it's because you used too little information and improper language.

Also the person did not say elephants can't run, you keep coming back to that. They clearly stated that terms of movement such as trotting/cantor/galloping only refer to the biomechanics. Elephants can never move like that due to their size and physiology, regardless of how it might look when they are moving their fastest. The article they linked even says exactly that, they aren't running because all feet are not leaving the ground.

Furthermore it states how when moving their Center of Mass does not vertically change at speed. As a bipedal animal, I am sure you can recognize how much your mass moves up and down as you run and walk, headbob. That Mass in the elephant not moving vertically keeps them trapped to the ground, so by definition they can not run/trot/canter/gallop

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Brain_Hawk t1_jduukr7 wrote

Part that's missing in the above answer is that the original research was usually blinded. Typically a third person who is not involved in data collection or analysis is the one who was aware of the group labels.

To do properly, during the initial statistical analysis to groups are also done blinded. For example you label them groups a, b, c. Only after you have performed statistical analysis of the effects of the intervention, for example, then do you afterwards get to unblind

So it can happen you have what looks like a very nice effect, and then realize that it's the placebo group we got better! I've seen it happen :p

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wargarbleEleventyTen t1_jduueop wrote

The people conducting the study. One team ( could be one person, I suppose ) does the blinding and other people do the treatment and data collection. Data analysis happens on blinded data but you can always unblind, during the study, if something goes wrong, otherwise at the end.

It is or at least was considered good form to give the control group access to the treatment after the study, if it was successful.

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wargarbleEleventyTen t1_jduu65e wrote

That goes a bit far, though it may happen with some specific experiment is psychology.

Otherwise double blind means that neither the person getting the treatment nor the people administering it and collecting data know, if the subject is part of the treatment or the control arm.

Generally everyone knows what the study is about. Bit hard to keep that secret, really.

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Lazz45 t1_jduu11i wrote

Regarding measurement, lasers are useful vs. standard light because lasers can have a specific wavelength or very tight wavelength range. You can then build a reciever that is only looking for THAT specific wavelength/s (either direct or from a reflection).

Also the light from lasers is directional, meaning the light is all directed in the same orientation, hence why lasers are a beam and not diffuse like a flashlight

Lasers can also be used in safety systems (and standard systems) as a "plane" that when broken (meaning something has passed into the beam of the laser, disrupting its unaltered flow to the reciever), it triggers something (like a shutdown, an arm to pick up the object, etc.

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[deleted] OP t1_jdutwma wrote

I see the problem now, look like people misinterpreted the tone and point of my comment. I only wanted to say that the article content is different from the elephant's behavior in the video.

See, you confidently believe that I ingnore them and think I am right, when what I really wanted to say was the opposite: I just wonder why they said 'elephants can't run' while in the video he seems to be running.

Other answers said it's because his front legs are chained, and that's cleared my confusion. (I messaged you because your comment disappeared)

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