Despite his pious name, Jesus María Sanz Serna, President of the Spanish Inquisition, pardon, of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences of Spain is not a tolerant and forgiving man. This maths professor from hell will slap you on both cheeks no matter which way you turn, and sue you if you ever dare to dis one of his friends. And his friend is none other but Spain’s greatest martyr saint, Carlos Lopez-Otin.
This St Carlos of Oviedo, touted as Spain’s greatest cancer and aging researcher proved to have published massive fraud, which led to 9 retractions, 8 in JBC and 1 in Nature Cell Biology. He also lost his Nature Mentoring Award. All because of the investigation by my sleuthing colleagues, and my reporting.
Carlos Lopez-Otin and the revoked Nature Mentoring Award
St Carlos of Oviedo almost was canonised as Spain’s first living martyr, but now Nature revoked his mentoring award. Spanish media and science elites are desperate, even the Queen is not amused. The Royal Academy of Sciences insists Lopez-Otin is a victim of journal’s failure.
Lopez-Otin also killed all of his 5000 transgenic mice (possibly to hide evidence of his bad science) and hid in France with Guido Kroemer for a year or so. Before their martyr’s return to University of Oviedo (supported by Opus Dei!), Spanish academic elites threatened JBC with war, led a massive campaign in media and elsewhere, and the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain (RAC) issued statements of public support to St Carlos. We don’t know which torture instruments were deployed, but two Spanish journalists were forced to publicly recant and apologise for writing about St Carlos’ retractions, and two Oviedo professors who uttered criticism were found guilty of blasphemy misconduct. I don’t know if anyone was burned at stake, but I am sure there were plans.
Lopez-Otin and Kroemer: birds of a feather flock together
Following my reporting, the cancer researcher Carlos López-Otín abandoned his ERC-funded 36-member-strong “Degradome” lab at the University of Oviedo in Spain and moved in with his collaborator in Paris, France, Guido Kroemer. Yet Lopez-Otin’s data integrity issues seem as poppycock compared to what Kroemer and his life partner Laurence Zitvogel dished out to the scientific…
In earlier Friday Shorts, I reported about another scientist whom the Holy Inquisition, pardon, the Royal Academy has persecuted. The astrophysicist Hector Socas-Navarro wrote on his blog on 19 July 2023 (Google-translated):
“The RAC has been used as an intimidation tool to try to force me to make a public statement contrary to my real opinions. Specifically, an attempt has been made to extract a statement of repentance from me for statements I made years ago, statements that were (and continue to be) fully truthful, legitimate and documented, in relation to the malpractice case of the prestigious and influential researcher Carlos López-Otín.”
Socas’ crime was a podcast about the Lopez-Otin affair from February 2019, on the online platform he hosts, called Coffee Break: Señal y Ruido (Signal and Noise, you can listen to it here).
“In 2022, two years after my last statements on the subject (in the aforementioned podcast), I began to receive a series of pressures and attempts to intimidate me to get a public apology, despite the fact that there was no objective basis to justify such a show of contrition. The events begin in my work environment and end with pressure from the RAC itself, which is why I expose them here. In time they roughly coincide with statements of public apology by two other disseminators [30,31], which were collected by some media in articles that conveyed the impression that the criticisms that had been leveled regarding the actions of Prof. López-Otín were unjustified and that in reality this researcher would not have incurred in any action that could be considered reprehensible [32,33]. From the beginning it seemed obvious to me that what was intended was to add my voice to a media campaign that was taking place to create a certain public image of Prof. López-Otín, something in which I did not wish to participate.
The relevant events begin in February 2022, when I receive a WhatsApp from a hierarchical superior in my work environment…”
Spanish elites rally in support of data manipulation
Carlos Lopez-Otin was forced to retract EIGHT papers in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, right after he retracted a very important paper in Nature Cell Biology. Spanish elites cry foul, a letter signed by 50 Spanish researchers was sent to JBC to prevent retractions. The ringleader is Juan Valcarcel of CRG in Barcelona, and I…
According to my information, this supervisor whom Socas abbreviates as “MS” (for “Mi Superior”) is the director of his Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), Rafael Rebolo. Rebolo did not deny being “MS” when I contacted him, thus basically admitting it.
Socas’ boss told him that Lopez-Otin wanted to meet him and that IAC therefore invited St Carlos for a lecture. The meeting took place on 7 April 2022:
“He demanded from me a public declaration of repentance for my statements about his case. The second thing I can say is that in that meeting he threatened to file a complaint against me if he did not agree to make that public statement. To anyone who may think that all this is not much, I would like to remind you that the University of Oviedo opened a file on the professors confronting Prof. López-Otín for holding a private meeting with a colleague, presumably in order to try to condition his statement [28]”.
Socas had to seek legal advice while his “MS” (i.e., Rebolo) kept pressuring him to “accept Prof. López-Otín’s conditions to avoid, as I was told, unpleasant situation to see me before a trial.”
“On May 11, 2022, I received the last message from MS on this matter, warning me that Prof. López-Otín was determined to initiate legal action imminently and that, thanks to his mediation, he had agreed to grant me a period of one day. […]The announced demand was still not filed and, after a week, on May 18, 2022, I receive, for the first time, an email directly from Prof. López-Otín in which he asks me again, this time in good manners, to reconsider my decision. I reply the next day, reiterating my availability to help him defend his point of view on the podcast, in the terms described above, but refusing to issue an apology request or retract my words without there being a basis for it.”
Lopez-Otin and Daley retract Nature Cell Biology paper
The 2015 Nature Cell Biology paper by the Spanish cancer researcher Carlos Lopez-Otin and his US partner George Q Daley, stem cell titan and dean of Harvard Medical School, is being retracted. First author and Lopez-Otin’s student Clara Soria-Valles caused Daley even more trouble: her next groundbreaking paper was meant to be already published, but…
And then the Holy Inquisition, pardon, the Royal Academy of Sciences stepped in:
“Less than two weeks after this last refusal to comply with Prof. López-Otín’s demands, I received, to my great surprise, a letter from the RAC signed by its president, Prof. Jesús María Sanz Serna, on June 1 of 2022. […]
The correspondence continues with another letter sent to me by the RAC, also signed by its president, dated June 29, 2022.”
Soon after these Friday Shorts were published in August 2023, I received copies of these two letters, the source possibly connected to RAC. I shared them with Sanz Serna and RAC, who confirmed the authenticity. And even doubled down!
Here is the first letter, translation followed by a scan of original. Highlights mine:
Mr. D. Hector Socas-Navarro
Director, Museum of Science and the Cosmos of Tenerife
Scientific Researcher, Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands
Madrid, June 1, 2022
Dr. Socas-Navarro:
In your podcast titled “Coffee break: signal and noise,” distributed on February 1, 2019, serious accusations of scientific fraud were made against Dr. Carlos López-Otín, a member of our institution. Subsequently, on February 7, 2020, a new recording was released where, in conversation with Dr. Francisco Villatoro, these accusations were reiterated, along with jokes and judgments about the behavior of the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences of Spain, aiming to discredit it, which I find difficult to accept. Therefore, I feel obliged to clarify the following:
The Royal Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences, which I preside, conducted a comprehensive and rigorous examination of all the publications for which scientific journals requested retractions from Dr. Carlos López-Otín. This examination was entrusted to a group of experts from the Academy, as our primary interest is to ensure good scientific practices, both in general and, of course, among our members.
The investigation concluded that while there were errors and lax practices in the preparation and presentation of some figures in the retracted publications, these errors did not represent manipulation or falsification of results and conclusions. Several scientific organizations that have independently investigated the matter have also recognized this fact. The scientific validity of all the publications of Dr. Carlos López-Otín, and the usefulness of the valuable materials derived from such research, remain intact.
I kindly request that if you have verifiable evidence that Dr. Carlos López-Otín has committed scientific fraud or that some of the conclusions of his research have been proven false, please share it with us, as this Academy is unaware of any such evidence. Otherwise, I formally request that within 15 days, you publicly retract the various inaccurate statements made about the scientific work of Dr. Carlos López-Otín and the actions of our Academy, something I understand your interlocutor, Dr. Villatoro, has already done.
I trust in your understanding so as to avoid the need for further measures. This would contribute to a clarification of the situation and prevent further suffering for individuals while helping to repair the discredit that has been brought upon our Academy.
If, within the aforementioned 15 days, you have not proceeded to make the retraction I am requesting, this corporation will consider itself free to take any legal actions necessary under the law.
Sincerely,
Jesus Maria Sanz Serna, President
I am no law expert, but I am pretty sure an organisation like RAC cannot sue someone for disrespecting one of its members. What if Lopez-Otin is also a member of some Asturian gerbil-breeding society? Will they sue Socas as well, for slandering their member? OK, this was silly, of course a mouse-murderer like St Carlos can’t be a member of a rodent breeding club. But you see my point I hope.
Here is the second letter by Sanz Serna in translation and original, again highlights are mine:
Mr. D. Héctor Socas-Navarro
Director, Museum of Science and the Cosmos of Tenerife
Scientific Researcher, Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands
Madrid, June 29, 2022
Dr. Socas-Navarro:
I have carefully read your letter dated June 20, 2022, in response to the letter I addressed to you on June 1. From the content of your letter, it could be inferred that you believe this Royal Academy lacks legitimacy to clarify the truth about the accusations made in your podcasts against Dr. López Otín. I regret to observe this, as, on the contrary, the pursuit of truth is inherent in science, and the Academy can, and indeed should, engage in an activity that, to use your own words, is “healthy and desirable in a democratic society and a fundamental pillar in the functioning of the scientific system.”
I would like to record the following points here, although undoubtedly you are already well aware of them:
(A) First and foremost, I want to emphasize that one of the podcasts in question, for which you are responsible, contains completely false statements regarding the Academy. I need not stress the fact that falsehoods are incompatible with science, although perhaps, from the purely legal standpoint that your letter seems to adopt, they may, in some cases, benefit from the right to freedom of expression. No self-respecting scientist can contribute to the dissemination of falsehoods, whether they are uttered by him or by others. Even less should falsehoods be spread by those, such as yourself, who, due to their position in a public office, enjoy a social projection higher than average and have a more active social presence. Your own actions, not just those of the Royal Academy and Professor López Otín, should also be “subjected to the scrutiny and criticism of our peers.” The “legitimate criticism of the actions of a public institution,” mentioned in your letter, cannot include statements contrary to the truth.
In the podcasts, the following statements are made:
(1) “The Royal Academy of Exact Sciences decided to take action, seemingly pressured by society, and it seemed that they were forced to create a small commission of academics to study that case, and that commission of academics concluded that nothing had happened.”
This sentence contains two falsehoods. On the one hand, the Academy acted on its own initiative, without any external pressure. And more importantly, it is entirely untrue that the commission’s conclusion was that “nothing had happened.” Quite the opposite, as I already mentioned in my previous letter, and as you undoubtedly knew beforehand, the commission found that there were errors and lax practices in the preparation and presentation of some figures in the retracted publications.
(2) (Dr. Carlos López Otín) “has falsified images, manipulated images, altered scientific data, but since the peer reviewers of the journal didn’t notice, it’s as if he hadn’t done anything. That’s what the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences says, defending a person who, from journals like Nature, has been accused of scientific fraud.”
Here again, a series of falsehoods is present. First of all, the Royal Academy has never said what is asserted there. Furthermore, it conducted its own investigation into the case entirely independently of what the manuscript reviewers might have stated at the time. Secondly, no journal has accused Dr. López Otín of scientific fraud, as you yourselves acknowledge in the podcast later on.
(B) Additionally, the podcasts in question contain a series of opinions that damage the image of our Academy. For example,
(3) “I find it disgraceful that the Royal Academy of Sciences has done this and should not have done it. This should have been kept private, and no one would have found out, or just let it go. Because this is a farce. It’s like a scene from a Berlanga film. It puts Spanish science at a truly embarrassing level. Fortunately, it’s written in Spanish, and not many people will find out.”
(4) “This is shameful for Spanish science, right? Because we’re talking about the Royal Academy of Physical and Natural Sciences of Spain. A historic institution, which sells and has a band-aid exposed in its shield, which says that this is truth and I don’t know how much… a ‘veritas I don’t know how much,’ I don’t know what. So, it’s supposed to be the institution that represents…”
(5) “So, you can’t defend an academic just because he’s your friend” (…) “Or because he’s compatriot, right? It always bothers me when this nationalism comes into play, like saying: well, since he’s Spanish (…) if this were a Polish researcher instead of a Spanish one, nobody would be defending him.”
As you undoubtedly know, Dr. Villatoro publicly apologized to Dr. López Otín on February 27, 2022, and stated, “I also need to apologize for my interventions in the Coffee Break: Signal and Noise podcast about the López-Otín case, in episode 200 on February 1, 2019, and in episode 253 on February 7, 2020.” This can be verified here: https://francis.naukas.com/2022/02/27/disculpas-publicas-a-carlos-lopez-otin/
In summary, (1) the mentioned podcasts contain serious and false statements about both Dr. López Otín and the Royal Academy, (ii) they are harmful to the image of the Royal Academy, and (111) Dr. Villatoro has retracted his statements in the same podcasts. Since you are solely responsible for keeping these podcasts accessible to the public, I kindly request that you proceed to remove them as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Jesus María Sanz Serna, President
This is why I analysed the podcast to find out what slanderous lies and criminal insults exactly did Socas pour in his podcast from January 2019 over RAC itself, so its president felt the urgent need to defend his institution’s reputation in court.
Socas said that the RAC note of support for Lopez-Otin was a national embarrassment, that they were just flag-waving, i.e. prioritising nationalism over ethics. That it was unacceptable for RAC to defend a member just because he’s a friend or a countryman. Any lawyers in the readership? Is this expression of a personal opinion on public events slanderous in any way, even in Spain?
Socas’ guest Francis Villatoro also mentioned that RAC felt pressure from the society and that they were forced to create a committee to study Carlos’ case. This is one of the main points that Sanz Serna complains about, insisting that RAC acted on its own accord and did not receive any pressure from society. I am not sure this constitutes slander either, but it wasn’t Socas who said this awful untruth anyway. And I myself wish to avoid being sued by declaring:
Of course the Royal Academy bears no accountability towards the Spanish society, only towards His Majesty, the King!
The Perennial Northern Blot of Lopez-Otin
Cancer researcher Carlos López-Otín published the same Northern blot no less than 23 times in 23 publications, between 1994 and 2006. Eventually Lopez-Otin et al even stopped caring what order of samples that original loading control had.
OK, maybe Sanz Serna has a certain point: people were imprisoned and shot for much less under Generalissimo Franco. But Franco is dead, fascism is over in Spain, time to calm down and learn to respect other people.
On 4 September 2023, I wrote to Sanz Serna, with other leaders of RAC is cc (Vice-President Esteban Domingo Solans, Secretary-General Ana María Crespo de Las Casas, and Vice-Secretary Fernando Bombal Gordón). I wanted to find out whether Sanz Serna’s letters I received were genuine, and whether RAC approved and stood behind those. I eventually received not only an official confirmation on both counts, but was threatened with a lawsuit myself! Highlights mine:
Madrid, September 12, 2023
Dear Mr. Leonid Schneider,
This letter deals with your email dated September 4th, 2023.
As you know, the Academy studied carefully the facts related to the retraction of some publications by Prof. López-Otín, and issued an institutional declaration in January 2020. The declaration, as reported by several major newspapers, found incorrect practices in some of the figures in those publications, and stated that, however, those practices did not invalidate the conclusions and impact of the papers.
The scientific evidence made available since the time of our the declaration, and statements issued by different scientists and institutions, clearly endorse thecorrectness of the stance held by the Academy more than three years ago.
As to your point concerning Dr. Socas, the Academy will always be free to use all legal measures necessary to defend itself from slanderous accusations.
Yours sincerely,
Jesús María Sanz Serna
When I asked Sanz Sernas and RAC to deny that they indeed threaten both Socas and myself with legal action, they remain silent. What a bunch of sociopathic bullies.
Until July 2022, Socas kept silent about all this on advice of his lawyer. He also suffered psychological damage while his tormentor St Carlos enjoyed having his wrinkly arse publicly kissed.
“In April 2023, having already recovered from a mental point of view, I sent a fax addressed to the board of directors of the RAC formally requesting that they notify me of any decision that had been made by that board of directors regarding me, including the resolution to demand a public apology under threat of taking legal action against me within a period of fifteen days. I specifically request that they let me know if such decisions were adopted unanimously or if there were dissenting votes, particular votes or abstentions among the members of the board of directors of the RAC.
After a brief correspondence with the General Secretariat of the RAC, on June 20 I was informed in writing that the minutes of the board of directors do not show that any matter that affects me directly or indirectly has been dealt with.”
The Passion of Don Carlos
I obtained a partial script of a stage play which recently premiered in Paris: “La Passion de Don Carlos”. Any similarities with Spanish or French cancer researchers are entirely coincidental.
One doesn’t need to be a mathematician to calculate what despicable bully boys this RAC president Jesus Maria Sanz Sernas and his colleagues are. Actually, typical Spanish professors. The irony is that Lopez-Otin was in his before-hair-dye-youth considered to be the liberal reformer of Spanish science, brought back from USA to drag it out from the dark swamp of Franco fascism.
Well, look how well St Carlos succeeded.
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For Better Science 
“What if Lopez-Otin is also a member of some Asturian gerbil-breeding society?”
Is there a “Journal of the Austrian gerbil-breeding society”? 😂
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If there is, he should publish only there
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Which corporation, Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales de España or Real Corporación de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales de España?
Not so unexpected the curtain has fallen, this corporate dictator, oops “great and honest scientist” (this was error and lax practice) even states how the academia is perceived by its dictators (again an error and lax practice).
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Very appreciated Mr. Schneider, I must confess that in a fleeting way and through a chance event, I have learned of your existence, as well as your work. Also, I want to be honest; I wish that in an intentional way in this case, but also fleetingly, I can forget about you and also your work. In relation to the issue you discuss in this post, I will tell you that there are two feelings that the post produced in me once I read it: boredom and sadness. A lot of boredom, and a lot of sadness actually. Boredom because it is already tiredness that one experiences when someone from that part of the world where you live comes to analyze issues that have to do with Hispanics in general, and with Spanish in particular. And it turns out that the person who analyzes does not understand anything and resorts to the same boring and exhausting topics as always to disqualify everything that he does not understand: inquisition, church, Franco, shootings, fascism, Opus Dei… boring, very boring really. . It is something that produces fatigue and even makes you yawn. Have you tried the “siesta”, the “paella”, the Holy Week in Sevilla or the bulls and “toreros”, the potato omelette or the sangria, perhaps also the “Meninas” of Velázquez or the paintings of Goya and the Bourbon kings or the absolutism of the Austrians and their cruelty in the discovery of America? ….hahaha; All of these questions could also help you in that “rigorous” analysis of the topic that you treat in such a disrespectful way and with so much ignorance. About a question that has to do, whether for better or worse, only with scientific issues of the 21st century. Do not bore your readers any further, nor condemn them to a lack of rigor that, except for fueling hatred between nations, is useless. Believe me, try it, I’m convinced you could do it. I think you are capable of something more sensible. And the second feeling that I told you at the beginning that you give me is “sadness.” Well yes, a deep “sadness” at seeing how in a strictly scientific issue, which affects scientists exclusively. It is an unpleasant issue which one of its protagonists very correctly describes as “embarrassing” at some point in its development. His post is no help and it is not convenient for anyone. You contribute nothing to this with that set of “ad hominem” arguments without any true or proven basis. It only agitates the situation to the detriment of all parties. You don’t give information. What you do is introduce your prejudices about a Nation under the pretext of a strictly scientific issue. It is logical to deduce that this is so in view of his surname (please, allow me the “ad hominem” argument now, since we can all use them): “Schneider”. It is not strange that to someone of his ancestry, clearly beyond the Rhine, from the provinces of classical Rome – barbarians, wasn’t that what they called them? – fundamental elements of the Law and Right that on this side we always loved, it seems foreign to you. From old Rome where we lived many centuries ago, in Hispania, we already had: the general principle that “whoever claims an infraction must prove it and the consequences that it produces; and especially, if he claims to have a prior intention for all of this.” Therefore, I beg you, in order not to bore your readers with already worn-out clichés, and to allow the parties in conflict to reach a reasonable solution to the issue, to stay out of this matter. Please don’t bore, and don’t make you sad either. This is simple. Try it. You’ll see how you can. You’ll feel even better, and so will everyone around you, Mr. Schneider. Franco died many years ago. A few years after the Nuremberg trials (beyond the Rhin river and compared to the age of the Universe, few few years after… seriously) with convicted for horrifying war crimes, genocide and “lesa” humanity crimes, in Spain, we have a democratic Constitution that guarantees a Rule of Law, where citizens are free and equal, and they have a legal system to which they can always turn and that defends them, and works in defense of their fundamental rights, and all of this also in accordance with all the international Agreements and Treaties to which Spain is a party. My last request, Mr. Schneider, do not bore people any further. In Spain many years ago the death penalty was abolished; it is a modern and plural Nation. Your posts are not needed, your posts do not help anyone, and no one has asked you for these posts. Thank you. May you be very lucky, and may you know how to find your way. Sure. Sincerely. Jason Cienfuegos Cincocasas.
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Ah, yes, you feel racially persecuted. Nobody suffered more from racist persecution by us Jews than you Spaniards indeed.
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And the Spaniards themselves had a pretty nice part in that.
Corporate PR in action.
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I stopped reading after the first boring sentence. Did Jason write anything that was remotely cogent?
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Traditions in Spain die hard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-da-f%C3%A9
This is reassuring.
“However, after extensive examinations of archival records, modern scholars provide lower estimates, indicating that fewer than 10,000 were actually executed during the whole history of the Spanish Inquisition,[11] perhaps around 3,000.[12]”
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@Jason Cienfuegos:
Interesting how you distinguish between cultivated Romans and barbaric Non-Romans.
Spain has seen good times, no doubt about it. – Isn’t it true that Spain was the most important Jewish centre in Europe at the beginning of the Middle Ages? That the Jews were there even before the Christians?
But then came the leading man of Spanish Catholicism, „Doctor of the Church“ Archbishop Isidor of Seville (560-636). He called for and justified pogroms against the Jews. His pamphlet „De fide catholica contra Judaeos“ was so popular in the Middle Ages that it was translated into Old High German.
So, Mr. Cienfuegos, this is how the idea of pogroms came to barbaric German speaking countries: right from Spain! King Sisebut (reigned 612-621), praised by Isidor as “christianissimus”, became the first great Spanish persecutor of the Jews. Under King Ervig (680-687), it was already practised with such sadistic brutality, especially in the forced conversions, that it could not be surpassed in cruelty, even in all that they had to endure later.
It was only under Islamic rule that the Spanish Jews were able to recover. After the Muslim conquest, Spain became the most liberal, cultivated and richest country in Europe. They fared better under these rulers, not least in Jerusalem – until they were completely massacred by the Crusaders in 1099. And with the “Reconquista”, so glorified in Spain, hell returned for them…
Just to bore you, Mr. Cienfuegos. Feel free to yawn about it.
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What did Spain and Portugal ever contribute to progress in science and technology? Is the best that can be offered here Lopez-Otin and Pia Cosma? hahahaha ?
Maybe if they had not kicked out the jews it wouldn’t be the backwater of science they are today. But at least they are not the science sh*tholes of Greece and Italy.
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Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Severo Ochoa and many others. What did you, NMH, ever contribute to progress in science and technology, instead?
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Right now I don’t even know which science titans should be celebrated at all. A number of living Nobel Prize laureates are fraudsters or thieves, or just greedy and unscrupulous crooks. Was it really different in the olden days?
We can’t know if those long-dead giants whose shoulders science stands on haven’t usurped the work of their nameless assistants, colleagues, wives, lovers, servants, slaves etc. The only records we have on these great people are their own.
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@Leonid: if some Nobelists have cheated, that doesn’t mean all have. Same applies to scientists of any given country. It’s even emarassing I have to explain that. Anyway, my point was to prove the baselessness of NMH’s statement, and Ochoa and Ramon y Cajal are legitimate Nobel Prize winners until proven otherwise.
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And I am concerned about nameless Spanish folks whose credit was possibly stolen….
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Your short list of two names very much proves my point, Aneurus. As I recall, Ochoa did most of his work outside Spain so its really only one name. One.
Compared to 100’s from Great Britain and the US.
In light of the fact that 20% of Nobel Laureates are jews, I think its pretty safe to say that their expulsion didnt do Spain/Portugal any good for world progress.
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Uh-uh. Never claim Jews were smarter. First it’s wrong, second it feeds the antisemitic narrative.
Jews are overrepresented in science , medicine or law simply because education was historically the only way for Jews to rise in society..E.g because Jews were banned from owning land or entering governmental.jobs or professional guilds.
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Im not anti-semitic, and I wont ignore the fact that Ashkenazi Jews have the highest IQ’s (average is 120 as I recall) of any group of people. That is a fact. IQ measurement is closely linked to g factor which most regard as a marker of intelligence, which is also a fact. No, I’m not jewish.
Now, if some people want to use this information to disenfranchise and discriminate against any group of people at all in this world, this is wrong and immoral.
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IQ tests are nonsense and this claim about Jews superior IQ is nonsense as well. All feeds the antisemitic narrative of cunning and scheming Jews who conspire to secretly control the white society. Don’t fall for it.
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@Multiplex @Albert Varonov
Dear all, this thread is absolutely boring, very boring and very sad… Well, I am a lawyer and also a scientist, so I can speak appropriately in orders of magnitude. Do you want us to talk about orders of magnitude? Order of magnitude with respect to war crimes and genocide (UN General Assembly, 1948; Convention against such crimes) in the world? Which tens exponent would you think is correct? 3, 4, 5,… maybe 6? So, I won’t talk about the Inquisition. Please, read “Judge Faith, Punish Sin: Inquisitions and Consistories in the Early Modern World -2017” by Charles H. Parker and Gretchen Starr-LeBeau and then you will understand me. If you want to talk about orders of magnitude like that, I ask: what coordinates on a map can we point these exponents to? …North America, where no native originals can be found today, at least outside the reservation? France ? Germany in the 20th century or maybe in the 16th century (thirty years war: about 4.5-8*10^6 died)? Poland? Near Poland or through the Eastern countries from Poland? B.Y.? Was it in those places that the “absolutely devoted people” of San Isidoro of Seville realized their dream? In fact? It sounds so ridiculous. For example, from the Oxford Dictionary: “Pogrom: the organized murder of a large number of people, because of their race or religion (originally the murder of Jews in Russia)” Is that all the history you know? Sad, very sad. The main European countries that contributed to the crusades in the Middle Ages were the ancient kingdoms of France and England and northern Europe. In Spain we were in the process of “Reconquista” and obviously we did not have enough soldiers to export to the Midwest to massacre people. So the Norman army was responsible for around 10^4-10^5 deaths (civilians included) in the siege of Jerusalem alone (1099). Seems that the soldiers who made that came from the places where the Nobel Prizes are everywhere today. By the way, let’s not forget America, where today the culture and art of the native peoples of the North of the Continent do not exist. Instead, in the South today you can find cultural expressions of the original cultures. The Spanish did not massacre the natives. It can be found that the first Universities in America were founded in San Marcos -Lima (1551), University of Mexico -1551- and La Plata -Argentina 1552-, where since then the native languages were protected. And today many people, originating from these, can use, express and perform culture as they feel it. For example, in 1560 the first grammar of the Quechua language was published: “Grammar or Art of the Language of the Indians of Peru” in San Marcos -Lima. You can read to learn about the reality of these academic centers in Alexander von Humboldt in “Personal narrative of a journey to the equinoctial regions of the new continent (Penguin Classics)”. Obviously I think that not all things were so sweet for anyone. But I want to say that we are not absolutely evil either and beyond the Rhine they are absolutely holy. Is that so? I believe that it is not appropriate in strictly scientific matters to make “ad hominem” or “ad populum” arguments; because we can all use this type of argument. And I think you don’t add value, but rather detract from your posts: boring and sad. That’s my point of view. Regards.
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“The Spanish did not massacre the natives”. I stopped reading after that. What a vile person you are. Go away, go hang out at some Vox forum.
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Jason shows us the good old Luis Rubiales face of Spain, arguing in a strikingly similar way: “Jennifer Hermoso lifted ME! Believe it! She is the guilty one here!!”
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Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales -RAC- is a public law corporation
national level -Spain- under its own Statute and its own Regulations.
In Spain, public law corporations do not have the right to the honor that Spanish Constitution
CE78 recognizes people according to article 18.1 as a fundamental right.
The reason is that the right to honor belongs to each single person.
A public law corporation whose scope is Spain can claim that
its dignity, prestige and moral authority have been attacked.
Attacking such ones could be punishable in Spain
but there is an exception included in article 210 of the Spanish penal code: “exceptio veritatis”
On the other side such protection if you read article 496 of the Spanish penal code is refered to State institutions and article 505 lists them and neither the RAC nor the remaining Royal Academies nor the Institute of Spain are on the list.
The RAC is maintained with public money provided by Spanish State in its general budgets
-article 44 of RAC Regulations- although it may receive funds from other Public Administrations
o Foundations.
Article 32 point 3 of RAC Regulations entrusts the Board of Directors with ensuring the proper use of the name
of the Royal Academy when protective institutions -entities that support the functions of the Royal Academy-
use it.Therefore, it is the Board of Directors who has the powers as a collegiate body.
Say that Art.17 of RAC Statute point 1.a) allows the President to take the necessary measures if there is a case of urgency.
Months ago I told you about my views and I told you that advice of Dr. Socas-Navarro’s lawyer had been the right one
and with breaking the news of what was said in “Coffee Break: Señal y Ruido” podcast
and put the address so that whoever wanted to hear it, it was best not to write anything else.
Everything is published in the press, it has had its journey on the editorial boards of “Journal of Biological Chemistry”
and “Nature”, Nature Awards judging panels, at the University of Oviedo and at the RAC.
“Einer ist der Besitzer dessen, was schweigt, und der Sklave dessen, was er spricht.
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López Otín will not return to the University of Oviedo.
López Otín told to a small number of people that he was retiring from his position as full professor and this key matter has spread to the “world” press.
The “Excelentísimo Señor Rector y Magnífico” of University of Oviedo has called a press conference to explain that no one expels López Otín from the University of Oviedo where he could remain until he is 70 years old and to reveal that the University awarded him a medal of gold. Gold medal that López Otín never picked up.
Bullying scandal of Real Academia de Ciencias Exáctas, Físicas y Naturales to astrophysicist Socas Navarro has been the final nail in his coffin.
After five years of the biggest scandal of science done in Spain breaking out,
what remains is: Photoshop full vapor, research papers retracted, Nature mentoring award withdrawn, over 5,000 Bioterium genetic modified mice euthanized,
a 2,5 million euros worth European Research Council grant
and a scientist’s suicide. López Otín will continue investigating in Paris.
Departure of López Otín opens the door to the generation that succeeded the full-professors of the Francoist Regime, who maintained their privileges and who never reformed the Spanish public university but turned it into their ancestral home:
high salaries and sinecures, nepotism, positions of work for relatives, friends and lovers, quackery, photoshop and rehashes, inbreeding and irrelevance of Spain in the world of knowledge and research.
The last of these guys to close the door and turn off the light.
You can read on this:
“Reúnen más de 2.700 firmas para dar su apoyo a López-Otín en apenas dos días” by Luis Ángel Vega
Published at “La Nueva España” 2023 Dic.01
https://www.lne.es/asturias/2023/12/01/reunen-2-700-firmas-dar-95323463.html
“Villaverde asegura que Carlos López-Otín “se va porque quiere” de la Universidad: ‘Nadie le ha echado'” echoed Europa Press
Published at “Cope” 2023 Dic.01
https://www.cope.es/actualidad/espana/noticias/villaverde-asegura-que-carlos-lopez-otin-porque-quiere-universidad-nadie-echado-20231201_3031957
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