Would you accept a blood donation from a gay man if it meant saving your life?
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The Fate of Fat
With each January 1st comes the ritual of the “New Year Resolution:” the commitment, more or less strong, to modify one’s behavior in the incipient year, typically positively, and oftentimes to better oneself. The practice is not new: people as far back as the ancient Babylonians had their own version of New Year Resolutions. These days, Americans regularly rank weight loss among their top objectives, which doesn’t seem too surprising if you consider the rates of overweight/obesity, and the socially-sanctioned, year-end national exercise-in-gluttony that starts around the fourth Thursday in November.
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The history of science is full of examples of discovery, both intentional and accidental. But how do scientists study subject matter incapable of being explained by simple models? And additionally, if science can produce favorable results (say, in the clinic), to what extent does it matter whether or not the results can be fully explained? Here, Siddhant Iyer outlines the ways in which scientists may study as-of-yet unexplained phenomena and argues for a framework involving the use of complex models while also acknowledging limitations.