Niko McCarty proposes PARADOX, a journal built around single decisive experiments
NikoMcCarty · x · 2026-10-28
Niko McCarty argues science has lost the art of the single, well-designed experiment that overturns theories. Examples: the 1943 Luria-Delbrück fluctuation test (survivor counts varied wildly across cultures, disproving virus-induced resistance) and Pasteur's swan-neck flasks debunking spontaneous generation. He proposes a journal, PARADOX, where researchers agree on one decisive experiment to settle open debates — a form of pre-registration — then fund competing groups to run it and publish null or positive results alike. He doubts publishing incentives will ever allow it, but says it's how science ought to be done.
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