Are scientists being assassinated?

Ivan Seeking

This story has been running in the fringe for some time. One major newspaper has now addressed the claim. Personally, I don't have an opinion yet other than the automatic response: It is probably just a coincidence and/or another internet conspiracy theory.

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/...123News004.asp

Quayle
http://freepress2005.blogspot.com/20...iologists.html

Kakarot

you better watch out!

matthyaouw

I'm suddenly glad I went for for earth sciences over biology...

selfAdjoint

I notice that the articles doesn't mention any other scientists except Im, except the five Israeli ones whose plane was shot down. That case can certainly be explained on other bases?

selfAdjoint

I notice that the articles doesn't mention any other scientists thant Im, except the five Israeli ones whose plane was shot down. That case can certainly be explained on other bases?

cronxeh

Pretty strange that it happened right after Sept 11th..

These researches knew how to make bio/chem weapons and instead of assigning a body guard to each one, 'they', probably decided to take them out

Moonbear

If you eliminate the suicide, stroke, and plane crash victims, then rule out the one where they think the guy's daughter killed him, look at the locations of all the rest. The murdered ones are hardly happening in the middle of suburbia, they're happening in places like parking garages in some pretty rough cities. Rather than focusing on their profession, one should focus on other local crimes fitting the same pattern. It's more likely each was just one of many victims if attacks in crime-ridden neighborhoods. I was just talking with a colleague today about the extra ventillation provided by the bullet holes in buildings at Johns Hopkins. I'm sure if one day someone gets killed by one of those bullets, the conspiracy theorist can make some connection between their research and that of these others killed.

Of course, this isn't to say there couldn't be some fringe group out there bumping off microbiologists. It's certainly not a conspiracy theory that primate researchers are frequently under attack from radical animal rights groups, they come right out and admit that's what they are doing. But, the variety of ways these people were killed and the number of places around the world where they lived suggests it's a better example of why data mining is a bad way to find solid conclusions.

Hurkyl

I disagree -- it's an example of data mining used badly. Like any other statistical tool, data mining is great when used properly.

cronxeh

yes but the fact still remains - the top scientists were killed - one way or another..

i mean seriously.. how many biology ph.d's are out there?

according to bls.gov : Biological scientists held about 75,000 jobs in 2002. I dont know about this.. I mean I saw most of those guys on the science channel - David Kelly (assassinated in 2003), Vladimir Pasechnik (i saw him on discovery times channel).. besides their age.. 40.. 46.. 50.. 55.. 65.. 70.. do ppl die at those age?? hardly

matthyaouw

Yes, top scientists did die, but that is not the issue. Everyone dies. What we need is evidence that they were specifically targetted due to their profession.

The David Kelly who you mention... Are you referring to the UK government scientist? If so, i think you'll find he took his own life, and the authorities had no reason to suspect otherwise.

cronxeh

there was an inquiry, and he didnt commit suicide - anybody with an IQ over 40 can figure that out

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3082707.stm
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/kellyinquiry/

http://www.fromthewilderness.com/fre...3_kelly_1.html

Besides if you really get down to it and think about it - what biologist would commit suicide? they went into the field BECAUSE they loved life and saw thea beauty in it. It makes sense for an MBA or a financial analyst to jump outa the window, for good.

matthyaouw

Yes, there was an inquiry into his death, but it was not a murder inquiry. Do you understand the purpose of the enquiry?
A summary can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutton_Inquiry
And the full enquiry here: http://www.the-hutton-inquiry.org.uk/content/report/

If the information in your third reference were to be entirely correct, why was there no press coverage, and why wasn't there a murder enquiry?

As for your last arguement: Are you serious? You make no sense whatsoever. There are more factors involved than career. being a biologist does not mean unconditional happiness, nor does being a financial analyst mean unhappiness.

Dayle Record

Yes, it is nearing fifty, and they are Microbiologists, that work with pathogens, and bio-weapons. I know one in Utah, that no one mentioned yet.

Moonbear

Not a very good argument there. Biologists are just as prone to suffer depression as the next person, and any career scientist faces a lot of competition, and ups and downs, and dry spells in funding that can be incredibly stressful and depressing. You don't go into biology because you love life and see the beauty in it, it's just like all the other scientists, where you see a problem that needs solving and you want to solve it.

If I went hunting for it, I could probably find 50 people around the world in any profession who were killed by reasons other than natural causes in the past 4 years.

Smurf

around the world? I was under the impression they were all american

cronxeh

ok fine Moonbear and matthy. I guess the world isnt as ideal as I saw it..

But if 40+ experts in germ warfare mysteriously die after 9/11, and there is a 'war on terror' going on - maybe, just maybe, its a cause for concern

Dayle Record

Here is a sort of list.

http://www.stevequayle.com/dead_scie...sts.chron.html

A while ago I saw a Nova regarding an African Tribe near Madagascar, that claimed to be of Jewish descent. Their ancient tales were taken down and their migration was traced to the middle east, and it was established that they carried what is called The Coheneen (sp?) Gene, which is the only male chromosomal genetic inheritance line, the rest of us are traced from the Eve material in Africa. This is PBS, so I assume that is above board. After seeing this I had read from a reputable source that there were no Jewish women, in the beginning of this line of descent, the wives were all from other groups. (Is this the origin of the Adamic myth?)

Supposedly there was some weapons research going on in reference to this gene, and everyone involved perished. I read this, on the web, probably some wild conspiracy in regards to the great dying of geneticists and microbiologists.

http://www.barzan.com/kevin_brook.htm

This link is to an article that discusses and then waters down the existence of the Cohen Haplotype.

The geneticist Michael Hammer, has a lot of writings about this whole genetic investigation.