Both men said that iodized salt loses its effectiveness when used in cooking dal and other Indian dishes at high heat -- an assertion the scientists said was false.
What makes you so optimistic? A. It's the certainty and the unanimity of the scientists' assertion that a cure is possible in 10 years.
The Times review found that the F.B.I. had disproved the assertion, widespread among scientists who believe Dr. Ivins was innocent, that the anthrax might have come from military and intelligence research programs in Utah or Ohio.
More controversial is the assertion by some scientists that a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in Sichuan province in China last year that killed about 80,000 people was set off by the 320 million tons of water in a nearby reservoir.
On blogs where attacks have appeared, the researchers point out that many of the accusations, like The Sunday Times's assertion that the scientists implant devices in the brains of the sheep, are simply false.
He said the warming trend of the past half-century has stalled — an assertion most climate scientists dispute — and that sea-level rise hasn't picked up speed since the Industrial Revolution.
Since teeth and large portions of the jaw were missing in several of the skeletons, the Russian scientists' assertion that Anastasia's remains rather than those of Maria were in the grave because none of the skeletons had a gap between the front teeth also appeared questionable to American scientists.
Mr. Perry doubled down on his view of Social Security, assailing it as a "monstrous lie," and he questioned scientists' assertions that climate change has been caused by human activity.
The studies cited by the critics "fail upon closer examination" to support their assertions, wrote the scientists, led by Dr. Fredric M. Quitkin, a psychiatrist at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons.
We take issue with Allen and colleagues' characterization of empirical evidence in the field of ecology, and we question the strength of evidence they present in support of prosecutorial assertions levied against scientists and science communicators.
