Was 2005 real?

It's seems a bit of a shame that a couple of the biggest science stories of the year were about fake science. The year closed out with accusations of massive scientific fraud in Korean stem cell research (see articles here). Another big science-related story was the continuing fight over intelligent design. I make no bones that I am excited about the results of a recent court case (extensively covered at The Panda's Thumb) which says (among other things) in no uncertain terms, "Intelligent design ain't science."

Although it's easy to be cynical about the widespread peddling of -- I was about to type "disinformation," but I think I'll be blunt and call them "lies" -- that these stories represent, there is good news to both of them. Systems in place to check these thing worked. Investigation uncovers possible fraud. A trial recognizes when people are trying to push religious belief under the disguise of science.

Looking at the evidence seems to work -- although there are certainly times I wished it worked a bit faster.