Ephemeral Publications to Fix Replication

Scientific results would be published with an expiration or 'decay' unless independently replicated or actively maintained by follow‑up work; like ants' pheromone trails that fade unless refreshed, publications that are not reverified would lose prominence or status automatically. This creates an incentive to reproduce and reassess findings rather than allowing unreplicated claims to persist indefinitely. — If implemented, ephemeral publication rules could shift incentives, funding and tenure signals away from novelty‑only research toward reproducibility and would reshape how journals, funders, and universities judge scientific contributions.