The pics I have been looking at recently have some amazingly obvious manipulation, to the point of allmost being comical. How does the scientific community see past this rediculous farce?
In the first pic the object has been completely obfuscated exept for a small portion of the top. It looks like that portion was partially faded. The second pic was distorted using a "clone brush" which marks can clearly be seen in some areas and a fading or layer was applied to others.
If you are familiar with paint shop pro, you will recognise the marks from the editor.