Many highly experienced researchers say anecdotally that doing an experiment safely causes a 8 scientist to do it well. Safe science does not guarantee good science ---a safe experiment can 9 be scientifically meaningless. But usually safe science seems to be "good" science. Why would 10 this be the case? What does safety have to do with the quality of an experiment and with other 11 sought-after outcomes? 12 13 First, being safe in the laboratory can improve the statistical quality of one's data. An 14 experiment can have better sensitivity, reproducibility, coverage, etcetera. This relationship 15 exists because being safe induces a researcher to have greater control over an experiment, 16 which reduces the uncertainty that characterizes the experiment. For example, writing a 17 detailed protocol will lessen the uncertainty surrounding one's physical actions, helping the 18 researcher to avoid mistakes that could be dangerous. Safety is increased (which is the same 19 thing as reducing risk). But a detailed protocol will also enable the researcher to conduct the 20 experiment in exactly the same way in the future, making repeated trials more accurate and 21