Table of Contents:
Reader Ben Skigen wrote to the vendors of the "Vitalizer," yet another of the myriad of water-improvers that are being offered the naïve. This one sells for $497 — but the shipping costs are included! The product description includes this nonsense:
The most recent scientific findings indicate that biological organisms prefer the six-sided (hexagonal) ring-structure, found naturally in snow water. This Hexagonal Water forms a liquid crystalline lattice that is involved in cellular communication, intracellular water movement, enzyme function and many other metabolic processes. The amount of Hexagonal Water in the body has been correlated with aging. It has also been found to form the initial layer of water surrounding healthy cells. On the other hand, unorganized water has been described surrounding diseased and abnormal cells.
Beware "unorganized" water! How have all Earth's species survived for so long without this amazing technology? Benjamin heard back from Marni Wahquist, spokesperson for "Nature's First Law, Inc.", straightening out his abysmal misunderstanding of science:
It is not that the water is actually magnetic (in the sense that you're stating below), but the actual movement of the vortex that the Vitalizer creates an energy (magnetism) to purify the water. Water does have a magnetic structure if you collect it from a natural source (spring) directly out of Mother Earth. Once the water leaves the immediate area of its origin it tends to lose its magnetism (life force). The vortex is used to give the water a memory and its purpose to be energized.
Marni concludes with this lame escape from the JREF challenge:
Your proposal is interesting but we are not the producers of this product. I suggest you contact the actual creator of the product to set out on this "million dollar journey." Thank you!
Note: Marni could snap up the prize, but she passes this privilege over to the manufacturers! How noble!
IVORY TOWER OF SILENCE SYNDROME
I received an e-mail from Andrew Skolnick, executive director of the Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health dealing with the recent scandal about the "prayer research" project, that got my attention. It involved the Journal of Reproductive Medicine (JRM), a publication that published glowing accounts about this, and ignored loud demands for a retraction after it was shown to have been faked. See www.randi.org/jr/070904that.html#1 for a reference we made here. Wrote Andrew:
So, it is now clear that the answer was no, the journal's authorship policy was not consistent with ICMJE's requirements.
No surprise here. The only thing surprising has been the editors' reluctance to tell their readers and the public the truth.
The longer JRM's editor remains silent, the louder that silence will be in the news coverage of this growing scandal. It's a headache of their own making. And there are news articles in the works here and abroad that likely will make it a migraine.
P.S. The fact that the editors have ignored the uniform requirements of the ICMJE until now suggests they have a cavalier attitude toward publishing a credible scientific journal. Hell, that's about as irresponsible as a medical center that would let its faculty members conduct clinical trials without informed patient consent! Why has it taken a terribly embarrassing scandal to make the editors join the 21st century of scientific research and publication?I have been hounding JRM's editors with the question, "Are your journal's policies regarding authorship consistent with the uniform manuscript requirements of the ICMJE [International Committee of Medical Journal Editors]?" I asked them this in repeated emails and phone calls, and even showed up at their editorial office in St. Louis to ask in person. It's clearly an important and simple question, but they would NOT give me an answer. I told them that I was not going to stop asking this question until I got an answer.
Andrew, we at JREF are familiar with the Ivory Tower of Silence syndrome. We saw it with Nobel Laureate Josephson and many other "experts" who were stricken with this not-uncommon affliction. Here is the closest that the JRM will come to actually applying ethics to this brouhaha. It's an editorial note from the Editor-in-Chief, L. D. Devoe:
In the July issue's "Note from the Editor-in-Chief," we announced that JRM would make a series of changes in the policies for manuscript submission and review. As our contributors and readership are international, we thought it would be appropriate to base a number of those changes on recommended uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals as published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). While space does not permit listing of all of these requirements on this page, a detailed list of the requirements may be found on the ICMJE website (www.icmje.org). Our September issue will list the pertinent requirements that we have decided to adopt for future journal contributors.
Hey, lock that barn door! Another horse could get stolen! In this note, the editor tells us that now the JRM will use ethics in their publication; it's about time, but we still see no retractions or apologies. I did a search on their site for any reference to prayer, and all I came up with was a March, 1998, article titled, "Good Luck Rites in Contemporary Infertility."
Reader Paul M. Jagielski of West Hartford, Connecticut, clarifies something for us:
The exchange is below, with my e-mail first.I'm writing this regarding [your recent] article concerning the Bedini Ultra Clarifier. On their web page Bedini includes a review of their product that was originally published in my local paper The Hartford Courant (www.bedini.com/review.htm). It was written by Kevin Hunt, who is the Courant's resident audiophile. I thought you might be interested in the E-Mail exchange I had with Mr. Hunt today after I read your commentary and visited the Bedini website. You can see he sidesteps the issue and shows no interest in the million dollar challenge, yet stands by his claims. He even gets a bit snippy at the end. Having sold high-end audio equipment in the past, I can tell you first hand that people will hear exactly what you tell them they will hear. And this is true of almost all people, whether they be professionals, students or newspaper audiophiles.
Since you obviously can hear a change when CDs are Clarified, I suggest you apply for the million dollar reward. By winning this award, you will illustrate to your readers that you do indeed know what you're writing about and your recommendations will be heeded accordingly. Good luck and enjoy the money!You may be interested in noting that a column of yours appears on the "Reviews" page for Bedini Electronics (www.bedini.com/review.htm). You gave the Bedini Ultra Clarifier a glowing review. Now is your chance to become a millionaire! The Amazing Randi, who as you may know is famous for his de-bunking of frauds, is offering one million dollars to anyone who can prove that the Bedini Ultra Clarifier, does indeed work as advertised (www.randi.org/jr/082704gluton.html). You stated in your column: "...it works beautifully..." and "..."Car Wheels on a Gravel Road'' came alive when Clarified..." and other testaments.
The Hartford Courant replied:
Paul: That column was written several years ago. Working "as advertised" and "working" are two different things in this case — Bedini makes some outrageous claims about this, but there is documentation about this phenomenon. Some people use a bulk tape eraser as a cheap way of getting the same effect. Nobody will win the million dollars. But maybe you should have saved your two cents.
Kevin Hunt
The Hartford Courant
285 Broad St., Hartford, CT 06115
Note that Mr. Hunt ignores discussing the fact that he stated he personally noted the difference — and thus could probably do this again for the prize money, he fails to refer us to the "documentation" he cites, and he gets further into the mess by claiming that a bulk eraser (used to magnetically erase tapes) can also accomplish this miracle. Incidentally, if anyone can demonstrate that exposure to any magnetic field will produce any detectable audio change — short of inducing frying-force inductive results! — the JREF prize is theirs. That's just superstition and claptrap. Score: Jagielski 100, Hartford Courant 0. Paul's "two cents" was well invested: it sent "expert" Kevin Hunt and his newspaper scurrying into the woods.
Hunt's right about one thing: people who don't apply and won't stand behind their claims, won't win the million.
Closing the discussion is Jaime Arbona, who writes:
I hope this clarifies what the Clarifier does, which is mainly to clarify, I mean, clear your pockets out of any inconvenient green stuff you may have stashed there.
Not quite, Jaime. It's called, "stealing."
Reader "Gary" asks us to take a look at www.coleg-powys.ac.uk/health/hcourses.htm and learn that:
A two-hour course qualifies you as a reflexologist, or did I miss something? Here at Aberystwyth [University of Wales] they dropped the Feng Shui course and offered Aromatherapy instead. I was told I was just taking it all too seriously. Now that I'm getting in to all this stuff I think there's a re-opening in the market for a little cardboard Cheop's pyramid that you put your CDs in to revitalize them, like the old style razor blade sharpener. I haven't done a web search, but given time somebody will produce one.
Gary, see the "Clarifier" item, above. That "colg-powys" site also touts "Thermal Auricular Therapy," which is magic-speak for "ear-candling," a form of quackery that we wiped out long ago on this site. See www.randi.org/jr/02-09-2001.html. On the subject of Feng Shui the University of Wales web page cited, apparently with a straight face:
...most striking evidence of mythical-magical beliefs affecting the geographic landscape, Feng-Shui, the ancient Chinese art of adapting the residences of the living and the dead so as to co-operate and harmonize with the local currents...
Wait! It gets better! Replacing this form of claptrap is their course in "Aromatherapy for Dairy Cows," taught by Professor Jamie Newbold of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Seriously, folks, do these people really mean it? What happens to those grey cells when you live in Wales?
And It seems that Feng Shui, far from being just harmless codswallop, can be dangerous, as reader Matt Tovey tells us:
Basically, 3 Feng-Shui practitioners have been charged with "negligent arson" after having caused 100,000 Euros worth of damage to a house. They opened all the doors and windows and asked all the "good spirits" to leave the house. Maybe that was where they went wrong. I'm sure the good spirits were only there to protect the house from the evil spirits. Then they paraded around the house with some sort of flaming magic cauldron. They didn't notice that some of the mixture had been spilled on the living-room floor, and all three ended up in hospital with smoke poisoning.
Reader/photographer James Shanks of Brooklyn, New York, tells us of one of the sappiest, most maudlin sites I've ever seen:
I was directed to a certain URL by a colleague. In case you are not aware, Pantone is a company that basically sets the worldwide standards in color matching and specification for the design and imaging industry. I was shocked that they put up a site called "Colorstrology" and thought you might be interested. The following is my e-mail response I submitted at: www.pantone.com/support/support.asp?idArticle=655&contactid=49
Let me preface this e-mail by saying that I am a professional architectural photographer who uses Pantone products on a regular basis. I was directed today to www.colorstrology.com [cut it and paste it to see it] by a colleague and at first thought this to be some sort of joke. After looking more closely at the site I believe you are actually serious in claiming such things as "...a color that reflects the very essence of your specific birthdate" or that color has "metaphysical properties" or "Your color is a key that connects your inner and outer world." What exactly do you mean by all this and upon what basis are these claims being made? I find this website intellectually insulting and wonder why in the world a company such as Pantone would be paying for this. Michele Bernhardt (whoever she is) is literally pulling the wool over your corporate eyes and is, in my opinion, nothing more than a swindler. She and this site are but another example of the apocryphal industry that makes its money from deception and unfounded claims.To whom it may concern,
James, Michelle doesn't care, and Pantone doesn't, either. They're so firmly in place in the industrial world, they can lie to their public, and not feel it at all. It's a matter of no interest to them if they promote nonsense; they know it won't cut into business or profits. Bottom line.
We ran a mention of a really silly device, the Wine Clip, at www.randi.org/jr/082004nonsense.html#4 and you can see all their claims at www.thewineclip.com. Aussie reader Brian Miller tells us that Andy Blue, a famous wine Critic, Mary Ewing Mulligan, a Master of Wine, along with Leslie Sbracco, the author of "Wine for Women," and John Sculley, former CEO of Apple and Pepsi, all agree that the Wine Clip improves the taste of wine! Well, all those heavies can't be wrong, can they? Here's what charmed their sense of scientific correctness, taken from the Wine Clip site:
When a conductive fluid (in this case wine) passes through a magnetic field, an electrical charge is created. That charge effects [sic] the molecules that are suspended in the fluid. These loosely bonded and larger molecules are broken down into smaller molecules.Liquid Passing Through a Magnetic Field.
I must interrupt at this point; that last statement is just too stupid and brainless to be allowed to pass. Molecules of any one kind are fixed in size and composition. They can't get "broken down" or they're just not there any more! Break down water, and you have hydrogen and oxygen gasses! Moving along...
With The Wine Clip, a wine's impurities and tannins are broken down during the pouring process. There is absolutely no chemical change and nothing is introduced or taken away from the wine. It's the physical change which accounts for the enhanced flavor and bouquet. The taste of many small molecules is smoother than the taste of fewer large molecules.
Again: molecules are molecules, and can't be made smaller or they're not the same substance at all. This is total pseudoscience, it's false, and it's juvenile.
The Wine Clip uses a patent pending design which includes 6 Rare Earth Magnets, the most powerful magnets available.
Why don't these geniuses take on our prize offer? Because they know they can't. Blue, Mulligan, Sbracco, and Sculley are very silent, just hoping that I'll go away.
Wine expert Max Allen at least wants to test it with Mr. Miller, but not for the million-dollar prize. Have the Australian media ANY interest in this imposture....?
No. They don't care. Let the swindle continue....
MY-FOOT-IN-MY-MOUTH DEPARTMENT
Reader Jon Harmon corrects a bad mistake I made here. He quotes my exhilaration at a new postage stamp:
Adding to the excitement is that there will also be a stamp for geneticist Barbara McClintock! It's about time. She's the poorly-credited scientist who had so much to do with the solution to the DNA puzzle, and was so thoughtlessly ignored when the honors were handed out.
Says Jon:
You're thinking of Rosalind Franklin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin), the x-ray crystallographer whose work was the basis of Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix. Barbara McClintock (http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/1983/) was a geneticist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1983 for her discovery of "mobile genetic elements" (now called "transposons" and described here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transposon), if you'd like to learn more about them). Barbara McClintock has gotten well-deserved praise; Rosalind Franklin was the one who was "poorly-credited."
Right, Jon. I'll stand in the corner for 20 minutes... I was just so thrilled over the Feynman honor, that I erred. Apologies.
Cards are coming in for Martin Gardner. Thanks. Keep them coming.
The page this last week was late, due to Hurricane Frances problems. No serious damage at the JREF, though six trees came down on my home property. Thanks to all of you who inquired.
I'm busy preparing advance updates for when I'm away in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, and Sweden, from September 21st to October 13th...
