Structurally Altered Water

            First I would like to start with some information about structurally altered water claims. Scientists promoting this structurally altered water were stating that this particular water had “altered water clusters”. This is just a crazy claim in itself. The scientific community would not support this claim, but that did not stop some scientists from claiming that these clusters could cure toxins in the body. A more disturbing claim is that made that water with “clean memory” (clean water) could counter flow with polluted water. The polluted water’s memory would be cleaned by the clean water’s memory. This counter-flow of water memory would clean and revitalize the polluted water. There is another type called Electrolysed water; the exact mechanism of how this works is unknown and not accepted by the FDA or FTC. However, it is actively advertised in Japan. This water is said to contain hydrogen in the form of atoms instead of the H2 molecules found in water (H2O) and is said to cure certain diseases such as gangrene, hepatitis, cirrhosis, diabetes and even cancer.

            Now think about the assumptions people are making by accepting the information of such claims. Electrolysed water is claiming to separate the hydrogen atoms of water, creating this alkaline water. This product is sold without even knowing the exact mechanisms on how it works. They are purchasing this “special” in hopes that it might cure one of their diseases. The idea of the structure of water being manipulated is also hard to believe. All of these “special” waters claim to cure diseases.

            The article for Electrolysed was can be found at the bottom of this post.

            The implications and consequences to using these products is quite simple. These products are a waste of money, and hardly believable. Scientists that support these claims are implying that drinking water, altered or not, can actually cure diseases. Furthermore, they can cure diseases as complicated as cancer. Cancer is a very vicious disease in which the cells affected with cancer have no pre-determined death, and the cells continue to make new cells. Why would simply changing the structure cure any of these diseases? Why would a hydrogen atom cure any of these diseases? None of the information provided on these pages for the different types of “special” water even attempt to give a detailed explanation as to how. The only information provided is that certain diseases can be cured by this type of altered water. The consequences are not severe, but if you use your common sense you just know that these claims are ridiculous, especially the idea of “memory cleaning” techniques of water.

            Lastly, my point of view is that these claims are bogus. Is clean water healthy for you? Absolutely. Eat a healthy diet and drink plenty of water, and I think you will be okay. As far as diseases go, how can structurally altered water cure such things if we have a hard enough time controlling cancer with chemical components such as drugs. Chemotherapy sometimes cannot cure cancer, so I’m sure that water certainly will not either. 

Sources:
http://www.lenntech.com/water-pseudoscience.htm
http://www.ionizers.org/water.html

Anti-Aging?

Anti-aging creams have for the past century been marketed towards women, and now men, with assumptions of being able to make the consumer look younger by reducing visible wrinkles, expression lines, blemishes, pigmentation changes, discolorations and other environmentally (especially from the sun) related conditions of the skin. Anti-aging creams are predominantly moisturizer based cosmeceutical (combination of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals) skin care products marketed with the promise of making the consumer look younger. So the question at issue is whether or not these products really work?

Info:

Aging is a natural process which is accompanied by normal physical, chemical, and biological changes in the body. These changes include facial and body wrinkling of the skin and this process is common to all human beings. To believe so easily that a cream could prevent and/or reduce the process of skin aging all on its own does not fit with how the world really works. If this problem had such a simple solution, individuals (including our ancestors) would likely have perfect complexions free of age-related problems. Similarly, if the solution to anti-aging was so easy for us to attain, there would be no need for hundreds or thousands of products on the commercial market which provide similar claims yet produce products with differing ingredients.

Conclusion:

Unlike the name implies it’s impossible to stop the aging process and these products do not change any cellular or biochemical reactions or processes within the skin. Through the use of the placebo effect and consumers testimonials the company’s fool you into believing that their products work. It’s important though to look with skepticism, a lot of products are unregulated and this allows potentially dangerous ingredients to be added with the promise of results. In my opinion if these products are able to make you feel better about yourself then go ahead and use them though before you go blindly accepting that certain chemicals cause anti-aging results do some research first. Now despite that these products are in great demand, many of these products have not been proven to give lasting or major positive effects. One study found that the best performing creams reduced wrinkles by less than 10% over 12 weeks which is not noticeable to the human eye.( http://www.consumerreports.org/health/healthy-living/beauty-personal-care/wrinkle-products/wrinkle-creams/index.htm) Another study found that cheap moisturizers were as effective as high-priced anti-wrinkle creams. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/blog/2009/aug/20/face-cream-study)

Psuedoscience and the Disney Channel

So Weird was a show on the Disney channel from 1999-2001. It focused on a daughter and her mother traveling around in a tour bus. The mother was  a musican and the daughter had a knack to running into all sorts of creepy and spooky things. There were episodes involving werewolves, ESP, crop circles and anything else you can think of. The question at issue is, can psuedoscience be introduced to the youth without any  moral issues the producers?

I'm going to post the first part to an episode called Will-o-the-Wisp. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAa0FFtZN0A

 So, in this tv series, it opens it's viewers up to the lighter side of psuedoscience. Having kids think of ghosts and werewolves is a whimsical idea. Although frightening to some, there is very little downside besides the occasional nightmare. However, the negative implications to some psuedoscience exposure can have catastrophic effects. The business of selling products through psuedoscience is very slimy. With talks of "ancient medicine", cure-alls, and the outstanding prices, the businessmen know they are taking someone's money unjustly. When dealing with psuedoscience, we taking people's honesty for when contrasting this to the negatives of predatory psuedoscience the difference is huge. As we've talked about in class the negatives with some psuedosicence can be outrageous. In the mind of a child, is there anything negative with believing in a little psuedoscience? For example, the real life information of the Will-O'-the-Wisp is a chemical reaction that occurs when methane, mixed with another compound can spotaneously ignite and can create a glowing over bogws and marshes. Should children be exposed to the scientific realtites of life as soon as they are able to comprehend the truth? Or should they believe that the glowing they might see over the marsh is a mystiacal lamp trying to guide them away from the safe path? Do you think that fairytales ought to be knocked off the book shelves and replaced with textbooks? What are the consequences of letting kids be exposed to this kind of mysticism?

Chime in! Let me know your oppinion!

-Holly Pimpinelli

Pinewoods Cemetery

Living in New York for many years I have come across some interesting sights. One of these that has always plagued my mind was that of a cemetery thought to be haunted by everyone I met and knew up in New York. This cemetery is called Forrest Hills Cemetery, but everyone knows it only as Pinewoods cemetery because of the location being on Pinewoods Road. While tresspassing on this site has been an offense since the 1930's the location has drawn in the public on a quite regular basis and it is a sort of right of passage to the kids living in this area of New York. Being that it was only about 15 minutes from my house and after hearing unsettling stories told by friends, I had decided to venture into the cemetery at about 2 am one night.

Previous to my night I had heard many stories and discovered through a radio station that Life magazine had announced Pinewoods as one of the top 10 most haunted cemeteries in the United States! Now, I have heard numerous detailed accounts of activity at Pinewoods and after doing my research have discovered that others have encountered very similar experiences. My friend Evan even went on to test out a theory about the "bleeding statue" that excretes a red liquid from her eyes during the night but that will not be photographed. I can attest to the stained eyes of the statue when I was there and a light red liquid was in fact, dripping from her eyes down her face. Evan had decided to bring in his camcorder and two packs of un opened batteries to get a clear shot. He traveled into this place and turned on his camera only for it to immediately drain of battery and shut off. He then opened a new pack of batteries and the same occurrence happened for all of the new batteries. While looking up people's testimonies online, I have seen this same incident repeated by numerous people.
When my sister was looking for excitement with her friends, she found herself at the same statue, which is deep into the cemetery and had a very eerie encounter. Her friends were gazing at this statue and trying to find the source of this liquid coming from its eyes when they heard a voice and turned around. A little girl was supposedly standing behind them saying that she had gotten lost and couldn't find her way out. They then heard a rustle in the woods and being spooked turned to identify it, but when they turned back the girl was gone and they could not find her again. This occurrence too has been posted on numerous blogs by people on the internet which makes you wonder if something is going on.
The real question at hand is whether or not the cemetery could in fact be haunted or if people have overactive imaginations leading them to believe what is not real. Most would take the route of assuming the latter without wanting to believe in this paranormal activity, however I can attest that if you spend just a short amount of time in this cemetery you would be a believer. When I ventured into the cemetery with a few friends trying to get an adrenaline rush, we found just that. We had gotten into the cemetery undetected by the police who make it a point to heavily patrol the area through the night, being that this attraction draws in many customers. It is said that once you enter the mosoleum, you will feel a pull that makes you not want to leave and that the mausoleum itself is a gateway to hell. People re-tell stories of this pull to the mosoleum and photographs of the inside are almost unheard of with many cameras not working in this location. Anyway not to get off track, once inside the cemetery we came across a group of individuals who called themselves witches who were on a journey to do a seance at the bleeding statue. This fact alone freaked me out but I followed out of pure curiosity. They were a weird bunch telling us that they frequent the cemetery and that as long as you respect the dead, they will not be violent...creepy! So as I walked into the woods and the seance began I felt fear and decided I had seen enough. The statue was in the middle of the night with liquid coming from its eyes and fully opened and bloomed flowers at its feet. I then began on a path to get out when my group heard a rustle in the woods around us, like some Blair Witch stuff. I saw a small figure run through the woods and disappear, then reappear and sprint through the woods again. Everytime one of us tried to shine a light on the situation, there would only be trees, but with the lights off there it was again, a small shadow taunting us on our unguided path out of this place. There was a feeling as if we were being watched that came over the entire group. Once we got out there was a sense of fresh air along with a sigh of relief from being out of the whole situation and I have never stepped foot inside the place again.
Some potential consequences of this action taken by many people both believers and not would be a possible tresspassing ticket, a true haunting, or a potential drive to want to stay in the cemetery, especially the mausoleum, who a girl I worked with frequented weekly saying she had to go. The purpose for me was to find out if the place was actually haunted or if it was a big let down and I can say honestly the feeling the cemetery gives you is unreal and it instills fear into most who travel into it. The only conclusion I can give is that for many people this is an actually haunted cemetery with something unnatural occuring even if there is no scientific proof of the paranormal activity. The cemetery has been closed since the 1930's and has become overgrown with trees and weeds etc. Maybe I will send this blog post to Ghost Hunters and see if they will get a permit from the city and do some real testing. Now that you are all freaked out I will post a picture of a famous statue in the cemetery of an angel whose head went missing, along with all of the missing bodies in the mausoleum. Oh and I will post a picture of the outside of the mausoleumwhich apparently can be photographed.

Subliminal Messages

Subliminal messaging is a signal or message that is placed on or inside another medium as in a poster or even a CD. Some information about subliminal messaging is that it was first used in the mid-1950s when a motivational researcher, James Vicary, used it in a movie theater that flashed the words "Hungry? Eat popcorn." In the 1960s, subliminal messaging had been used in eight eareas of human behavior like emotion, dreams and memory being a few examples. My purpose of this post is to find out if subliminal messaging actually works.

With the experiment that was done by Vicary, it was said that popcorn sales increased after the message was flashed across the movie screen. But people are going to buy popcorn when they go to a movie theater so it doesn't prove that it works. Therefore, researchers would put show a refrigerator. They say that it doesn't necessarily mean you will go buy a refrigerator but you may remember the brand name when you do go shopping for one because it was embedded in your subconscious.

It is said that subliminal messaging works because your mind is made up of your conscious and subconscious. Your conscious will not notice things that your subconscious will notice therefore everything is stored in your subconscious. Your subconscious retains everything. For example, when you say that something is on the tip of you tongue but you can't get it out, that is because your subconscious stored it and eventually if you have said it, the words will come to you eventually. And that is why researchers say subliminal messaging works. The messages filter through the conscious and eventually stored into the subconscious without us even knowing.

My point of view and where I stand is unsure. I still am not sure if subliminal messaging works or not until someone points out to me that I was just exposed to a subliminal message. My assumptions are that maybe it works for some people and maybe others not so much. Also that just because you go out and buy a product doesn't mean you did because of a subliminal message.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlhPIEbHjL0

sleeplearning.com

youtube.com

Super Strength

People have always claimed of being "superhuman", but how much of it is true? Is it possible for someone to have such abilities that a "normal" human doesn't have. I recently discovered a show that's been out since 2009 called Stan Lee's Superhumans; this show basically travels around the world looking for superhumans. Dennis Rogers is a man of super strength; he can bend wrenches and nearly everything in sight. The question that stands with this super strength ability is the truth. Does Rogers really have super strength "powers" like no other human being or object? Is this show a possible breakthrough of real superhumans unlike the ones seen in comic books.

Some background information of Dennis Rogers, first, is that he is from Houston, Texas and stands at only 5'6''. In high school, he was weak, short, and only 88 pounds. He was determined to be strong and make a change from his "weakling" portrayal so he lifted weights and began testing his ability of strength. He is known around the world and entertains people with his strength. He's done all sorts of things with his strength like bend wrenches, horseshoes, tools, and even break out of shackles. He's stopped two air force planes from taking off and prevent a 100 horsepower Harley motorcycle from taking off. On the show he is taken to a place where his strength is tested and measured of how much strength it would take to do the things he has done.

Of course believing that he has this superhuman ability of strength, we are assuming that the tools he uses are real and have not been previously meddled with. For example, none of the tools or objects he bends or uses have been bent prior to the displays of strength. We're also assuming that he is not taking any enhancement drugs that will give him this amount of strength or any other supplement that may give him this ability. 

My point of view is more of a "believe it when I see it". Although the show had good ways of proving and backing up his claim with evidence that he has super strength unlike any human, I have to see for myself the amount of strength he has. With the test of how much weight it would take to bend a wrench compared to his bare hands bending it, it's quite abnormal for any human to take that on. As stated on the show, wrenches are designed to not bend. I believe that Roger's strength goes far and beyond past what any human could do, but I would have to see it, to believe it.

The Black Mail Box

 

The Black Mail Box 

At first glance at the above picture, and reading the title, my first question was, “If this is the black mailbox, why is it white?”  Could this be a conspiracy with Area 51?!  With later investigation, I found out why.

Let’s start with the facts.  The Black Mailbox is located on State Route 375, otherwise known as Extraterrestrial Highway.  It belongs to a local rancher, who owns the only ranch in Tikaboo Valley.  Because it is located so close to top-secret Area 51, most people began to associate it with Area 51.  Rumors began to spread that it WAS the mailbox of Area 51.  Many travelers also began to report sights of UFO’s and lights in the sky around the Black Mailbox. 

The original Black Mailbox was actually black.  Because of the assumptions and rumors, people would rummage through the owner’s mail, and often there were bullet holes in the mailbox and mail.  These tourists were searching for Area 51 information, only to find normal bills and advertisements.  The original mailbox was auctioned off to a UFO enthusiast for $1000.  The owner then bought the white mailbox, bullet proof and equipped with a padlock. 

Some implications to having this mailbox on his ranch, not only having his mail searched, and shot at but people actually camp out right next to the mailbox.  Tourists have even been known to leave graffiti on the once white mailbox.  It is now covered with people’s initials, sayings, dates and times of visits.  But thanks to the Black Mailbox, and its popularity, many other restaurants and businesses have taken an “alien theme” to cater to the many tourists each year. 

There are many theories as to why people claim to see UFO’s at the Black Mailbox.  One of which is due to the fact of Area 51 using the airspace for test flights, it is quite possible that people would see “flying aircraft” in the skies.  There are many training flights, that use flares in their demonstrations, and many UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle) that, to the untrained eye many look very exotic and unusual.

-Jenny Robertson