Orac is the nom de blog of a (not so) humble pseudonymous surgeon/scientist with an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his miscellaneous verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few will. (Continued 
A couple of days ago, I expressed my amusement at an e-mail sent to me by someone named "Carol." The amusement came primarily from the subject matter in the e-mail, which described something called a "biophoton ionizer," whatever that is. Knowing, as I do, how prevalent water woo is (after all, what is homeopathy but the grand daddy of all water woo?), I was naturally curious about what the heck a "biophoton ionizer" is. After all, what's the difference between a regular photon and a "biophoton"? What is the characteristic of the photon that makes it "bio," if you know what I mean. I was sure that there was some absolutely fantastic woo to be found, so much so that I decided that it was time for a new installment of Your Friday Dose of Woo, even after its relatively long hiatus. Besides, not much was going on at the anti-vaccine front, so much so that Age of Autism had been very quiet over the previous several days. Indeed, the merry band of anti-vaccinationists over at AoA have been so quiet lately that it's eerie.
Besides, we're entering the dog days of summer. Where I am, at least, it's hot, humid, and things are relatively slow. A break is clearly called for, and there's nothing that provides an amusing break from the boredom of one's daily existence than a bit of woo. So I mosied on over to the first site that I found that dealt with biophoton ionizers and checked it out. I was not disappointed. First, let's check out Photonic Water Systems. I love this part in particular, which happens to be right on the front page of the website:
After hundreds of years spent studying the nature of matter, physicists can now demonstrate that everything in our world is made of molecules that are made of atoms that are made of subatomic bits of energy endlessly vibrating at different frequencies. These units of energy carry information. That information interacts with the information of our cells in either beneficial or damaging ways.We now know that the photonic energy carried by Nature's original, living water is far more important than the particulates it may contain. In fact, revitalizing water to its creative state not only inactivates harmful pathogens and chemicals, it does so by removing the memory they leave behind.
Photon energy is light energy, and when the frequency of light is present, life is enhanced and optimized. We are re-entering the era of light because we're now able to detect, understand and photograph what has been there for us all along.
Ah, water woo! There's little that matches it in terms of pure refreshment. Let's see what they appear to be saying here. Scientists have figured out that everything is made of molecules, which are made of atoms, which vibrate at different frequencies. Cool! But it's obviously more than that. These little atoms carry information, you see! Yeah, that's the ticket. It's even more than that. The information makes the water living, even though it's not, at least not really. But we woo-meisters say it's living because it sounds so much cooler to imagine the water as being more than simply two hydrogen atoms bound to an oxygen atom. You know, I think the purveyors of Biophotonic Water (or whatever) are confusing the fact that water is essential to life with imbuing the water itself with life. This video tells the tale:
I like how this video appears to be called "Insights." Viewing it, I wondered if it would be better referred to as "Deep Thoughts" sans Jack Handey. In any case, in the video a guy named Adam Abraham begins the video by informing us that "the majority of the water" we drink "has very little life in it." He then informs us that water is a "living substance." He even claims that it's not the "inert liquid stuff" that we've supposedly grown used to seeing. I'm not even sure what that means, but let's go with it for a minute, particularly the bit about water "rebelling." I wonder if water ever "rebels" against homeopaths who sprad misinformation about what it does in the form of claiming that it has "memory" that it doesn't.
So, if our water is crap, what is the solution? Apparently something called "structured water." According to Adams, structured water is "loving" water that has life in it, that has "biophotons" in it. Apparently, biophotons are "living light." Now, I don't know about you, but I normally don't hear the term "living light" outside of various evangelical churches. "Living light" is the sort of thing that Jesus is supposed to bring us, or at least so I've been taught. Apparently I was wrong, though, because somehow water can bring living light to us as well in the form of biophotons. But what are biophotons? Clayton Nolte, George Clark, and Adam Abraham are more than happy to tell us. They describe biophotons thusly:
Biophotons are tiny emissions of light that are produced and utilized by all living things. When we eat a green plant, for example, we ingest the biophotons created with the Sun's energy, used and stored by the plant as it grew to maturity. We, in turn, store these biophotons in the DNA of our cells, to be utilized to orchestrate the 100,000 chemical reactions that take place in each of our sixty trillion cells every second. Biophotons communicate with all of the cells in our bodies instantaneously, at the speed of light, in a synchronous wave of energy that creates a perfect harmony.1
I thought the reference at the end was a nice touch of woo. It made it seem as though there was actual...science there! Then I looked up the reference:
The Field, by Lynne McTaggart
Lynne McTaggart? Oh, dear. McTaggart is a person who believes our thoughts can heal the world and runs a website telling us as much. That website is in and of itself a suitable target for YFDoW, but that would require a whole new post and would distract me from the fine water woo that we have right here right now. After all, what's all this "living water," anyway? We need something to actually do with it, and there again the Woo-meisters Three don't disappoint:
Life's information carrier, water, retains a memory of everything it has been exposed to and every place it has been. Those memories are released naturally through the full hydrological cycle, which begins when water evaporates from the oceans and forests, spiraling upward to form clouds. When it returns as rain, some of the water is retained by vegetation, some swirls and vortexes down streams and rivers, most of it sinks into groundwater aquifers, where it acquires the electromagnetic negative charge of the Earth. The heat of the Earth's interior vaporizes the water and it again begins to rise.The deep roots of mature trees pull up the negatively charged water together with its complement of dissolved minerals and trace elements to feed the trees. Eventually the "trees act as biocondensers, harmonizing the positive energy from the Sun with the negative energy of the Earth. As a result, the evapo-transpiration from the leaves of the trees is a balanced, creative energy."
Let's see. If water retains the memory of everything to which it's been exposed and every place it's been, does it retain the memory of all the piss and poo that's been in it? Does it retain the memory of all the chemicals it's been in contact with? Does it retain the memory of all the decomposing matter it's been in contact with? How many creatures die in the water and decompose there? It's the same problem as homeopathy, in which homeopaths somehow ascribe a mystical ability of water to remember only the good bits and forget all the nasty bits it's been in contact with. In fact, if you believe this website, biophotonic water is nothing short of magical:
- Essential nutrients become more bioavailable to humans, animals and plants with an increase in oxygen and hydration
- It neutralizes harmful bacteria, pollutants and toxins
- Less soap or detergent is needed when washing hair or laundry
- It removes existing calcium and aragonite deposits to produce spotless dishes and car washes
- It prevents and removes corrosion, increasing the life span of pipes, hot water heaters, dishwashers, swamp coolers, ice makers, and other appliances
- It improves aerobic bacterial activity in all septic and sewage systems with the addition of oxygen
- It removes the need for periodically acid-washing a swimming pool
I particularly like the bit about how biophotonic water supposedly "improves aerobic bacterial activity in all septic and sewage systems with the addition of oxygen." Well, duh! Add oxygen, and of course the activity of aerobic bacteria will increase! You don't need to run your water through your woo-device to accomplish this, but it shure does sound cooler to say it does. It's also much better for profits to tell people that you need your device in order to infuse your water with all this "energy."
Users of this device, not surprisingly, eat this woo up and fall into the favored quack concept that somehow "acid" is responsible for all disease and "alkaline" water will cure disease:
At one time, drinking high alkaline water sounded like a viable way to raise the overall pH of the body. This was especially important when I learned that the vast majority of chronic and acute disease pathologies are accompanied by an inner ecological imbalance that is biased to the side of acidity. Interesting that most allopathic treatment methods and protocols bias the body toward acidity, as they rely on blockers, inhibitors, suppressors, and synthetic chemicals, which have no instructional corollaries in the human DNA. In addition, the intention behind these products influences the cells' interpretation. The body naturally will take what it needs of any informational signatures in the water, to sustain life, or the individual's perception of what is possible and probable for that individual. In other words, we are very important influencing factors as to what works in the body (or not), and how it works (or not). This factor is rarely taken seriously, if ever, in most discussions about healing because we're not yet clear on why we might create and maintain our diseases, and most people don't even want to hear it.
Ah, nothing like a bit of acid-base alkaline woo to tart up your water woo. In fact, the entire paragraph above is little other than science-y sounding word salad in which water is imbued with "informational signatures" where the author appears to have no clue what the term even means. It's even more than that, though. Not only is water supposedly alive, but it's intelligent, too.
Because that's just what I want: Intelligent water. One wonders if the water will be pissed off if it's drunk and then peed out.
Of course, Biophotonic Water Systems isn't the only biophotonic water woo out there. There's competition. There's always competition. For example, if you want to distinguish yourself and emphasize that your water is living, then name your device LLiving Water:
Specially tuned geometry creates an energy environment for water to structure itself. This gives water a lower surface tension and better hydrating properties. This geometric technology breaks up large low energy water molecule clusters into smaller high energy clusters. This innovative technology eliminates negative energy patterns (sometimes called the memory of water) and redefines the water's natural healthy energy pattern. Structured water allows us to imprint through the DNA and RNA the knowledge of its secret blueprint and help one to become balanced in the universe.
Now, they're talking! I want my water's negative energy patterns removed...Hold on! Wait a minute! Don't homeopaths go to great lengths to make sure that the water's memory is activated, that it "remembers" the remedies the homeopaths want it to remember? Isn't that the whole reason they give for all the succussion steps between each serial dilution? Supposedly vigorously shaking somehow "potentizes" the water, imbuing it with the memory of whatever remedy it's been in contact with, or so homeopaths tell us.
The passage above does suggest an experiment to me, though. Can the Living Water, when applied to a homeopathic remedy, erase the memory of water? Whose woo will be stronger, that of the homeopaths or that of the purveyors of "structured water" woo? I proposed a randomized, double-blind clinical trial of a homeopathic remedy versus plain water (I know, I know, it's redundant) versus the same homeopathic remedy treated with the Living Water woo machine. Which one will the homeopathic remedy treated with the Living Water woo machine most resemble? Whose woo will reign supreme, that of the homeopaths or that of the water woo machine?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Medicine & Health
Comments
Hmm... I like Living water... but I also like Homeopathy! Which one is better? There is only one way to find out!
Woo-fiiiiight!
Waterpistols at ten paces?
Posted by: Truckle | July 30, 2010 8:17 AM
Ford: It's unpleasantly like being drunk.
Arthur: What's so unpleasant about being drunk.
Ford: You ask a glass of water.
Looks like Douglas Adams had it right in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Posted by: lynxreign | July 30, 2010 9:13 AM
Okay, I'm so quote-mining you, Orac.
"Apparently, biophotons are "living light." Now, I don't know about you, but I normally don't hear the term "living light" outside of various evangelical churches. "Living light" is the sort of thing that Jesus is supposed to bring us, or at least so I've been taught."
Man, that's easy. I'm off to get a job with the Disco 'Tute now!
New-age science woo vs. religion. That's a fight I'd pay to see.
Posted by: Sivi | July 30, 2010 9:47 AM
But you see, water *is* magic.... if you're talking about real estate values. Looking at prices along the CA (and NJ) coast recently, as well as those over-looking the Hudson, I can assure you that this is true.
Posted by: Denice Walter | July 30, 2010 9:50 AM
Personally, the less alive my water is, the better. One bout of giardia was enough for me.
Posted by: AnneS | July 30, 2010 9:51 AM
It's striking how close this is to accurate (the wrongest thing in it is that not everything is molecular, and even that could be forgiven as a bit of simplification). I personally find it quite fascinating to compare woo that starts out reasonable and then goes off the rails, versus woo that STARTS way off in left field.
Posted by: Scott | July 30, 2010 9:55 AM
It works! I mixed a quart of living water with a quart of 30C homeopathic remedy, and I got pure water, indistinguishable from normal tap water.
Posted by: Mu | July 30, 2010 10:04 AM
I had to read almost all of this out loud to my husband, because it was too funny not to share right away.
I love how the purveyors of this most certainly overpriced water expect people to use it to wash their cars and fill their swimming pools. And how is it possible to alter the pH of water without adding something else to it? I'll bet those swimming pools will be just as green and disgusting after a few weeks as any other pool filled with untreated regular water. I'll just sit on the side and sunbathe, thank you very much!
Posted by: Alison | July 30, 2010 10:33 AM
I think it would be nice to send "Carol" a return email with links to these threads.
Posted by: Happy Camper | July 30, 2010 10:42 AM
I drank water out of a pond and found that it had life in it. Some allopath made me take Flagyl to kill all the life. Those evil allopaths.
Posted by: Rich | July 30, 2010 10:47 AM
"Biophotons are tiny emissions of light"
I find if my water glows in the dark, it is better NOT to drink it
Posted by: BKsea | July 30, 2010 10:48 AM
Credit where credit is due: since we've been hearing crazy ideas about the "memory of water", it's the first time I read that this memory can store bad things and must be reased from time to time. Silly, perhaps, but commendably logical.
Posted by: Christophe Thill | July 30, 2010 10:49 AM
Wait. It reduces scale, decreases soap use and removes calcium?
It's a magical water softener!
Does the Culligan man know about this?
Posted by: Laura | July 30, 2010 10:50 AM
Now that is funny.....
Posted by: DPSisler | July 30, 2010 10:50 AM
All water glows in the dark. Not necessarily continuously or perceptibly by the human eye, but it does.
This would actually be an excellent physics exam question - name as many reasons water glows in the dark as you can. For myself, three come immediately to mind
1. Cherenkov radiation, e.g. from cosmic ray muons.
2. Black-body radiation.
3. Radioactive decays.
And I could probably come up with more if I thought longer. If we limit it to the visible spectrum, #1 is most significant (by some elastic definition of "significant").
Posted by: Scott | July 30, 2010 11:01 AM
So things like beta-carotene, Vitamin A and C, various antioxidants, are really biophotons? Or biophotons in disguise? Or do carrots and other root vegetables not count as green plants, and are actually absorbing the negative energy of the earth? So many questions, so little time.
Posted by: Daniel J. Andrews | July 30, 2010 11:13 AM
I wonder what bizarre explanation the woo-meisters will come up with to explain what the difference between a 'biophoton' (defined by them as tiny emissions of light) and a plain ol' regular standard-model photon.
Posted by: Composer99 | July 30, 2010 11:17 AM
When it returns as rain, some of the water is retained by vegetation, some swirls and vortexes down streams and rivers,...
This is almost poetic, but that doesn't make it science.
Posted by: Ahistoricality | July 30, 2010 11:33 AM
Denice is so right . . . water IS real estate value magic. It's amazing!
This installment of FDOW is hilarious . . . thanks Orac!!!
Posted by: DonZilla | July 30, 2010 11:33 AM
Raise pH?! Do they even know how hard it is to do that because of the buffer system in our blood? Good look drinking the concentrated sodium hydroxide.
Posted by: IBY | July 30, 2010 11:37 AM
I meant luck, not look in the post above. :)
Posted by: IBY | July 30, 2010 11:43 AM
Paraphrasing Lisa Simpson: I know all of those words, but that phrase makes no sense.
Posted by: Robin | July 30, 2010 1:09 PM
various types of food spiritualism seems to be a popular form of woo these days.
Posted by: Shasta | July 30, 2010 1:15 PM
Just for fun, I googled "instructional corollaries" (with the quotes.
Posted by: clairedammit | July 30, 2010 1:16 PM
"Interesting that most allopathic treatment methods and protocols bias the body toward acidity, as they rely on blockers, inhibitors, suppressors, and synthetic chemicals, which have no instructional corollaries in the human DNA."
Vitamin C must be *really* bad for me. It's acidic AND my DNA lacks the instructions to make it. Down with Vit C!
Posted by: Nox | July 30, 2010 1:23 PM
There is a bottled water product on the market that for a while was claiming that it specifically arranged the water molecules so that the drinker would be hydrated much more quickly than when drinking normal water. I don't remember the name of the product, but someone purchased a case of it and tested it against tap water. They presented their results at James Randi's first Amazing Meeting (TAM1). Surprise, surprise, there was no surprise.
Posted by: PsyberDave | July 30, 2010 1:36 PM
I like the part about, "...breaks up large low energy water molecule clusters into smaller high energy clusters."
Aren't large low energy water molecule clusters also known as "ice"? And to break them up all you have to do is heat them.
Posted by: TomC | July 30, 2010 1:53 PM
@TomC
...Without clicking on the links, I could totally see this as a Sokal-type thing for a water heater.
Posted by: Sivi | July 30, 2010 2:00 PM
I'm not so sure all those photons are actually biophotons. I suspect a good many of them are actually "bio-curious" photons.
Posted by: The Gregarious Misanthrope | July 30, 2010 2:05 PM
Hey, what's this now? If they're going to drag in the New Thought version of disease -- that all our medical problems are self-created, the result of negative thinking and/or teaching ourselves valuable life lessons -- then they can't blithely go on and try to sell some fancy-pants machine which is supposed to help us by changing things in the environment, like water. You just have to believe, and anything is possible.
If we "create and maintain our diseases," then we don't need no stinkin' biophoton ionizer. We just need to do some seriously intense soul searching -- which, I'm sure, would require an even more awesome machine.
Posted by: Sastra
| July 30, 2010 2:22 PM
here, i fixed the biophoton explanation. it is a mucher sciencier explanation now.
Biophotons bioare biotiny bioemissions bioof biolight biothat bioare bioproduced bioand bioutilized bioby bioall bioliving biothings. bioWhen biowe bioeat bioa biogreen bioplant, biofor bioexample, biowe bioingest biothe biophotons biocreated biowith biothe bioSun's bioenergy, bioused bioand biostored bioby biothe bioplant bioas bioit biogrew bioto biomaturity.
Posted by: rob | July 30, 2010 2:43 PM
More comedy gold : "Some People Are Simply too Self-Deceived to Know They Are Ignorant"; 7/29/10 ( Mercola.com). Dr. Mercola discusses the Dunning Kruger effect.
Posted by: Denice Walter | July 30, 2010 2:59 PM
Google Soul will do it for free, as long as you accept the targeted spirit-ads.
Posted by: Blake Stacey | July 30, 2010 3:47 PM
I looked into one of these amazing water machines and what they are supposed to do is separate the positively charged water [acidic - bad] from the negatively charged water [basic - good]. They use some sort of device that separates a single stream of normal water into two - a positively charged stream on one side [to attract the OH-] from the negatively charged stream [H3O+]. This is accomplished with a simple electronic device that has + and - polarity. Then they do a simple pH color test to show that it works.
This is supposed to change the structure of supramolecular groupings of water molecules so that they can do magical things like cross cell membrane barriers much faster and more quickly transport dissolved substances.
Posted by: natural cynic
| July 30, 2010 4:01 PM
Tom Robbins in "Another Roadside Attraction" had a character theorize that animals were invented by water as a means of transporting itself from place to place.
If water is intelligent, perhaps he was onto something.
Posted by: A'Llyn | July 30, 2010 4:17 PM
natural cynic #34 wrote:
I admit it, I'm impressed. If you're describing it correctly (and I think you're usually reliable), then that's the first piece of woo I've seen which considers "positive" to be bad, and "negative" to be good. Usually, no matter what they're talking about, it's the other way around (e.g. "positive vs. negative energy").
I don't think I have to explain why I think they do this. It's not the science.
If I was into woo, I would want only positively-charged water. Screw acidity. Negativity is bad for you. Everyone knows this. Sheesh. I'm amazed they sell any of those things, with lousy marketing strategies like that.
Posted by: Sastra
| July 30, 2010 4:44 PM
@nox
If Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is bad, think how crazy bad Omega-3 fatty acids produced by fish must be. Those fish are perpetrating a fraud by turning alkaline water into some acids.
Posted by: clayton | July 30, 2010 4:45 PM
Orac, you ignorant sarcastic idiot.
And some of the rest of the commentators are the usual sheep.
baahh baah baaahhh
Posted by: Concerned Citizen | July 30, 2010 4:45 PM
Woo troll defends woo.
Posted by: Ty | July 30, 2010 5:03 PM
Rob @31
That's a LOT of compelling science in that paragraph. Think I'll skip the monthly installments and just send you all of my money.
Posted by: Little_Ruru | July 30, 2010 5:06 PM
Dear @Concerned Citizen,
Your concern is duly noted. As you look at the hand, where a finger points, you should take note of those three pointing back at you. Dus though even comprehend the meaning of ignorance or is it the art of charlatanism that Orac is ignorant of? Perhaps you like expensive magic machines to help you sleep better at night in this big scary world, what ever floats your boat. FYI that would be Archimedes' Principle, not the life giving properties of the water.
Posted by: clayton | July 30, 2010 5:41 PM
@Truckle #1: Read the post again. Living Water trumps all Homeopathy because the biphotons can erase the water's memory, thereby nullifying the homeopathic remedy. On top of that, Living Water is obviously the best choice for creating a homeopathic remedy because it allows the homeopath to create a remedy which only has a memory of the condition it's meant to cure (and presumably a memory of being succussed - but maybe the succusion is violent enough for the water to forget what happened).
Posted by: MadScientist | July 30, 2010 5:57 PM
@natural cynic #34: I'd just like to point out the difference between that cock and bull story about the 'charge' of water and reality. Basic and acidic water, though full of ions, has no net charge. Every positive ion has its negative counterpart. Pure water always has both positive ions (H+) and negative ions (OH-) which are in equilibrium and this equilibrium defines the neutral pH value of 7.0.
There is an experiment done in chemistry classes (well, I think it should be done in all good chemistry classes) demonstrating ion mobility in water. An electric current is applied to a pair of electrodes at the ends of a capillary tube; the tube is filled with an acidic solution with a pH indicator and you can track the migration of the H+ ions by measuring the position of the color boundary in the pH indicator. I wonder if that's the experiment which the quacks use in their demonstration (it is also possible that the quacks just make stuff up and don't perform any such experimental demonstration at all). Keep in mind that even as the ions migrate through the water, no part of the water has a net charge - there are always accompanying counter-ions. The counter ion does not necessarily contribute to the pH measurement since only H+ and OH- are used to define pH. A non-neutral solution would necessarily have ions other than H+ and OH-. For example, hydrochloric acid (HCl) in water will provide H+ and Cl- ions making the solution acidic (low pH), and the Cl ions do not count at all toward the pH value.
Posted by: MadScientist | July 30, 2010 6:20 PM
I once shared an oceanfront house with a fellow who was seriously into woo. He used to buy a salt-replacement product called "Cea" which he sprayed on his food. Looking at the label, the bottle contained just plain seawater but he wouldn't walk across the beach to refill it! At
$2.87 for 100ml, someone was making an obscene profit.
Posted by: CapnRon | July 30, 2010 7:29 PM
@26 - penta water? also, there is some homeopathic woo that makes ordinary water absorbed more efficiently into the nervous system. And then there's my former friend who drank kangen water, says, "my SCIO analysis says I am 100% hydrated now!" and I ask him, so do you feel any different? and he has no idea.
Posted by: arjuna79 | July 30, 2010 8:13 PM
Personally, I blame Fritjof Capra.
Posted by: The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge | July 30, 2010 8:56 PM
Hi Orac; I assume you've seen this story about a San Diego infant who died of pertussis. There have been a record number of cases there this year, and infants whoa re too young to be vaccinated are suffering from the lack of herd immunity. http://www.fox5sandiego.com/news/kswb-baby-dies-from-whooping-cough,0,1588182.story
Posted by: Wehaf | July 30, 2010 11:55 PM
The granddaddy of water woo would probably be something like Paracelsus' Archeus of Water
Posted by: A. Nuran
| July 31, 2010 1:47 AM
I was very confused until I realized that I can apparently only see "biphoton" where "biophoton" is written. I was wondering what having two photons was supposed to do! Hazard of being a physicist...
Posted by: Joseph | July 31, 2010 8:48 AM
I once shared an oceanfront house with a fellow who was seriously into woo. He used to buy a salt-replacement product called "Cea" which he sprayed on his food. Looking at the label, the bottle contained just plain seawater but he wouldn't walk across the beach to refill it! At
$2.87 for 100ml, someone was making an obscene profit.
I looked up Cea - it's still being sold to idiots. It's supposedly seawater from around Australia's Great Barrier Reef, which is (apparently) much cleaner than your average mucky polluted seawater; additionally Cea-water is "purified and energised using our unique process of microfiltration, flow-form oxygenation and ozonisation".
Obviously so much better than water from your nearest beach! How on earth did humans ever survive before this wonderful product was invented?
Posted by: sophia8 | July 31, 2010 1:59 PM
That's right Greg'anthrope @29,
It's all part of Mike Adams' and Joe Francis' new DVD series, Photons Gone Wild Vol. 3: Bio-Curious and Bad!
Operators are standing bi . . . o
Posted by: Pareidolius | July 31, 2010 5:44 PM
Robin wrote:
My desobfuscator suggests the following translation: "the guy writing the fortune cookies is underpaid."
Context is all, as they say.
Posted by: Andreas Johansson | August 1, 2010 7:02 AM
@MadScientist
It's been a long time since I studied electro-chemistry, but I have to believe it's possible to place a net charge on a container of water, just like it's possible to place a charge on a piece of metal. Say you were to run water through an electric field - in that field, the positively charged ions would migrate towards one pole, the negatively charged ions towards the other. If you were to divert the more "positive" portion of the water from the stream, you'd be left with water deficient in H+, Ca++, Na+, and other such ions and heavier in chloride, carbonate, sulfate, and hydroxide ions. This should have a net charge, at least until it comes out of the electric field and reacts with the surrounding pipes or other environment.
Of course, I haven't tried this and haven't heard of a commercial water softener working on these principles.
You are correct, of course, that under normal circumstances acid or basic solutions have no net charge.
Posted by: Mephistopheles O'Brien | August 1, 2010 12:05 PM
"When we eat a green plant, for example, we ingest the biophotons created with the Sun's energy, used and stored by the plant as it grew to maturity. [edit] to be utilized to orchestrate the 100,000 chemical reactions that take place in each of our sixty trillion cells every second."
So biophotons are carbs?
Posted by: stripey_cat | August 1, 2010 5:11 PM
I wonder if 'living water' creates an ethical conundrum for woo-inclined vegetarians?
Posted by: Wren | August 1, 2010 7:59 PM
"I particularly like the bit about how biophotonic water supposedly "improves aerobic bacterial activity in all septic and sewage systems with the addition of oxygen.""
I thought that septic sytems were supposed to be anerobic. Surely adding oxygen would stop 'em from working? Rather like misguided people that put disinfectant in the septic tank.
Posted by: Paul Murray | August 1, 2010 10:26 PM
Denice @ 32,
"More comedy gold : "Some People Are Simply too Self-Deceived to Know They Are Ignorant"; 7/29/10 ( Mercola.com). Dr. Mercola discusses the Dunning Kruger effect."
You're right; I've been lol'ing at this for the last 10 minutes. PRICELESS!
Posted by: Allie | August 1, 2010 11:02 PM
Biophotons are tiny emissions of light that are produced and utilized by all living things. When we eat a green plant, for example, we ingest the biophotons created with the Sun's energy, used and stored by the plant as it grew to maturity.
I'm always surprised at how Manicheanism sneaks into a lot of new age woo. Mani is a super sneaky prophet! I bet hardly any of these people even know who he was. But this is definitely a page out of his playbook. Though the Elect were actually fruititarians and thought that drinking water was bad because it was "mere matter". Only fruit and fruit juice had sufficient 'vital light'.
Posted by: Stacey C. | August 2, 2010 2:57 PM