…and this is a 
Quacks have no shame, but once reputable science and engineering magazines should have some vestiges of it. Popular Science magazine will take money from anyone for the ad revenue, as Cyde Weys demonstrates with a scan of an ad for energized water. It will cure cancer and diabetes, and kills bacteria. It's crazy and stupid.
Your blood is 94% water and billions of people flush their diseases along with medication into the ground water 4-5 times/day and it ends up at a faucet somewhere. If you have well water and people in the area have cancer, you have a good chance of getting cancer! S.D. Woman: "All around me they have MS, but they all drink pure water from ordinary distillers, filters, ozonators, reverse osmosis and alkaline water machines. The water is pure, why do they have MS?" People in the area with MS flush their diseases into the ground water and you pump the water up to your faucet, proving that the products don't work!
Wow. So much stupid packed into so few words. It's an ad that relies on ignorance to generate fear and hysteria so people will buy their product: cancer (with some exceptions) and multiple sclerosis aren't infectious diseases that you catch from your water. And how about this?
How about the AIDS dentist on CBS 60 Minutes? They all use pure water along with 4,000 dentists surveyed, and yet their purest water can't even kill pathogenic bacteria! Ours does!
Those dentists! Those bastards! They're all out to give you AIDS unless they use our magic water!
It has to be seen to be believed. It's plain ol' snake oil sold with a full page ad in Popular Science.
Comments
Posted by: Jared | December 30, 2006 9:41 AM
People have to be more careful about their precious bodily fluids!
Posted by: CortxVortx | December 30, 2006 9:49 AM
Oho! Check out the "disclaimer" on the clip-out coupon: "I understand the information you are providing is for educational purposes only. As stated above, this information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. In all health-related situations, qualified healthcare professionals should always be consulted." The very same "qualified healthcare professionals that the ad trashes.
Always read the fine print.
Especially if you're gullible.
Posted by: James Orpin | December 30, 2006 10:09 AM
Read the testimonials on the website: it makes criples walk, turns grey hair dark, helps with weight loss, makes plants grow! Can it turn water into wine though?
Posted by: James Orpin | December 30, 2006 10:15 AM
Also on their site under wisdom (no irony detected). They describe how there is less oxygen in water nowadays so the molecules are smaller so it can't hold as many electrons. Apparently in the past water was larger and charged "potentially explaining the incredible ages mentioned in the BIBLE!"
Posted by: non imm us | December 30, 2006 10:23 AM
If I'm understanding the rant correctly, it sounds like they want diabetics to stop taking advice from their doctors and rely solely on magic water. If so, they're fucking murderers and should be hanged, right next to Kevin Trudeau.
Posted by: Jim in STL | December 30, 2006 10:29 AM
Wowser. I see a great opportunity here. I've been trying to think of a way to market my new product, Hydration® Shell Enhancer in a Bottle, but haven't locked into anything yet. I can see it now.....
"Don't settle for unprotected hydrogen bond angles. Protect your investment by locking in your extra 10% angles using our new miracle Hydration® Shell Enhancer in a Bottle. Ensure a special protective shell around each and every one of your special little molecules and lock in the freshness. All this for the low one time cost of just $29.95 per month's supply.
"Be the first one in you desease-ridden neighborhood to get your own protective Hydration® shells - think of the precious children. And remember, leading researchers agree.
"Hydration® Shell Enhancer in a Bottle - guaranteeing Hydration® shells since 2006. Now with 10% more Hydration® enhancement."
Posted by: Umilik | December 30, 2006 10:34 AM
Wow, those testimonials rock.
Has anyone tried to walk on this stuff ?
Posted by: Elia Diodati | December 30, 2006 10:37 AM
I saw this one in the Poor Farmer's Almanac 2006 too. But seeing it in a popular science magazine? Wow...
Posted by: Scott Hatfield | December 30, 2006 10:39 AM
On a similar note, Discover magazine readers have been for the last several months treated to full-page ads for a belief system based upon the teachings of the late Richard Weatherill. The ads purport to offer access to a 'Natural Law' of human behaviour analogous to other laws of nature as discovered by science.
I've always like Discover, but it's contents have been noticeably mixed sinced it was acquired by Bob Guccione, Jr. In particular, the articles seem to be shorter and have less substance. It's tone also seems altered: there seems to be a deliberate attempt to appeal to the Wired crowd....SH
Posted by: lo | December 30, 2006 10:42 AM
ads... well yeah they too gotta live off of something. Why do you think hardly any educational material is aired in the US. The reason is because the networks do not wanna loose their religiously indoctrinated audience in the children and adult category. So they could only loose millions if they ever dare to air material that is of completely superficial and ambiguous in its message, or even worse fringe or pseudoscience.
Besides the fact that those people prolly do not even realize that the angle is ultimately dependent upon the state the water molecule is in. Nothing in nature is fixed. The kinetic energy of the water molecule itself is distributed to its three degrees of freedom one of which is bending and depends upon the kinetic energy of the molecule.
Also the info found on the linked page is inaccurate since this person does not realize that the angle is not exactly 104.5 - especially not for water molecules found at room temperature, which constantly bend. Also water is not as simple as one would imagine. For instance H+ is actually an umbrella class for alls sorts of cationic water species like H3O+, H5O2+, H7O2+,.... Water itself is constantly exchanging hydrogen atoms in protonation and deprotonation processes. It`s elctronic structure as a solvent is vital to the understanding of all biochemical processes due to the electrical forces acting between the atoms, described by quantum physics and incorporated for our convenience in all those molecular simulation / modeling programs. So the reality of water and other molecules is of course far more interesting and complex than one learns in his initial years of chemistry.
But i am digressing. How we treat knowledge is kinda distasteful since we define ourselves from our species through knowledge, imparting it to the next generation. It is what defines mankind and we should cherish this.
----
I am pretty sure i could sell "energized water" in america under this "name" and win a legal suit just by the mere claim that i made sure that the water is warmer than when it originally came out of the faucet, from gods wells - who also carries out the quality control.
Posted by: Coragyps | December 30, 2006 11:11 AM
Jim in STL: you could modify your advertising for use in the Christian Bookstore market - "Jesus personally holds each of these H-O-H angles at 114 degrees just for His Elect!!!"
Posted by: xeric | December 30, 2006 11:13 AM
Reminds me of the "Tachyon Water" scam which has been around for a few years. Nothing like selling magic water to rubes. Low overhead and there's one born every minute.
http://www.tachyon-energy-products.com/internals/superconductor_water.htm
Posted by: DavidByron | December 30, 2006 11:54 AM
Wow. So much stupid packed into so few words.
Or as my wife would say, "Now I have to have a shower to wash the stupid off me". Everyone knows MS is spread by the fluctuations of the earths natural energies and magnetism ;)
Posted by: j | December 30, 2006 1:29 PM
Ugh, the exclamation marks, italics, bolded letters and large fonts are blinding me. I didn't understand the sentences about the AIDS dentist and pathogenic bacteria. Are they implying AIDS is caused by bacteria?
Posted by: Keith Douglas | December 30, 2006 1:48 PM
It is unbelievable how much crap gets sold and promoted about water. As I commented when a colleague showed me Emoto's nonsense - it isn't just a shame that someone is promoting something bogus, it is doubly so since there are many legitimate concerns about water (e.g. sharing it with those who need it, etc.)
Posted by: J. Ryan | December 30, 2006 1:54 PM
Wow! You read my mind, PZ! I read Popular Science, and I too was appalled at that ad (and 99.999% of the others). It's a shame.
Posted by: KL | December 30, 2006 2:05 PM
We educators are fighting a losing battle for the minds of the public. Today a columnist (who is a researcher at Vanderbilt) reported that a recent poll showed that 27% of Americans believe that there is already a cure for cancer and it is being kept from the public by a conspiracy of the medical community. Amazing, considering that doctors themselves suffer and die from diseases, too. Where do they get these crazy ideas, and why do they believe them? Perhaps logic, rationalism and skepticism should be taught in schools.
Posted by: Stuart Weinstein | December 30, 2006 4:59 PM
Come on PZ,
You know that dihyrdrogen monoxide is dangerous stuff.
So lets be careful here.
Stuart
Posted by: Cyde Weys | December 30, 2006 5:03 PM
Thanks for the link PZ. I get mildly pissed off when I see cigarette ads in magazines, but that doesn't even begin to compare with the anger this ad elicited. I *had* to scan it and share; if you didn't see it with your own eyes, you might not believe it.
Posted by: jeff | December 30, 2006 5:39 PM
www.dhmo.org
Posted by: dzd | December 30, 2006 6:08 PM
It kind of makes you pine for the days when popsci magazines just had ads for radio controlled flying saucers and Tesla coils.
Posted by: j | December 30, 2006 6:10 PM
That dihydrogen monoxide site is hilarious. Thanks, jeff.
Posted by: Orac | December 30, 2006 7:24 PM
Ack!
I've done pieces on water woo before, but it was always websites and altie publications. I never expected to see this sort of crap showing up in Popular Science!
Posted by: Orac | December 30, 2006 7:26 PM
Double Ack!
I just realized that this is the same guy whose water woo I dissected before!
Posted by: Inoculated Mind | December 30, 2006 10:43 PM
Apparently Dr. Guy E. Abraham M.D. Also peddles Colloidial Gold, and thinks that we should take over six times the currently held maximum dose of iodine (due to toxicity). Maybe if we could find some way of getting in touch with this quack? He is not at UCLA anymore, might be interesting to find out why.
Posted by: hugo | December 31, 2006 1:15 PM
"Water processed TRULY nature's way (God's way if you will) is "programmed" to respond this way. This is the water our Lord and nature wants you to have!"
I like how it cuts both ways, nature or God, whatever your affliction we want your money!!!
And why is it from God only after they processed it?
I'm speechless that even one human being would fall for this.
Posted by: peggy | January 1, 2007 3:38 AM
At least drinking the water won't hurt people, it'll only impoverish them.
Posted by: Chiron | January 1, 2007 4:33 AM
The harm isn't in someone drinking useless, but non-toxic water. It arises when people rely on an ineffective treatment instead of taking steps to have their illnesses treated by more proven methods. A diabetic taking distilled water instead of insulin is risking his health and life.
Posted by: melior | January 12, 2007 9:02 PM
Perhaps it's harmless, but the idea of selling gullible customers a cheaply made tin device that plugs into a wall socket while attached to a running faucet doesn't exactly sound like a liability-free corporate plan either.
The guy selling Mother Teresa prayer necklaces can get by on a smaller legal budget, I'd bet.
My favorite line from the ad:
You don't know where that water has been!!"
I don't know where the air I'm breathing has been either... but that must be a separate product.
Posted by: james rindfleisch | February 21, 2007 2:01 AM
I read with interest all the comments of fraud and deceit about water additives. There really are a lot of worthless products out there. I have come across a new product that seems to be real, but like you say "who knows". I have tried it and like it but I would value your opinions on this topic.
Could you check out H2O Blast and extreme H2O and give me your opinion? It is a brand new product. They claim there is no artificial sweeteners. It is all suppose to be natural. There is suppose to be a natural antioxidant potential of 800 ORAC units per gram (compared to 24 ORAC units per gram for blueberries) or a guaranteed 3000 ORAC units per servings with no calories plus it is suppose to helps make the body akaline and it tastes great. Just go to this web site(www.x2omovie.com/jandc83255)and get the information and let me know what you think. It's suppose to be a real breakthrough. 100% natural with a 0 glycemic index. It comes from a fruit extract from the coffee bean fruit that is generally thrown away when the bean is processed.
I await your comments.
Posted by: Gr8west | June 16, 2009 11:03 AM
I've stumbled across this site and read a few comments pounding the morals lacking of science magazines. They allow this kind of advertising by jackels selling health nodules and space reflections. The Bastards!
Let's be truthfull. Refusing to allow a manufactured product advertisement entry by deeming it unfit for consumption (the written word does bore the mind) only creates opportunity for "the lawsuit". So I suggest you sit back in your supple chair and smile the gifted grin you possess.
And remember - Buy Bonds!!!
Posted by: John Ellis | November 28, 2009 5:10 PM
P.Z. Myers should check out what is going on at his own University!! In an outreach program, the University of Minnesota monitored the first well that was ever done using my water with "before" and "after" tests. They used only 15 gallons of water on the well and the milk production on the dairy farm went up every month for a whole year! The printout is on my website. This helped to put us in business because since that time 1000's of wells have been done. A young girl in Ohio did over 200 wells and State Inspectors would shake their heads and pass them. This led to a Washington Post article about "cancer" etc and a description of my patents with 10,000 people/day going to obtain water because of the results (the article is on my website)! Dole Foods tested our water for 9 months and sent us a 7 page contract. The scientists at a multibillion dollar company and an M.D. that taught at the UCLA Medical School(blood flow) don't know what they are doing?? Remember that scientists can prove a bumble bee shouldn't be able to fly but it doesn't know that and flies anyway!
Best...John Ellis
Posted by: John Morales | November 28, 2009 5:28 PM
John @32, dunno about your magic water, but the bee flight thingie is a non-issue.
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | November 28, 2009 5:32 PM
It's just by chance that I even see your comment: it happened to be in the latest 10, and you didn't look like a spambot, so I decided to click. If you want a reaction, better post on a more recent thread rather than this three-year-old one.
Anyway...
All wrong. What the paper actually showed, and it said so, is that bumblebees can't fly like airplanes. And indeed they don't. They fly like hummingbirds... and in a way vaguely similar to that of helicopters, sort of.
Where do you get your knowledge from? Do you actually get any knowledge from anywhere...?
Posted by: john ellis | November 29, 2009 3:06 AM
The bumble thing is just a comment that indicates how stupid some "over educated" people really are! I knew Igor and and George Sikorski,sons of the inventor of the helicopter that you mention (above) when I graduated from the Choate School, so I know about helicopters. I was an aerospace engineer at Douglas Aircraft when I was only 24 years old, so I know about aerodynamics! One man that had seven patents including the "swept wing design" assigned to United Aircraft, bought my machine and he graduated from Choate. His son also bought a machine! Are these people really as dumb as you make us appear? Anybody knows that you can find comments on any side of an issue! I will be 80 years old in a few months and I know what I am talking about! How about 10,000 people/day etc. They are all dumb people...right! I can go on, after over 36 years in business, most of the naysayers are dead!Since experts say there are "too many people on the planet", maybe you will join them! Dah! It's not about bumblebees! Call me and I will help you save your life! One man wrote 11 "health books" with "all the answers"(sold in health food stores) that died of a massive heart attack at 62 or a nice man with a PHD that died of colon cancer in his 50's. "Opinions" are moronic!Do the blood flow tests done by UCLA etc! Best...John Ellis
Posted by: Owlmirror | November 29, 2009 4:07 AM
NB: John Ellis is the water-woo-meister (water-woo-mister?) mentioned in the links by Orac @#23/#24 above.
Quack?
Quack quack!!
I am genuinely sorry that you have early onset dementia.
Quack quack quaaaaack!
Quack!
Quack quack!?
Qua, Qua, Quack!
Posted by: AJ Milne OM
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November 29, 2009 4:30 AM
Well now, that was... entertaining...
(/Files under 'Holy stream of consciousness batshittery, Batman...')
Posted by: Knockgoats | November 29, 2009 4:38 AM
The bumble thing is just a comment that indicates how stupid some "over educated" people really are! - john ellis
Well you're certainly stupid, John, but I don't think anyone would accuse you of being over-educated. It really is extremely stupid to repeat an urban myth like "the bumble thing" in an effort to impress a highly educated and sceptical audience, many of whom will know that it is indeed a myth. Either you didn't know that, or you badly underestimated, and insulted, those you were addressing. Which is it?
Posted by: john ellis | November 29, 2009 5:23 AM
How about your educational background and YOUR TESTS done by UCLA or the blood test a man did recently on our website?? I stated, "opinions" are meaningless or can't you read? All you gave was an "opinion"! How about the results mentioned in an article by the Washington Post (10,000 people/day) on my website? Maybe it's a mistake to answer faceless people that won't give their true names. My water is available and you can perform the same blood tests done by a man on my website, UCLA M.D.'s or Dole Foods for example! Either do those tests or don't comment! If a young girl could do over 200 wells, are you really as dumb as your comments about a bumble bee? You proved my point! How about the most important thrust of my comments?? Otherwise, your name calling comments are meaningless. Best John
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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November 29, 2009 5:24 AM
Guys, we've go another Kwok here. He knows people and went to a famous high school.
Posted by: John Morales | November 29, 2009 5:33 AM
He was in Choate? :)
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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November 29, 2009 5:43 AM
LOL!
Posted by: john ellis | November 29, 2009 5:44 AM
You don't know the difference between a high school and a prep school and you say you are "educated"? Best...John
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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November 29, 2009 5:59 AM
The only difference is prep schools don't offer vocational courses and high schools do. I went to a prep, I know the difference.
People often brag about what university they went to but it takes a rather "unusual" person to brag about going to a specific high school. Combined with bragging about going to high school with the sons of someone, I'd say you were "unusual."
I say I'm educated because I have a graduate degree (from an Ivy League school). Can you say the same?