Links on Pseudoscience and Superstition

[Nullius In Verba Skeptic]

http://www.trivedifoundation.org/wellnes...sprograms/

This chap has blessings divided into group blessings, in-group blessings, in person blessings... webinars!!!

[Lije]

(14-Nov-2010, 11:39 PM)Lije Wrote: Apparently there was an ancient atomic war in India. As usual, this is supposed to be yet another glorious proof that the Vedic people knew everything. There is a lot of this stuff out there on the Internet and after some google fu, I found some evidence for the claims (by religious standards):

1. A book Riddles of Ancient History by some Russian called A. Gorbovsky apparently says something about radioactive skeletons and melted stones.
   
2. An atomic blast crater which is today's Lonar lake.
   
3. The Mahabharat
   

I couldn't find any other studies which corroborate this ancient nuclear war. I think this started out with the loonies who believe in UFOs/Ancient Aliens and was adopted by hindu apologists who have successfully mated it with the aforementioned Vimana Shastra.

Here's an article that debunks the claims of ancient atomic warfare - https://twitscope.wordpress.com/2008/07/...ent-india/

[arvindiyer]

Ajita's recent article on the myth of 'sound healing' in different religious traditions, led me to look for instances of another such myth that is prevalent across many different religions: healing waters.

It is not just homeopathy enthusiasts who insist on magical properties of water like the so-called 'memory of water'. In many religious traditions, water from ponds in shrines or from natural springs which may have some historical significance, is claimed to be, and more importantly, marketed, as a miracle cure. Here are some instances:

Catholicism (Lourdes) : The obvious statistical insignificance of the cure claim does not seem to deter believers. Watch this clip.

Mahayana Buddhism (Spring Temple) : Bottling and selling such water is good business. Watch this clip.

Islam (ZamZam) : There is no claim of a miracle cure here, but a claim that even presence of pathogens and carcinogens in this water does not harm the faithful.

Hinduism : As always, there are too many instances to count in this category. The 'temple tank' in several temples is supposed to have healing properties. A quick Google search yielded this instance.

The origins of these myths could be many: these may have been conserved from pagan traditions, maybe thought of as a victory of divine spirit over matter (here water) or as been proposed (controversially) in the case of the Delphic Oracle, the presence of psycho-active substances in the springs.

[Lije]

Speed of light is mentioned in the Vedas - http://nirmukta.net/Thread-Speed-of-ligh...e-it-wrong

Timlines of Hindu cosmology come close to those given by science - http://nirmukta.net/Thread-The-Science-o...-Cosmology

[karatalaamalaka]

John C. Baez, one of the great mathematics/physics popularizers of today had proposed some years ago, the tongue-in-cheek (yet serious) 'crackpot index', check it out here:

http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/crackpot.html

Sample:

Quote:he Crackpot Index

John Baez

A simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to physics:

A -5 point starting credit.
1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false.
2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous.
3 points for every statement that is logically inconsistent.
5 points for each such statement that is adhered to despite careful correction.
5 points for using a thought experiment that contradicts the results of a widely accepted real experiment.
5 points for each word in all capital letters (except for those with defective keyboards).
5 points for each mention of "Einstien", "Hawkins" or "Feynmann".
10 points for each claim that quantum mechanics is fundamentally misguided (without good evidence).
10 points for pointing out that you have gone to school, as if this were evidence of sanity....

[indianzeppelin]

This ridiculous claim - Dharbham - the holy grass

This guy is basically saying that Dharbham absorbs 60% of X-ray radiation and thus can absorb other "ill-radiations" in the atmosphere. This is cited as the reason behind its use in the form of a ring while performing various Vedic rituals, among other uses.

Of course, he provides no scientific evidence at all. Has anyone dissected this claim yet?

[Captain Mandrake]

(20-Jun-2013, 03:15 PM)indianzeppelin Wrote: This ridiculous claim - Dharbham - the holy grass

This guy is basically saying that Dharbham absorbs 60% of X-ray radiation and thus can absorb other "ill-radiations" in the atmosphere. This is cited as the reason behind its use in the form of a ring while performing various Vedic rituals, among other uses.

Of course, he provides no scientific evidence at all. Has anyone dissected this claim yet?

So the claim is that an artifact (ring?) made of dharbham leaf absorbed 60% of X-ray irradiated on it. The first question is what was the thickness of this artifact? Take any material and keep increasing its thickness and at some point it will cut off 60% of the x ray of a given energy irradiated on to it.

If you are comparing x ray absorption capability of different materials, then we should fix the thickness of the materials first. Then we should fix the energy of the x ray we are irradiating these samples with. Only then can we really do an apple to apple comparison. What you will find is that the sample that had the higher density (moles per volume) of heavy (higher atomic number) metals will be better at absorption of x rays because the only thing that determines the absorption of x rays is the atomic number (probability of absorption proportional to cube of the atomic number) of the elements in the sample. I suspect that the heavy metal concentration in dharbham leaf or any other leaf for that matter is going to be negligible. So you can safely assume that this leaf is pretty useless is absorbing x rays.

Ref: Check out the quote below from the Wikipedia on x rays http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/X-ray

Quote:The probability of a photoelectric absorption per unit mass is approximately proportional to Z 3 /E 3 , where Z is the atomic number and E is the energy of the incident photon.

PS: Read following from the link you provided.

Quote:While reciting the selective versus, they hold the Dharbham bunch in their hand and
placing the tip point of it over the vessel containing water. Thus the recited vibration values are absorbed by water in the vessel through the Dharbham.

Dharbham not only absorbs X-rays but also directs the vibration values from the recitals into the water. LOL!

[Poonguntan Cibi]

Biokinesiology