Rare earth magnets are sold as a fix or cure for everything!

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rotatepod
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Rare earth magnets are sold as a fix or cure for everything!

Post by rotatepod »

Have you seen those clamshell shaped magnets that are sold as a
subtitute for a water softener? The claim is that for $29.95 you
clamp this device to your incoming cold water line and your hard
water problems will go away.

The same gizmo is sold as a fuel line conditioner for your car.
With gas prices as high as they are, every gas powered vehicle
on earth would be loaded with magnets if they really increased
fuel economy.

Last but not least, flexible magnets are stitched into knee, elbow,
wrist, and every other kind of support brace. I've never tried a
support brace with magnets, but I know several people who have.
They claim that their injured joints healed faster.

A lot of folks are hauling in the cash selling magnets! Is it all
snake oil? Have there been any legitimate scientific studies
that prove or disprove all these weird claims about rare earth
magnets?
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MrAl
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Post by MrAl »

Hi there,

I have recently seen an ad on TV about this too. It says you can
buy magnets for your (get this... are you ready?) *ears* !!!!
Yes you heard that right ha ha. Now i dont remember what the
supposed cure was though because i was so struck by how dang
dumb that was that i didnt pay attention to the rest of the commercial.
I also cant believe what price they are getting for stuff like this.

I have never seen any scientific proof of any of this, except in motors,
where magnets work very well :smile:
There is the placebo effect however, in that if someone thinks they
are getting a cure it might help them somehow, and i believe there
are studies on this (not for magnets themselves that i know of though).
The kicker is, in most cases the real cure is not far off so if they
spend their money on that they will be more certain to get healing.
I guess when the cure isnt available people will try anything too.

In particular, i really dont believe the water softener one at all because
it would be much harder to take the stuff out of the water that can
be attacted to the magnet than just running it past a magnet, and
if it really did there would have to be some way to clean the old
particles out of it, or off of it. Also, many of the particles might
be oxides (and lots of calcium) which wont get attacted to the magnet
anyway so how could it remove them? Maybe if we had a set of those
magnets used for various scientific stuff (very very high flux fields) we
*might* see a 1 percent difference in the water content, but still there
would have to be a way to clean the old particles off of the magnet, and
the lack thereof would immediately tell us that it is not working.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
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haklesup
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Post by haklesup »

In the case of the magnets on the ear. The operating principal here is accupressure. Magnitism is just incidental to how the pressure is applied to the left earlobe. A small spring clip on you ear should have the same effect at much lower price and style.

In this case magnitism is a marketing magic word that immedietly lends a high tech feel to what would otherwise be just another bulid a better mouse trap competition (a better way to apply the ancient art of accupressure). Thats the kind of snake oil we have here.

Now its a certainty that a static magnetic field will polarize water molicules but unless you are in an MRI, the effect will be very local and short lived. However there is no clear evidence this polarization has any biological significance at all. One would expect such random treatments to occasionally yeild damaging results but universally a positive effect is always reputed (I see that as suspicious). I know if no side effects to an MRI either (excepting metal implants) or theriputic uses either.

I did recently see an ad for a vertanary clinic with a pulsed magnetic field tube which dogs could sit in and recieve therapy for sore joints etc. For animals, one would not need FDA approval. I'm not sure its effective or just snake oil for pets.
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MrAl
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Post by MrAl »

Hi again,

Hakle, i forgot where it was now but some scientists used an extremely
high magnetic field to levitate some small animals. The overall effect
is that they appear to float in space, but there seems to be no other
lasting effect once the experiment is terminated. This tells me that
there is no therapeutic value to magnetic fields.
LEDs vs Bulbs, LEDs are winning.
rotatepod
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Post by rotatepod »

Did you play with magnets when you were a kid?

I remember buying a small bottle of iron fillings and sprinkling
them on a sheet of paper. Dragging my magnet across the
bottom of the sheet caused the fillings to dance and move in
almost magical ways.

Despite our high tech culture, so few people have received a basic
education in physics, chemistry, engineering, etc.

I appreciate all your thoughtful replies.

Thanks guys.
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CeaSaR
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Post by CeaSaR »

Water conditioner? Hmm, I've never heard of that one!

Now the fuel conditioner I've read about back in the...?mid '70's? Anyway,
THAT one was supposed to align the fuel molecules prior to entering the
carburetor thereby enhancing fuel economy. ??? I could never figure that
out as the fuel had to go through a fuel filter and get mixed through that
violent vortex of venturi(s), intake runners and ports before even being
compressed and ignited. What alignment??

As for the body and magnetism, maybe they believe in the beneficial
effects of the sub-micro voltage induced in the blood as it passes through
the magnetic field. After all, our blood does contain iron! :lol: (So that's
how they power all those nano machines floating around in our Borg
bodies! :P ) I'd rather follow the line of thought of accupressure, as that is
much more plausible.

The iron filings and magnet are still being sold today as children's toys.
Usually it is packaged as the outline of a face covered with a plastic case
with the filings between, to which you can use a magnetic wand to
strategically place the filings to create "hair" anywhere you want it. The
kids just don't know what they are playing with until they are told by
someone who actually knows what it is. The sad part is, not many people
take the time to tell their kids, or even actually know what they are using.

CeaSaR
Hey, what do I know?
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dacflyer
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Post by dacflyer »

it all soundslike snake oil to me..:P
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haklesup
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Post by haklesup »

MrAl, I was thinking of the floating frogs too. It appears that it is biologically neutral since I have not seen reports of either super frogs or sick frogs but I also have not seen a report saying they were uneffected. So in my mind it is not yet a fact.

The general public is mostly aware of the invisible things like magnitism, electricity, mold, bacteria and viruses but few people understand them well. This leaves the door wide open to snake oil salesmen to use fear, hope and ignorance to take our money.

The only convincing application of magnetic feilds on the human body I am aware of is the ability of focused pulsed fields to disrupt thought in the brain. THese are not static fields but are very strong and brief.

Unfortunately if one of these theripies did actually have a benefit, I doubt its creators would spend much of thier profits to proove it.
Robert Reed
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Post by Robert Reed »

"Now the fuel conditioner I've read about back in the...?mid '70's? Anyway,
THAT one was supposed to align the fuel molecules prior to entering the
carburetor thereby enhancing fuel economy. ??? I could never figure that
out as the fuel had to go through a fuel filter and get mixed through that
violent vortex of venturi(s), intake runners and ports before even being
compressed and ignited. What alignment?? "

This sounds like something J.C.Whitneys would sell. Add this to their"supercharger" (Basically a muffin fan) that would bolt to the carburetor air horn intake and they would probably claim a 50 Horse Power increase :grin: .
pebe
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Post by pebe »

I can vouch for the water softener. I once lived in a very hard water area where it was necessary to descale the kettle once a week because of limescale buildup.

I bought one of these devices - Swedish made - after reading good reports of it.

Sure enough it worked. But not by softening the water in the normal way. Instead, when the kettle was boiled, the limescale came out of the water as a powdery precipitate on the surface. We never had to descale again.
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jollyrgr
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Post by jollyrgr »

I've seen or heard ads for the fuel line magnets, magenetic water softeners, medical magnets for stiff joints and arthritis.

There are stickers that you can apply to the back of your cell phone to increase signal strength both inbound and outbound.

Ever hear (no pun intended) of ear candling? You take this candle and light one end. The candle is hollow, cone shaped and the narrow end fits in your ear. The burning of the candle produces a "vacuum" that sucks ear wax out of your ear producing better hearing. They even cut open the candle to show what is removed. Inside you see a waxy dirty substance. Supposedly this comes from inside your ear.

Herbal treatments for both genders that increase the size of one particular area of each gender. (I wonder what would happen if men took the pills/herbs meant for women and vise versa? Would men wind up like Dolly Parton and women like John Holmes?)

Lock your keys in the car? Have power locks with remote key fob? Call someone at home, have them hold the key remote up to the phone. Hold your cell phone next to the car. The car will open {NOT}! I've even had people tell me they've done this and it works.

Carberuators can simply bolt on to any intake manifold of any car and take it from 20 MPG to 85 MPG or more. But the oil giants buy these up or eliminate the inventor.

There are science shows on Discovery and its related channels showing inventors with over unity devices made with WWII surplus electronic equipment. Government agencies come and take all of their equipment away. Strangely the inventors cannot duplicate their work even when provided with replacement equipment.

All of these fall under a special branch of science that it has its own name. This branch of science is known as pseudoscience. In this branch of science all of this works perfectly. But for some reason pseudoscientists must HIDE their work and methods so the big companies don't steal their work. Or should you criticize their work you are labeled a NON BELIEVER.
No trees were harmed in the creation of this message. But billions of electrons, photons, and electromagnetic waves were terribly inconvenienced!
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Janitor Tzap
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Post by Janitor Tzap »

Well...

Where I live the iron content is really bad in the well water.

Thus,
there are several companies that sell "Rust Removers", or "Iron Eaters" in my area.
Magnetic Iron Filters are available, as are standard Carbon Reverse Osmosis Systems.

As for the "Gas Magnets"....
BOGUS!!!
My father had a 73 Chrysler Newport.
440 V-8 Engine.
We had a bunch of Cow Magnets laying around, and some electrical tape.
So what the heck, we'd give it a try.
We taped the magnets around the gas line going to the carburetor.
We checked the gas mileage before and after adding the magnets.
It made no difference.

At first we thought we may have done it wrong.
So we untaped the magnets from the gas line and re-taped them with the
Magnets Poles S to S, and N to N around the gas line.
No difference.
There are stickers that you can apply to the back of your cell phone to increase signal strength both inbound and outbound.
BOGUS!!!
I still see those dumb things floating around the thrift stores.
I know of one person who was using them as a cheap RF-Shield.:lol:
This sounds like something J.C.Whitneys would sell. Add this to their"supercharger" (Basically a muffin fan) that would bolt to the carburetor air horn intake and they would probably claim a 50 Horse Power increase.
Oh, do you mean the "Cyclone Air Intake Adapter"?
It's suppose to mix the fuel better, and increase the air pressure to the cylinders.
Thus, increasing the gas mileage, and power.
BOGUS!!!
I've watched tests done by several Independent Television Stations,
and read Consumer Reports.
It does nothing!

If you put an actual "Supercharger" on the vehicle you would get more power, and somewhat better gas mileage.
But it could run you $2500 or more to upgrade the engine.:)


Signed:Janitor Tzap
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