by Joan Seth
In this article, we look at some really outrageous pseudo-scientific beliefs.
The Hutchinson Effect
In 1979, John Hutchinson purportedly introduced a new phenomena he claimed to have discovered, namely the Hutchinson Effect.
In his theory, he managed to demonstrate the levitation of various heavy objects and has posted videos and pictures of said effect. Hutchinson and many of his supporters claim that these phenomena arose from the Casimir Effect.
In reality, however, no other scientist (including sometimes Hutchinson himself) have managed to reproduce the phenomena in closed experiments.
Till date, he has not been able to provide absolute proof that the Hutchinson Effect exists, and thus, he has been deemed as a joke and have been subjected to ridicule in scientific circles.
Iridology
This is a medical technique which purports to be able to determine a cause of illness or state of general health through the retinal patterns in the patient's irises.
The general idea is that details in the iris demonstrate changes in the tissues of various organs in the body. A specific bodily condition will translate into a specific change in the patterns that appear on the iris.
However, medical practitioners have pointed out that the iris, in actual fact, does not undergo any changes throughout an individual's lifespan. The texture of an iris is a feature which developed during gestation and remains unchanged.
Other than changes brought about by glaucoma treatments, no evidence exists that shows that patterns in the iris changes. This phenomena is now the basis of iris recognition for identification purposes.
Phrenology
Phrenology is a theory that states that the personality traits of a human can be derived from the skull's shape. It was popular in the 19th century, but is now considered not to have any scientific basis and is considered a pseudo-science.
Introduced in 1796 by Franz Joseph Gall, Phrenology states that the brain was made up of 27 'organs' that influenced and created one's personality. Phrenologists run their fingers or palms over the patient's head to feel for indentations. With this information, the patient's character and temperament can be assessed.
Although Phrenology did introduced certain valid assumptions such as localization of mental processes in the brain (which has remained in modern nueroimaging techniques), through advances in neurological science, Phrenology has now been dismissed as a pseudo-science. Certainly if there is a bump on one's head, its more of a case that the person fell and hurt his head, then a case of a mental disorder.
Flat Earth Theory
Overall, this theory might sound quite a preposterous idea to many, but the Flat Earth Society, was started in 1956, and has survived till date with a reported membership of 60 people currently.
Proponents hold firm onto the belief that the Earth is a flat disk, rather than a sphere, and that Antarctica is an ice wall that surrounds the Earth. They also propose various theories to explain natural effects which can only be explained thoroughly if the Earth is round. These theories attempt to explain The Sinking Ship Effect (where a sailing ship disappears over the horizon), Lunar Eclipses, Gravity and sunrise and sunsets.
They also claim the photos taken by NASA of planet Earth in outer space as a hoax, and thereby declare that the Apollo Moon Landings are a hoax too.
Perpetual Motion
This refers to the theory of movement that is able to go on forever. This would mean that more energy will be created than consumed, resulting in a net output of energy for indefinite time.
One type of a Perpetual Motion machine involves a mechanical system which is able to provide motion indefinitely, even after losing energy through air resistance and friction. Obviously this violates the Law of Conversation of Energy (which states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed, and instead it is transferred from one form to another).
Another example of a Perpetual Motion machine extracts heat from its surroundings and converts the heat into energy. Such machines violates the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which states that the entropy of a closed system can only increase over time, never decrease.
Throughout history, many people have reportedly claimed to have invented such machines, but all of them have been exposed as frauds. As such machines and theories violate known laws of science, nobody has been able to produce absolute proof of such a machine.
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