Top Ten Cracked Conjectures in Science

by David Bradley

As regular readers will be well aware, Sciencebase like many other science news outlets, receives countless emails from correspondents hoping to overturn the received wisdom of modern science. I am sure that every now and then, a seemingly ludicrous idea that comes my way is valid, but in my haste to meet deadlines I perhaps don't give it due consideration or check it out too deeply. Anyway, here's a top ten of the most recent claims made by Sciencebase visitors with either an axe to grind, a very poor grasp of reality, or indeed the keys to enlightenment.

1. Ancient electricity - did the ancient Egyptians light their tombs and temples with electric arc lights instead of oil lamps?
2. Ether - is modern physics in denial and the only explanation for astronomical observations is a cosmic ether?
3. Energy from gravity - can you make a pendulum swing forever under gravity through the tension in its string?
4. Quantum mechanics and relativity are one, but relativity is split in two, oh, and so is quantum mechanics, and...
5. Shiny deserts reverse global warming - would it be cool to paint the Sahara with reflective material?
6. Magnecules - who needs atoms to make molecules that will solve all our energy needs?
7. Mega melatonin doses - Cure jet lag, stop cancer, help you get out of bed in the morning! Yeah, right.
8. The Gearturbine - will usurp the internal combustion engine with its ultra efficiency...any day....now....
9. Magnetic water softeners, fuel enhancers, magnetic cure-alls. There are just too many uses for magnets to list.
10. God is a teapot orbiting the sun in exactly the same orbit as the earth but six months ahead of us.*

In compiling the above list, I've not been comprehensive in any way, I get far too many emailed cracked conjectures to list them all here. That said, I don't doubt the integrity of the various correspondents who have come up with these ideas. I don't doubt their heartfelt commitment to telling the world that Einstein/Newton/Pauling/Faraday/Everyotherwellknownscientist (delete as applicable) was wrong. Of course, the ideas of mavericks do occasionally turn out to be the received wisdom of tomorrow and these guys do keep us questioning our theories. They also add a helluva lot of static to the world of science and confuse those starting out. Be skeptical and avoid the sceptic. You might also like the 100 things that probablybullshit.