Any reliable studies showing that Q link pendants don't work?

jon

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J
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I know qlink pendants were covered in a commentary, and on the skeptico blog. However, does anyone have a link to a 'serious'-looking study of or article on these things that shows why they don't work.

I'm quite convinced these things are BS, but a link to a 'serious' article would help me to convince someone else on this (I can't say why here, but will be happy to let people know via PM).

TIA,

Jon
 
Thanks - that's interesting to know.

Unfortunately, the q-link pendants claim to work via different BS mechanisms to the q-ray bracelets (a microchip, powered by the energy from your heart, instead of ionisation).
 
jon said:
... does anyone have a link to a 'serious'-looking study of or article on these things that shows why they don't work?
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It is incumbant upon the asserting party to prove his or her claims, not on the rest of us to disprove them.

HOWEVER, if you can provide some detailed pics of the device, assembled and dis-assembled, with enough detail that any part numbers can be read, then I'll make an effort to describe how the device actually works from an Electrical Engineering point of view.

A detailed analysis of the device and its operation, isolated from any other claims, should provide enough "evidence" to debunk any claims.

It's easy to fool people with wooish claims. For instance, many years ago, I made and sold 10 battery-operated, crystal-controlled pendants as "Psychic Shields" to a bunch of New-Age seekers at a convention. At $50 each for about $10 worth of parts, I made a healthy profit.

I hope that they haven't ripped off my (unpatented) design, as that might make me morally responsible ... you know ... "ruin my karma" and all that! ;)
 
jon said:
Thanks - that's interesting to know.

Unfortunately, the q-link pendants claim to work via different BS mechanisms to the q-ray bracelets (a microchip, powered by the energy from your heart, instead of ionisation).
Click to expand...
Copy. Sorry, didn't catch you had q-link, not q-ray in the OP. Mea culpa.
 
that's fine, Arkan. So many types of magic out there :D

Thanks Fnord. I think the q links are even siller than your battery-operated shields: they have a microchip in them and a copper coil allegedly picks up enough of the energy from your heart to power them.

I know it's their responsibility to prove their claims, and am fairly confident in giving several reasons why they're BS. It would be helpful if some 'authority' had tested the things, to show that they don't work, but I can understand why the response of most scientists to the pendants would be 'you believe what!'
 
I'd love to get one of their chips under a magnifier. Then I could determine by part number what the manufacturer's purpose was for the chip, and by lot number whether or not they are rated for use or factory rejects.

My money is on the rejected chips, bought dirt cheap to increase the profit margin.

(BTW: I have it on good authority that the chip used in the Scientologist's survey meter has no electrical connections to the rest of the circuit. If anyone has one of these things stashed away, then I'd like to look at it.)
 
Hey, I've got a burned out Mother Board in the closet. And a hacksaw. Little chunks, with a clasp on each, ought to make me a fortune. That M.B. helped make Bill Gates rich. Do you think there is any Ju-Ju left in it? I already let the smoke out once. Or should I cut up a known good one?
 
I can't imagine anyone wasting time on a "serious looking" study of this device.

The key to understanding what it does lies in this quote:
These force field (sic) that do not fall into the classical four are sometimes labeled "subtle energies." They are called "subtle" because they cannot be observed or measured by any known instrumentation.
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Maybe the reason it can't be "observed or measured by any known instrumentation" is that it doesn't do anything?
 
Yeah, I agree the qlink even sounds ridiculous. Some equally silly ideas (e.g. vega allergy testing) have had more 'serious' testing, though, so I figured it was worth asking :D

Re. chips, it's not clear from the pics whether the pendants contain actual chips, or just have markings on them that look like chips. Just as effective either way, I guess.
 
jon said:
I know qlink pendants were covered in a commentary, and on the skeptico blog. However, does anyone have a link to a 'serious'-looking study of or article on these things that shows why they don't work.

I'm quite convinced these things are BS, but a link to a 'serious' article would help me to convince someone else on this (I can't say why here, but will be happy to let people know via PM).

TIA,

Jon
Click to expand...

Not particularly "serious", it's a Blog.
But it's a science professional and he goes into some detail.

http://thedisgruntled.blogspot.com/2006/10/alternative-medicine-is-weird.html
 
Hitch said:
I can't imagine anyone wasting time on a "serious looking" study of this device.

The key to understanding what it does lies in this quote:
These force field (sic) that do not fall into the classical four are sometimes labeled "subtle energies." They are called "subtle" because they cannot be observed or measured by any known instrumentation.
Click to expand...
Maybe the reason it can't be "observed or measured by any known instrumentation" is that it doesn't do anything?
Click to expand...

Good point, Hitch. If these "subtle energies", as the page says, "cannot be observed or measured by any known instrumentation" -- how can we know they're there?
 
thanks sloe.

And yeah, I agree it's a silly idea, though I think it could be tested (even if you can't measure the 'subtle energies', the sellers claim effects that can be measured). In much the same way as you can test homeopathy, even w/out a plausible mechanism for it working. I can understand why no-one has bothered testing qlinks, though :D
 
Cactus Wren said:
Good point, Hitch. If these "subtle energies", as the page says, "cannot be observed or measured by any known instrumentation" -- how can we know they're there?
Click to expand...

Ya gotta have faith in it, bruddah! Or be a complete idiot.

But maybe I'm repeating myself...
 
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I am reminded of the EM-Power disk for which I saw a leaflet given to one of my more gulliable friends.

The Skepdic link seems a little out of date as the offer I saw wasn't £25.00 for an aluminium disk, but £150 for a trainig course and the use of the disk. (The EM-power disk remains the property of....)

Complete and utter Barnham
 
jon said:
that's fine, Arkan. So many types of magic out there :D

Thanks Fnord. I think the q links are even siller than your battery-operated shields: they have a microchip in them and a copper coil allegedly picks up enough of the energy from your heart to power them.

I know it's their responsibility to prove their claims, and am fairly confident in giving several reasons why they're BS. It would be helpful if some 'authority' had tested the things, to show that they don't work, but I can understand why the response of most scientists to the pendants would be 'you believe what!'
Click to expand...

This is actually a pretty good physical description of a passive RFID tag. The chips typically require several microwatts to operate, which means a fairly strong RF field, so it's, ummm... unlikely they would be operating on the RF radiated from your heart.

But maybe someone has a project to tag woos, and track their behavior in the wild. Hey, it works on salmon!
 
TjW said:
But maybe someone has a project to tag woos, and track their behavior in the wild. Hey, it works on salmon!
Click to expand...

Damn, it seemed like such a good plan. Now we're going to have to move straight to phase 2 - harvesting...
 
Fnord said:
It's easy to fool people with wooish claims. For instance, many years ago, I made and sold 10 battery-operated, crystal-controlled pendants as "Psychic Shields" to a bunch of New-Age seekers at a convention. At $50 each for about $10 worth of parts, I made a healthy profit.

I hope that they haven't ripped off my (unpatented) design, as that might make me morally responsible ... you know ... "ruin my karma" and all that! ;)
Click to expand...

This is the kind of karma I believe in. You cheated ten people $50 (OK, they got $10 of some balloney). It's microscopic in the grand scheme -- but you should feel bad about it. I suspect you do and you and have made amends. You should have added that to your post.
 
Asking for studies on q-link pendants is like asking for studies on whether the Moon is made of cheese. It's such a ridiculous thing that no-one compentent to study it would ever bother wasting their time actually doing so.
 
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