- News>
- Newspapers
Water has memory: Pioneer
New Delhi, June 22: Water has `memory`. Sounds absurd, but this is exactly what a Swiss scientist claims to have discovered. The findings come as a major shot in the arm for homoeopaths, whose theory rests on the principle that a fluid retains properties of a solvent even if it is no longer present in the liquid - a proposition pooh-poohed by scientists who use this to point to the unscientific basis of Homoeopathy.
New Delhi, June 22: Water has 'memory'. Sounds absurd, but this is exactly what a Swiss scientist claims to have discovered. The findings come as a major shot in the arm for homoeopaths, whose theory rests on the principle that a fluid retains properties of a solvent even if it is no longer present in the liquid - a proposition pooh-poohed by scientists who use this to point to the unscientific basis of Homoeopathy.
In a research that's bound to kick up an old row, a paper written by Swiss chemist Louis Rey - about to be published in reputed journal Physica A - claims to show that even though they should be identical, the structure of hydrogen bonds in pure water is very different from that in homoeopathic dilutions of salt solutions, reports UK-based New Scientist. Hydrogen bonds are forces of attraction between water molecules that make the compound take the liquid form and give rise to many of water's properties. Scientific logic suggests the structure of hydrogen bonds should be similar in both pure water and homoeopathic dilutions of salt solutions, as the latter are so diluted that they no longer have any traces of the salt.
But Rey, using a thermoluminescence technique to study the structure of hydrogen bonds, claims to have found that the graphs for pure water and infinitely diluted solutions of lithium chloride and sodium chloride (common salt) - with no traces of the salts remaining in the liquid - were substantially different. Rey believes the result proves that the networks of hydrogen bonds in the samples were different.
It's as if water can 'remember' the presence of salt in it even when no salt remains or as if the 'ghost' of the salt is still in the solution.
Homoeopaths will be elated by the findings, for, if accepted by the scientific community, it lends proof to their untested theory of dilutions. Says Dr V K Chauhan, professor at Delhi's Nehru Homoeopathic Medical College, "We are happy that research is beginning to prove the basis of the homoeopathic theory. But such attempts have been made in the past and haven't met a great deal of success. The problem is that the bigger the claim, the bigger the evidence required to prove it."
The homoeopathic theory of potency, as given by its German founder Samuel Hahnemann, says that the more diluted a solution, the more potent its medicinal power. Explains Dr Pradeep Gupta, who practises homoeopathy at Sant Parmanand Hospital, Delhi, "Take for example, Aura metallica (gold), a metal we use as medicine. One part of gold is dissolved in 99 parts of absolute alcohol, used as a vehicle. After an hour of treatment, a solution of one potency is created. Now, one part of this solution is dissolved in 99 parts of alcohol to get a two potency solution and so on. By 12 potency, no traces of the metal can be found in the solution. Yet, we believe, gold's energy has been transferred into the solution which gains high medicinal value. The higher the potency, the stronger the medicine - that's our hypothesis."Though all this flies in the face of the laws of chemistry, Rey's work may help give it a scientific explanation. However, the research has yet to stand up to the tough scrutiny of peers.In the 1980s, a similar research cost one of France's top allergy scientists, Jacques Benveniste, his reputation and funding, after his findings were discredited. Will Rey fare any better? Homoeopaths around the world will be waiting to find out.
In a research that's bound to kick up an old row, a paper written by Swiss chemist Louis Rey - about to be published in reputed journal Physica A - claims to show that even though they should be identical, the structure of hydrogen bonds in pure water is very different from that in homoeopathic dilutions of salt solutions, reports UK-based New Scientist. Hydrogen bonds are forces of attraction between water molecules that make the compound take the liquid form and give rise to many of water's properties. Scientific logic suggests the structure of hydrogen bonds should be similar in both pure water and homoeopathic dilutions of salt solutions, as the latter are so diluted that they no longer have any traces of the salt.
But Rey, using a thermoluminescence technique to study the structure of hydrogen bonds, claims to have found that the graphs for pure water and infinitely diluted solutions of lithium chloride and sodium chloride (common salt) - with no traces of the salts remaining in the liquid - were substantially different. Rey believes the result proves that the networks of hydrogen bonds in the samples were different.
It's as if water can 'remember' the presence of salt in it even when no salt remains or as if the 'ghost' of the salt is still in the solution.
Homoeopaths will be elated by the findings, for, if accepted by the scientific community, it lends proof to their untested theory of dilutions. Says Dr V K Chauhan, professor at Delhi's Nehru Homoeopathic Medical College, "We are happy that research is beginning to prove the basis of the homoeopathic theory. But such attempts have been made in the past and haven't met a great deal of success. The problem is that the bigger the claim, the bigger the evidence required to prove it."
The homoeopathic theory of potency, as given by its German founder Samuel Hahnemann, says that the more diluted a solution, the more potent its medicinal power. Explains Dr Pradeep Gupta, who practises homoeopathy at Sant Parmanand Hospital, Delhi, "Take for example, Aura metallica (gold), a metal we use as medicine. One part of gold is dissolved in 99 parts of absolute alcohol, used as a vehicle. After an hour of treatment, a solution of one potency is created. Now, one part of this solution is dissolved in 99 parts of alcohol to get a two potency solution and so on. By 12 potency, no traces of the metal can be found in the solution. Yet, we believe, gold's energy has been transferred into the solution which gains high medicinal value. The higher the potency, the stronger the medicine - that's our hypothesis."Though all this flies in the face of the laws of chemistry, Rey's work may help give it a scientific explanation. However, the research has yet to stand up to the tough scrutiny of peers.In the 1980s, a similar research cost one of France's top allergy scientists, Jacques Benveniste, his reputation and funding, after his findings were discredited. Will Rey fare any better? Homoeopaths around the world will be waiting to find out.