If you were keeping a close eye on the news briefs this week you may have noticed two quite startling stories, both of which challenge the very foundations of orthodox science. The first was on the controversial subject of homeopathy, an alternative health treatment which appears to work on the basis of water retaining a ‘memory’ of what has been dissolved in it. An international group of researchers have published positive results in a peer-reviewed journal, and challenged others to attempt replication of their data.
The second story was concerning the “Allais Effect“, whereby a pendulum changes its normal movement during a solar eclipse, something which challenges fundamental assumptions about the nature of gravity. I remember posting a news item about this a few years ago, but it disappeared from the radar quite quickly. However, the article in The Economist suggests that we could be hearing a lot more about it in future. Some interesting weekend reading in both of those stories.