The Lunatic Fringe - the Interstellar Light Collector

[mr blur]

The Interstellar Light Collector is unlike any other array in the world. Four years of collaboration by advocates of alternative therapies, private stakeholders and experts in the fields of engineering, optics, bioscience and medicine resulted in the completion of the world’s first and only light collection device. The ILA collector is not only an achievement in innovation, but also an execution of groundbreaking design.

Situated in the Southern Arizona desert in a secure location 15 miles west of Tucson and 22 miles east of Kitt Peak National Observatory, the ILA collector is a parabolic, non-imaging optical collector composed of 84 mirrored collection panels. At 52 feet high, 60 feet across and weighing 25 tons, this breathtaking device is colossal, yet has the maneuvering capability and precision of a Swiss watch.

Basically, you get to bathe in moonlight. And it really works!:

"I slept better that night. I felt as every cell in my body was infused with energy. If I could have walked physically above the earth, I probably would have. I took part in the crystal study. There was a definite difference in the infused crystal and the non-infused crystal. I have been putting my personal crystals in the moonlight for many years. I feel that the crystals are living and the moonlight imparts balance in them." – JR

"“I had written a prayer the day of the moonlight event, regarding being freed of something from my childhood. While receiving the moonlight, I concentrated on healing my physical body. I forgot about the prayer. The next morning, I had a thought, that I felt really relaxed and not worried about why I haven't been able to manifest this particular issue, then all of a sudden I realized "THE WHOLE TRAUMA FROM CHILDHOOD (in this particular area) HAD BEEN LIFTED. This is the second most profound moonlight experience I have had!”

Hard to argue with that!

And of course, you can buy stuff infused with moonlight-y goodness:

"Our items are infused with intensely concentrated moonlight,
offering you the beauty and power of this ancient and
transformational energy. Offering you the ability to take
this energy with you and experience it in any moment of
your life"



You have to wonder if there's any hope left for humanity.

More drivel at:

http://www.starlightuses.com/

[TZ]

1. I would like to know who are the

"experts in the fields of engineering, optics, bioscience and medicine" who collaborated on this "project". They should have their credentials as scientists taken away...

[DavidDvorkin]

2. The world's first and only light-collection device?

Really? I thought there were oodles of those around already.

[realisticphish]

3. apparently

those light experts don't understand that moonlight is just reflected sunlight

[TZ]

4. but its special don't cha know!

cause its at night! And everybody knows the moon has powerful influence on the tides and such, so that weakly reflected light is teh MAGIC....This is why I wonder about any scientific "expert" associated with this. Doesn't this sound like some kind of crazy Mythbuster-type experiment though?

[realisticphish]

5. oh, i forgot

the moon rocks are homeopathic. So, the light has light memory of the homeopathic moon rocks

[uberllama42]

6. Wow! Does it cure amputees? n/t

[Orrex]

7. You see? You see? Your stupid minds.

Stupid! Stupid!

[Heddi]

8. Stew-pid

Stew-pid!

[Orrex]

11. LOL!

Perfect! That was actually going through my head as I typed it, but I didn't think to spell it out.

[Heddi]

9. From the FAQ

isn't this contradictory?

Is all interstellar light the same?
Interstellar light is comprised of infrared and visible red light. Infrared light has a deeper penetrating power which makes it more effective for treating bones, joints and deep muscle. Infrared light is more beneficial for treating problems closer to the surface like wounds, cuts, and scars.

---so, Infrared light has more penetrating power, which is why it's more effective for bones and joints, and is also more beneficial for problems closer to the surface as well?

:head explode:

Is reflected moonlight studied elsewhere?
The effects of reflected moonlight are studied throughout the country as well as all over the world from Switzerland, the UK, the Czech Republic and many more.

---MANY MORE....um...oh....

What are these other researchers uncovering?
In general, the consensus among researches is the possibilities are endless when it comes to moonlight and light therapy. It is a relatively new area of study and findings are often hypothesized, however they are remarkable. Laser light has been used to treat muctositis, a painful side effect of cancer treatment, in young cancer patients.

---Okay. Findings are hypothesized yet they are remarkable. Well hell. I hypothesize that if I stare at my cat long enough, said kitty will suddenly leap from the granite counter, waltz over to the fridge and pour me a nice frosty glass of iced tea. REMARKABLE how I can hypothesize complete bullshit that will never happen, is never going to be provable YET, it is remarkable all the same.

Photodynamic therapy treatment (PDT) also treats cancer using a drug called photosensitizer which when exposed to a specific wavelength produces a form of oxygen that kills nearby cancer cells.

---Isn't there only one form of oxygen?

---------

Onto the testimonials:

"A half hour after returning to our motel the pressure and pain in my chest was suddenly gone." - TA

---This nurse suggests calling 911, not staring at the moon, at the first instance of chest pressure or chest pain. There are no studies (aside from the bogus ones without links) that show that moonlight is as effective as nitroglycerine, morphine, oxygen, an d other cardiac interventions in the face of heart attacks, etc.

"...I can now hear almost normally out of my ear. Amazing!" - PI

--what?

"Something happened. Something penetrated me. About halfway through, when I shut my eyes, I had an experience of love and light. It was very reassuring. It was an energetic spirituality." – CO

---Um....ah...is it wrong to point out that she was molested by the moonlight?

“As I was standing there, I could feel myself becoming happier. A smile came upon my face and stayed there.” – VC

---Dear VC, please stop smiling. You're creeping everyone out. Seriously.

I was kind of elated in the light. Afterwards, my edema disappeared. I had to get up every hour, just about, and I got rid of a lot of liquid. I've had edema for probably the last 7 or 8 years. My kidneys are kind of lazy. This is definitely a positive thing. After the second exposure, the same thing happened. Right now, it is so that the edema really doesn't build up - it builds up a little bit in the daytime then at night I have to get up one or two times then it disappears. It has been a lasting effect. This is about 2 weeks since the last time (in the moonlight).- PVK

---Dear PVK-=-you're kidneys aren't "lazy", they're failing. Big difference.

“I am a doctor. I experienced the intense moonlight of the collector in March 2007. My hormone balance is greatly improved.”
- D.K.

---Dear DK--What's a hormone balance, and why have none of the MD's I've spoken with heard of this? Why is this not referenced in any of the medical and nursing textbooks I have at my home? What kind of Doctor are you?

[Random_Australian]

10. Captain chemistry to the rescue!

There *are* a number of "types" of oxygen in a sense - like diamond and graphite and carbon nanotubes are all types of carbon.

There is O2 which we are used to, ozone, and some excited states and radicals and things. (short-lived reactive species)

So, when it comes to

"Laser light has been used to treat muctositis, a painful side effect of cancer treatment, in young cancer patients."

I can't be effed looking it up, but the number of times woos have quoted an unrelated but actually useful and real medicine means I suspect that is exactly what is happening.

And finally,
"Photodynamic therapy treatment (PDT) also treats cancer using a drug called photosensitizer which when exposed to a specific wavelength produces a form of oxygen that kills nearby cancer cells."

Hah! Random. Yeah, we have been making all sorts of whacky chemicals, and I do know a couple that will actually form a triplet excited state of oxygen after absorbing at the correct frequency. (or was it singlet? I can never remember)

Last I looked, it was somewhere in the UV, but hey, knowing some of the chemistry freaks around, I'd say that isn't actually that unreasonable.

Just wanted to interject the chemical stuff.

Please note that it is also my informed opinion that neither the lasers or the photosensitive inorganic compounds have anything to do with freaking moonlight.

Sunlight + the moon taking some of that = moonlight. There isn't anything there that isn't in sunlight. (Unless somehow it is flourescent over the entire visible range or something)

Edited for speeling.

[TZ]

12. This message brought to you

by Dr. R_A and chemical nerds everywhere...;)

[NoodleBoy]

13. I think I understand why these people are in AZ-- it's the heat

I've seen a number of weird or just downright dumb things happen in the summertime, at the peak of the hottest part of the day, and it can be pretty obvious that being in the heat or the sun for too long makes people go a little crazy.

In the case of the hippies around here, who should know better but refuse to, not listening to the advice of anyone regarding the sun or the heat is par for the course, so I'm not surprised their crazy ass ideas have an extra level of lunacy to them, or that more people are receptive to hearing them.



What really, really, really, really, really, really, really bothers me is that some group of nuts decided to build an "interstellar light" collector to help ease their middle-class science-free lifestyles, when that money could have gone to solar panels-- you know, arrays that actually capture light energy and put it to actual use-- which would help stave off the rolling brownouts that'll probably happen this summer because the power grid may not be able to handle the volume of all the electricity for cooling this summer.

[Q3JR4]

14. I think I'm going to go

stock up on crystals. If all it takes to make $480 a piece is to put them out in the moonlight and then write some B.S. tract I think I can do that.

Anybody else want to get in on this?

Q3JR4.

[Nevernose]

15. At $480 for a crystal I can pick up off the ground for free?

Hell YES I'm in!

Normally I'd worry about things like "morals" and "ethics." But $480 for an investment of a few hours designing a website and a free rock? FUCK morals.

$480 a pop? If someone wants to pay me almost 500 dollars for a free rock, fuck 'em. They don't DESERVE that money. Caveat emptor, motherfuckers.

I'll take their money, give twenty bucks to the Obama campaign, another twenty to a skeptic's society, and spend the other $440 on cheap beer and a stripper named Chesty Bigguns whose IQ score is roughly equivalent to her bra size, and not feel a damn bit of shame.