Effects of Distant Intention on Water Crystal Formation: A Triple-Blind Replication
📄 Original study ↗📌 Appears in:
Plain English Summary
You know those gorgeous ice crystal photos by Masaru Emoto, where thinking loving thoughts at water supposedly makes prettier crystals? This is the most rigorous test of that idea yet. About 1,900 people in Austria and Germany focused gratitude toward water in an electromagnetically shielded room in California — 5,700 miles away. The triple-blind setup meant nobody handling or photographing the water knew which bottles got the good vibes. Then 2,579 online judges rated crystal beauty. The treated crystals were rated significantly prettier (p=0.03), and combined with an earlier pilot, the evidence looks strong (p=0.0004). But here's the twist: control water stored far away actually scored slightly higher than treated water in some comparisons, and the researchers honestly flag uncontrolled variables. The headline result is eyebrow-raising, but the fine print keeps debate alive.
Abstract
An experiment tested the hypothesis that water exposed to distant intentions affects the aesthetic rating of ice crystals formed from that water. Over three days, 1,900 people in Austria and Germany focused their intentions towards water samples located inside an electromagnetically shielded room in California. Water samples located near the target water, but unknown to the people providing intentions, acted as ''proximal'' controls. Other samples located outside the shielded room acted as distant controls. Ice drops formed from samples of water in the different treatment conditions were photographed by a technician, each image was assessed for aesthetic beauty by over 2,500 independent judges, and the resulting data were analyzed, all by individuals blind with respect to the underlying treatment conditions. Results suggested that crystal images in the intentionally treated condition were rated as aesthetically more beautiful than proximal control crystals (p ¼ 0.03, one-tailed). This outcome replicates the results of an earlier pilot test.
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📋 Cite this paper
Radin, Dean, Lund, Nancy, Emoto, Masaru, Kizu, Takashige (2008). Effects of Distant Intention on Water Crystal Formation: A Triple-Blind Replication. Journal of Scientific Exploration.
@article{radin_2008_effects,
title = {Effects of Distant Intention on Water Crystal Formation: A Triple-Blind Replication},
author = {Radin, Dean and Lund, Nancy and Emoto, Masaru and Kizu, Takashige},
year = {2008},
journal = {Journal of Scientific Exploration},
}