A loopy study

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A new study shows that copper bracelets don’t relieve arthritis pain.

Now, you might think "wire they even doing that," but the study was well-grounded, conducted thoroughly, and had little resistance. I think it strikes a cord, and so I’m willing to plug it.

I even hope they make it into a movie. It could be directed by Stanley Cupric.

Note added after posting: I see that James Randi his own self wrote about this today on Swift as well. Great minds, yadda yadda. Thanks to Travis Roy for pointing this out.

Tip ore the hat to Fark.

October 19th, 2009 10:15 AM Tags: ,
by Phil Plait in Alt-Med, Antiscience, Debunking, Humor, Science, Skepticism | 72 comments | RSS feed | Trackback >

72 Responses to “A loopy study”

  1. 1.   Dean Says:

    Groan…………….

  2. 2.   Yojimbo Says:

    This deserves punishment.

  3. 3.   Max Fagin Says:

    My pun meter just exploded.

  4. 4.   Kelsey Says:

    Stanley Cupric… /slow clap/

  5. 5.   Shoeshine Boy Says:

    These results are [not] shocking.

  6. 6.   Brian Says:

    Ohm my goodness. Revolting puns. Watt were you thinking?

  7. 7.   Gary Says:

    much negative feedback.

  8. 8.   Aaron Golas Says:

    Just your two cents?

  9. 9.   Larian LeQuella Says:

    The thing that really is frightening about this post: Dr. Plaitt probably didn’t even have to TRY to make all those puns!

  10. 10.   Quiet Desperation Says:

    A new study shows that copper bracelets don’t relieve arthritis pain.

    The deuce you say!

    Clearly it’s the BigPharmaMedicalIndustryIlluminati lobby trying to keep us down and sick.

  11. 11.   Mapnut Says:

    Wow, Aaron, how could the BA have missed that one?!

  12. 12.   Len Bonacci Says:

    That was revolting. Those puns aren’t even current!

  13. 13.   Casey Says:

    Gotta love that headine: “Trial raises doubts over alternative pain therapy for arthritis”.

    Because until now, we had no doubts about copper bracelet therapy.

  14. 14.   Casey Says:

    Watt are you guys even talking about?

  15. 15.   Adam English Says:

    “Tip ore the hat to Fark.”

    You couldn’t even end the blog without one, could you?

  16. 16.   Jan Says:

    Well, at least the reporting is as punctual as always.

  17. 17.   Paul Judd Says:

    I agree with Dean. Groan… Watt a load of puns..

  18. 18.   Matt T Says:

    No resistence? Maybe not at the current time. But I predict that soon the snakeoilers will be hard at work convincing us that Big Science is abusing its power. They’ll keep making claims that are poles apart from the scientific findings; you know they’ll never admit that they’re at volt.

  19. 19.   David C Says:

    Is there a survey attached to this that we can all volt on?

  20. 20.   neutron Says:

    After hearing that, I’m going Ohm…

  21. 21.   Carl Says:

    I think my brain just shorted out from reading that

  22. 22.   Lost Says:

    I’m trying to decide how the folks at Callahan’s would react to that collection of puns.

  23. 23.   paul Says:

    pun overload!!! Must insulate myself from the rest of the comments.

  24. 24.   Sc00ter Says:

    yet again another opportunity to plug the jref wasted. Randi just posted about this earlier – http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/741-copper-and-magnetic-bracelets-useless.html

    Do you not check the website that you’re a president of? As a JREF member it’s very disappointing that you’re not pushing the foundation a lot more.

  25. 25.   Phil J Says:

    Shocking ! I’m not current but i volt we insulate ourselves from any impedance to good sense that this field may generate.

  26. 26.   Brian S. Says:

    I’m banging my head right now, and not in a good way. However, I’m still grinning. That’s the beauty of puns–they provide a mix of pleasure and pain in a way not often available in polite company.

  27. 27.   Jeff Fite Says:

    Isn’t there some medication y’all could be on?

  28. 28.   george Says:

    “No, don’t… don’t do that”

  29. 29.   Elf Eye Says:

    Electrifying!

  30. 30.   cavalier Says:

    It took a minute for all the puns to sink in, which made it hurt all the more.

  31. 31.   Michelle Says:

    …Phil, you just killed my brain with groans and eyetilts.

  32. 32.   Aerimus Says:

    Pun overload…ugh…I think I’m turning green…

  33. 33.   rayceeya Says:

    Booooooooooo!!! Where’s that giant hook to drag someone off stage when you need it?

  34. 34.   Richard Wolford Says:

    I laughed til my side hertz.

  35. 35.   Richard Says:

    Where’s a rotten tomato when I need one?

  36. 36.   Jim Says:

    Okay, I think we’re going to have to revoke your pun privileges for that one. :P

  37. 37.   gruebait Says:

    But they leave such a pretty green stain on your wrist!

    Green is good, isn’t it?

  38. 38.   coryy Says:

    ow !!!!!!! my fillings!!!! reading this is as bad as chewing tinfoil!

  39. 39.   Brandon Says:

    That last one was over the line. :)

  40. 40.   Gary Ansorge Says:

    You should have a “Pun-O-Meter” on your posts. I’d rate this one at about 9.5.

    Gary 7
    Egads. The Magnetic therapeutic business generates $ 4.5 BILLION/year in sales? Maybe I’ve been going about this business of making money all wrong.

  41. 41.   Bruce Almighty Says:

    I can’t believe you would have the brass to say something like that…

  42. 42.   JoeSmithCA Says:

    Phil, that was just too punny for me to handle :)

  43. 43.   NewEnglandBob Says:

    Of course the copper bracelets don’t relieve arthritis pain.

    That’s all wet.

    It needs to be diluted to become effective!

    Didn’t we learn anything from from homeopathy?

    One must dilute the copper 70 times (once for each virgin, I think) then use acupuncture on it…

    …then you send it to 52 weekly sessions of chiropractic while doing yoga, biofeedback and hypnosis.

    Then one takes some herbs and calls back in the morning to get a prescription for pain meds.

  44. 44.   Timkatt Says:

    my brain hurts, I need a copper foil hat to keep the puns out.

  45. 45.   John Paradox Says:

    I have to admit this post reached nearly my capacitance for puns.

    J/P=?

  46. 46.   Tom Woolf Says:

    That does it, Doc… You’re grounded… Those who are in power should not abuse such power. We gauge you on your work, and the rating on this one is getting overblown. I’d suggest getting an editor to impede these excesses – a regulator, so to speak.

  47. 47.   Nate Says:

    As the post “Pun-O-Meter” approaches [absolute] zero, you may find resistance to it lessening.

  48. 48.   AHJ Says:

    Someone should call a copper on this guy!

    On a more serious note, 45 cases is hardly a definitive sample, don’t you think?

    As a secondary observation, if pain-relief from prayer or broccoli or copper bracelets does occur, but is entirely attributable to the placebo effect–who the hell cares, as long as the desired change has occurred? Some people are so picky!!

    A

  49. 49.   Torbjörn Larsson, OM Says:

    [Groan!] I think I’ll have to charge you for that one.

    snakeoilers

    Methinks you mean “snakecoilers” here.

  50. 50.   Danno Says:

    @ 35: Timkatt

    “my brain hertz, I need a copper foil hat to keep the puns out.”

    There, I fixed it.

  51. 51.   Todd W. Says:

    @New England Bob

    …then you send it to 52 weekly sessions of chiropractic while doing yoga, biofeedback and hypnosis.

    You forgot that you need to forward it to 10 of your friends.

  52. 52.   slavdude Says:

    Yep, as I expected, this post galvanized your readers with little resistance. Let’s all chant a mantra to cure Phil of his punniness: Ohm, Ohm, Ohm….

  53. 53.   kurt_eh Says:

    At least he didn’t end off with l33t.

    He could have said “Cu l8r!”

  54. 54.   Kim Says:

    My eyes hurtz from all of the eye-rolling. Wire would you do that to us?

  55. 55.   jest Says:

    all puns aside, I hope they go after that blasted fraud of a Q-Ray bracelet while they’re at it.

  56. 56.   Phil Plait Says:

    Sc00ter (#24): This blog software gives me the ability to pre-write posts and then schedule when they go live. I wrote this copper bracelet post up yesterday (Oct 18) and set it to go live today (Oct. 19) since I knew I’d be out most of the day on travel. The Swift article went up today. Since my TARDIS is broken, I didn’t know the Swift article was going up.

    I also have many blog posts I put up plugging TAM London before the event, and did a big write up on it last week. I also plugged TAM 7 quite a bit, and asked people to donate to JREF when I hit 20k followers on Twitter. Incidentally, I have a post scheduled to go up tomorrow to promote the JREF cruise next year, too.

    Obviously, I do promote the JREF here, though not in every post since that’s not the purpose of this blog. But when it’s appropriate I usually do.

  57. 57.   Elwood Herring Says:

    Well as they say round these parts, copper load of that!

    (And for anyone who has made it this far, I admire your mettle!)

  58. 58.   Damon Says:

    Thanks for posting this Phil, this study will surely quell tension in the Middle East and solve world hunger.

  59. 59.   Wendy Says:

    Lmao, all you pun-makers are so cute!

  60. 60.   Mikel Says:

    Phil…

    This is slightly off-topic, but please check out this EXCELLENT article about vaccinations:

    http://www.factcheck.org/2009/10/inoculation-misinformation/

    I think you might even want to do a blog entry on it!

    Regards,
    Mikel

  61. 61.   Chief Says:

    But Behold… The copper will provide a significant effect. In green of course.

  62. 62.   mike burkhart Says:

    I never thought they worked in the frist place I use Alive and icyhot on pulled muscles and sore joints I sometimes get from martial arts practice and they work well to releve pain and science dose make mistakes but it corects them like the piltdown hoax

  63. 63.   Abbey Says:

    I will BOO and HISS appropriately after the roaring laughter dies off. Thank you all so much! You are my favorite group of smartassies and I adore you.

  64. 64.   Old Rockin' Dave Says:

    It was so bad someone ought to call a copper.

  65. 65.   stan9fos Says:
  66. 66.   Levi in NY Says:

    AAAAH! I can’t stand any more of these torturous puns! I just want to curl up and diode.

  67. 67.   mike burkhart Says:

    After I log off last night I rember seeing a tv program about questable medical devices in fact James Randi hosted it now in the 1890s there simular diveces to those in this study were sold claiming that electricty was a cureall for every thing lots of people used these things and were not cured of anything so why are the same things sold 100 years later with the same claims made?

  68. 68.   Gary Ansorge Says:

    60. mikel.

    Cool link!

    I want to start a new rumor about vaccines. Ready?

    Vaccinations are a plot to alter our DNA and make us immortal but,,,with the unfortunate side effect of also making us rational, thus religion and woo-ness will become extinct. What will we do w/o our woo? So sad.

    Gary 7

  69. 69.   Bill Nettles Says:

    I can’t believe that only of you got a charge out of this. That’s no way to conduct a punishing comment flow like this. It’s time to close this loop… or maybe open it. Y’all have amped it up too much. If you want continuity, please keep it short.

    What about copper-plated titanium bracelets? I’ll bet those work.

  70. 70.   Zippy the Pinhead Says:

    Copper threads and magnetic needles will not mend this knee of mine.

  71. 71.   Sili Says:

    They obviously need to switch to nickel. At least that way the arthritis will be the least of the wearers worries.

  72. 72.   Buford Gooch Says:

    OK, what is pun spelled backwards?

    NUP

    and a nup is enough.

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