Scalar wave

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A '''scalar wave''' is a purported type of [[electromagnetism|electromagnetic]] wave that works outside [[physics]] as we know it.

The central conceit is that scalar waves restore certain useful aspects of Maxwell's equations "discarded" in the 19<sup>th</sup> century by those fools Heaviside, Hertz, and Gibbs.<ref name=bearden-maxwell>Bearden, Tom. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120307035944/https://www.cheniere.org/references/maxwell.htm James Clerk Maxwell.] ''The Tom Bearden Website''. Archived from the original on March 7, 2012.</ref> [[Nikola Tesla]] was also interested in them, in his more-than-a-little-odd period.

[[Free energy (pseudoscience)|Free energy]] advocates have pushed the concept since the 1990s,<ref>Naudin, Jean-Louis. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230602040938/http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/scalwidx.htm Solid State Generators Researches] ''JLN Labs''. Archived from [http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/scalwidx.htm the original] on June 2, 2023.</ref> particularly [[Thomas E. Bearden]]. It has since been adopted by some [[alternative medicine]] practitioners as the new "[[quantum woo|quantum]]": a universally-applicable [[sciencey]] [[handwave]] to support any arbitrary claim whatsoever.<ref group=note>RWer: "I'm about to descend into the pits of stupid again."<br/> Loved one: "And rant about it for the next three days. What is it?"<br/> RWer: "Scalar waves."<br/> Loved one: "OH GOD NO, NOT THEM."<br/> It's always the family that suffers.</ref> [[Conspiracy theory|Conspiracy theorists]] hold that it is behind weather-changing superweapons that brought down space shuttles.<ref>Verismo, Christi. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230211004448/http://www.angelfire.com/oz/cv/scalarweapons.html Twelve Things You Should Know About Scalar Weapons.] ''Conspiracy Journal'', Commander X (ed.). Archived from the original on February 11, 2023.</ref>

==In real physics==
In physics, a quantity described as "scalar" only contains information about its magnitude. In contrast, a "vector" quantity contains information both about its magnitude and about its direction. By this definition, a "scalar wave" in physics would be defined as any solution to a "scalar wave equation".<ref>''e.g.'' {{wpl|Wave equation#Scalar wave equation in three space dimensions|Scalar wave equation in three space dimensions.}}</ref> In reality, this definition is far too general to be useful, and as a result the term "scalar wave" is used exclusively by [[cranks]] and peddlers of [[woo]].

Solutions to scalar wave equations are actually quite prevalent (and useful) in physics. Some prominent examples include acoustic (sound) waves, the motion of a taut string being stretched (such as a guitar string being plucked), and the motion of waves in [[water]] (such as the ripples from a stone being dropped into a pond). In contrast, electromagnetic waves are vector quantities derived as solutions to a set of vector wave equations (in this case Maxwell's equations).

The concept of a {{wpl|scalar field theory}} also exists, and plays an important role in several branches of physics. In comparison, "scalar waves" have never been observed in nature.

==Free energy subculture==
A major proponent of scalar wave pseudophysics was [[zero-point energy]] advocate [[Thomas E. Bearden]], who concocted an entire pseudoscientific "scalar field theory" largely unrelated to anything in actual physics. It starts with Maxwell's equations originally having been written as quaternions; Bearden holds that the (mathematical) transformation to vectors lost important information.<ref name=bearden-maxwell/>

Bearden claimed that scalar waves differ from conventional electromagnetic transverse waves by having two oscillations anti-parallel with each other, each originating from opposite charge sources, thereby lacking any net directionality. The waves are conjugates of each other, and so, if left unperturbed, can pass through ordinary matter with relative ease. So they are not included in mainstream physics. They don't work like ordinary longitudinal waves either. (Got that?)<ref group=note>This RationalWiki article includes text from the deleted Wikipedia article "Scalar field theory (pseudoscience)", primary author Thomas E. Bearden, used under CC by-sa. Some surviving text [http://www.rmcybernetics.com/science/physics/electromagnetism2_scalar_waves.htm here].</ref>

You can apparently make scalar waves with a bifilar coil (one wound with a pair of wires instead of a single wire) and pushing opposing currents through the wires (join the far ends together). So if you want to experiment with this stuff, you can build a remarkable just-post-steampunk lab filled with coils and wires and sparks.<ref>[http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/tepv21.htm The Time Energy Pump v2.1] (JLN Labs)</ref> The really ''astonishing'' thing about this &mdash; which fascinated Tesla for years and years<ref>Perreault, Bruce. [http://www.teslatech.info/ttstore/report/articles/v2n2art/radiant.htm "New generation of radiant energy devices."] ''Exotic Research Report'' vol 2 no 2, Apr/May/Jun 1998.</ref> &mdash; is that you can pour practically ''limitless'' amounts of power into such an apparatus and achieve precisely nothing other than converting electricity into heat &mdash; each of the two wires in the coil produces a magnetic field, but since the currents are going in opposite directions, the two magnetic fields cancel out.

[[Richard C. Hoagland]] thinks Col. Bearden was dead right. So much so that he has adopted Bearden's view and given it a different name, "hyperdimensional physics". According to him, the vectorization of Maxwell's quaternions eliminated a whole dimension from which energy magically appears. Hoagland is so mathematically challenged that it's doubtful if he even understands what a quaternion is, let alone knows how to use one in a calculation. Certainly in all he has written and said about HD physics,<ref>Hoagland, Richard C. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160206085106/http://www.enterprisemission.com/hyper1.html Hubble's New "Runaway Planet": A Unique Opportunity for Testing the Exploding Planet Hypothesis and... Hyperdimensional Physics Part I.] ''Enterprise Mission''. Archived from the original on February 6, 2016.</ref> he has never cited a single one of the quaternions.

===Scalar superweapon conspiracy theory===
According to Bearden, the [[Soviet Union]] developed a powerful superweapon &mdash; the Scalar Interferometer &mdash; based on scalar waves and fueled by free energy generators, themselves apparently designed by T. Henry Moray in the 1920s.<ref name="interferometer">Bearden, Tom. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120117035217/https://www.cheniere.org/books/part1/teslaweapons.htm Scalar Potential Interferometer.] ''The Tom Bearden Website''. Archived from the original on January 17, 2012.</ref><ref>Bearden, Tom. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180610193754/http://www.cheniere.org/books/excalibur/index.html ''Excalibur Briefing''.] ''The Tom Bearden Website''. Archived from the original on June 10, 2018.</ref><ref>Bearden, Tom. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180320075955/http://www.cheniere.org/books/excalibur/moray.htm The Moray Radiant Energy Device.] ''The Tom Bearden Website''. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018.</ref> It may have brought down the ''Columbia'' spacecraft.<ref>billym. 2003. [https://web.archive.org/web/20210526072532/https://www.prahlad.org/pub/bearden/Columbia_attack.htm Bearden Responds to Scalar Attack Possibility.] Agents Forum, ''Rumor Mill News''. Archived from [http://www.prahlad.org/pub/bearden/Columbia_attack.htm the original] on May 26, 2021.</ref> Bearden further claims that the human brain has a milder capacity to exploit the same effects, providing an explanation for psychokinesis, telepathy, and levitation, among other things.<ref name="interferometer" /> However, some [[conspiracy theorists]] believe Bearden was an agent of disinformation on this topic.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20180828213020/http://bariumblues.com/bearden_disinformation.htm "Scalar" is Disinformation (or — never trust a weapons developer).] Bariumblues.com. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018.</ref>

==Alternative medicine==
Bearden was pushing the medical effects of scalar waves as early as 1991. He specifically attributed their powers to cure [[AIDS]], [[cancer]], and genetic diseases to their quantum effects and their use in "engineering the Schrödinger equation". They are also useful in [[mind control]].<ref name=bearden>Patten, Terry and Michael Hutchinson. 1991. [https://web.archive.org/web/20011224160016/http://twm.co.nz/beard_interview.htm Interview with Lt. Col. Thomas E. Bearden.] ''TWM''. Reprinted from ''Megabrain Report''. Archived from the original on December 24, 2001.</ref>

Scalar waves appear to have broken out into the woo mainstream around 2005 or 2006, with this text (now widely quoted as the standard explanation) from ''The Heart of Health; the Principles of Physical Health and Vitality'' by Stephen Linsteadt, NHD:

{{quotebox|Scalar waves are produced when two electromagnetic waves of the same frequency are exactly out of phase (opposite to each other) and the amplitudes subtract and cancel or destroy each other. The result is not exactly an annihilation of magnetic fields but a transformation of energy back into a scalar wave. This scalar field has reverted back to a vacuum state of potentiality. Scalar waves can be created by wrapping electrical wires around a figure eight in the shape of a Möbius coil. When an electric current flows through the wires in opposite directions, the opposing electromagnetic fields from the two wires cancel each other and create a scalar wave.

The [[DNA]] antenna in our [[cells]]' energy production centers ([[mitochondria]]) assumes the shape of what is called a super-coil. Supercoil DNA look like a series of Möbius coils. These Möbius supercoil DNA are hypothetically able to generate scalar waves. Most cells in the body contain thousands of these Möbius supercoils, which are generating scalar waves throughout the cell and throughout the body.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050213124721/http://naturalhealinghouse.com/scalar.html Scalar Waves and the Human Möbius Coil System] (naturalhealinghouse.com)</ref>}}

At this point, it was all-in. Scalar waves explain [[homeopathy]],<ref>Or "neo-homeopathy". [https://web.archive.org/web/20070527021543/http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=81971 Vir-X. A Neo-Homeopathic™ synthesis of Magneto Geometry & Scalar Neo-Radionic cloning]. forums.randi.org, 11 May 2007.</ref> achieve lymph detoxification<ref>[http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2007/01/this-may-be-fair-trading-then-again-it.html This May Be Fair Trading – Then Again, It May Not.] Quackometer, 15 January 2007.</ref>, cure diabetes, short sightedness, kidney stones, Parkinson's, strokes, arthritis,<ref>Victor Marcial-Vega, [https://web.archive.org/web/20200730175300/http://www.consumerhealth.org/scalar-wave-technology-the-metamatrix-healing-chamber/ Scalar Wave Technology: The Metamatrix Healing Chamber]. Archived from consumerhealth.org, 23 May 2020.</ref> cancer,<ref name=bearden/> and reverse the [[aging]] process.<ref>{{wayback|http://www.wavesofhealing.net/aboutscalarwaves.html|date=20110712225801}} ''Waves Of Healing: About Scalar Waves'' (one of the most illiterate pages actually selling something you'll find)</ref>

Scalar waves are also part of the biological powers of [[ORMUS]].<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060503041530/http://biologyofkundalini.com/article.php?story=BiologicalRelationtoZero-Point</ref>

"[[Harmonized H2O|Harmonized H<sub>2</sub>O]]" is a drinkable sunscreen, made only of pure [[water]], that works by scalar waves.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20140729014653/http://www.bad.org.uk/for-the-public/skin-cancer/drinkable-sunscreen</ref> It apparently cancels out the UVA and UVB slightly above the skin.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20140729013843/http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/546514/the-real-story-behind-the-new-drinkable-sunscreen.html</ref>

===Scalar Wave Laser===
The Scalar Wave Laser is a "quantum cold laser rejuvenation technology" which "combines the most advanced low level laser technology with state of the art quantum scalar waves".<ref>[http://www.scalarwavelasers.com/ Scalar Wave Lasers]. "Experience Planet Earth's newest quantum cold laser rejuvenation technology. The Scalar Wave Laser combines the most advanced low level laser technology with state of the art quantum scalar waves."</ref>

The device is a small handheld unit with a wand end that shines light on the patient's skin. It uses eight 5mW 650nm (red) laser diodes and eight 5mw 780nm (near infrared) laser diodes. Oddly, these happen to be the wavelengths used for DVD and CD reading, respectively. It also has 20 5mW violet LEDs. The unit costs only $3500.

The laser directly delivers energy ([[photon]]s) and [[electron]]s directly to cells. The mitochondria convert the photons to {{wpl|ATP||,}} promptly initiating healing and rejuvenation.<ref>[http://discoverlasers.com Scalar Wave Lasers, A Revolution in Laser Light Therapy
HEALING & Transformation]. discoverlasers.com.</ref> So these guys have discovered {{wpl|photosynthesis}} in humans! Quick, hand them their Nobel Prizes!

The Scalar Wave Laser also cures [[goat]] polio.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/20120324234250/http://quantumenterprises.org/Laser.html Why Scalar-laser cold laser therapy?] Archived from quantumenterprises.org. "After three weeks down, and [[SCIO|Scio]], [[quantum touch|Quantum-Touch®]], scalar-wave laser, homeopathy and [[Bach flower remedies]], the goat is walking again."</ref>

==Scalar wave mind control==
{{cquote|…Who makes the crop circles? The technology used is the most dangerous technology ever invented…SCALAR WAVES…<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130908050251/http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.com/2010/11/crop-circles-mystery-solved-capt-ajit.html CROP CIRCLES MYSTERY SOLVED-- CAPT AJIT VADAKAYIL]</ref>}}

[[Crank]]s have wholeheartedly adopted the concept of scalar waves as a form of dangerous mind control, mostly because it sounds scary, and it's easy to make people afraid of anything related to modern wireless technology (even if it actually isn't). Internet fearmongers vigorously promote the idea that scalar waves are some kind of treacherous radio waves (rather than a mathematical solution to an ordinary {{wpl|Wave equation}}). For example, many cranks perceive the shift from analog to digital television with suspicion, and feel mind control messages must be embedded "via the flickering of the TV picture", and believe that the use of such evil waves allows mobile phones and Wi-Fi (and don't forget to throw in the traditional boogeymen [[HAARP]] and [[GWEN towers]] to raise the level of batshit insanity) to "program" people. These mythical scalar waves are somehow even supposedly able to produce crop circles, earthquakes, and [[hurricane]]s, too.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160521223110/http://www.theeventchronicle.com/study/gwen-towers-elf-scalar-mind-control-weapons/ GWEN Towers — ELF Scalar Mind Control Weapons] The Event Chronicle</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20170804062022/http://www.germanvictims.com/2015/09/scalar-waves-used-to-control-us/ Scalar Waves Used to Control Us] germanvictims.com</ref><ref>[http://alpha411.blogspot.com/2007/04/haarp-scalar-waves-and-how-they-affect.html HAARP, Scalar Waves and how they affect you] Alpha44</ref>

==In popular culture==
"The Black Weapon" is a "scalar weapon" that generates a non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse,<ref>[http://battlefield.wikia.com/wiki/Scalar_Weapon Scalar Weapon] (Battlefield Wikia)</ref> and it is the MacGuffin in the single-player campaign for ''Battlefield: Bad Company 2''.

The old PBEM game "VGA Planets" has among the engines that can be fitted to a ship the "Scalar Wave Thruster".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090929211514/http://www.vgaplanets.com/v4doc/shipengines.htm Engines]</ref> It has a fair energy output and is very resistant to damage, but gives low speed.

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Pseudophysics]]
[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories]]
[[Category:Cancer woo]]
[[Category:Energy therapy]]
[[Category:Free energy]]
[[Category:Quantum woo]]
[[Category:Sound]]

Categories: Pseudophysics, Alternative medicine, Conspiracy theories, Cancer woo, Energy therapy, Free energy, Quantum woo, Sound