Miracle cure or quackery?
QUESTION
Is it true that in the Thirties, the inventor Royal Rife devised a device that killed all infections in the body, but was closed down by the pharmaceutical companies? Radionics is an alternative medicine that claims disease can be diagnosed and treated with a kind of energy similar to radio waves.
The theory originated with american doctor albert abrams (1864-1924), who claimed ‘all parts of the body emit electrical impulses with different frequencies that vary with health and disease’. illnesses, he believed as well as age, sex, religion and location, could be diagnosed by ‘tuning in’ to a patient’s blood or handwriting samples with one of his devices.
one of abrams’s disciples was Royal Raymond Rife (1888-1971). in the Twenties, Rife claimed to have developed a powerful ‘universal’ microscope with magnification equivalent to that of an electron microscope, which could detect living microbes by the colour of auras emitted by their vibratory rates.
He said that with his machine he had discovered two new types of bacteria that caused cancer. He subsequently developed the Rife frequency generator, which claimed to generate radio waves with precisely the same frequency, causing the offending bacteria to shatter in the same manner as a crystal glass breaks in response to the voice of an opera singer.
The cancer cure That Worked (1987), by Barry Lynes, alleged that Rife’s discoveries were suppressed in the Thirties in a wideranging conspiracy headed by the american Medical association backed by the pharmaceutical companies.
The book claimed that Morris Fishbein, editor of the Journal of the american Medical association, led a campaign to discredit and sabotage Rife’s work.
Fishbein was famous for exposing quacks, most famously the notorious goat- gland surgeon John R. Brinkley. He also campaigned for the regulation of medical devices. The latter is important as there have been several prosecutions of people selling ‘ Rife devices’ promising to cure cancers and various other ailments.
numerous arguments have been put forward against Rife’s work. The american cancer society has pointed out that though soundwaves can produce vibrations that break glass, radio waves at the power level emitted by a Rife generator do not have sufficient energy to destroy bacteria. Furthermore, Rife’s assertion to have invented a microscope to rival electron microscopes is physically impossible with broad illumination by visible or nearvisible light. There is a diffraction limit to what can be seen due to the relatively long wavelength of visible light compared to the size of cellular structures.
such a machine would also not be required to see bacteria: these are within the range of light microscopy, especially with the use of stains.
To date no other scientist has discovered cancer- causing bacteria. such a wideranging conspiracy as that proposed by Lynes is at best improbable.
Paul Salmon, Lowestoft, Suffolk.
QUESTION
My wife’s grandfather was with the experimental squadron at Martlesham Heath in 1916. What was the purpose of this unit? on January 16, 1917, the experimental aircraft flight of the central Flying school was moved from Upavon in Wiltshire to Martlesham Heath in suffolk, opening up a new airfield, and the unit was renamed the aircraft experimental unit, Royal Flying corps. The purpose of the unit was to test new aircraft types to establish their usefulness to the military.
as well as test-flying the aircraft, the unit also assessed innovations in aerial combat, such as the method of synchronising the firing of machine-guns with the rotation of the propeller so the machine-gun could fire through the propeller arc without destroying the blades.
all the aircraft that came into use during World War i from 1917 onwards would go through the aircraft experimental unit to ensure they were fit for purpose.
in 1924, the unit changed its name to the aircraft & armament Experimental Establishment (a&aEE) and in 1939 transferred to RaF Boscombe down, Hampshire, where it has remained. However, as a result of organisational changes since 1992, the unit is split in two.
The Government- owned part is the defence science and Technology Laboratory (dsTL). The other part is a privatised company trading under the name QinetiQ, which carries out work on behalf of the Government.
Martlesham Heath remained in service as an RaF station with 11 Group, Fighter command, providing a base for RaF units. in 1941, it was briefly the home of 71 squadron, the american Eagles, which was made up of U.s. pilots who had volunteered to fly with the RaF.
in 1943, the station was assigned to the 8th air Force of the U.s. army air Force, which operated fighters and bombers from the airfield.
The americans departed on november 10, 1945, and the airfield reverted to RaF ownership. it once again became home to an experimental unit, the bomb ballistics and blind landing unit, which was renamed the armament and instrument experimental unit in 1950.
Bob Cubitt, Northampton.
QUESTION
Who does the whistling on the TSB Bank advertisement? THE piece is called Henry’s Theme (after the Rev Henry duncan, who founded the savings bank movement in 1810).
The music is recorded using only the human voice and whistling. since this is not strictly a capella, we’ve coined the term ‘humonics’ to describe the method.
The soundtrack was specially created for the advertisement by composer anne dudley and performed by one of the world’s leading whistlers, david Morris.
Charlotte Sjoberg, head of media relations, TSB London. THis was performed by david Morris, a professional whistling artist from saddleworth, Greater Manchester.
He is a former cornet player and brass instrument teacher, who discovered that using his cornet skills he could whistle complex pieces of music.
in 2003, he won the World Whistling championships in the U.s., securing the grand champion title with his mastery of fast- pace classics such as RimskyKorsakov’s The Flight of The Bumblebee and Rossini’s William Tell overture.
Morris has released a number of cds, appeared on The one show, des and Mel and BBc Breakfast, and also played the Post Horn Gallop on the Mini advert — the one where the cars fall like dominoes.
A. Took, Manchester.