Many so-called “skeptics” (who are strangely not the least bit skeptical about reductionistic materialism and its explanations) tout the unawarded JREF prize as the ultimate proof that psi phenomena are bogus. I’ve discussed Randi before on AMNAP. But this time he may have really stepped in it:
Try this on for credibility: A Dr. Masaru Emoto, who boasts certification from the Open International University of Alternative Medicine (???), has made remarkable discoveries about “the concept of micro cluster water.” Floating along in his muddy stream of awareness, Dr. Emoto began to study the effect of altering water by various factors of “vibration” and “consciousness.” These words are immensely popular with quacks, though they’ve no notion what they mean. Are you ready? He studied water that had been altered by music  healing music, classical music, heavy metal music, and so forth.
And he has “crystalline pictures” that reveal how water responds to these influences! As he says, this begins to reveal that water is alive, that it is conscious, and that it responds to applied force by a rearrangement of its inner crystalline properties. Wow! Ah, but that only got him started. It gets better….
Inspired by these revelations, he decided to study the impact of human consciousness on water and its crystalline order. Dr. Emoto believes he has demonstrated that human thoughts and emotions can alter the molecular structure of water. Now, for the first time, he says, there is physical evidence that the power of our thoughts can change the world within and around us. . .
Let’s spend a moment to wonder about how such a view can be brought about. Dr. Emoto might very well believe that he’s doing science. But he’s not. He does no double-blind procedures, for one thing, which dooms these amateur efforts, right from the beginning. If he were to be blind to which words were being used to influence the water crystals, his search through the results looking for confirmation, would be inconclusive. I’ll risk the JREF million-dollar prize on that statement. If Dr. Emoto wants to win the prize, let him agree to perform his tests in a double-blind fashion, and I predict he’ll get fuzzy results that prove nothing.