March 15 is the annual International Consumer Rights Day, do you know what it means to us?
For consumers, to protect their own rights and interests and recover economic losses, consumer associations should feedback consumers' opinions to enterprises, while supporting consumers to use the law to protect their legitimate rights and interests.
Today, the focus of science takes you to take stock of the pseudo-technological products that have historically been subject to IQ taxes, so as not to be deceived in the future.
01 Dark Matter Shampoo
"Can grow hair and prevent shedding, cutting-edge latest black technology - dark matter shampoo."
"In the summer, oil-proof heat insulation, rely on xx dark substance shampoo."
In the mouth of some merchants, dark matter seems to be a universal elixir, which can not only make people grow thick hair, but also have anti-shedding, heat and oil resistance and other effects. In fact, no scientist has yet detected dark matter. Research on dark matter is only theoretical. If someone can really "find" dark matter, he will achieve the feats of the physical world. Therefore, no matter how unscrupulous merchants blow the dark matter series products out of the sky, please do not believe and buy.
02 Quantum water cup
In recent years, quantum physics has continued to develop, and quantum technology has also entered the field of vision of the public. However, many merchants take advantage of people's cognitive loopholes and use the banner of "quantum" to swindle and deceive. Even Academician Pan Jianwei, an innovator in the study of quantum information on the mainland, has said that perhaps most people do not understand quantum physics, so that deceivers have an opportunity.
The seller advertises that the "Quantum Water Cup" uses advanced quantum technology, which is beneficial to good health. To the public, the quantum water cup has quantum energy, can purify water, remove chlorine, and the treated water is more conducive to the absorption of the body and helps the body detoxify. Similar "quantum cups" are also blown to the gods, if you pour liquor, vinegar, tea or other drinks into the "quantum cup", you can improve the taste. There are even merchants who publicize that quantum cup drinking can improve the taste, "drinking 1 kilogram of liquor does not cause headaches."
In addition, there are quantum underwear, quantum glasses, quantum skin care products, quantum health care products, quantum beauty instruments, quantum pendants, etc. flooding the market, focusing on health, health care, beauty and other fields. The "quantum" concept products are extremely proliferated, and in the face of overwhelming false propaganda, it is difficult to ensure that every consumer can be correctly identified and not deceived. Of course, there are also many consumers who flock to it, are caught by the people around them, and pay for such "quantum products".
In fact, these so-called "quantum" products have nothing to do with quantum. The China Consumer Association once reminded consumers that all daily life products marketed under the banner of "quantum" are all false propaganda. In view of the current situation, the most effective way to expose and combat this scam is to popularize "quantum knowledge". Let every consumer know about quantum technology, so that the deceiver can not do anything.
03 Self-heating underwear
As the name suggests, "self-heating underwear" can heat itself, which is both thin and warm.
It can wear less in the cold winter and resist the cold, so "self-heating underwear" is loved by many consumers. On the e-commerce platform, the sales of such underwear are often tens of thousands. So, does self-heating underwear really have such a magical effect?
Textile footwear brand management experts have said that they have been doing clothing for more than 40 years, and they have not yet seen underwear that can heat themselves. The so-called "heating fiber" does not generate heat, but the merchants over-functionalize these things. This is just some non-breathable, warm fibers.
Some experts said that self-heating underwear is just an exaggeration of the principle of "moisture absorption and heating". In fact, in school physics class, we have been exposed to this principle: when the hydrophilic genes in the fiber are combined with the water vapor molecules, the kinetic energy of the water molecule will decrease, and according to the law of conservation of energy, the kinetic energy of the water molecule will be converted into thermal energy release.
However, the merchant advertised that the "self-heating underwear" uses "black technology" materials, using heating fibers, lycra fibers or new German fibers and other materials.
In fact, the "self-heating" in the mouth of merchants is just a common phenomenon, not the magical effect that people imagine that clothes can generate heat on their own. Even ordinary clothes will absorb moisture and exotherm. Therefore, "self-heating underwear" is just an "IQ tax" product cloaked in black technology.
In fact, the warm effect of many self-heating underwear is not bad, and the materials used are some materials with good moisture absorption effect and impermeable. For example, many underwear use polyester, acrylic, viscose fiber, spandex and other materials. But it is definitely not as magical as the mouth of the merchant, and they can be treated as ordinary products, and they do not have to spend high prices to pursue the so-called "self-heating" function.
04 Sheep placenta
Recently, the infarct of "sheep placenta" has spread across various platforms, causing many people to wonder - what is sheep placenta? Does it really work?
Sheep placenta is a living cell extract that first arose in Switzerland. Merchants advertise that injection of sheep placenta can achieve beauty and anti-aging effects. In fact, Switzerland banned sheep placenta anti-aging therapy in 2015.
On the one hand, this is because scientists have not yet confirmed whether sheep placenta has anti-aging effects, and the therapy may harm human health, ranging from allergies to life-threatening. On the other hand, it is because sheep placenta can only be extracted and refined in the laboratory, and the preservation requirements are very high. This means that sheep placenta is unlikely to be mass-produced and is not suitable for ordinary people to consume. The sheep placenta sold on the market is mixed with true and false, and consumers can easily fall into the trap.
In this regard, mainland experts also hold a similar view: although sheep placenta can make people energetic in a short period of time, long-term use is harmful to human health. Therefore, when consumers consider improving their appearance through medical beauty and other means, they should pay attention to screening and should not be confused by the "injectable sheep placenta" beauty law promoted by merchants.
05 Magnetic therapy mattress
Not only magnetic therapy mattresses, but also magnetic therapy cups, magnetic therapy belts, magnetic therapy pillows and other magnetic therapy products. These products are often equipped with the gimmick of magnetic therapy and "treatment", not only the price is very high, but the sales are also good.
However, scientists have not yet confirmed that magnetic therapy has the effect of curing diseases, and these products with magnetic therapy labels are likely to cause a lot of radiation to the human body.
In 2017, the Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Yantai City, Shandong Province, intercepted a batch of magnetic therapy health care mattresses, and after testing, it was found that the radiation volume of this batch of mattresses was very high. If you really sleep for a whole year, the radiation dose of the body is as high as 200mSv, which is equivalent to taking 2000 chest X-rays. Isn't this the typical "spending money to find guilt"?
Although it is now clearly stipulated that magnetic therapy products cannot be named after the type of disease they treat, the efficacy of treatment, etc. But bad businesses will still rub the edge ball on promotional materials, inducing consumers, especially the elderly. Therefore, friends who have elderly people at home should pay special attention to prevent falling into the trap of unscrupulous businesses.
06 Radiation protection stickers
With the increase in the number of electronic products owned by individuals and the improvement of people's health awareness, many people are worried that the radiation of electronic products will cause harm to the human body, especially pregnant women and children. Therefore, on mainstream shopping software, the sales of radiation protection stickers remain high. Radiation protection stickers vary in shape and price range from tens to more than three hundred. In its product description, there are usually "can effectively reduce heat on the battery" and "transfer electromagnetic radiation waves", so can the radiation-proof patch really reduce radiation?
In 2019, the Electrical Safety Laboratory of Hangzhou Customs Technology Center conducted experiments on this problem. At that time, the experimental situation was that before the radiation protection sticker was attached, the value displayed by the instrument was 1.183 (milliwatt decibel), and after the radiation protection patch was attached, the reading of the radiation tester did not change!
Since radiation protection patches do not work, will the radiation of electronic products really affect our health? Taking mobile phones as an example, Wang Yang, deputy director of the Electrical Safety Laboratory of Hangzhou Customs Technology Center, once said: Mobile phones must pass the Detection of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, even if we have been calling 24 hours a day, the amount of radiation it produces is also within the scope of human safety.
07 Household energy saving appliances
Perhaps in order to implement the Chinese virtue of thrift and thrift, recently there is an electronic product that is suddenly very popular, it is a household appliance, and the price on the Internet ranges from more than 20 to more than 1500.
Its power-saving principle looks very "scientific": in physics circuits, the resistance of the loop is generally minimized, so that the load behaves as pure resistance, which is commonly referred to as impedance matching. This stabilizes the circuit and also saves power. But our daily household appliances, such as refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, etc., are usually inductive due to the power consumption of electric motors. Therefore, we will give them a capacitor in parallel to cancel their inductivity and achieve the purpose of power saving.
Can household appliances from online fires also play such a role? The answer is, no.
First of all, small capacitors such as household energy savers are connected together, and the power saving effect obtained is almost equal to none. Secondly, if the "household economy" is not working well, it may leak electricity, which will generate heat and make the overall circuit appear capacitive, resulting in power consumption. More dangerously, it can also pose a safety hazard, with aging capacitors causing explosions and short wires causing fires.
It can only be said that this is a very "idealized" product, think about it, but think incompletely, and it is very dangerous to practice.
08 Fuel saver
Then I don't save electricity, change the fuel saving line, right? The answer remains: No.
The fuel economizer advertised on the Internet is that in addition to saving fuel, there is also a purification effect, which can reduce the exhaust emissions generated by combustion (quite in line with carbon peak carbon neutrality). When it comes to its fuel-saving principle, it is more explained that when gasoline passes through the fuel economizer, the molecular structure is rearranged, so it is more resistant to combustion.
Station B up the main LCLDIY purchased this fuel economizer and disassembled it and found that there were 3 capacitors of 0.22 farads connected in series, and it was measured by the detector that it could produce a voltage of 16.5 volts. Like economizers, the essence of fuel savers is still a physical circuit problem. This capacitor is too small to play any role, and using it to save electricity is "equivalent to pouring a bottle of mineral water into the Three Gorges Hydropower Station", and this tax is not paid.
09 Nanomaterials
Nanometers, in fact, are only a unit of scale, scientists call 10 -9 power meters as nanometers, an atom is about 0.1 nanometers, and the width of DNA is only about 2 nanometers. Now, nanotechnology has matured quite well and is indeed widely used in our lives.
But there are also some unscrupulous merchants who use "nanotechnology" as a marketing gimmick for publicity: nano insoles, nano washing machines, nano water cups, nano underwear, nano double-sided tape, nano dishwashing sponges, etc., which are basically pseudo-nano products.
However, with the disclosure of some pseudo-nano products, many unknown consumers believe that nanotechnology is a scam. In fact, in addition to the products that have been deified and no one has broken, there are indeed some scientific and technological products that benefit from nanotechnology and change lives.
Products that really use nanotechnology generally don't advertise packaging themselves. For example, pregnancy test sticks, USB sticks and hard disks, even if nanotechnology is used, its purpose is also to improve the quality of products. In addition to considering the quality, U disk users will only care about the storage space, as for the U disk to use what technology does not need to be hyped. Therefore, it is doubtful that manufacturers or sellers do not advertise the performance of their products, but emphasize the use of nanotechnology over and over again.
10 Desose rice cooker
The desaccharification rice cooker advertised by the merchant is undoubtedly very attractive to diabetics or people who have lost weight.
Its principle is to filter the rice soup produced during the steaming process. Unlike the solid bottom liner of a regular rice cooker, the bottom of the desprodeded rice cooker is covered with leak holes, and a box for collecting rice soup is added below. Merchants say that this rice cooker can filter out the rice soup, that is, remove the sugar in the rice, and the sugar content is greatly reduced. The ordinary rice cooker steamed rice is cooked with rice and water, and the rice is cooked when the water is dry.
Some merchants advertise that it can effectively reduce the sugar content of rice by 70%. But is that really the case? In order to verify the actual hypoglycemic effect of the desweegarized rice cooker, CCTV invited volunteers to do experiments, and finally concluded that the blood sugar peak of volunteers who consumed despocharized rice cooker rice was slightly lower than that of eating normal rice, but this effect was medically negligible, that is, there was no effect of lowering blood sugar. But merchants rely on this gimmick to raise the price of desose rice cookers very high, often several times that of ordinary rice cookers.
[Science Focus Magazine (wx: kexuejiaodian) is the copyright partner of Science Focus magazine in the United Kingdom, focusing on reporting on important research, advanced technologies and innovative products that are about to transform human society.