Added: 4 years ago
From: TheDoLittle
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  • What do they call the class before chemistry 101?

  • @mikelheron20 We called it Kindergarten.

  • Wow, he turned it from blue to yellow by incantation? Simply amazing! I knew the supernatural existed. :p

  • Lol, reminds me of the World's Best Magician video with the guy on the escalator

  • Ummmm?

    The solution added to the flask is an indicator that is sensitive to pH. As the solution is agitated by the stirrer, the pH changes and the color of the indicator changes.

  • LOL! The link comes up with a website called "BadPsychics", which has the message that it was taken down because of death threats. OMG! The scamsters are threatening to kill people that expose them now.

  • I think this is a funny ability to have. Maybe Marvel will create a superhero whose only power is changing the color of tiny glasses of water.

  • Comment removed

  • @ashwinnarayanVlog Since the link (giving an explanation) in the description is dead, would you be kind enough to reply, what exactly happened? What did the russian fella do (if he did anything at all)? Since the video is pretty poor quality, I'd say he didn't have any contact with the container. Or did he?

    I'm gonna be honest - I don't really/truly understand what you just said, I need to refresh my memory of chemistry. I only know/remember some basics and that's all... :P

    Thanks in advance! :)

  • @Staminist2010 Here's what I think happened. If you look at the video you'll see that a few drops of something is added to the distilled water before the blue universal indicator is added. Since the Indicator is blue in alkali the drops of something was probably alkali. The important detail is I think the fact that pH indicators are frequently weak acids or weak bases. I notice that only a few drops of alkali was added at the beginning so the concentration of alkali must be very very low.

  • @Staminist2010 The universal indicator solution is made up of a mixture of several pH indicators, some of them weak acids. From my experience in doing titrations, I've seen that near the endpoint if you keep swirling the flask the solution turns clear(using phenolphthalein) but if you stop it turns very slightly pink. So you have to add one more drop to complete the titration. Here the same thing is happening. One of the acidic indicators reacts with the base and neutralizes it.

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  • @Staminist2010 Now there is no more base in the solution just some slightly acidic indicators which are yellow so the solution turns clear then pale yellow. I'm pretty sure it's because of the stirring. If the stirring were stopped I think the solution will return to being blue.

    Sorry I made it that long. Read through it if it doesn't bore you!

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  • @Staminist2010

    I am doing this from memory so I might get some details wrong. But if you look at the guy, he puts his hands on the sides of the beaker and his head is right over it. I think he is simply breathing down on the water. The CO2 in his breath dissolves into the water and turns it into a weak carbonic acid which will change the color of the agent (probably bromothymol blue which is bluish green when the solution has a neutral ph and yellow or blue when the ph is acidic or base).

  • James Randi, debunking bullshit, its a shame so many that believe in this stuff refuse to believe what science will show them, despite my best tries my mother still beleives homeopathy is a viable medicine

  • the link u provided with the probable explanation isnt down, u got another link with similiar explanation?

  • Wow, I worked for a ChemLab at my university for 2 years, Blue liquid is concentrated Cuppric Oxide possibly, reaching with Nickel (II) Cromate. from light blue to lemon yellow. Everyone can make chemicals change color with acids or reactants. Thats like thinking it must be magic to put the clear red koolaid package in water and watch it turn from red to clear. Not surprising. So I just wasted a 5:43 seconds of my life. uhhhh..

  • A rather simple explanation of this is that the guy is breathing into the beaker and so dissolving carbon dioxide in it, making it more acidic.

  • @rock4p Even that's not necessary. I've seen chemical reactions like this before. I'm curious as whether this man is stupid enough to think he can fool people into believing he's doing it, or if he's stupid enough to have somehow convinced himself that he's doing it.

  • Perhaps those people who are intrigued by this, and wonder where the conclusion is, should do some investigating of their own. Maybe use wikipedia to learn a little chemistry whilst they're at it. Any decent chemist can look at this video and give you numerous explanations. The dye is obviously an indicator which is measuring the acidity/alkalinity (pH) of the solution. This leaves many possibilities open for various reactions one could perform, which occur spontaneously but at a low rate

  • For anyone stunned by this or seeking an explaination, do a search on here for "traffic lights periodic table of videos" and click the first video to see how easy it is to produce multiple colour changes over time without touching the flask.

    Also note how she mentions it's used to wow primary (preteen) school kids.

    The iodine clock is another dramatic, visual, time based reaction.

  • Redox?

  • I was amazed how the clear water turned blue. How does that happen?

  • I wish TheDoLittle would stop pissing. Chill.

  • For those who are wondering, the psychic was probably claiming he could magically change a base to an acid, thus making the indicator change color. Of course, the chemist could just as easily have set up a reaction changing the ph of the liquid that would take time.

  • science fucking with so called Psychics, mahhahahah

  • I want my very own bottle of "oh"

  • Common sense and success belong to me. insight and strength are mine. Proverbs 8:14

  • My guess is that he is exhaling into it. Carbon dioxide would react with the water to form carbonic acid. The change in the pH of the solution would cause the color to change. When the scientist adds OH to the solution, it is neutralized, causing the solution to return to its original color.

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  • you can see that he is breathing into the beaker. I found the website of a chemistry teacher who does the same trick for his class that explains it thus: "the psychic is exhaling into the beaker, causing the pH to drop due to carbon dioxide reaction with water, and the bromthymol blue indicator, which was originally blue due to base added to the solution, turns green and then yellow."

  • Is it just me, or does this video seem to be missing a conclusion?

  • @TheBenEEeee

    What conclusion are you expecting to see? First off, it's only a portion of video taken of one of Randi's many lectures. He more than likely goes into an explanation after the video stops rolling. Secondly, it's fairly obvious that this demonstration is more likely a chemical reaction that anyone can recreate rather than someone with a bad sense of '80s fashion sense has a magical power.

    Honestly, if anyone is looking for a better conclusion, someone please speak up.

  • @TheDoLittle A satisfying conclusion would naturally be Randi kicking the shit out of this display of pseudo-science with his trademark wit and conciseness.

    Obviously, this lecture will have that conclusion, but it not being in this video is akin to when someone tells you an interesting story but stops half-way.

    It's a trivial want I know, but still, but let me justify it as good form for the presentation of information and entertainment, both of which are important elements in Randi's ta-----

  • @TheDoLittle

    I don't think the commenter was questioning Randi's ability to explain it, but rather I think that he's wondering why you didn't include the conclusion in the video.

  • @TheDoLittle im not looking for a better conclusion more than an explanation like everyone else - i have faith that the link you've provided would be informative should it still be valid

  • @TheDoLittle funny but I wonder if there is scientic explanation for the mixture changing from blue to green to yellow when blue is made from green and yellow. so could the mixing cause the blue to separate?

  • @TheDoLittle bitch slap that "magic chemist", that would be a rather just ending i think

  • @TheDoLittle Are you serious? What conclusion are we looking for? ANY conclusion? All we saw was a demo and you're satisfyed? That was worth just as much as if you verbally stated the trick. And once again NO conclusion. Of course it's more than likely a chemical reation, we knew that as soon as Randi started to describe it - we want to know what that reaction is.

  • @TheDoLittle It would have been nice to see the conclusion to the experiment, to understand why reactions can take so long to occur... or whether it's the heat from the hands? or alcohol on his breath... etc...

  • @TheDoLittle Therefore, bad 80s fashion gives you psychic power over mundane liquids!

  • @TheBenEEeee true it's definitely missing the grand reveal

  • O MY GOD, i performed something similar inside our school chemistry lab in 11th grade...hahahaa...guess wat? Even the dumbest student wasnt impressed and asked me to get a life... because this was part of our syllabus ... its called Titration .. google it.. you may even find videos of it here in youtube... its so simple

  • buffalo bill

  • The fact is he changed the color of the water. It was impressive. But much more impressive than the wiggling of the woolen old gay Randi in this video.

  • he is breathing into the beaker, lower the pH with co2.

  • I saw this in my chemistry class. We put potassium permanganate in a beaker and another unknown solution into it and as we stirred it it went from purple to green to yellow to brown until it was clear. Stirring helps substances react, and when chemicals react, the solution can change color based on its valence orbital. This guy just did a high school level experiment, but with a head band on.

  • these sort of guys that claim to have powers can never to anything useful. They can bend a spoon with their mind, or change the colour of a liquid. But they can't fix your car or give you free cable tv

  • At first glance i thought this was simply a vanadium compound changing oxidation states, hence colours. Staggeringly, it seems that all that is really happening is that he is breathing carbon dioxide into the (water?) containing an indicator, the CO2 is changing the colour of the indicator by making the solution more acidic....and he's passing it off as his power. LOL The man is as impressive as a brain dead gorilla scratching its arse, as any organism that expels carbon dioxide can do this XD

  • The huy exhales into the solution. The carbon dioxide reaction caused by this is what makes the color change.

  • As annoying as "Rasputin" is, he's not as heinous as that clacking sound!

    What I've never understood about all these scam artists is that even if they really could use their minds to bend spoons, change the color of water, make watches start/stop, etc., so what? What good would it do them or anyone else? Let them tell me how the DJA will do this year or if the dealer has a ten down and then I'll be impressed.

  • OMG! Rasputin!

  • randi rules!!! :P

  • has james randi meet Gasparetto

  • has james randi meet Gasparetto

  • see you can find alternate explanations for any experiment. But that does not discredit the original method!

  • Hahaha we did a lab in my grade nine science class about liquids changing colour, we had about 10 different mixtures that changed colour, some of which changed when stirred others changed if you just let it sit. Its funny how he has the solution stirred as he is doing his ridiculous magic. The solution fluctuates around the equilibrium. Its actually fairly interesting and easy to understand if you are into learning how things work. Google it.

  • You don't have to pay to "attend" anything. You just have to apply. The tests are designed in such a way as to make tampering impossible, but only with the agreement of the applicant. You could at least try. It costs no more than a stamp.

  • no, you're a fraud. telepaths don't exist. psychopaths, on the other hand, do.

  • @magnusalexa LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!

  • @magnusalexa no you!

  • @magnusalexa you don't have to pay except for your lodging/transportation if you can even pass the first stage of authentication (and after setting up a scientific protocol which you and the randi foundation have agreed upon)

    you'd be nuts not to pursue the million dollars. you're surely a fake.

  • @magnusalexa Facts are not something you vote upon democratically. If you were "scientifically proven as a telepath" then you have a couple of papers published about this with a load of tests done in easily re-doable ways for all the world to see, right? Then what's the problem, with those kinds of powers you don't NEED Randi's million dollars, you have superpowers! You're already a multimillionaire! ...right?

  • Mr Randi is not an American gnome.

  • Kickass Russian Hulkamania headband!

  • @lakeshoreful are you some kind of authority on Randi's life? Did he commission you to write his biography? What does it matter if he's ever been married or not? What does it matter if he's "interested in females" or not? Stupid comment.

  • I wonder if the Russian guy knew that it was his breath that was changing the pH or if he had convinced himself that he was actually changing the color with his mind.

  • there was no explination as to why the water changed color in the video....none that i heard anyways. So what is the reason?

  • The link given in the description in the top right explains what's probably going on.

  • ah, thanks much

  • @thedarkmoonmidnight it's prolly a simple acid-base reaction where because he's breathing into the glass the carbon oxide in his breath gets dissolved into the water making it more acidic and changing the color. If you drop Potasiumhydrooxide in it (the other clear substance) it'll change back and he can just repeat. Drop toomuch in and it will just take longer. I would get laughed at if I'd 'demonstrate' this in chemistry class.

  • Yes, but science will, some day...

  • give us ONE thing

  • 82mozn - This is explained, if you cared to look in the links to the right of the video.

    It is simply by breathing on the solution that you do this trick; Simply, yes effective to create the illussion of something supernatural happening

  • HAHAHAHAHA!!! The ultimate con. And a funny one at that. Can't he use his "powers" without the stirring and chemicals? Wow, how low can you go. And I assume people believe him, probably worship him as the "messiah" and (I'm sure) pay him dollars to see him perform this science experiment. Little do they know, they could probably do it too given the same elements.

  • not 'probably' ;)

  • What was supposed to be so special about that? Maybe I saw wrong, but it just changed color, right?

    The water in my toilet is usually clear, but when I take a piss in the morning I make it turn dark yellow...and I don't even have to wave my hands over it in a "magic" motion. Why aren't people worshiping me for this feat?

  • because you need to drink more water.

  • dark yellow pee is a sign of dehydration

  • it's cause you're already waving your wand over it ^^

  • @stuckvanilla HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  • @stuckvanilla You are a God...I mean, you don't even need to wave your hands!! Very funny comment stuckvanilla! Best wishes.

  • @stuckvanilla impresso

  • breathing is a sin....

  • @Muzicboxtecnotunez

    I give breathing up for lent. It's the only thing I know.

  • @19nisey69 hehe... alright, but dont kill yourself in the process just b/c i said something nonsensical. too much of anything aint gonna do you any good, bro... much luck with it.

  • I bet he was one of the original X-men.. can change the color of water by looking at it. I bet all his enemy were scared stiff.

  • He should be wearing eye protection. It would been awesome if some of that shit splashed in his face.

  • I am enjoying Randi's sweater.

  • Looks cozy.

  • i actually had this "miracle" happen accidently while doing some chemistry on school, its not magic, just your breath.

  • Wow, that was impressively unimpressive.

  • Careful!! The Hulksterovich might hunt you down and breathe on you!

  • Do you know what happened to ThinkerHa or if he set up a separate channel?

  • It sounds like she's just doing a titration with some bromothymol blue

  • We did this when I was taking grade 9 science, so many years ago. To make things go faster, we put a straw into the liquid so we could bubble CO2 through it.

    The colour change, from blue to green to yellow, is pretty obviously bromthymol blue indicator (well, obvious to those who've seen it). You don't even need to blow: vigorous enough stirring, or just waiting a while, will change the colour from blue to a very pale green as CO2 dissolves from the air.

    Worst psychic power ever.

  • Might be good for an average magic trick, but witch some stenographies...

  • Right up there with the Scientology "super power" of the ability to sense hunger

  • Ability to sense hunger? Seriously? That's even worse than Rosemary Hunter's "ability" to make people have to pee....

    It's like these people have a running contest to see who can come up with the dumbest thing that other people might find amazing. It's America's Funniest Home Videos, but in real life.

  • I am up to the level where I can fly. But only at night when nobody can watch or tape.

  • I can turn invisible, but only when nobody's looking.

  • A power held by one of the superheros in Mystery Men.

    If I remember right I don't think he could even look at himself in a mirror for it to work. Which begged the question, "then how do you know".

    "I just KNOW"

  • Man, You know David Blaine can't act his way out of a parking ticket, and yet even he's a better actor than that guy! And what's with the HEADBAND? Why are all "so-called" mystics, absolute fashion disasters? LOL

  • Because Extra Sensory Perception is just one step away from, and is tied in very closely to Fashion Sensory Perception... and if you don't have E.S.P., you probably ain't got F.S.P.!!

  • Yup! One letter away! Mystery SOLVED! Hahahaha!

  • oh boy, thats pure oxidation-reduction reaction.... my prof did that in class in first year chemistry...

    The Russian guy sort of looks like young Rasputin!

  • I think the real question is why and If you go on Randi's website you will find out why.

  • "That says fake" hahahahahaha LMAO hahahahaha

  • Don't talk about things you don't know about. It is funny, and I would have laughed.

  • No, YOU are funny!

  • Why wouldn't he have?

  • i can get a hard-on just by my power of thought!! no touching or breathing on it or anything!!!

  • so? he blows on it, CO2 comes out and the reaction happens.

  • It's always Christmas for James Randi!

  • I have psychic powers,I can speak with animals,especialy humans.

  • You weakling hah hah ..

    I can speak with animals for real!

    Not that they reply much, but speak I can. :)

  • I can speak to them to, it's easy. It is getting the animals to talk back that's the hard part...

  • u are no psychics - i am psychic:

    when i talk 2 a dog 2 sit he sits.. i use a magic item called bone for that.. when i estabslished the mental contact 2 dog i also can talk telepathiclly 2 him:

    after 20 tiimes of the psychic ritual with mgic item i only think 2 sit, give energetic impulses with magic bone and dog sits.. it is even more: in advance he feels the energy and gets water in his mouth..

    i am the real psychic !!!!!

  • Charlatan! Every morning my cat gently slaps me in the face til I wake up, she then tells me in catese that she's hungry. She continues to tell me until I've actually gotten her the food, she does this because she knows I'm forgetful and need constant reminding.

    I AM the psychic!

  • i admit that is impressing.. *om*

  • crap

  • it's a harmonic reaction... done very frequently in chem labs... i've done it, but managed to get just 4 cycles... got a B :oP

  • the ability to change to colour of a liquid is nothing compared to the power of the Force.

    and what kind of a useless power is that, anyway?

  • You people are morons

  • Looks like we've got the next Mendeleev on our hands here

  • Im sure this is the Briggs-Rauscher reaction. heres the link to a very clear demonstration of it (minus Russian "psychic...). Im not sure what was happening quite on the "Psychic Chemist" video because its rather unclear. Rhandi says it went "yellow then blue". Anyway, this would esentialy perform the same reaction. dont think it requires carbon dioxide either, like some people have suggested. Exposed! youtube. com/ watch?v=Ch93AKJm9os

  • I was a psychic in Chem101 when we did this for our first experiment. The color disappears every time you shake it up and then slowly reappears if you leave it alone. Basic Chemistry...Your welcome....

  • I bow down to your powers LOL

  • Bandershot (john benneth) is STILL crying over his homeopathy claims, and how they DON'T stand up to the challenge. I think you homeopaths have a "remedy" for that, don't you? It's a TEAR dilution (a "c30" should do the trick). Do they make a "remedy" when you suffer from lack of common sense? If so, get on that "remedy" RIGHT AWAY! PS: Benneth offered me $1,000.00 (one thousand) for PROOF that Randi's $1 mil prize existed! I sent it to him, but he then claimed Goldman Sachs is "in on the scam".

  • you really need to be able to back up claims like that, bribery indeed! Homeopathy is a scam, there is NO proof that it works better than placebo, and in terms of this video, it would have been nice to have the explanation actually in the video, but the CO2 in your breath turning the solution acidic is quite right, in fact water will eventually turn acidic due to the CO2 in the air in any case, this guy just speeds up the process by breathing on it

  • Taken from wiki: Solutions of this substance are blue when in an oxidizing environment, but will turn colorless if exposed to a reducing agent. Upon shaking the bottle, oxygen oxidizes methylene blue, and the solution turns blue. The dextrose will gradually reduce the methylene blue to its colorless. Stupid psychics

  • Yup you are right an experiment should talk for itself. That´s the advantage of a scientific procedure, it has no prejudices.

  • Debates with skeptics? You haven't had one single debate with skeptics, you are a cheater. I know it, you know it, who are you kidding?

  • bandershot,you have said randi is not trying to be educational,but derisive...he doesnt claim to be an educator,he is an investigator...and not a single one,including you,has proven him wrong,while he has exposed everyone...you also talked about MAGICnewyork(S.I) threatening to sue you,yet randi has been sued numerous times,and won them all...if you are right,you shouldnt worry about being sued...you are owned by james randi

  • Not much of a Warrior are you! You are merely weak minded, but take comfort in th knowledge that much of that is not your own personal fault as your low IQ was inherited from your inbred parents. If you know of any magic gods, please send them to Randi so they may prove their silly claims, and take his money, otherwise you are wasting your breath, and eating up bandwidth with your nonsense.

  • Randi is an old fart, and that's what's so funny about the whole thing! He is an old fart but still immensely smarter than the slick charlatans who bilk idiots like you and your parents out of what little money you do earn from gathering recycling, returning your empties, and renting your sister. Send all of the phony gods, faith healers, and dead talkers to Randi to take the old farts cool Million from him. They will feel mighty silly when exposed as fakers by a little old fart like Randi!

  • You are not using proper English, either.

  • Well I haven't made any claims. But my English is better then his.

  • Don't criticise if your own English is less than 100%. Not everyone speaks English as their first language.

  • I understand that. But I can be a critic if their English is far worse then my own. That is what allows me to criticize. It's not like I was criticizing someone from Mexico or Germany. He's from America. And he's 48 years old. On top of that, he is acting like a child. I regret nothing.

  • That a person is 48 and lives in USA does not necessarily mean that English is their first or only language.

  • wow, your post sets a nice contrast towards the rest of the comments. very, different.

  • ASpiritualWarrior, Yes - so successful that you can't spell. So spiritual that you slag off others.

    Very odd.

  • INTERESTING

  • Randi for president!

  • It would be good if any psychic could tell what a mixture of chemicals was by naming it. Unfortunately, they only seem to pick up things that they already know!

  • Hey, supruzr, thx :) Very good explanation. Absolutly correct, that is the reason why this thing turns yellow, there is not much to it.

    Carbon dioxide, which is a primary content of your breath, if added slowly to the solution, will turn it a diffrent color. However, I can't believe that they wanted to trick Randi with this, as this is one of the most simple tricks used in chemistry, and you learn it in your first lab days.

  • Most people who claim supernatural powers use tricks no more complicated than this. As simple as it may be to someone who knows how it works, to someone who doesn't it's pretty difficult to puzzle out. Cold reading is just as simple, and yet people who can do it convincingly can make millions.

  • This must be why Russians drink vodka neat. Their bartending equipment is really slow and annoying. Why not use they standard shaker?

  • my chem professor did this as a demo in our class.

    good times

  • The trick is in the dye. Di-bromo-thymol-sulfo-nephthal­ein. In standard air it's blue, and when you add enough carbon dioxide to it, it turns yellow. A pH difference of 1.6 is sufficient, and breathing on the solution is enough to cause that.

    The chemist woman was most definitely in on the trick. She would have to be. So this was two people trying to defraud Randi, not just one.

  • Must be, we did this during our Job Training at the Bayer Chemical Plant in Uerdingen, Germany after Titration. Chemical class year one.

  • Oh, I see... you do have really convincing evidence about what a delusional person (or a blatant lier) you are. And if you only know the jref because of the challenge, it is not the fault of the more educated people.

  • You still have two years to claim the money... And if you really want to know why are they discontinuing the challenge, just go to the randi org webpage. And no: it hast nothing to do with your silly prophecies, or your appealing dialectics...

  • I think Mr Dawkins would object to that accusation.

    And you stopped absolutely nothing. Sorry to burst your bubble.

  • is he wearing a hulk hogan bandana

  • OMG! Please tell me these people are not for real! This has potential of being a good trick...if your audience is a class of fourth graders.