The first page image of the paper "Corona Virus Killed by Sound Vibrations Produced by Thali or Ghanti: A Potential Hypothesis" published in the Journal of Molecular Pharmaceuticals and Regulatory Affairs, Vol. 2, Issue 2 (2020), has gone viral on social media in the wake of the controversy surrounding a Chinese robot presented by the Galgotias University as its original product at the just-concluded AI summit in Delhi. The resurfacing of the 2020 publication, authored by Dharmendra Kumar, Galgotias University, has reignited debate over academic standards and scientific credibility.
This paper, published in March-August 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, proposes that coronavirus can be killed by sound vibrations, specifically those produced by beating metal thalis (plates) or ghantis (bells). The timing of its publication is significant: it followed a nationally televised appeal by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 22, 2020, requesting citizens to make such sounds for five minutes as a show of solidarity.
The paper’s central hypothesis is that the mechanical sound vibrations generated by striking thalis or bells are capable of killing or inactivating the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The author draws on three loosely related areas of existing research to support this claim:
a) Work attributed to a physicist from Arizona State University suggesting that viruses can be inactivated by mechanical vibrations, specifically citing resonance at 60 gigahertz with tobacco necrosis virus.
b) British cancer research into high-powered ultrasound beams used to treat metastatic bone lesions.
c) A study involving microwave energy transfer at various frequencies to kill influenza viruses.
The author then draws a direct logical leap from these three areas to conclude that thali/bell vibrations could similarly inactivate COVID-19.
Fundamental Logical Fallacy
Now stands withdrawn, the paper’s core argument suffers from a fundamental logical fallacy: the assumption that because some forms of mechanical or electromagnetic energy can inactivate some viruses in controlled laboratory settings, the casual sound vibrations from household objects at unspecified frequencies and intensities will have a similar effect on SARS-CoV-2 in open-air environments. This is an enormous inferential leap unsupported by any experimental data.
The research cited in the paper involves frequencies in the gigahertz (10⁹ Hz) range or ultrasound frequencies (above 20,000 Hz), applied in controlled laboratory conditions. The sound produced by a thali or bell is in the range of a few hundred hertz at best, and at extremely low intensities compared to laboratory equipment. The paper makes no attempt to reconcile this massive discrepancy in frequency or energy levels, which is scientifically disqualifying.
The paper contains zero original experimental data, laboratory results, or primary research. It consists entirely of brief, secondhand references to other studies, without proper citation analysis or meta-analysis methodology. There are no control groups, no measurements, no quantitative analysis, and no reproducible methodology. By academic standards, it does not qualify as a scientific study — it is a loosely assembled opinion piece.
The paper references research on tobacco necrosis virus, cancer treatment with ultrasound, and influenza inactivation with microwaves — none of which are SARS-CoV-2 or coronaviruses. Extending conclusions across entirely different virus families, using different mechanisms of action, in radically different conditions, violates basic principles of scientific inference.
The paper appears to have been published in MAT Journals, which is widely categorized among predatory or questionable journals that do not maintain rigorous peer review standards. Predatory journals often publish papers with minimal or no meaningful scientific vetting, for a fee. A hypothesis of this nature, if submitted to a credible, high-impact journal in virology, immunology, or biophysics, would almost certainly not survive peer review.
Reverse-Engineering a Political Event
Perhaps the most significant concern about this paper is its apparent motivation. The paper explicitly cites Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal for citizens to bang thalis on March 22, 2020, and frames the paper as providing scientific validation for that act. This is a textbook case of what is sometimes called “post hoc rationalization” — constructing a scientific-sounding argument to justify a decision or event that has already occurred for political or social reasons, rather than deriving conclusions from evidence.
In public health terms, this is deeply problematic. During an active pandemic, people are highly susceptible to misinformation. Publishing what appears to be a peer-reviewed scientific paper that suggests a simple, cost-free action can kill the virus risks diverting public attention and behavior from genuinely effective measures.
If readers — especially those without scientific backgrounds — take this paper at face value, the consequences could be harmful. They might believe that performing the thali ritual provides protection against COVID-19, potentially reducing compliance with proven prevention measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing, handwashing, and eventually vaccination. Publishing scientifically unfounded claims during a pandemic constitutes a form of health misinformation, regardless of intent.
By using academic formatting, citations, journal publication, and a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), the paper borrows the visual and structural credibility of legitimate science. For a non-expert audience, these markers of legitimacy are difficult to distinguish from genuine peer-reviewed research. This exploitation of scientific aesthetics to lend credibility to unfounded claims is ethically questionable.
Beyond its scientific and ethical problems, the paper has numerous structural deficiencies as an academic work. The abstract overstates the strength of evidence, using language suggesting established scientific proof where none exists. The paper conflates correlation with causation repeatedly.
Pseudoscience
It makes no attempt to quantify the sound frequencies or decibel levels produced by thalis or bells, nor does it compare these with the frequencies known to affect viral particles. The conclusion section does not logically follow from the evidence presented, and the paper acknowledges no limitations whatsoever — a hallmark of poor scientific practice. Furthermore, the political framing within an ostensibly scientific paper crosses a line that credible research almost never does.
This paper fails on nearly every dimension of scientific rigor. It presents no original data, misrepresents its cited sources, bridges a logically unjustifiable gap between laboratory science and a mass public activity, and appears to have been written primarily to provide scientific cover for a politically motivated event during a public health emergency.
The paper is a clear example of pseudoscience: it uses the language and format of science while fundamentally violating its principles. Published during the COVID-19 pandemic, when public trust in health information was critically important, it represents a misuse of academic publishing that could have contributed to health misinformation.
Genuine scientific investigation into vibroacoustic or resonance-based antiviral approaches remains an interesting area worthy of rigorous study. However, such work requires controlled experiments, reproducible data, and honest acknowledgment of limitations — none of which are present here. As a work of science, this paper should be treated with extreme skepticism and is not a reliable basis for any public health conclusions.
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*Freelance writer
Comments
It did not go far though. Importantly, the ultrasound frequencies they generated were clearly calibrated. Our man (or woman, whoever) merely speculates. Do the thalis have ultrasound frequencies that could traverse great distances and collapse the virus, unlike a controlled lab environ? He could have experimented on that easily. It merely shows a certain degree of cognitive and behavioral laziness.