Bovin A.A.
Krasnodar Regional UNESCO Center

All living organisms existing on Earth, one way or another, in the course of long evolution have completely adapted to its natural conditions. Adaptation occurred not only to physical and chemical conditions, such as temperature, pressure, atmospheric air composition, lighting, humidity, but also to the natural fields of the Earth: geomagnetic, gravitational, electric and electromagnetic. Technogenic human activity over a relatively short historical period has had a significant impact on natural objects, dramatically disrupting the delicate balance between living organisms and environmental conditions, which was formed over millennia. This has led to many irreparable consequences, in particular, the extinction of some animals and plants, numerous diseases and a reduction in the average life expectancy of people in some regions. And only in recent decades have scientific studies begun to study the influence of natural and anthropogenic factors on humans and other living organisms.

Among the listed factors, the effect of electric fields on humans, at first glance, is not significant, so research in this area has been scarce. But even now, despite the growing interest in this problem, the influence of electric fields on living organisms remains a poorly studied area.

This paper provides a brief overview of works related to this problem.

1. NATURAL ELECTRIC FIELDS

The Earth's electric field is the natural electric field of the Earth as a planet, which is observed in the solid body of the Earth, in the seas, in the atmosphere and magnetosphere. The electric field of the earth is caused by a complex set of geophysical phenomena. The existence of an electric field in the Earth's atmosphere is associated mainly with the processes of air ionization and the spatial separation of positive and negative electrical charges arising during ionization. Air ionization occurs under the influence of cosmic rays of ultraviolet radiation from the Sun; radiation from radioactive substances present on the surface of the Earth and in the air; electrical discharges in the atmosphere, etc. Many atmospheric processes: convection, cloud formation, precipitation and others - lead to partial separation of unlike charges and the emergence of atmospheric electric fields. Relative to the atmosphere, the Earth's surface is negatively charged.

The existence of the electric field of the atmosphere leads to the emergence of currents that discharge the electrical “capacitor” atmosphere - Earth. Precipitation plays a significant role in the exchange of charges between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere. On average, precipitation brings 1.1-1.4 times more positive charges than negative ones. The leakage of charges from the atmosphere is also replenished due to currents associated with lightning and the flow of charges from pointed objects. The balance of electrical charges brought to the earth's surface with an area of ​​1 km2 per year can be characterized by the following data:

On a significant part of the earth's surface - above the oceans - currents from the tips are excluded, and there will be a positive balance. The existence of a static negative charge on the Earth's surface (about 5.7×105 C) suggests that these currents are, on average, balanced.

Electric fields in the ionosphere are caused by processes occurring both in the upper layers of the atmosphere and in the magnetosphere. Tidal movements of air masses, winds, turbulence - all this is a source of generation of an electric field in the ionosphere due to the effect of a hydromagnetic dynamo. An example is the solar-diurnal electric current system, which causes diurnal variations in the magnetic field on the Earth's surface. The magnitude of the electric field strength in the ionosphere depends on the location of the observation point, the time of day, the general state of the magnetosphere and ionosphere, and the activity of the Sun. It ranges from several units to tens of mV/m, and in the high-latitude ionosphere reaches one hundred or more mV/m. In this case, the current reaches hundreds of thousands of amperes. Due to the high electrical conductivity of the plasma of the ionosphere and magnetosphere along power lines Earth's magnetic field, the electric field of the ionosphere are transferred to the magnetosphere, and magnetospheric fields are transferred to the ionosphere.

One of the direct sources of the electric field in the magnetosphere is the solar wind. When the solar wind flows around the magnetosphere, an emf occurs. This EMF causes electric currents that are closed by reverse currents flowing across the tail of the magnetosphere. The latter are generated by positive space charges on the morning side of the magnetotail and negative ones on its evening side. The electric field strength across the magnetotail reaches 1 mV/m. The potential difference across the polar cap is 20-100 kV.

The existence of a magnetospheric ring current around the Earth is directly related to the drift of particles. During periods of magnetic storms and auroras, electric fields and currents in the magnetosphere and ionosphere experience significant changes.

Magnetohydrodynamic waves generated in the magnetosphere propagate through natural waveguide channels along the Earth's magnetic field lines. Entering the ionosphere, they are converted into electromagnetic waves, which partially reach the Earth's surface, and partially propagate in the ionospheric waveguide and are attenuated. On the Earth's surface, these waves are recorded depending on the oscillation frequency or as magnetic pulsations (10-2-10 Hz), or as very low-frequency waves (oscillations with a frequency of 102-104 Hz).

The Earth's alternating magnetic field, the sources of which are localized in the ionosphere and magnetosphere, induces an electric field in the earth's crust. The electric field strength in the near-surface layer of the crust varies depending on the location and electrical resistance of the rocks, ranging from several units to several hundred mV/km, and during magnetic storms it increases to units and even tens of V/km. The interconnected alternating magnetic and electric fields of the Earth are used for electromagnetic sounding in exploration geophysics, as well as for deep sounding of the Earth.

A certain contribution to the Earth's electric field is made by the contact potential difference between rocks of different electrical conductivity (thermoelectric, electrochemical, piezoelectric effects). Volcanic and seismic processes can play a special role in this.

Electric fields in the seas are induced by the Earth's alternating magnetic field, and also arise from the movement of conductive sea water ( sea ​​waves and currents) in a magnetic field. The density of electric currents in the seas reaches 10-6 A/m2. These currents can be used as natural sources of alternating magnetic fields for magnetic variation sounding on the shelf and at sea.

The question of the electric charge of the Earth as a source of the electric field in interplanetary space has not been completely resolved. It is believed that the Earth as a planet is electrically neutral. However, this hypothesis requires experimental confirmation. The first measurements showed that the electric field strength in near-Earth interplanetary space ranges from tenths to several tens of mV/m.

In the work of D. Dyutkin, processes leading to the accumulation of electric charge and the formation of electric fields in the bowels of the Earth and on its surface are noted. The mechanism of occurrence of circular electric currents in the ionosphere, leading to the excitation of powerful electric currents in the surface layers of the Earth, is considered.

The fundamentals of modern geophysics note that in order to maintain the intensity of the geomagnetic field, a mechanism of constant field generation must operate. The predominance of the dipole field and its axial character, as well as the westerly drift at an exceptionally high speed for geological processes (0.2| or 20 km/year) indicate a connection between the geomagnetic field and the rotation of the Earth. In addition, the direct dependence of the field strength on the Earth's rotation speed is proof of the interconnectedness of these phenomena.

To this we can add that to date, a wealth of statistical information has been accumulated linking changes in the parameters of solar activity, geomagnetic field, and the speed of rotation of the Earth with the time periodicity and intensity of various natural processes. However, a clear physical mechanism for the interconnection of all these processes has not yet been developed.

The works of Professor V.V. Surkov examine the nature of ultra-low frequency (ULF) electromagnetic fields. The mechanism of excitation of ULF (up to 3 Hz) electromagnetic fields in the ionospheric plasma and atmosphere is described, and the sources of ULF electromagnetic fields in the earth and atmosphere are indicated.

Hypotheses about the emergence of the Earth's electric and magnetic fields are discussed in a popular science article by G. Fonarev, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. According to the hypothesis of Academician V.V. Shuleikin, electric currents in the waters of the World Ocean create an additional magnetic field, which is superimposed on the main one. According to V.V. Shuleikin, electric fields in the ocean should be on the order of hundreds or even thousands of microvolts per meter - these are quite strong fields. Soviet ichthyologist A.T. In the early 1930s, Mironov, while studying the behavior of fish, discovered that they had a well-defined electrotaxis - the ability to respond to an electric field. This led him to the idea that electric (telluric) fields must exist in the seas and oceans. Although V.V.’s hypotheses Shuleikin and A.T. Mironov’s ideas have not been confirmed in practice, but they still have more than just historical interest: both of them played an important stimulating role in the formulation of many new scientific problems.

2. LIVING ORGANISMS IN A NATURAL ELECTRIC FIELD

Currently, many studies have been carried out regarding the influence of electric fields on living organisms - from individual cells to humans. The influence of electromagnetic and magnetic fields is most often considered. A large proportion of all works are devoted to alternating electromagnetic fields and their effects on living organisms, since these fields are mainly of anthropogenic origin.

Constant electric fields of natural origin and their significance for living organisms have not yet been sufficiently studied.

The influence of the Earth’s constant electric field on humans, animals and plants is presented most simply and intelligibly in the work of A.A. Mikulina.

According to the latest research, the globe is negatively charged, that is, with an excess amount of free electrical charges - about 0.6 million coulombs. This is a very large charge.

Repelling from each other by Coulomb forces, electrons tend to accumulate on the surface of the globe. At a great distance from the earth, covering it on all sides, there is the ionosphere, consisting of large quantity positively charged ions. There is an electric field between the earth and the ionosphere.

In a clear sky, at a distance of a meter from the ground, the potential difference reaches approximately 125 volts. Therefore, we have the right to assert that electrons, seeking to escape from the surface of the earth under the influence of a field, penetrated the bare feet and electrically conductive ends of the nerves of the muscles of primitive man, who walked barefoot on the earth and did not wear boots with electrically impermeable artificial soles. This penetration of electrons continued only until the total free negative charge of a person reached the charge potential of the area of ​​the earth's surface where he was located.

Under the influence of the field, the charges that penetrated the human body tended to break out, where they were captured and recombined with positively charged ions of the atmosphere, which were in direct contact with the open skin of the head and hands. The human body, its living cells and all the functional dependencies of metabolism have been adapted by nature for millions of years for healthy human life in conditions of the near-Earth electric field and electrical exchange, expressed, in particular, in the influx of electrons into the feet and the outflow, recombination, of electrons into positively charged ions of the atmosphere.

Next, the author makes an important conclusion: the muscles of animals and humans in contact with the earth are designed by nature in such a way that they must carry a negative electrical charge corresponding to the amount of charge on the earth’s surface on which the living creature was located at the moment. The amount of negative charge on the human body should vary depending on the strength of the electric field at a given point on the earth at a given moment.

There are many reasons for a change in the electric field strength. One of the main ones is cloudiness, which carries strong local electrical charges. They reach tens of millions of volts at the moment of lightning formation. In a living organism, on the surface of the skin, the intensity of electric charges sometimes reaches such a magnitude that sparks appear upon contact with metal or when removing nylon underwear.

The latest observations by employees of the Institute of Public and Communal Hygiene have shown that when the weather changes, the well-being of a sick person depends on the magnitude of the local field strength of the earth, as well as on changes in barometric pressure, in most cases accompanying a change in field strength. But since in everyday life we ​​do not have instruments for measuring the magnitude of the earth's field voltage, we explain the state of well-being not as the main cause - a change in field strength, but as a consequence - a drop in barometric pressure.

Experiments have shown that any mental or physical work performed by a person who is isolated from the earth is accompanied by a decrease in his negative natural charge. However, none of the described changes in electrical potential are observed or measured even by the most accurate instruments if the human body is in contact with the ground or is connected to the ground by a conductor. The lack of electrons is immediately eliminated. On any oscilloscope it is easy to notice these currents and determine their magnitude.

What changes in human life determined his departure from natural, primitive existence? Man put on boots, built houses, invented non-conductive linoleum, rubber soles, and filled city streets and roads with asphalt. Man today comes into much less contact with the electrical charges of the earth. This is one of the reasons for such “common” diseases as headaches, irritability, neuroses, cardiovascular diseases, fatigue, bad dream etc. In the past, zemstvo doctors prescribed patients to walk barefoot in the dew. There are still several barefoot societies operating in England. This treatment cannot be called anything other than “grounding the patient’s body.”

At the Institute of Plant Physiology of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Biological Sciences E. Zhurbitsky carried out a number of experiments to study the influence of the electric field on plants. Strengthening the field to a known value accelerates growth. Placing plants in an unnatural field - a negative zone at the top, and a positive zone in the ground - growth is inhibited. Zhurbitsky believes that the greater the potential difference between the seedlings and the atmosphere, the more intense photosynthesis occurs. In greenhouses, the yield can be increased by 20-30%. A number of scientific institutions are studying the influence of electricity on plants: the Central Genetic Laboratory named after I.V. Michurin, employees of the Botanical Garden of Moscow State University, etc.

Of interest is the work of R.A. Novitsky, devoted to the perception of electric fields and currents by fish, as well as the generation of electric fields by highly electric fish (freshwater electric eel, electric stingray and catfish, American stargazer). The work notes that weakly electric fish have a high sensitivity to electric fields, this allows them to find and distinguish objects in water, determine the salinity of water, and use the discharges of other fish with informational purpose in interspecific and intraspecific relationships. Weak electric currents and magnetic fields are perceived mainly by fish skin receptors. Numerous studies have shown that in almost all weakly and strongly electric fish, derivatives of the lateral line organs serve as electroreceptors. In sharks and rays, the electroreceptive function is performed by the so-called ampullae of Lorenzini - special mucous glands in the skin. Stronger electromagnetic fields act directly on the nerve centers of aquatic organisms.

3. Technogenic electric fields and their effect on living organisms

Technological progress, as we know, has brought humanity not only relief and convenience in production and everyday life, but also created a number of serious problems. In particular, the problem of protecting humans and other organisms from strong electromagnetic, magnetic and electric fields created by various technical devices has arisen. Later, the problem of protecting humans from prolonged exposure to weak electromagnetic fields arose, which, as it turned out, also harms human life. And only recently have they begun to pay attention and conduct appropriate research to assess the impact of shielding natural geomagnetic and electric fields on living organisms.

The influence of powerful constant and variable electric fields of technogenic origin on living organisms has been studied for a relatively long time. The sources of such fields are, first of all, high-voltage power lines (PTLs).

The electric field created by high-voltage power lines has an adverse effect on living organisms. The most sensitive to electric fields are ungulates and humans wearing shoes that insulate them from the ground. Animal hoofs are also good insulators. In this case, a potential is induced on a conducting volumetric body isolated from the ground, depending on the ratio of the body’s capacitance to the ground and to the power line wires. The smaller the capacitance to ground (the thicker, for example, the sole of a shoe), the greater the induced potential, which can be several kilovolts and even reach 10 kV.

In experiments carried out by many researchers, a clear threshold value of field strength was discovered, at which a dramatic change in the reaction of the experimental animal occurs. It is determined to be 160 kV/m; a lower field strength does not cause any noticeable harm to a living organism.

The electric field strength in the working areas of 750 kV power lines at human height is approximately 5-6 times less than dangerous values. The adverse effects of industrial frequency electric fields on personnel of power lines and substations with voltages of 500 kV and higher have been identified; at voltages of 380 and 220 kV this effect is weakly expressed. But at all voltages, the effect of the field depends on the duration of stay in it.

Based on research, appropriate sanitary standards and rules have been developed, which indicate the minimum permissible distances for the location of residential buildings from stationary emitting objects, such as power lines. These standards also provide for maximum permissible (limit) radiation levels for other energy-hazardous objects. In some cases, bulky metal screens in the form of sheets, nets and other devices are used to protect people.

However, numerous studies by scientists in various countries (Germany, USA, Switzerland, etc.) have shown that such safety measures cannot completely protect a person from the influence of harmful electromagnetic radiation(AMY). At the same time, it was found that weak electromagnetic fields (EMF), the power of which is measured in thousandths of a watt, are no less dangerous, and in some cases more dangerous, than high-power radiation. Scientists explain this by saying that the intensity of weak electromagnetic fields is commensurate with the intensity of radiation from the human body itself, its internal energy, which is formed as a result of the functioning of all systems and organs, including the cellular level. Such low (non-thermal) intensities characterize the emissions from electronic household appliances found in every home today. These are mainly computers, televisions, mobile phones, microwave ovens, etc. They are the sources of harmful, so-called. man-made EMR, which have the property of accumulating in the human body, thereby disturbing its bioenergetic balance, and, first of all, the so-called. energy information exchange (ENIO). And this, in turn, leads to disruption of the normal functioning of the main systems of the body. Numerous studies in the field of the biological effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) have determined that the most sensitive systems of the human body are: nervous, immune, endocrine and reproductive. The biological effect of EMF under conditions of long-term exposure can lead to the development of long-term consequences, including degenerative processes of the central nervous system, blood cancer (leukemia), brain tumors, hormonal diseases, etc.

In the work of V.M. Korshunova reports that in the 1970s, experts returned to the effects of weak and very weak magnetic and electric fields on model physicochemical systems, biological objects and the human body. The mechanisms that cause these effects “work” at the level of molecules, and sometimes of atoms, as a result of which they are very elusive. However, scientists have experimentally demonstrated and theoretically explained magnetic and spin effects. It turned out that although the energy of magnetic interaction is several orders of magnitude less than the energy of thermal motion, at that stage of the reaction where everything actually happens, thermal motion does not have time to interfere with the action of the magnetic field.

This discovery forces us to take a fresh look at the very phenomenon of life on Earth, which arose and developed under the conditions of a geomagnetic field. The laboratory demonstrated the influence of relatively weak (an order or two higher than the geomagnetic) constant and variable magnetic fields on the output of the primary reaction of photosynthesis - the foundation of the entire ecosystem of our planet. This influence turned out to be small (less than a percent), but something else is important: proof of its real existence.

In particular, the same work noted that household electrical appliances that surround us, at a certain position relative to our body (or our body relative to the devices), can influence the electrochemical processes occurring in the cells of the body.

4. INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS FOR MEASUREMENT OF ELECTRIC FIELDS

To study and control the electromagnetic situation, it is necessary to have appropriate instruments - magnetometers for measuring the characteristics of magnetic fields and electric field strength meters.

Since the need for such devices is small (for now), then, basically, such devices are produced in small series for two purposes: 1 - for control sanitary standards on safety precautions; 2 – for the purposes of exploration geophysics.

For example, the federal state unitary enterprise NPP Cyclone-Test serially produces the electric field meter IEP-05, which is designed to measure the root-mean-square value of the intensity of alternating electric fields created by various technical means.

Electric and magnetic field strength meters are designed to monitor electromagnetic safety standards in the field of environmental protection, labor safety and public safety.

Within the limits of its technical characteristics, the device can be used to measure the strength of the electrical component of electromagnetic fields, regardless of the nature of their occurrence, including when monitoring according to SanPiN 2.2.4.1191-03 "Electromagnetic fields in production conditions" and SanPiN 2.1.2.1002-00 "Sanitary and epidemiological requirements for residential buildings and premises."

The device has a direct readout of the measured field value (in real time) and can be used for electromagnetic monitoring, monitoring the spatial distribution of fields and the dynamics of measuring these fields in time.

The principle of operation of the device is simple: in a dipole antenna, an electric field induces a potential difference, which is measured by a device such as a millivoltmeter.

The company NPP “Cyclone – Test” also produces other devices designed to measure the parameters of electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields.

At the same time, geophysics has long used methods of electrical exploration of minerals. Electrical prospecting is a group of exploration geophysics methods based on the study of natural or artificially excited electric and electromagnetic fields in the earth's crust. The physical basis of electrical prospecting is the difference between rocks and ores based on their electrical resistivity, dielectric constant, magnetic susceptibility and other properties.

Among the various electrical prospecting methods, magnetotelluric field methods should be noted. Using these methods, the variable component of the Earth's natural electromagnetic field is studied. The depth of penetration of the magnetotelluric field into the ground due to the skin effect depends on its frequency. Therefore, the behavior of low field frequencies (hundredths and thousandths of Hz) reflects the structure of the earth’s crust at depths of several km, and higher frequencies (tens and hundreds of Hz) at depths of several tens of m. Study of the dependence of the measured electric and magnetic field components on its frequency allows you to study the geological structure of the study area.

Electrical prospecting equipment consists of current sources, electromagnetic field sources and measuring devices. Current sources - dry cell batteries, generators and batteries; field sources - grounded at the ends of the line or ungrounded circuits powered by constant or alternating current. Measuring devices consist of an input transducer (field sensor), a system of intermediate signal converters that converts the signal to record it and filter noise, and an output device that provides signal measurement. Electrical prospecting equipment designed to study a geological section at a depth not exceeding 1-2 km is manufactured in the form of lightweight portable kits.

For research purposes, special equipment with the necessary parameters is most often manufactured.

The work discusses the most accurate and sensitive spectral methods for measuring ultra-weak magnetic fields. However, there is an important statement here that on the basis of atomic spectroscopy a standard for electric field strength can also be constructed. The work notes that it is possible to measure the absolute value of the electric field strength with high accuracy using the Stark effect. To do this, it is necessary to use atoms with a non-zero orbital moment in the ground state. However, so far, according to the author, the need for such measurements has not become acute enough for the corresponding technology to be developed.

On the contrary, now is the time to create ultra-sensitive and precise instruments for measuring natural electric fields.

CONCLUSION

Numerous studies show that invisible, intangible electromagnetic, magnetic and electric fields have serious effects on human and other organisms. The influence of strong fields has been studied quite widely. The influence of weak fields, which had not previously been paid attention to, turned out to be no less important for living organisms. But research in this area has only just begun.

Modern people spend more and more time in reinforced concrete premises, in car cabins. But there are practically no studies related to assessing the impact on human health of the shielding effect of rooms, metal cabins of cars, airplanes, etc. This is especially true for shielding the Earth's natural electric field. Therefore, such studies are currently very relevant.

“Modern humanity, like all living things, lives in a kind of electromagnetic ocean, the behavior of which is now determined not only by natural causes, but also by artificial intervention. We need experienced pilots who thoroughly know the hidden currents of this ocean, its shoals and islands. And even more stringent navigation rules are required to help protect travelers from electromagnetic storms,” this is how Yu.A., one of the pioneers of Russian magnetobiology, figuratively described the current situation. Kholodov.

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Stanislav Nikolaevich Slavin

Do plants have secrets?

Starting this work with quotes from Vladimir Soloukhin’s book “Grass,” your humble servant pursued at least two goals. Firstly, hide behind the opinion of a famous prose writer: “They say, I’m not the only one, an amateur, taking on the wrong business.” Secondly, to once again remind you of the existence of a good book, the author of which, in my opinion, still did not finish the job. Perhaps, however, through no fault of your own.

According to rumors that have reached me, the publication in 1972 of individual chapters of this book in the widely respected journal Science and Life caused such a scandal in certain circles on Old Square that the editors were forced to stop publication. The judgments expressed by Soloukhin about plants were very inconsistent with the generally accepted Michurin teaching at that time, the main thesis of which people of the older and middle generations probably remember to this day: “There is no point in expecting favors from nature...”

Now, it seems, willy-nilly we are forced to turn our face to nature again, to realize that man is not at all the navel of the Earth, the king of nature, but just one of her creations. And if he wants to survive, coexist with nature and further, then he must learn to understand its language and follow its laws.

And here it turns out that we do not know very, very much about the life of the animals, birds, insects, and even plants that exist next to us. There is much more intelligence in nature than we are accustomed to think. Everything is so closely interconnected with everything that sometimes it’s worth thinking seven times before taking a single step.

The consciousness of this slowly matured in me, but it seems that I would have been planning to sit down at the typewriter for a long time if amazing things had not begun to happen around me. Then I came across a message that the long-standing experiments of Indian scientists, already a quarter of a century ago, who established that plants perceive music, have received an unexpected commercial continuation these days: now pineapples on plantations are grown to music, and this actually improves the taste and quality of the fruit . Then suddenly, one after another, books began to appear that our general reader knows about only by hearsay, and even then not everyone. What, for example, have you heard about Maeterlinck’s book “The Mind of Flowers” ​​or about the work of Tompkins and Bird “The Secret Life of Plants”?..

But, as they say, one of my acquaintances finished me off. A completely positive person, a candidate of agricultural sciences, and suddenly, as if it were quite ordinary, he tells me that every spring he calculates the position of the stars according to the astrological calendar in order to accurately guess on what day to plant potatoes on his plot.

So how does it help? - I asked with a certain amount of malice.

Believe it or not. Like it or not, the yield, all other things being equal, compliance with the rules of agricultural technology, timely watering, etc., is 10-15 percent higher than that of the neighbors.

“Well, since farmers believe that plants, like people, look at the stars,” I said to myself, “then you, probably, God himself ordered to publish everything that you have accumulated over the past years on this interesting, although far from "

Field above field

Where does the harvest begin? To begin with, my interlocutor suggested conducting a small experiment. He took a handful of seeds and scattered them on a metal plate.

This will be our negative grounded capacitor plate, he explained. - Now we bring the same plate closer to it, but positively charged...

And I saw a small miracle: the seeds, as if on command, rose and froze, like soldiers in formation.

“A similar capacitor exists in nature,” my interlocutor continued. Its lower layer is the earth's surface, the upper is the ionosphere, a layer of positively charged particles located at an altitude of about 100 kilometers. The influence of the electromagnetic field created by it on living organisms of the Earth is very complex and varied...

This is how our conversation began with the head of one of the laboratories of the Institute of Agricultural Engineers, then a candidate, and now, as I heard, Doctor of Technical Sciences V.I. Tarushkin.

Vladimir Ivanovich and his colleagues are working on dielectric separators. Of course, you know what a separator is. This is a device that separates, for example, cream from skimmed milk.

In crop production, separators separate the husks from the grains, and the grains themselves are sorted by weight, size, etc. But what does electricity have to do with it? And here's what it has to do with it.

Remember the experience described at the beginning. It is no coincidence that the seeds obey the commands of the electric field in the capacitor. Every grain, be it a wheat seed; rye, another field and garden crop, is like a tiny magnet.

The work and operating principle of our separators is based on this property of seeds,” Vladimir Ivanovich continued the story. - Inside each of them there is a drum on which a winding is laid - layers of electrical wires. And when voltage is connected to the wire, an electromagnetic field is formed around the drum.

Seeds flow from the hopper onto the drum in a stream. They fall out and, under the influence of an electric field, seem to stick and become magnetized to the surface of the drum. Yes, so much so that they remain on the drum even when it rotates.

The most electrified and light seeds are brushed off. Other seeds, heavier ones, themselves come off the surface of the drum as soon as the part of it to which they stuck turns out to be below...

This is how the seeds are divided into individual species, factions. Moreover, this separation depends on the strength of the applied electric field and can be adjusted at the request of the person. In this way, you can set up an electric separator to separate, say, “live” germinating seeds from non-germinating ones and even increase the germination energy of the embryos.

What does this give? As practice has shown, such sorting before sowing ensures an increase in yield by 15-20 percent. And non-germinating seeds can be used as livestock feed or for grinding for bread.

Dielectric separators also provide considerable assistance in the fight against weeds, which have adapted very well to living together with useful plants. For example, a tiny dodder seed cannot be distinguished from a carrot seed, and ragweed skillfully disguises itself as a radish. However, the electric field easily distinguishes the fake, separates useful plant from harmful things.

New machines can even work with seeds for which other methods of technical sorting are not suitable,” Tarushkin said in parting. - Not so long ago, for example, they sent us the smallest seeds, two thousand of which weigh only one gram. Previously, they were sorted by hand, but our separators coped with the sorting without much difficulty.

And what has been done is essentially just the beginning...

Rain, plants and... electricity

The influence of the Earth's natural capacitor - electromagnetic fields - affects not only the seeds, but also the sprouts.

Day after day, they stretch their stems upward toward the positively charged ionosphere, and bury their roots deeper into the negatively charged earth. Molecules of nutrients, having turned into cations and anions in plant juices, obeying the laws of electrolytic dissociation, are directed in opposite directions: some down, to the roots, others up, to the leaves. A stream of negative ions flows from the top of the plant to the ionosphere. Plants neutralize atmospheric charges and thus accumulate them.

Several years ago, Doctor of Biological Sciences Z.I. Zhurbitsky and inventor I.A. Ostryakov set themselves the task of finding out how electricity affects one of the main processes in plant life, photosynthesis. For this purpose, for example, they carried out such experiments. They charged the air with electricity and passed the air flow under a glass cover where the plants stood. It turned out that in such air absorption processes are accelerated 2-3 times carbon dioxide.

The plants themselves were also subjected to electrification. Moreover, those that were exposed to a negative electric field, as it turned out, grow faster than usual. Over the course of a month, they overtake their fellows by several centimeters.

Moreover, accelerated development continues even after the potential is removed.

The accumulated facts make it possible to draw some conclusions, Igor Alekseevich Ostryakov told me. - By creating a positive field around the above-ground part of the plant, we improve photosynthesis, the plant will accumulate green mass more intensively. Negative ions have a beneficial effect on the development of the root system.

Thus, among other things, it becomes possible to selectively influence plants in the process of their growth and development, depending on what exactly - “tops” or “roots*” - we need...

As a specialist who worked at that time in the Soyuzvodproekt production association, electric fields also interested Ostryakov from this point of view. Nutrients from the soil can penetrate into plants only in the form of aqueous solutions. It would seem, what difference does it make for a plant where it gets moisture from - from a rain cloud or from a sprinkler? No, experiments have irrefutably shown that timely rain is much more effective than timely watering.

Scientists began to figure out how a raindrop differs from a tap drop. And they found out: in a thundercloud, droplets, when rubbing against the air, acquire an electrical charge. Mostly positive, sometimes negative. It is this drop charge that serves as an additional plant growth stimulator. Tap water does not have such a charge.

Moreover, for water vapor in a cloud to turn into a drop, it needs a condensation nucleus - some insignificant speck of dust raised by the wind from the surface of the earth. Water molecules begin to accumulate around it, turning from vapor to liquid. Research has shown that such dust particles very often contain tiny grains of copper, molybdenum, gold and other microelements that have a beneficial effect on plants.

“Well, if so, why couldn’t the artificial rain be made to look like natural rain?” - Ostryakov reasoned.

And he achieved his goal by receiving an author's certificate for an electric hydro-aeronizer - a device that creates electrical charges on water droplets. Essentially, this device is an electric inductor that is installed on the sprinkler pipe of a sprinkler installation behind the droplet formation zone in such a way that it is no longer a stream of water that flies through its frame, but a swarm of individual drops.

A dispenser has also been designed to allow microelements to be added to the water flow. It's designed like this. A piece of pipe made of electrical insulating material is cut into the hose that supplies water to the sprinkler system. And in the pipe there are molybdenum, copper, zinc electrodes... In a word, from the material which microelement is most needed for feeding. When current is applied, ions begin to move from one electrode to another. In this case, some of them are washed off with water and end up in the soil. The number of ions can be adjusted by changing the voltage on the electrodes.

If it is necessary to saturate the soil with microelements of boron, iodine and other substances that do not conduct electric current, a different type of dispenser comes into play. A cube of concrete is lowered into a pipe with running water, divided inside into compartments in which the necessary microelements are placed. The compartment covers serve as electrodes. When voltage is applied to them, microelements pass through the pores in the concrete and are carried away by water into the soil.

Potato detector. The summer passed unnoticed in troubles and worries. It's time to reap the harvest. But even a person cannot always distinguish a potato covered with wet autumn soil from the same black lump of earth. What can we say about potato harvesters rowing everything from the field?

What if you sort directly on the field? Engineers have puzzled over this problem a lot. They tried all kinds of detectors - mechanical, television, ultrasonic... They even tried to install a gamma installation on the combine. Gamma rays pierced through earthen clods and tubers, like an X-ray, and the receiver standing opposite the sensor determined “what is what.”

But gamma rays are harmful to human health, and special precautions must be taken when working with them. In addition, as it turned out, for error-free detection it is necessary that all tubers and clods be approximately the same diameter. Therefore, specialists from the Ryazan Radio Engineering Institute - senior lecturer A.D. Kasatkin and then graduate student, and now engineer Sergei Reshetnikov - took a different path.

They looked at the potato tuber from a physics perspective. It is known that the capacitance of a capacitor depends on the permeability of the material placed between its plates. The dielectric constant changes, and the capacitance also changes. This physical principle was the basis for detection, since the experiment revealed:

the dielectric constant potato tuber much different from the dielectric constant of a lump of earth.

But finding the right physical principle is only the beginning. It was also necessary to find out at what frequencies the detector would operate in optimal mode, develop a circuit diagram of the device, and check the correctness of the idea on a laboratory model...

It turned out to be very difficult to create a sensitive capacitive sensor, said Sergei Reshetnikov. “We went through several options and finally settled on this design. The sensor consists of two spring plates located relative to each other at a certain angle. Potatoes mixed with clods of earth fall into this kind of funnel. As soon as a potato or lump touches the capacitor plates, the control system generates a signal, the value of which depends on the dielectric constant of the object located inside the sensor. The executive body - the damper - deviates in one direction or another, performing sorting...

The work was once awarded an award at the All-Union Review of the Scientific and Technical Society of Students. However, something is not yet visible in potato harvesters equipped with such sensors. But they are made there, in Ryazan...

However, we’ll leave complaints about Russia’s slowness until another time. The current conversation is about the secrets of plants. We'll talk about them further.

"Gears" of a living clock

Plants in the chest. A visitor could easily get lost in 18th-century Paris. There were practically no street names, only a few houses had their own names engraved on the gables... It was even easier to get lost in the science of that time. The theory of phlogiston was a stumbling block in the development of chemistry and physics. Medicine did not even know such a simple device as a stethoscope; If the doctor listened to the patient, he did it by putting his ear to his chest. In biology, all living organisms were simply called fish, animals, trees, herbs...

And yet, science has already made a huge step compared to past centuries: scientists in their research have ceased to be content only with inferences, and began to take into account experimental data. It was the experiment that served as the basis for the discovery that I want to tell you about.

Jean-Jacques de Mairan was an astronomer. But, as befits a true scientist, he was also an observant person. Therefore, in the summer of 1729, he paid attention to the behavior of heliotrope, a houseplant that stood in his office. As it turns out, heliotrope is particularly sensitive to light; not only did it turn its leaves following the daylight, but with sunset its leaves drooped and sank. The plant seemed to fall asleep until the next morning in order to spread its leaves only with the first sunbeam. But this is not the most interesting thing. De Mairan noticed that heliotrope performs its “gymnastics” even when the windows of the room are covered with thick curtains. The scientist conducted a special experiment, locking the plant in the basement, and made sure that heliotrope continues to fall asleep and wake up at a strictly defined time, even in complete darkness.

De Mairan told his friends about the remarkable phenomenon and... did not continue the experiments further. After all, he was an astronomer and research into the nature of the aurora occupied him more than the strange behavior of a houseplant.

However, the seed of curiosity had already been planted in the soil of scientific curiosity. Sooner or later it had to germinate. Indeed, 30 years later, in the same place, in Paris, a man appeared who confirmed de Mairan’s discovery and continued his experiments.

This man's name was Henry-Louis Duhamel. His scientific interests lay in the fields of medicine and agriculture. And therefore, having learned about de Mairan’s experiments, he became interested in them much more than the author himself.

To begin with, Duhamel reproduced de Mairan's experiments as carefully as possible. To do this, he took several heliotropes, found an old wine cellar, the entrance to which led through another dark cellar, and left the plants there. Moreover, he even locked some heliotropes in a large leather-lined chest and covered it with several blankets on top to stabilize the temperature... It was all in vain: the heliotropes maintained their rhythm in this case as well. And Duhamel with clear conscience wrote: "These experiments allow us to conclude that the movement of plant leaves does not depend on either light or heat..."

Then from what? Duhamel could not answer this question. Hundreds of other researchers from many countries of the world did not answer it, although in their ranks were Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, and many other leading natural scientists.

Only in the second half of the 20th century, thousands of accumulated facts finally made it possible to come to the conclusion: everything living on Earth, even single-celled microbes and algae, has its own biological clock!

These clocks are set in motion by the change of day and night, daily fluctuations in temperature and pressure, changes in the magnetic field and other factors.

Sometimes one ray of light is enough for the “hands” of the biological clock to move to a certain position and then move on independently, without getting lost for quite a long time.

But how does the clock of a living cell work?

What is the basis of their “mechanism”?

"Chronons" by Eret. To find out the principle underlying the operation of living clocks, American biologist Charles Ehret tried to imagine their possible form. “Of course, it’s pointless to look for a mechanical alarm clock with hands and gears,” Eret reasoned, “to look for inside a living cell. But people haven’t always learned and still know the time with the help of mechanical watches?..”

The researcher began to collect information about all time meters ever used by humanity. He studied solar and water clocks, sand clocks and atomic clocks... In his collection there was even a place for clocks in which the time was determined by specks of white mold that grew over a certain period of time on a pink nutrient broth.

Of course, such an approach could lead Eret infinitely far from his goal. But he was lucky. One day Eret drew attention to the watch of King Alfred, who lived in the 9th century. Judging by the description made by one of the king's contemporaries, this clock consisted of two spirally intertwined pieces of rope, impregnated with a mixture of beeswax and candle tallow. When they were set on fire, the pieces burned at a constant rate of three inches per hour, so that by measuring the length of the remaining part, it was possible to determine quite accurately how much time had passed since such a clock was started.

Double helix... There is something surprisingly familiar about this image! It was not in vain that Eret strained his memory. He finally remembered: “Well, of course! The DNA molecule has the shape of a double helix...”

However, what followed from this? Does the commonality of form determine the commonality of essence? A spiral of ropes burns out in a few hours, but a DNA spiral continues to copy itself throughout the life of the cell...

And yet Eret did not brush aside the random thought that came to him. He began to look for a living mechanism on which he could test his assumptions. In the end, he chose the ciliate slipper - the smallest and simplest animal cell in which biorhythms were discovered. “Usually, ciliates behave more actively during the day than at night. If I manage, by influencing the DNA molecule, to change the hands of the biological clock of the ciliates, it can be considered proven that the DNA molecule is also used as a bioclock mechanism...”

Reasoning in this way, Eret used light launches with different wavelengths as a tool for translating the arrows: ultraviolet, blue, red... Ultraviolet radiation was especially effective - after the irradiation session, the rhythm of life of the ciliate changed noticeably.

Thus, it could be considered proven: the DNA molecule is used as an internal clock mechanism. But how does the mechanism work? In response to this question, Ehret developed a complex theory, the essence of which boils down to this.

The basis for counting time is very long (up to 1 m long!) DNA molecules, which the American scientist called “chronons”. In their normal state, these molecules are curled into a tight spiral, taking up very little space. In those places where the strands of the helix diverge slightly, messenger RNA is built, which over time reaches the full length of a single strand of DNA. At the same time, a number of interconnected reactions occur, the ratio of speeds of which can be considered as the work of the “mechanism” of a clock. This, as Ehret says, is the skeleton of the process, "in which all details that are not absolutely necessary are omitted."

Pulsating tubes. Please note that the American scientist considers chemical reactions to be the basis of the cycle, its foundation. But which ones exactly?

To answer this question, let’s move from the year 1967, when Eret conducted his research, to another ten years ago. And let's look into the laboratory of the Soviet scientist B.P. Belousov. On his workbench one could see a stand with ordinary laboratory test tubes. But their contents were special. The liquid in the test tubes periodically changed color.

One minute she was red and then she turned blue, then she turned red again...

Belousov reported on a new type of pulsating chemical reactions he discovered at one of the symposiums of biochemists. The message was listened to with interest, but no one paid attention to the fact that the initial components in the cyclic reactions were organic substances, very similar in composition to the substances of a living cell.

Only two decades later, after Belousov’s death, his work was appreciated by another domestic scientist A.M. Zhabotinsky.

He, together with his colleagues, developed a detailed recipe for reactions of this class and in 1970 reported the main results of his research at one of the international congresses.

Then, in the early 70s, the works of Soviet scientists were subjected to careful analysis by foreign experts. Thus, the Americans R. Field, E. Koros and R. Nowes found that among the many factors that determine the mode of interaction of substances in pulsating reactions, three main ones can be distinguished: hydrobromic acid concentration, bromide ion concentration and oxidation of metal ions of the catalyst. All three factors were combined into a new concept, which American biologists called the Oregon oscillator, or orsgonator, after their place of work. It is the oregonator that many scientists consider responsible both for the existence of the entire periodic cycle as a whole, and for its intensity, the rate of oscillations of the process and other parameters.

Indian scientists working under the leadership of A. Winfrey, after some time, found that the processes occurring during such reactions are very similar to the processes in nerve cells. Moreover, the same R. Field, in collaboration with the mathematician V. Tray, managed to mathematically prove the similarity of the processes of the oregonator and the phenomena occurring in the recently discovered neural membrane. Regardless of them, similar results were obtained using a combined analog-digital computer by our compatriots F.V. Gulko and A.A. Petrov.

But such a nerve membrane is the shell of a nerve cell. And the membrane contains “channels” - very large protein molecules that are quite similar to the DNA molecules found in the nucleus of the same cell. And if the processes in the membrane have a biochemical basis - and this has now been established quite confidently - then why should the processes occurring in the nucleus have any other basis?

Thus, it seems that the chemical basis of biorhythms begins to emerge quite clearly. Today there is no doubt that the material basis of the biological clock, its “gears,” are biochemical processes. But in what order does one “gear” cling to another? How exactly does the chain of biochemical processes proceed in all their completeness and complexity?.. This still needs to be thoroughly understood - this is how one of our country’s leading specialists in this field, the head of the laboratory of the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems B, commented in a conversation with me on the state of affairs in biorhythmology .S.Alyakrinsky.

And although there is indeed still a lot of uncertainty in the chemistry of biorhythmology, the first experiments have already been carried out practical use such a chemical clock. So, say, a few years ago, chemical engineer E.N. Moskalyanova, while studying chemical reactions in solutions that contain one of the amino acids necessary for humans - tryptophan, discovered another type of pulsating reactions: the liquid changed its color depending on the time of day.

The reaction with dye additives occurs most intensely at a temperature of about 36°C. When heated above 40°, paints begin to fade and tryptophan molecules are destroyed. The reaction also stops when the solution is cooled to 0°C. In a word, a direct analogy with the temperature regime of the chemical clock of our body suggests itself.

Moskalyanova herself conducted more than 16 thousand experiments. She sent test tubes with solutions to many scientific institutions in the country for testing. And now, when a huge amount of factual material has been collected, it has become clear: indeed, solutions containing tryptophan and the xanthhydrol dye are capable of changing their color over time. Thus, in principle, it became possible to create a completely new watch that does not need either hands or a mechanism...

Botanists with galvanometer

Living batteries. “Everyone knows how popularizers love to emphasize the role of chance in the history of great discoveries. Columbus sailed to explore the western sea route to India and, imagine, completely by accident... Newton was sitting in the garden, and suddenly an apple accidentally fell..."

This is what S.G. Galaktionov and V.M. Yurin write in their book, the title of which is included in the title of this chapter. And they further argue that the history of the discovery of electricity in living organisms is no exception. Many works emphasize that it was discovered completely by accident: Luigi Galvani, a professor of anatomy at the University of Bologna, touched the prepared frog muscle to the cold railing of the balcony and found that it was twitching. Why?

The curious professor racked his brains a lot, trying to answer this question, until he finally came to the conclusion: the muscle contracts because a small electricity. It is he, like a nerve impulse, that gives the command to the muscle to contract.

And it was truly a brilliant discovery. Don’t forget: it was only 1786, and only a couple of decades passed after Gausen expressed his guess that the principle acting in the nerve is electricity. And electricity itself remained a sealed mystery for many.

Meanwhile, a start had been made.

And since the time of Galvani, electrophysiologists have become aware of the so-called damage currents. If, for example, a muscle preparation is cut across the fibers and the electrodes of a galvanometer - a device for measuring weak currents and voltages - are brought to the cut and to the longitudinal undamaged surface, it will record a potential difference of about 0.1 volt. By analogy, they began to measure damage currents in plants. Sections of leaves, stems, and fruits always turned out to be negatively charged in relation to normal tissue.

An interesting experiment in this regard was carried out in 1912 by Beutner and Loeb. They cut an ordinary apple in half and took out the core. When, instead of the core, an electrode was placed inside the apple, and a second one was applied to the peel, the galvanometer again showed the presence of voltage - the apple worked like a living battery.

Subsequently, it turned out that some potential difference is also found between different parts of an intact plant. So, say, the central vein of the leaf of chestnut, tobacco, pumpkin and some other crops has a positive potential in relation to the green pulp of the leaf.

Then, after the defeat currents, it was the turn of the action currents to open. The classic way to demonstrate them was found by the same Galvani.

Two neuromuscular preparations of the long-suffering frog are placed so that the nerve of the other lies on the muscle tissue of one. By irritating the first muscle with cold, electricity or some chemical substance, you can see how the second muscle begins to clearly contract.

Of course, they tried to find something similar in plants. Indeed, action currents were discovered in experiments with the petioles of mimosa leaves, a plant that is known to be capable of performing mechanical movements under the influence of external stimuli. Moreover, the most interesting results were obtained by Burdon-Sanders, who studied the action currents in the closing leaves of an insectivorous plant - the Venus flytrap. It turned out that at the moment of folding a leaf, exactly the same action currents are formed in its tissues as in a muscle.

And finally it turned out that electrical potentials in plants can increase sharply at certain points in time, say, when certain tissues die. When Indian researcher Bose connected the outer and inner parts of a green pea and heated it to 60°C, the galvanometer registered an electrical potential of 0.5 volts.

Bos himself commented on this fact with the following consideration: “If 500 pairs of pea halves are collected in a certain order in a series, then the final electrical voltage can be 500 volts, which is quite enough to electrocute an unsuspecting victim. It’s good that the cook doesn’t know.” about the danger that threatens him when he prepares this special dish, and, fortunately for him, the peas do not connect in an orderly series."

The battery is a cage. Understandably, researchers were interested in the question of what the minimum size of a living battery could be. To do this, some began to scrape out all the large cavities inside the apple, others began to crush the peas into smaller and smaller pieces, until it became clear: in order to get to the end of this “crushing ladder”, it would be necessary to conduct research at the cellular level.

The cell membrane resembles a kind of shell consisting of cellulose.

Its molecules, which are long polymer chains, are folded into bundles, forming thread-like strands - micelles. The micelles, in turn, form fibrous structures - fibrils. And it is from their intertwining that the basis of the cell membrane is formed.

The free cavities between the fibrils can be partially or completely filled with lignin, amylopectin, hemicellulose and some other substances. In other words, as the German chemist Freudsenberg once put it, “the cell membrane resembles reinforced concrete,” in which micellar strands play the role of reinforcement, and lignin and other fillers represent a kind of concrete.

However, there are significant differences here. "Concrete" fills only part of the voids between the fibrils. The rest of the space is filled with the “living substance” of the cell - the protoplast. Its mucous substance - protoplasm - contains small and complexly organized inclusions responsible for the most important processes of life. For example, the chloroplast is responsible for photosynthesis, the mitochondria are responsible for respiration, and the nucleus is responsible for division and reproduction. Moreover, usually the layer of protoplasm with all these inclusions is adjacent to the cell wall, and inside the protoplast, a larger or smaller volume is occupied by a vacuole - a drop of an aqueous solution of various salts and organic substances. Moreover, sometimes there may be several vacuoles in a cell.

The different parts of the cell are separated from each other by thin films of membranes. The thickness of each membrane is only a few molecules, but it should be noted that these molecules are quite large, and therefore the thickness of the membrane can reach 75-100 angstroms. (The value seems to be really large; however, let’s not forget that the angstrom itself is only 10" cm.)

However, one way or another, three molecular layers can be distinguished in the structure of the membrane: two outer ones are formed by protein molecules and an inner one, consisting of a fat-like substance - lipids. This multilayering gives the membrane selectivity; To put it very simply, different substances leak through the membrane at different rates. And this allows the cell to select the substances it most needs from the surrounding environment and accumulate them inside.

What substances are there! As shown, for example, by experiments carried out in one of the laboratories of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology under the leadership of Professor E.M. Trukhan, membranes are capable of separating even electrical charges. Electrons pass, say, onto one side, while protons cannot penetrate through the membrane.

How complex and subtle the work that scientists have to do can be judged by this fact. Although we said that the membrane consists of fairly large molecules, its thickness, as a rule, does not exceed 10" cm, one millionth of a centimeter. And it cannot be made thicker, otherwise the efficiency of charge separation will sharply drop.

And one more difficulty. In an ordinary green leaf, chloroplasts - fragments containing chlorophyll - are also responsible for the transfer of electrical charges. And these substances are unstable and quickly become unusable.

Green leaves in nature live at most 3-4 months,” one of the laboratory employees, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences V.B. Kireev, told me. - Of course, it makes no sense to create an industrial installation on such a basis that would generate electricity according to the green leaf patent. Therefore, we need to either find ways to make natural substances more stable and durable, or, preferably, find synthetic substitutes for them. This is exactly what we are working on now...

And recently the first success came: artificial analogues of natural membranes were created. The basis was zinc oxide. That is, the most ordinary, well-known white...

Gold miners. When explaining the origin of electrical potentials in plants, one cannot stop only at stating a fact: “Plant electricity” is the result of an uneven (even very uneven!) distribution of ions between different parts of the cell and the environment. The question immediately arises: “Why does such unevenness arise?”

It is known, for example, that for a potential difference of 0.15 volts to arise between an algae cell and the water in which it lives, it is necessary that the potassium concentration in the vacuole be approximately 1000 times higher than in the “sea” water. But science also knows the process of diffusion, that is, the spontaneous desire of any substance to be evenly distributed throughout the entire available volume. Why doesn't this happen in plants?

In search of an answer to this question, we will have to touch upon one of the central problems in modern biophysics - the problem of active transport of ions through biological membranes.

Let's start again by listing some well-known facts. Almost always the content of certain salts in the plant itself is higher than in the soil or (in the case of algae) in the environment. For example, the algae nitella is capable of accumulating potassium in concentrations thousands of times higher than in nature.

Moreover, many plants accumulate not only potassium. It turned out, for example, that the algae Kadophora fracta had a zinc content of 6,000, cadmium - 16,000, cesium - 35,000 and yttrium - almost 120,000 times higher than in nature.

This fact, by the way, led some researchers to think about a new method of gold mining. Here is how, for example, Gr illustrates it. Adamov in his book “The Secret of Two Oceans” - a once popular adventure-fantasy novel written in 1939.

The newest submarine "Pioneer" makes a passage across two oceans, stopping from time to time for purely scientific purposes. During one stop, a group of researchers walk along the seabed. And so...

“Suddenly the zoologist stopped, released Pavlik’s hand and, running to the side, picked up something from the bottom. Pavlik saw that the scientist was examining a large black intricately curled shell, thrusting the metal finger of his spacesuit between its wings.

How heavy... - muttered the zoologist. - Like a piece of iron... How strange...

What is this, Arsen Davidovich?

Pavlik! - the zoologist suddenly exclaimed, forcefully opening the doors and closely examining the gelatinous body enclosed between them. - Pavlik, this is the new kind class elasmobranchs. Completely unknown to science...

Interest in the mysterious mollusk intensified even more when the zoologist announced that, while studying the structure of the body and chemical composition, he found a huge amount of dissolved gold in its blood, due to which the weight of the mollusk turned out to be unusual.”

In this case, the science fiction writer didn’t invent anything special. Indeed, the idea of ​​using various living organisms to extract gold from seawater has at some point occupied many minds. Legends spread about corals and shells accumulating gold in almost tons.

These legends, however, were based on actual facts. Back in 1895, Leversidge, having analyzed the gold content in seaweed ash, found that it was quite high - 1 g per 1 ton of ash. On the eve of the First World War, several projects were proposed to establish underwater plantations where “gold-bearing” algae would be grown. None of them, however, were implemented.

Realizing that it was quite expensive to carry out any work in the World Ocean, botanical gold miners moved to land. In the 30s, a group of Professor B. Nemets in Czechoslovakia conducted research on the ash of various varieties of corn. So, the results of the analysis showed that it is not for nothing that the Indians consider this plant to be golden - its ash contained quite a lot of the noble metal: again, 1 g per 1 ton of ash.

However, its content in the ash of pine cones turned out to be even higher: up to 11 g per 1 ton of ash.

Robot cells. However " Golden fever“soon died down, since no one managed to either force plants to accumulate gold in greater concentrations, or develop a sufficiently cheap way of extracting it at least from ash. But plants continue to be used as a kind of indicators in geological exploration. To this day, geologists sometimes focus on certain types of plants . It is known, for example, that some types of quinoa grow only on soils rich in salt. And geologists use this circumstance to explore both salt deposits and oil reserves, often lying under salt layers. A similar phytogeochemical method is used to search for deposits of cobalt and sulfides , uranium ores, nickel, cobalt, chromium and... all the same gold.

And here, apparently, it’s time to remember those membrane pumps that our famous scientist S.M. Martirosov once called cell biorobots. It is thanks to them that certain substances are selectively pumped through the membrane.

For those who are seriously interested in the principles of operation of membrane pumps, I refer directly to Martirosov’s book “Biopumps - Robot Cells?”, where many subtleties are outlined in 140 pages in some detail, with formulas and diagrams. We will try to do the minimum here.

“A biological pump is a molecular mechanism localized in a membrane and capable of transporting substances using the energy released by the breakdown of adenosine triphosphoric acid (ATP) or utilizing any other type of energy,” writes Martirosov. And further: “To date, the opinion has been created that only ion pumps exist in nature. And since they have been well studied, we can carefully analyze their participation in the life of cells.”

Using various tricks and roundabout ways - don't forget, scientists have to deal with a microscopic object 10" cm thick, scientists managed to establish that membrane pumps not only have the property of exchanging sodium ions of the cell for potassium ions of the external environment, but also serve as a source of electric current.

This is because the sodium pump typically exchanges two sodium ions for two potassium ions. Thus, one ion seems to be superfluous; an excess positive charge is constantly removed from the cell, which leads to the generation of an electric current.

Well, where does the membrane pump itself get its energy for its work? In an attempt to answer this question in 1966, the English biochemist Peter Mitchell put forward a hypothesis, one of the provisions of which stated: the absorption of light by a living cell inevitably leads to the generation of an electric current in it.

The Englishman’s hypothesis was developed by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.P. Skulachev, Professors E.N. Kondratyeva, N.S. Egorov and other scientists. Membranes began to be compared with storage capacitors. It was clarified that there are special proteins in the membrane that disassemble salt molecules into their component parts - positively and negatively charged ions, and they ultimately end up on opposite sides. This is how an electrical potential accumulates, which was even measured - it is almost a quarter of a volt.

Moreover, the principle of potential measurement itself is interesting. Scientists working under the leadership of V.P. Skulachev created optical measuring equipment. The fact is that they managed to find dyes that, when placed in an electric field, change their absorption spectrum. Moreover, some of these dyes, such as chlorophyll, are constantly present in plant cells. So, by measuring the change in its spectrum, the researchers were able to determine the magnitude of the electric field.

It is said that these seemingly insignificant facts may soon be followed by enormous practical consequences. Having thoroughly understood the properties of the membrane and the mechanism of its pumps, scientists and engineers will someday create its artificial analogues. And those, in turn, will become the basis of a new type of power plant - biological.

In some place where there is always a lot of sun - for example, in the steppe or desert - people will spread an openwork thin film on hundreds of supports, which can cover an area of ​​even tens of square kilometers. And the usual transformers and power line supports will be placed nearby. And another technical miracle will happen, based on nature’s patents. The “network for catching sunlight” will begin to regularly provide electricity, without requiring for its operation either giant dams, like hydroelectric power plants, or the consumption of coal, gas and other fuels, like thermal power plants. One sun will be enough, which, as we know, is shining for us for free for now...

Hunter Plants

Legends about cannibal plants. “Don’t be afraid. The man-eating tree, the “missing link” between the flora and fauna, does not exist, South African writer Lawrence Green considers it necessary to immediately warn his reader. - And yet, there may be a grain of truth in the undying legend about the ominous tree ..."

We will talk further about what the writer meant when he spoke of a “grain of truth”. But first, let’s talk about the legends themselves.

"... And then large leaves began to slowly rise. Heavy, like the booms of cranes, they rose up and closed on the victim with the force of a hydraulic press and with the ruthlessness of an instrument of torture. Another moment later, watching how these huge leaves pressed each other more and more tightly to a friend, I saw streams of molasses liquid flowing down the tree, mixed with the blood of the victim. At the sight of this, a crowd of savages around me screamed piercingly, surrounded the tree on all sides, began to hug it, and each of them, with a cup, leaves, hands or tongue, collected enough liquid to go crazy and go berserk..."

And to this he did not hesitate to add that the tree looked like a pineapple eight feet high. That it was dark brown in color and its wood looked as hard as iron. That from the top of the cone eight leaves hung down to the ground, looking like open doors hanging on their hinges. Moreover, each leaf ended with a point, and the surface was dotted with large curved spines.

In general, Lihe did not limit his imagination and ended his chilling description of human sacrifice to a man-eating plant with the remark that the leaves of the tree maintained their vertical position for ten days.

And when they sank again, at the foot was a completely gnawed skull.

This shameless lie nevertheless gave rise to a whole literary movement. For almost half a century, what passions have not been seen on the pages of various publications! Even the well-known English writer Herbert Wells, who described a similar incident in his story “The Bloom of a Strange Orchid,” could not resist the temptation.

Remember what happened to a certain Mr. Weatherburn, who on occasion bought the rhizome of an unknown tropical orchid and grew it in his greenhouse? One day the orchid bloomed, and Weatherburn ran to look at this miracle. And for some reason he lingered in the greenhouse. When at half past five, according to the once and for all established routine, the owner did not come to the table for the traditional cup of tea, the housekeeper went to find out what could have delayed him.

“He lay at the foot of a strange orchid. The tentacle-like aerial roots no longer hung freely in the air. Having come together, they formed a kind of ball of gray rope, the ends of which tightly clasped his chin, neck and arms.

At first she didn't understand. But then I saw a thin stream of blood under one of the predatory tentacles..."

The brave woman immediately began to fight the terrible plant. She broke the glass of the greenhouse to get rid of the intoxicating aroma in the air, and then began to drag the owner’s body.

“The pot with the terrible orchid fell to the floor. With gloomy tenacity, the plant still clung to its victim. Struggling, she dragged the body along with the orchid to the exit. Then it occurred to her to tear off the attached roots one by one, and within a minute Weatherburn was free. He was as pale as a sheet, blood flowed from numerous wounds..."

Here's what scary story depicted by the writer's pen. There is, however, little demand for a science fiction writer - he never assured anyone that his story was based on documentary facts.

But others held on until the last...

And what’s surprising is that even serious scientists believed their “documentary evidence.” In any case, some of them made attempts to find predator plants on our planet. And I must say that their efforts were ultimately... crowned with success! Hunter plants have actually been found.

Hunters in the swamp. Fortunately for you and me, such plants do not feed on human victims or even animals, but only on insects.

Nowadays, botany textbooks often mention the Venus flytrap, a plant found in the swamps of North Carolina in the USA. Its leaf ends in a thickened round plate, the edges of which are lined with sharp teeth. And the surface of the leaf blade itself is dotted with sensitive bristles. So all the insect has to do is sit on a leaf that smells so attractive, and the toothed halves snap open like a real trap.

The leaf of sundew, an insectivorous plant that grows in the peat bogs of Russia, looks like a brush for massaging the head, only of tiny size. Bristles, crowned with spherical swellings, protrude over the entire surface of the leaf blade. At the tip of each such bristle a drop of liquid is released, like a drop of dew. (Hence, by the way, the name.) These bristles are painted bright red, and the droplets themselves exude a sweet aroma...

In general, it is a rare insect that will resist the temptation to examine a leaf for nectar.

Well, then events develop according to this scenario. The muddy fly immediately sticks its paws to the sticky juice, and the bristles begin to bend inside the leaf, additionally holding the prey. If this is not enough, the leaf blade itself rolls up, as if wrapping the insect.

The leaf then begins to secrete formic acid and digestive enzymes. Under the influence of acid, the insect soon stops fluttering, and then its tissues, with the help of enzymes, are converted into a soluble state and absorbed by the surface of the leaf.

In short, nature has worked hard to invent fishing gear for insectivorous plants. So, you see, the suppliers of exotic goods had a reason to describe the details that tickled the reader’s nerves. Replaced the insect with a human victim and rolled page after page...

However, we are not talking about greyhounds here, but about the fishing gear themselves, invented by nature. Some of them are single-acting - the leaf of the aquatic plant Aldrovanda, for example, immediately dies after catching and digesting the prey.

Others are reusable. And, let's say, one more aquatic plant utricularia - uses such a trick in its trap. The trap itself is a bag with a narrow inlet that closes with a special valve. The inner surface of the sac is covered with glands, a kind of pumps - formations that can intensively suck water from the cavity. This is what happens as soon as the prey - a small crustacean or an insect - touches at least one of the hairs at the entrance hole. The valve opens, a stream of water rushes into the cavity, carrying the prey with it. The valve then closes, the water is sucked out, and you can start eating...

In recent years, scientists have found that the number of insect hunters in the plant world is much greater than previously thought. As studies have shown, even the well-known potatoes, tomatoes and tobacco can be classified in this class. All these plants have microscopic hairs with droplets of glue on their leaves that can not only hold insects, but also produce enzymes for digesting organic substances of animal origin.

Entomologist J. Barber, who studies mosquitoes at the University of New Orleans (USA), discovered that mosquito larvae often stick to the sticky surface of shepherd's purse seeds.

The seed produces some kind of sticky substance that attracts larvae. Well, then everything happens according to well-established technology: the seed secretes enzymes, and the resulting fertilizing is then used for better development of sprouts.

Even the pineapple came under suspicion of carnivory. Rainwater often accumulates at the base of its leaves, and small plants multiply there. aquatic organisms- ciliates, rotifers, insect larvae... Some researchers believe that part of these living creatures goes to feed the plant.

Three lines of defense. After scientists understand a phenomenon, the question usually arises: what to do with the knowledge gained? We can, of course, recommend: in places where there are a lot of mosquitoes, plant sundew and shepherd's purse plantations. You can also act more cunningly: using genetic engineering methods to inoculate crop plants or develop the skills they already have to independently combat agricultural pests. For example, the Colorado potato beetle attacked a potato bush. And that yum-yum - and there is no beetle. There is no need for pesticides or unnecessary hassle, and an increase in yield as a result of additional fertilizing is guaranteed. And you can go even further: develop protective abilities in all cultivated plants without exception. Moreover, they will be able to defend themselves not only against visible, but also against invisible Enemies.

So, the same potatoes, tomatoes and other representatives of the nightshade family, in addition to physical weapons, so to speak, are capable of using chemical and biological weapons against pests. In response, for example, to infection by a fungus, plants immediately form two phytoalexins from the class of terpenoids: richetin and lyubin. The first was discovered by Japanese researchers and named after the Richeri potato variety in which this compound was first discovered. Well, the second one - Lyubimets - was first found by domestic researchers from Metlitsky’s laboratory in tubers of the Lyubimets variety.

Hence, of course, the name.

It turns out that the defense mechanism does not always work. To start the process of phytoalexin formation, the plant needs an external stimulus. Such an impetus could come from treating a potato plantation with microdoses of copper, the main remedy against late blight today. But it’s even better if the plants, if necessary, will launch their own defense mechanisms.

Therefore, scientists are currently searching and trying to create microsensors that would work as quickly as the hairs on the leaf of a Venus flytrap.

Of course, in this case, the matter is greatly complicated by the fact that research has to be carried out at the genetic-molecular level. But it’s still the end of the 20th century, and researchers can already operate with individual atoms. So there is real hope: at the beginning of the next century, agricultural workers will forget about pesticides and pests in much the same way as at the beginning of our century the legends about cannibal plants gradually began to be forgotten.

And does grass have nerves?

The hydraulics are working. So, we have figured out that there are quite a lot of adherents of animal food in the plant world - several dozen, or even hundreds of species. Well, what is the mechanism that activates their traps? How can plants move in general, raising and lowering their leaves like heliotrope, turning their inflorescences after the sun like a sunflower, or tirelessly scattering their creeping shoots in all directions like blackberries or hops?

“From the very first steps, he had to solve an additional problem compared to, say, closely growing dandelions or nettles,” Vladimir Soloukhin writes about hops. “The dandelion probably has its own equally complex tasks, but still at first it just needs "grow, that is, create a rosette of leaves, and expel a tubular stem. Moisture is given to it, the sun is given to it, and a place under the sun is also given. Stay in this place and grow for yourself, enjoy life.

It's a different matter with hops. Having barely poked his head out of the ground, he must constantly look around and rummage around, looking for something to grab onto, something to lean on, a reliable earthly support." And further: "The natural desire of every sprout to grow upward prevails here too. But after fifty centimeters the fat, heavy shoot clings to the ground. It turns out that it grows neither vertically nor horizontally, but along a curve, in an arc.

This elastic arc can be maintained for some time, but if the shoot exceeds a meter in length and still does not find something to grab onto, then it willy-nilly have to lie down on the ground and crawl along it. Only the growing, searching part of him will remain as before and always be aimed upward. Hops, crawling along the ground, grabs hold of oncoming herbs, but they turn out to be rather weak for it, and it crawls, creeping, further and further, groping in front of itself with its sensitive tip.

What would you do if you found yourself in the dark if you had to walk forward and fumble for the doorknob?

Obviously, you would make a rotating, groping motion with your arm extended forward. Growing hops do the same thing. Its rough, seemingly immediately sticking tip constantly moves forward or upward in a monotonous clockwise rotational movement. And if you come across a tree, a telegraph pole, a drainpipe, a purposely placed pole, or any vertical object aimed at the sky, the hop quickly, within one day, flies to the very top, and its growing end again fumbles around itself in empty space... "

Practitioners, however, claim that very often the hops seem to sense where support is given to it, and most of the stems are directed in that direction.

And when one of the stems Soloukhin deliberately did not catch on the twine stretched from the ground to the roof of the house, so he, poor fellow, in search of support, crawled across the yard, and the lawn, and the garbage dump, reminiscent of a man overcoming a quagmire and almost being sucked into it.

His body gets stuck in the mud and water, but he tries with all his might to keep his head above the water.

“I would say here,” the writer concludes his story, “who else this hop reminded me of, if there was no danger of switching from innocent notes about grass to the realm of a psychological novel.”

The writer was afraid of the involuntary associations that arose in him, but the scientists, as we will see a little later, were not. But first, let’s think about this question: “What force drives hops and other plants to grow, makes them bend in one direction or another?”

It is clear that in the plant world there are no steel springs or other elastic elements with which to snap their “traps” into place. Therefore, plants most often use hydraulics in such cases. Hydraulic pumps and drives generally perform the main work in the plant. With their help, for example, moisture rises from underground to the very top of the head, sometimes overcoming differences of many tens of meters - a result that not every designer of conventional pumps can achieve. Moreover, unlike mechanical pumps, natural pumps operate completely silently and very economically.

Plants also use hydraulics to carry out their own movement. Just remember the same “habit” of an ordinary sunflower of turning its basket following the movement of the luminary. This movement is again ensured by a hydraulic drive.

Well, I wonder how it works?

It turns out that Charles Darwin tried to answer this question. He showed that each tendril of the plant has the energy of independent movement. According to the scientist’s formulation, “plants receive and express this energy only when it gives them some advantage.”

A talented Viennese biologist with a Gallic surname, Raoul France, tried to develop this idea. He showed that worm-like roots, constantly moving down into the soil, know exactly where to move due to small hollow chambers in which a ball of starch can dangle, indicating the direction of gravity.

If the ground is dry, the roots turn toward the moist soil, developing enough energy to drill through the concrete. Moreover, when specific drill cells wear out due to contact with stones, pebbles, sand, they are quickly replaced with new ones. When the roots reach moisture and a source of nutrients, they die and must be replaced by cells designed to absorb mineral salts and water.

There is not a single plant, says France, that could exist without movement. Any growth is a sequence of movements; plants are constantly busy bending, rotating, fluttering. When the tendril of the same hop, completing a full circular cycle in 67 minutes, finds support, then within just 20 seconds it begins to wrap around it, and after an hour it is wrapped so tightly that it is difficult to tear it off.

That's how much power hydraulics have. Moreover, the same Charles Darwin tried to find out exactly how the mechanism of movement was carried out. He discovered that the surface cells of, say, the stalk of a sundew leaf contain one large vacuole filled with cell sap. When irritated, it is divided into a number of smaller vacuoles of a bizarre shape, as if intertwined with each other. And the plant rolls the leaf into a bag.

"Seditious" thoughts of a natural scientist. Of course, we still need to understand and understand the intricacies of such processes. Moreover, this should be done jointly by botanists, hydraulics and... electronics engineers! In fact, we have not yet said a word about the principles of operation of those sensors, based on the signal of which the trap mechanism begins to work.

Again, Charles Darwin was one of the first to become interested in this problem. The results of his research are presented in two books - “Insectivorous Plants” and “The Capacity of Movement in Plants”.

The first thing that extremely surprised Darwin was the very high sensitivity of the organs of insectivores and climbing plants. For example, the movement of a sundew leaf was caused by a piece of hair weighing 0.000822 mg, which was in contact with the tentacle for a very short time. Sensitivity to touch was found to be no less in the tendrils of some vines. Darwin observed the bending of the antennae under the influence of a mulberry weighing only 0.00025 mg!

Such high sensitivity, of course, could not be provided by purely mechanical devices that existed in Darwin's time. Therefore, the scientist is looking for analogies to what he saw again in the living world. He compares the sensitivity of the plant to the irritation of a human nerve. Moreover, he notes that such reactions are not only highly sensitive, but also selective. For example, neither the tentacles of sundews nor the tendrils of climbing plants react to the impact of raindrops.

And the same climbing plant, as France notes, in need of support, it will stubbornly crawl to the nearest one.

As soon as this support is moved, the vine within a few hours will change its progress and turn again towards it. But how does a plant sense which direction it needs to move?

facts made us think about the possibility of the existence in plants not only of something similar to nervous system, but also the beginnings... considerations!

It is clear that such “seditious” thoughts caused a storm in scientific world. Darwin, despite his high authority acquired after finishing his work on the Origin of Species, was accused, to put it mildly, of thoughtlessness.

For example, here is what the director of the St. Petersburg Botanical Garden R.E. Regel wrote about this: “The famous English scientist Darwin exhibited in modern times a bold hypothesis that there are plants that catch insects and even eat them. But if we put everything we know together, we must come to the conclusion that Darwin's theory is one of those theories that any sensible botanist and natural scientist would simply laugh at..."

However, history gradually puts everything in its place. And we have reason today to believe that Darwin was more mistaken in his generally accepted scientific work on the origin of species than in his last book on the movement of plants. More and more modern scientists are coming to the conclusion that the role of evolution in Darwin's teachings is exaggerated. But as for the presence of feelings in plants, and perhaps even the rudiments of thinking, there is something to think about in the light of the facts that have accumulated over the course of our century.

Caricature of a cell. At one time, Darwin had not only opponents, but also supporters. For example, in 1887, W. Burdon-Sanderson established amazing fact: when irritated, electrical phenomena occur in the leaf of the Venus flytrap, exactly reminiscent of those that occur when excitation spreads in the neuromuscular fibers of animals.

The passage of electrical signals in a plant was studied in more detail by the Indian researcher J.C. Bose (the same one who frightened chefs with electricity from peas) using the example of mimosa. It turned out to be a more convenient object for studying electrical phenomena in a leaf than a sundew or a Venus flytrap.

Bos designed several instruments that made it possible to very accurately record the time course of irritation reactions. With their help, he was able to establish that the plant reacts to touch, although quickly, but not instantly - the delay time is about 0.1 seconds. And this reaction speed is comparable to the speed of the nervous reaction of many animals.

The period of contractions, that is, the time for complete folding of the sheet, turned out to be equal to an average of 3 seconds.

Moreover, mimosa reacted differently at different times of the year: in winter it seemed to fall asleep, in summer it woke up.

In addition, the reaction time was influenced by various drugs and even... alcohol! Finally, an Indian researcher established that there is a certain analogy between the reaction to light in plants and in the retina of animals. He proved that plants detect fatigue in the same way as animal muscles.

“I now know that plants have breathing without lungs or gills, digestion without a stomach and movement without muscles,” Bos sums up his research. “Now it seems plausible to me that plants can have the same kind of excitation that occurs in higher animals, but without the presence of a complex nervous system..."

And he turned out to be right: subsequent studies revealed in plants something like a “caricature of a nerve cell,” as one researcher aptly put it. Nevertheless, this simplified analogue of an animal or human nerve cell regularly fulfilled its duty - it transmitted an excitation impulse from the sensor to the executive organ. And the leaf, petal or stamen begins to move...

The details of the mechanism for controlling such movements, perhaps, are best considered in the experience of A.M. Sinyukhin and E.A. Britikov, who studied the propagation of the action potential in the two-lobed stigma of an incarvilia flower during excitement.

If the tip of one of the blades experiences a mechanical touch, then within 0.2 seconds an action potential arises, propagating to the base of the blade at a speed of 1.8 cm/s. After a second, it reaches the cells located at the junction of the blades and causes their reaction. The blades begin to move 0.1 seconds after the arrival of the electrical signal, and the closing process itself lasts another 6-10 seconds. If the plant is no longer touched, then after 20 minutes the petals will fully open again.

As it turned out, the plant is capable of performing much more complex actions than simply closing its petals. Some plants react to certain stimuli in very specific ways. For example, as soon as a bee or other insect begins to crawl on a linden flower, the flower immediately begins to secrete nectar. It’s as if he understands that the bee will also transfer pollen, which means it will contribute to the continuation of the species.

Moreover, in some plants, they say, the temperature even rises. Why don't you have a love fever attack?

What did the lie detector show?

Philodendron sympathizes with the shrimp.

If you think that the story is not enough to believe - and plants can have feelings, here's another story for you.

It all started, perhaps, with this.

In the 50s, there were two pineapple growing companies in the United States. One of them had plantations on Hawaiian Islands, the other is in the Antilles. The climate on the islands is similar, as are the soils, but Antillean pineapples were more readily bought on the world market; they were larger and tastier.

In an attempt to answer this question, pineapple producers have tried every method and method that came to mind. Even seedlings from the Antilles were exported to the Hawaiian Islands. And what? The grown pineapples were no different from the local ones.

In the end, John Mace Jr., a psychiatrist by profession and a very inquisitive person by nature, noticed this subtlety. Pineapples in Hawaii were looked after by local residents, and in the Antilles, blacks brought from Africa.

Hawaiians work slowly and intently, but blacks sing carefreely while working. So maybe it's all about the songs?

The company had nothing to lose, and singing blacks also appeared on the Hawaiian Islands. And soon Hawaiian pineapples could not be distinguished from Antillean ones.

Dr. Mace, however, did not rest on that. He put the rationale for his guess on a scientific basis. In a specially equipped greenhouse, the researcher collected plants of different species and began playing hundreds of melodies. After 30 thousand experiments, the scientist came to the conclusion: plants perceive music and respond to it.

Moreover, they have certain musical tastes, especially flowers. Most prefer melodic pieces with calm rhythms, but some - say, cyclamens - prefer jazz.

Mimosas and hyacinths are partial to the music of Tchaikovsky, and primroses, phlox and tobacco are partial to Wagner's operas.

However, no one, except pineapple specialists and Dr. Mace himself, took the results seriously. After all, otherwise we would have to admit that plants have not only hearing organs, but also memory, some feelings... And over time, Mace’s experiments would most likely simply have been forgotten if this story had not received an unexpected continuation.

Now in the laboratory of Professor Cleve Baxter.

In 1965, Baxter was improving his brainchild, one of the versions of the “lie detector”, or polygraph. You probably know that the operation of this device is based on recording the reaction of the subject to the questions asked. At the same time, researchers know that reporting deliberately false information causes specific reactions in the vast majority of people - increased heart rate and breathing, increased sweating, etc.

Currently, there are several types of polygraphs. For example, the Larsen polygraph measures blood pressure, breathing rate and intensity, as well as reaction time - the interval between question and answer. Well, the Baxter polygraph is based on the galvanic reaction of human skin.

Two electrodes are attached to the back and inside of the finger. A small electric current is passed through the circuit, which is then fed through an amplifier to the recorder. When the subject begins to worry, he sweats more, the electrical resistance of the skin drops and the recorder curve records a peak.

And so, while working on improving his device, Baxter came up with the idea of ​​connecting the sensor to a leaf of a house philodendron plant. Now it was necessary to somehow make the plant feel emotional stress.

The researcher dropped one of the leaves into a cup of hot coffee and there was no reaction. "What if we try fire?" - he thought, taking out a lighter. And I couldn’t believe my eyes: the curve on the recorder tape energetically crawled up!

Indeed, it was difficult to believe: after all, it turned out that the plant read the thoughts of a person. And then Baxter set up another experiment. An automatic mechanism, at moments selected by a random number sensor, tipped the cup with the shrimp into boiling water.

Nearby stood the same philodendron with sensors glued to the leaves. And what? Each time the cup was tipped over, the recorder recorded an emotional curve: the flower sympathized with the shrimp.

Baxter did not rest on this either.

Like a true criminologist, he simulated the crime. Six people took turns entering the room where the two flowers were located. The seventh was the experimenter himself. When he entered, he saw that one of the philodendrons was broken. Who did it? Baxter asked the subjects to walk through the room again, one at a time. At the moment when the person who broke the flower entered the room, the sensors recorded an emotional outburst: the philodendron recognized the “killer” of its fellow!

Look to the root. Baxter's experiments caused a lot of noise in the scientific world.

Many have tried to reproduce them. And this is what came out of it.

Marcel Vogel worked at IBM and taught at one of the universities in California. When students gave him a magazine with Baxter's article, Vogel decided that the experiments presented were nothing more than a scam. However, out of curiosity, I decided to reproduce these experiments with my students.

After some time, the results were summed up. None of the three groups of students working independently were able to fully obtain the described effects. However, Vogel himself reported that plants can indeed respond to human input.

As evidence, he gave a description of the experiment, which, on his advice, was carried out by his friend Vivien Wiley. Having picked two saxifrage leaves from her own garden, she placed one of them on the night table, the other in the dining room. “Every day, as soon as I got up,” she told Vogel, “I looked at the leaf lying near my bed and wished it a long life, while I did not want to pay attention to the other leaf...”

After some time, the difference was visible to the naked eye. The leaf by the bed remained fresh, as if it had just been picked, while the other leaf withered hopelessly.

However, this experiment, you see, could not be considered strictly scientific. Then Vogel decided to carry out a different experiment. The Philodendron was connected to a galvanometer and a recorder. The scientist stood by the plant completely relaxed, barely touching the leaf with his hands. The recorder drew a straight line. But as soon as Vogel mentally turned to the plant, the recorder began to write out a series of peaks.

In the next experiment, Vogel connected two plants to one device and cut a leaf from the first plant. The second plant reacted to the pain caused to its fellow plant, but after the experimenter turned his attention to it. The plant seemed to understand: otherwise there is no use in complaining...

Vogel reported his experiments in print, and this in turn sparked a flood of additional research and proposals. Customs officials saw the plant's sensitivity as another way to control smuggling at airports, and to identify terrorists before they even set foot on an aircraft. The army was interested in finding ways to measure the emotional state of people through plants. Well, the Navy, represented by the experimental psychoanalyst Eldon Baird, together with the staff of the Advanced Planning and Analysis Laboratory of the Naval Artillery Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, not only successfully repeated Baxter’s experiments, but also strengthened the control of emotional reactions, additionally exposing plants to infrared and ultraviolet radiation...

News of similar experiments reached domestic specialists.

In the 70s, one of the experimental tests of Baxter’s experiments was carried out in the laboratory of V. Pushkin (Institute of General and Pedagogical Psychology). Scientists were interested in what exactly plants react to: the emotional state of a person or his suspiciously dangerous actions? In theory, the person who broke the flower did not experience any feelings, he simply completed the assignment.

And so Moscow psychologists began to immerse subjects in a hypnotic state and instill in them different emotions.

The man did not perform any special actions, but his emotional state certainly changed. And what? Sensors attached to the leaves of a begonia tree standing three meters from the subject recorded pulses of about 50 microvolts at precisely the moments when the person moved from one state to another.

In general, in 200 experiments the same thing was repeated in different variations: in response to a change in the emotional state of a person, the electrical potential produced by the plant also changed. To explain this, Professor Pushkin put forward a theory that was somewhat reminiscent of Mace's views. “Our experiments,” he said, “testify to the unity of information processes occurring in plant cells and in the human nervous system; they also consist of cells, albeit of a different type. This unity is a legacy of the times when the first DNA molecule appeared on Earth the carrier of life and the common ancestor of plants and humans. It would be surprising if such unity did not exist..."

This assumption was confirmed as a result of experiments carried out at the Department of Plant Physiology of the Timiryazev Academy under the leadership of Professor I. Gunar.

However, at first the professor was hostile to foreign ideas. “In two neighboring vessels there were sunflower and mimosa plants,” he described one of his first experiments. “Instrument sensors were connected to one of them, the other plants were cut with scissors at that moment. The galvanometers did not react in any way to our “criminal” actions. The plants remained indifferent to the fate of our fellow tribesmen. Then one of us came closer to the vessel with mimosa connected to the device. The arrow swayed..."

From this fact, the scientist draws the following conclusion: “Any schoolchild familiar with the basics of electrostatics will understand that this was by no means a miracle. Any physical body or system of bodies capable of conducting current has a certain electrical capacity, which varies depending on the relative position of the objects. Our arrow The galvanometer stood unshakable as long as the capacitance of the system remained unchanged.

But then the laboratory assistant stepped to the side, and the distribution of electrical charges in the system was disrupted..."

Of course, everything can be explained this way.

However, after some time, the professor himself changes his point of view. His instruments did register electrical impulses in plants, similar to the nervous bursts of humans and animals. And the professor spoke in a completely different way: “We can assume that the signals from external environment are transferred to the center, where, after processing, a response is prepared.”

The scientist even managed to find this center. It turned out to be located in the neck of the roots, which tend to compress and unclench like a heart muscle.

Plants, apparently, are able to exchange signals; they have their own signal language, similar to the language of primitive animals and insects, the researcher continued his reasoning. One plant, by changing the electrical potentials in its leaves, can communicate danger to another.

Plants radiate. Well, what is the signaling mechanism according to modern ideas? It opened up piece by piece. One link of the alarm was discovered in the same 70s, when most of the research described above took place, by Clarence Ryan, a molecular biologist at the University of Washington. He discovered that as soon as a caterpillar begins to chew a leaf on a tomato plant, the remaining leaves immediately begin to produce protainase, a substance that binds digestive enzymes in the caterpillars, thereby making it difficult, if not impossible, for the caterpillar to digest food.

True, Ryan himself suggested that the signals were transmitted using some kind of chemical reaction. However, in reality everything turned out to be not entirely true. Plant cells destroyed by the caterpillar's jaws lose water. This actually begins a chain of chemical reactions, which ultimately sets in motion the charged particles of the solution - ions. And they spread throughout the plant organism, carrying electrical signals in the same way as a wave of nervous excitement spreads in the organisms of some primitive animals. Only these turned out to be not insects, as Professor Gunar believed, but jellyfish and hydra.

It is in the membranes of the cells of these animals that special connecting gaps are found, through which electrical signals, carried by positively or negatively charged ions, move.

Similar slits-channels exist in the membranes of plant cells. They are called "plasmodesmates". Alarm signals travel along them from cell to cell. Moreover, any movement of an electric charge gives rise to an electromagnetic field.

So it's possible that this alarm serves a dual purpose. On the one hand, it forces other leaves of a given plant or even other plants to begin producing inhibitors, as mentioned above.

On the other hand, perhaps these signals call for help, say, birds - the natural enemies of the same caterpillars that attacked the tomato bush.

This idea seems all the more natural since Eric Davis, a professor of biology at the University of Nebraska, recently managed to establish that ion signaling is characteristic not only of plants, but also of many animals with a developed nervous system. Why do they need it? Perhaps as a receiver tuned to signals of someone else's distress... After all, remember, the philodendron in Baxter's experiments responded to distress signals issued by a shrimp.

Thus, flora and fauna close their ranks, trying to resist the onslaught of the human race. After all, very often we, without thinking, cause harm to both. And it’s probably time for man to stop thinking of himself as a kind of conqueror of nature. After all, he is nothing more than a part of it...

"ELECTRIC BED"

Device for stimulating plant growth

A device for stimulating plant growth "ELECTROGRYADKA" is a natural spring power supply that converts the free electricity of the earth into an electric current formed as a result of the movement of quanta in a gaseous environment.

As a result of the ionization of gas molecules, a low-potential charge is transferred from one material to another and an emf occurs.

This low-potential electricity is almost identical to the electrical processes occurring in plants and can be used to stimulate their growth.

"ELECTRIC BED" significantly increases the yield and growth of plants.
Dear summer residents, make an “ELECTRIC BED” device in your garden plot yourself.
and reap a huge harvest of agricultural products to the delight of yourself and your neighbors.

The "ELECTRIC BED" device was invented
in the Interregional Association of War Veterans
State Security Bodies "EFA-VIMPEL"
is his intellectual property and is protected by Russian law.
Author of the invention:
Pocheevsky V.N.

Having learned the manufacturing technology and operating principle of the “ELECTRIC BED”,
You can create this device yourself according to your design.

The range of one device depends on the length of the wires.

You for the season using the device "ELECTRIC BED"
You will be able to get two harvests, as the sap flow in the plants accelerates and they bear fruit more abundantly!

***
"ELECTRIC BED" helps plants grow, in the country and at home!
(roses from Holland do not fade longer)!

The operating principle of the "ELECTRIC BED" device.

The operating principle of the "ELECTRIC BED" device is very simple.
The "ELECTRIC BED" device is created in the likeness of a large tree.
An aluminum tube filled with (U-Y...) composition is the crown of a tree, where, when interacting with air, a negative charge is formed (cathode - 0.6 volts).
A spiral-shaped wire is stretched into the soil of the bed, which acts as a tree root. Bed soil + anode.

The electric bed works on the principle of a heat pipe and a constant pulse current generator, where the frequency of the pulses is created by the earth and air.
Wire in the ground + anode.
Wire (stretch wires) - cathode.
When interacting with air humidity (electrolyte), pulsed electrical discharges occur, which attract water from the depths of the earth, ozone the air and fertilize the soil of the beds.
In the early morning and evening you can smell ozone, like after a thunderstorm.

Lightning began to flash in the atmosphere billions of years ago, long before the appearance of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
So they played a prominent role in fixing atmospheric nitrogen.
For example, over the last two millennia alone, lightning has converted 2 trillion tons of nitrogen into fertilizer - approximately 0.1% of the total amount in the air!

Do an experiment. Insert a nail into the tree and a copper wire into the ground to a depth of 20 cm, connect the voltmeter and you will see that the voltmeter needle shows 0.3 volts.
Large trees generate up to 0.5 volts.
Tree roots, like pumps, use osmosis to lift water from the depths of the earth and ozonate the soil.

A little history.

Electrical phenomena play important role in plant life. In response to external stimuli, very weak currents (biocurrents) arise in them. In this regard, it can be assumed that an external electric field can have a noticeable effect on the growth rate of plant organisms.

Back in the 19th century, scientists established that the globe is negatively charged relative to the atmosphere. At the beginning of the 20th century, a positively charged layer - the ionosphere - was discovered at a distance of 100 kilometers from the earth's surface. In 1971, astronauts saw it: it looks like a luminous transparent sphere. Thus, the earth's surface and the ionosphere are two giant electrodes that create an electric field in which living organisms are constantly located.

Charges between the Earth and the ionosphere are transferred by air ions. Negative charge carriers rush to the ionosphere, and positive air ions move to the earth's surface, where they come into contact with plants. The higher the negative charge of a plant, the more positive ions it absorbs

It can be assumed that plants react in a certain way to changes in the electrical potential of the environment. More than two hundred years ago, the French abbot P. Bertalon noticed that near the lightning rod the vegetation was more lush and luscious than at some distance from it. Later, his compatriot, the scientist Grando, grew two completely identical plants, but one was in natural conditions, and the other was covered with a wire mesh, protecting it from the external electric field. The second plant developed slowly and looked worse than the one in the natural electric field. Grando concluded that for normal growth and development, plants require constant contact with an external electric field.

However, there is still much that is unclear about the effect of the electric field on plants. It has long been noted that frequent thunderstorms favor plant growth. True, this statement needs careful detail. After all, thunderstorm summers differ not only in the frequency of lightning, but also in temperature and amount of precipitation.

And these are factors that have a very strong effect on plants. There is conflicting data regarding plant growth rates near high-voltage lines. Some observers note increased growth under them, others - oppression. Some Japanese researchers believe that high-voltage lines have a negative impact on the ecological balance. It seems more reliable that plants growing under high-voltage lines exhibit various growth anomalies. Thus, under a power line with a voltage of 500 kilovolts, the number of petals of gravilat flowers increases to 7-25 instead of the usual five. In elecampane, a plant from the Asteraceae family, the baskets grow together into a large, ugly formation.

There are countless experiments on the effect of electric current on plants. I. V. Michurin also conducted experiments in which hybrid seedlings were grown in large boxes with soil through which a direct electric current was passed. It was found that the growth of seedlings was enhanced. Experiments conducted by other researchers have yielded mixed results. In some cases, the plants died, in others they produced an unprecedented harvest. So, in one of the experiments around the plot where carrots grew, metal electrodes were inserted into the soil, through which an electric current was passed from time to time. The harvest exceeded all expectations - the mass of individual roots reached five kilograms! However, subsequent experiments, unfortunately, gave different results. Apparently, the researchers lost sight of some condition that allowed them to obtain an unprecedented harvest using electric current in the first experiment.

Why do plants grow better in an electric field? Scientists from the Institute of Plant Physiology named after. K. A. Timiryazev of the USSR Academy of Sciences established that photosynthesis proceeds faster, the greater the potential difference between plants and the atmosphere. So, for example, if you hold a negative electrode near a plant and gradually increase the voltage (500, 1000, 1500, 2500 volts), then the intensity of photosynthesis will increase. If the potentials of the plant and the atmosphere are close, then the plant stops absorbing carbon dioxide.

It seems that the electrification of plants activates the process of photosynthesis. Indeed, in cucumbers placed in an electric field, photosynthesis proceeded twice as fast as in the control group. As a result, they formed four times more ovaries, which turned into mature fruits faster than control plants. When oat plants were exposed to an electrical potential of 90 volts, their seed weight increased by 44 percent at the end of the experiment compared to the control.

By passing an electric current through plants, you can regulate not only photosynthesis, but also root nutrition; After all, the elements needed by the plant usually come in the form of ions. American researchers have found that each element is absorbed by the plant at a certain current strength.

English biologists have achieved significant stimulation of the growth of tobacco plants by passing through them a direct electric current of only one millionth of an ampere. The difference between the control and experimental plants became obvious already 10 days after the start of the experiment, and after 22 days it was very noticeable. It turned out that growth stimulation was only possible if a negative electrode was connected to the plant. When the polarity was reversed, the electric current, on the contrary, somewhat inhibited plant growth.

In 1984, an article was published in the journal Floriculture on the use of electric current to stimulate root formation in cuttings ornamental plants, especially those that take root with difficulty, for example in rose cuttings. Experiments were carried out with them in closed ground. Cuttings of several varieties of roses were planted in perlite sand. They were watered twice a day and exposed to electric current (15 V; up to 60 μA) for at least three hours. In this case, the negative electrode was connected to the plant, and the positive electrode was immersed in the substrate. In 45 days, 89 percent of the cuttings took root, and they developed well-developed roots. In the control (without electrical stimulation), within 70 days the yield of rooted cuttings was 75 percent, but their roots were much less developed. Thus, electrical stimulation reduced the period of growing cuttings by 1.7 times and increased the yield per unit area by 1.2 times. As we can see, stimulation of growth under the influence of electric current is observed if a negative electrode is connected to the plant. This can be explained by the fact that the plant itself is usually negatively charged. Connecting a negative electrode increases the potential difference between it and the atmosphere, and this, as already noted, has a positive effect on photosynthesis.

The beneficial effect of electric current on the physiological state of plants was used by American researchers to treat damaged tree bark, cancerous growths, etc. In the spring, electrodes were inserted into the tree through which an electric current was passed. The duration of treatment depended on the specific situation. After such an impact, the bark was renewed.

The electric field affects not only adult plants, but also seeds. If you place them in an artificially created electric field for a while, they will sprout faster and produce friendly shoots. What is the reason for this phenomenon? Scientists suggest that inside the seeds, as a result of exposure to an electric field, some of the chemical bonds are broken, which leads to the formation of fragments of molecules, including particles with excess energy - free radicals. The more active particles inside the seeds, the higher the energy of their germination. According to scientists, similar phenomena occur when seeds are exposed to other radiation: X-ray, ultraviolet, ultrasound, radioactive.

Let us return to the results of Grando's experiment. The plant, placed in a metal cage and thereby isolated from the natural electric field, did not grow well. Meanwhile, in most cases, the collected seeds are stored in reinforced concrete premises, which, in essence, are exactly the same metal cage. Are we causing damage to the seeds? And is this why the seeds stored in this way react so actively to the influence of an artificial electric field?

Further study of the effect of electric current on plants will allow for even more active control of their productivity. The above facts indicate that there is still much unknown in the plant world.

ABSTRACT FROM THE INVENTION ABSTRACT.

The electric field affects not only adult plants, but also seeds. If you place them in an artificially created electric field for a while, they will sprout faster and produce friendly shoots. What is the reason for this phenomenon? Scientists suggest that inside the seeds, as a result of exposure to an electric field, some of the chemical bonds are broken, which leads to the formation of fragments of molecules, including particles with excess energy - free radicals. The more active particles inside the seeds, the higher the energy of their germination.

Realizing the high efficiency of using electrical stimulation of plants in agriculture and homestead farming, an autonomous, long-term source of low-potential electricity that does not require recharging was developed to stimulate plant growth.

The device for stimulating plant growth is a high-tech product (which has no analogues in the world) and is a self-healing power supply, converting free electricity into electric current, resulting from the use of electropositive and electronegative materials separated by a permeable membrane and placed in gas environment, without the use of electrolytes in the presence of a nanocatalyst. As a result of the ionization of gas molecules, a low potential charge is transferred from one material to another and an emf occurs.

This low-potential electricity is almost identical to the electrical processes occurring under the influence of photosynthesis in plants and can be used to stimulate their growth. The formula of the utility model represents the use of two or more electropositive and electronegative materials without limiting their sizes and methods of their connection, separated by any permeable membrane and placed in a gaseous environment with or without the use of a catalyst.

You can make an “ELECTRIC BED” yourself.

**

Attached to a three-meter pole is an aluminum tube filled with (U-Yo...) composition.
A wire will be stretched from the tube along the pole into the ground
which is the anode (+0.8 volts).

Installation of the "ELECTRIC BED" device made of aluminum tube.

1 - Attach the device to a three-meter pole.
2 - Attach three guy wires made of m-2.5mm aluminum wire.
3 - Attach m-2.5mm copper wire to the device wire.
4 - Dig up the ground, the diameter of the bed can be up to six meters.
5 - Place a pole with a device in the center of the bed.
6 - Lay the copper wire in a spiral in 20cm increments.
deepen the end of the wire by 30 cm.
7- Cover the top of the copper wire with 20 cm of earth.
8 - Drive three pegs into the ground along the perimeter of the bed, and three nails in them.
9 - Attach guy wires made of aluminum wire to the nails.

Tests of ELECTRIC BEDS in a greenhouse for the lazy 2015.

Install an electric bed in a greenhouse, you will start harvesting two weeks earlier - there will be twice as many vegetables as in previous years!

"ELECTRIC BED" made of copper tube.

You can make the device yourself
"ELECTRIC BED" at home.

Send a donation

In the amount of 1,000 rubles

Within 24 hours, after a notification letter by E-mail: [email protected]
You will receive detailed technical documentation on the manufacture of TWO models of "ELECTRIC BED" devices at home.

Sberbank Online

Card number: 4276380026218433

VLADIMIR POCHEEVSKY

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wallet number 41001193789376

Transfer to Pay Pal

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Tests of the "ELECTRIC BED" in the cold summer of 2017.

Installation instructions for "ELECTRIC BEDS"

1 - Gas tube (generator of natural, pulsed earth currents).

2 - Tripod made of copper wire - 30 cm.

3 - Tension wire resonator in the form of a spring 5 meters above the ground.

4 - Tension wire resonator in the form of a spring in the soil 3 meters.

Remove the Electric Bed parts from the packaging and stretch the springs along the length of the bed.
Stretch the long spring by 5 meters, the short one by 3 meters.
The length of the springs can be increased indefinitely using ordinary conductive wire.

Attach a spring (4) - 3 meters long, to the tripod (2), as shown in the figure,
Insert the tripod into the soil and deepen the spring 5 cm into the ground.

Connect the gas tube (1) to the tripod (2). Strengthen the tube vertically
using a peg from a branch (iron pins cannot be used).

Connect a spring (3) - 5 meters long - to the gas pipe (1) and secure it on pegs made of branches
at intervals of 2 meters. The spring should be above the ground, height no more than 50 cm.

After installing the "Electric beds", connect a multimeter to the ends of the springs
to check, the readings must be at least 300 mV.

The device for stimulating plant growth "ELECTROGRADKA" is a high-tech product (which has no analogues in the world) and is a self-healing power source that converts free electricity into electric current, sap flow in plants accelerates, they are less susceptible to spring frosts, grow faster and bear fruit more abundantly!

Yours material aid goes to support
national program "REVIVAL OF SPRINGS OF RUSSIA"!

If you do not have the opportunity to pay for the technology and financially help the people's program "REVIVAL OF SPRINGS OF RUSSIA" write to us by Email: [email protected] We will review your letter and send you the technology for free!

Interregional program "REVIVAL OF SPRINGS OF RUSSIA"- is the PEOPLE!
We work only on private donations from citizens and do not accept funding from commercial government and political organizations.

HEAD OF THE PEOPLE'S PROGRAM

"REVIVAL OF SPRINGS OF RUSSIA"

Vladimir Nikolaevich Pocheevsky Tel: 8-965-289-96-76

February 8, 2012 at 10:00

The biological influence of electric and magnetic fields on the body of people and animals has been studied quite a lot. The effects observed in this case, if they occur, are still unclear and difficult to determine, so this topic remains relevant.

Magnetic fields on our planet have a dual origin - natural and anthropogenic. Natural magnetic fields, so-called magnetic storms, originate in the Earth's magnetosphere. Anthropogenic magnetic disturbances cover a smaller area than natural ones, but their manifestation is much more intense, and therefore causes more significant damage. As a result of technical activities, humans create artificial electromagnetic fields that are hundreds of times stronger than the natural magnetic field of the Earth. The sources of anthropogenic radiation are: powerful radio transmitting devices, electrified vehicles, power lines.

Frequency range and wavelengths of some sources of electromagnetic radiation

One of the most powerful exciters of electromagnetic waves is industrial frequency currents (50 Hz). Thus, the electric field intensity directly under a power transmission line can reach several thousand volts per meter of soil, although due to the property of soil reducing the intensity, even when moving 100 m from the line, the intensity drops sharply to several tens of volts per meter.

Studies of the biological effects of the electric field have found that even at a voltage of 1 kV/m it has an adverse effect on the human nervous system, which in turn leads to disruption of the endocrine system and metabolism in the body (copper, zinc, iron and cobalt), disrupts physiological functions: heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity, metabolic processes and immune activity.

Since 1972, publications have appeared that examine the effect on people and animals of electric fields with intensity values ​​greater than 10 kV/m.

The magnetic field strength is proportional to the current and inversely proportional to the distance; The electric field strength is proportional to voltage (charge) and inversely proportional to distance. The parameters of these fields depend on the voltage class, design features and geometric dimensions of the high-voltage power line. The emergence of a powerful and extended source of electromagnetic field leads to a change in the natural factors under which the ecosystem was formed. Electric and magnetic fields can induce surface charges and currents in the human body.

Research has shown that the maximum current in the human body induced by an electric field is much higher than the current induced by a magnetic field. Thus, the harmful effects of the magnetic field appear only when its intensity is about 200 A/m, which happens at a distance of 1-1.5 m from the line phase wires and is dangerous only for operating personnel when working under voltage. This circumstance allowed us to conclude that there is no biological influence of industrial-frequency magnetic fields on people and animals located under power lines. Thus, the electric field of power lines is the main biologically effective factor in long-distance power transmission, which can be a barrier to the migration of different types of aquatic and land fauna.

Electric and magnetic field lines affecting a person standing under an overhead AC power line

Based on the design features of power transmission (wire sagging), the greatest influence of the field is manifested in the middle of the span, where the tension for super- and ultra-high voltage lines at the level of human height is 5 - 20 kV/m and higher, depending on the voltage class and line design.

At the supports, where the height of the wire suspension is greatest and the shielding effect of the supports is felt, the field strength is the lowest. Since there may be people, animals, and vehicles under power transmission line wires, there is a need to assess the possible consequences of long-term and short-term stay of living beings in electric fields of varying strengths.

The most sensitive to electric fields are ungulates and humans wearing shoes that insulate them from the ground. Animal hoofs are also good insulators. The induced potential in this case can reach 10 kV, and the current pulse through the body when touching a grounded object (bush branch, blade of grass) is 100 - 200 μA. Such current pulses are safe for the body, but unpleasant sensations force ungulates to avoid high-voltage power lines in the summer.

In the action of an electric field on a person, the dominant role is played by the currents flowing through his body. This is determined by the high conductivity of the human body, where organs with blood and lymph circulating in them predominate.

Currently, experiments on animals and human volunteers have established that a conductivity current density of 0.1 μA/cm and below does not affect brain function, since the pulsed biocurrents that usually flow in the brain significantly exceed the density of such a conduction current.

At a current density with a conductivity of 1 μA/cm, flickering circles of light are observed in a person’s eyes; higher current densities already capture the threshold values ​​of stimulation of sensory receptors, as well as nerve and muscle cells, which leads to the appearance of fear and involuntary motor reactions.

If a person touches objects isolated from the ground in a zone of an electric field of significant intensity, the current density in the heart zone strongly depends on the state of the “underlying” conditions (type of shoes, soil condition, etc.), but can already reach these values.

At a maximum current corresponding to Еmax == 15 kV/m (6.225 mA), a known fraction of this current flowing through the head area (about 1/3), and a head area (about 100 cm), the current density<0,1 мкА/см, что и подтверждает допустимость принятой напряженности 15 кВ/м под проводами воздушной линии.

For human health, the problem is to determine the relationship between the current density induced in tissues and the magnetic induction of the external field, V. Calculation of current density

complicated by the fact that its exact path depends on the distribution of conductivity in the tissues of the body.

Thus, the specific conductivity of the brain is determined by y = 0.2 cm/m, and of the heart muscle by y = 0.25 cm/m. If we take the radius of the head to be 7.5 cm and the radius of the heart to be 6 cm, then the product yR is the same in both cases. Therefore, one representation can be given for the current density at the periphery of the heart and brain.

It has been determined that magnetic induction, safe for health, is about 0.4 mT at a frequency of 50 or 60 Hz. In magnetic fields (from 3 to 10 mT, f = 10 - 60 Hz), the appearance of light flickers, similar to those that occur when pressing on the eyeball, was observed.

The current density induced in the human body by an electric field with intensity E is calculated as follows:

with different coefficients k for the brain and heart regions.

Value k=3-10-3 cm/Hzm.

According to German scientists, the field strength at which hair vibration is felt by 5% of the men tested is 3 kV/m and for 50% of the men tested it is 20 kV/m. There is currently no evidence that the sensations caused by the field cause any adverse effects. Regarding the relationship between current density and biological influence, four areas can be distinguished, presented in the table.

The last range of current density values ​​relates to exposure times of the order of one cardiac cycle, i.e. approximately 1 s for a person. For shorter exposures, the threshold values ​​are higher. To determine the threshold field strength, physiological studies were performed on humans in laboratory conditions at field strengths ranging from 10 to 32 kV/m. It has been established that at a voltage of 5 kV/m, 80% of people do not experience pain during discharges when touching grounded objects. It is this value that was adopted as a standard value when working in electrical installations without the use of protective equipment.

The dependence of the permissible time of a person’s stay in an electric field with a strength E greater than the threshold is approximated by the equation

Fulfillment of this condition ensures self-healing of the physiological state of the body during the day without residual reactions and functional or pathological changes.

Let's get acquainted with the main results of studies of the biological effects of electric and magnetic fields conducted by Soviet and foreign scientists.

The influence of electric fields on personnel

During the studies, an integrating dosimeter was attached to the upper forearm of each worker. It was found that among workers on high-voltage lines, the average daily exposure ranged from 1.5 kV/(m-h) to 24 kV/(m-h). Maximum values ​​are noted in very rare cases. From the research data obtained, it can be concluded that there is no significant relationship between field exposure and the general health of people.

Overhead power lines and cancer in children

In residential premises, a magnetic field can be created by household electrical equipment and wiring, external underground cables, as well as overhead power lines. The study and control objects were grouped at intervals of 25 m to the overhead power line, and the degree of risk at a distance of more than 100 m from the line was taken as one.

The results obtained do not support the hypothesis that industrial-frequency magnetic fields affect the occurrence of cancer in children.

Electrostatic effect on human and animal hair

The research was carried out in connection with the hypothesis that the field effect felt by the surface of the skin is caused by the action of electrostatic forces on the hair. As a result, it was found that at a field strength of 50 kV/m, the subject felt itching associated with vibration of the hair, which was recorded by special devices.

Effect of electric field on plants

The experiments were carried out in a special chamber in an undistorted field with a voltage from 0 to 50 kV/m. Slight damage to leaf tissue was detected at exposures ranging from 20 to 50 kV/m, depending on the configuration of the plant and its initial moisture content. Tissue necrosis was observed in parts of plants with sharp edges. Thick plants with a smooth rounded surface were not damaged at a voltage of 50 kV/m. Damage is caused by crowns on protruding parts of plants. In the weakest plants, damage was observed within 1 - 2 hours after exposure. It is important that in wheat seedlings, which have very sharp tips, the crown and damage were noticeable at a relatively low voltage of 20 kV/m. This was the lowest threshold for lesion occurrence in the studies.

The most likely mechanism of damage to plant tissue is heat. Tissue damage occurs when the field strength becomes high enough to cause corona and a high-density corona current flows through the tip of the leaflet. The heat generated by the resistance of the leaf tissue leads to the death of a narrow layer of cells, which relatively quickly lose water, dry out and shrink. However, this process has a limit and the percentage of the dried plant surface is small.

Effect of electric field on animals

Research was carried out in two directions: studying at the level of the biosystem and studying the thresholds of detected influences. Among the chickens placed in a field with a voltage of 80 kV/m, there was an increase in weight, viability, and low mortality. The field perception threshold was measured in domestic pigeons. Pigeons have been shown to have some mechanism for detecting low-strength electric fields. No genetic changes were observed. It is noted that animals located in an electric field of high intensity may experience a mini-shock due to extraneous factors, depending on the experimental conditions, which can lead to some anxiety and agitation in the subjects.

A number of countries have regulations that limit the maximum field strength values ​​in the area of ​​overhead power line routes. A maximum voltage of 20 kV/m has been recommended in Spain and the same value is currently considered as the limit in Germany.

Public awareness of the effects of electromagnetic fields on living organisms continues to grow, and some interest and concern about these effects will lead to continued relevant medical research, especially on people living near overhead power lines.

More information on this topic:

V. I. Chekhov "Ecological aspects of electricity transmission"

The book provides a general description of the impact of overhead power lines on the environment. The issues of calculating the maximum electric field strength under an alternating current line and methods for its reduction, the acquisition of land for the line route, the impact of the electromagnetic field on people, flora and fauna, and the occurrence of radio and acoustic noise are considered. The features of the environmental impact of direct current lines and ultra-high voltage cable lines are considered.

Latest publications

The biological influence of electric and magnetic fields on the body of people and animals has been studied quite a lot. The effects observed in this case, if they occur, are still unclear and difficult to determine, so this topic remains relevant.

Magnetic fields on our planet have a dual origin - natural and anthropogenic. Natural magnetic fields, so-called magnetic storms, originate in the Earth's magnetosphere. Anthropogenic magnetic disturbances cover a smaller area than natural ones, but their manifestation is much more intense, and therefore causes more significant damage. As a result of technical activities, humans create artificial electromagnetic fields that are hundreds of times stronger than the natural magnetic field of the Earth. Sources of anthropogenic radiation are: powerful radio transmitting devices, electrified vehicles, power lines.

Frequency range and wavelengths of some sources of electromagnetic radiation

One of the most powerful exciters of electromagnetic waves is industrial frequency currents (50 Hz). Thus, the electric field intensity directly under a power transmission line can reach several thousand volts per meter of soil, although due to the property of soil reducing the intensity, even when moving 100 m from the line, the intensity drops sharply to several tens of volts per meter.

Studies of the biological effects of the electric field have found that even at a voltage of 1 kV/m it has an adverse effect on the human nervous system, which in turn leads to disruption of the endocrine system and metabolism in the body (copper, zinc, iron and cobalt), disrupts physiological functions: heart rate, blood pressure, brain activity, metabolic processes and immune activity.

Since 1972, publications have appeared that examine the effect on people and animals of electric fields with intensity values ​​greater than 10 kV/m.

Magnetic field strength proportional to current and inversely proportional to distance; The electric field strength is proportional to voltage (charge) and inversely proportional to distance. The parameters of these fields depend on the voltage class, design features and geometric dimensions of the high-voltage power line. The emergence of a powerful and extended source of electromagnetic field leads to a change in the natural factors under which the ecosystem was formed. Electric and magnetic fields can induce surface charges and currents in the human body.

Research has shown that the maximum current in the human body induced by an electric field is much higher than the current induced by a magnetic field. Thus, the harmful effects of the magnetic field appear only when its intensity is about 200 A/m, which happens at a distance of 1-1.5 m from the line phase wires and is dangerous only for operating personnel when working under voltage. This circumstance allowed us to conclude that there is no biological influence of industrial-frequency magnetic fields on people and animals located under power lines. Thus, the electric field of power lines is the main biologically effective factor in long-distance power transmission, which can be a barrier to the migration of different types of aquatic and land fauna.

Electric and magnetic field lines affecting a person standing under an overhead AC power line

Based on the design features of power transmission (wire sagging), the greatest influence of the field is manifested in the middle of the span, where the tension for super- and ultra-high voltage lines at the level of human height is 5 - 20 kV/m and higher, depending on the voltage class and line design.

At the supports, where the height of the wire suspension is greatest and the shielding effect of the supports is felt, the field strength is the lowest. Since there may be people, animals, and vehicles under power transmission line wires, there is a need to assess the possible consequences of long-term and short-term stay of living beings in electric fields of varying strengths.

The most sensitive to electric fields are ungulates and humans wearing shoes that insulate them from the ground. Animal hoofs are also good insulators. The induced potential in this case can reach 10 kV, and the current pulse through the body when touching a grounded object (bush branch, blade of grass) is 100 - 200 μA. Such current pulses are safe for the body, but unpleasant sensations force ungulates to avoid high-voltage power lines in the summer.

In the action of an electric field on a person, the dominant role is played by the currents flowing through his body. This is determined by the high conductivity of the human body, where organs with blood and lymph circulating in them predominate.

Currently, experiments on animals and human volunteers have established that a conductivity current density of 0.1 μA/cm and below does not affect brain function, since the pulsed biocurrents that usually flow in the brain significantly exceed the density of such a conduction current.

At a current density with a conductivity of 1 μA/cm, flickering circles of light are observed in a person’s eyes; higher current densities already capture the threshold values ​​of stimulation of sensory receptors, as well as nerve and muscle cells, which leads to the appearance of fear and involuntary motor reactions.

If a person touches objects isolated from the ground in a zone of an electric field of significant intensity, the current density in the heart zone strongly depends on the state of the “underlying” conditions (type of shoes, soil condition, etc.), but can already reach these values.

At a maximum current corresponding to Еmax == 15 kV/m (6.225 mA), a known fraction of this current flowing through the head area (about 1/3), and a head area (about 100 cm), the current density<0,1 мкА/см, что и подтверждает допустимость принятой напряженности 15 кВ/м под проводами воздушной линии.

For human health, the problem is to determine the relationship between the current density induced in tissues and the magnetic induction of the external field, V. Calculation of current density

complicated by the fact that its exact path depends on the distribution of conductivity in the tissues of the body.

Thus, the specific conductivity of the brain is determined by y = 0.2 cm/m, and of the heart muscle by y = 0.25 cm/m. If we take the radius of the head to be 7.5 cm and the radius of the heart to be 6 cm, then the product yR is the same in both cases. Therefore, one representation can be given for the current density at the periphery of the heart and brain.

It has been determined that magnetic induction, safe for health, is about 0.4 mT at a frequency of 50 or 60 Hz. In magnetic fields (from 3 to 10 mT, f = 10 - 60 Hz), the appearance of light flickers, similar to those that occur when pressing on the eyeball, was observed.

The current density induced in the human body by an electric field with intensity E is calculated as follows:

with different coefficients k for the brain and heart regions.

Value k=3-10 -3 cm/Hzm.

According to German scientists, the field strength at which hair vibration is felt by 5% of the men tested is 3 kV/m and for 50% of the men tested it is 20 kV/m. There is currently no evidence that the sensations caused by the field cause any adverse effects. Regarding the relationship between current density and biological influence, four areas can be distinguished, presented in the table.

The last range of current density values ​​relates to exposure times of the order of one cardiac cycle, i.e. approximately 1 s for a person. For shorter exposures, the threshold values ​​are higher. To determine the threshold field strength, physiological studies were performed on humans in laboratory conditions at field strengths ranging from 10 to 32 kV/m. It has been established that at a voltage of 5 kV/m, 80% of people do not experience pain during discharges when touching grounded objects. It is this value that was adopted as a standard value when working in electrical installations without the use of protective equipment.

The dependence of the permissible time of a person’s stay in an electric field with a strength E greater than the threshold is approximated by the equation

Fulfillment of this condition ensures self-healing of the physiological state of the body during the day without residual reactions and functional or pathological changes.

Let's get acquainted with the main results of studies of the biological effects of electric and magnetic fields conducted by Soviet and foreign scientists.

The influence of electric fields on personnel

During the studies, an integrating dosimeter was attached to the upper forearm of each worker. It was found that among workers on high-voltage lines, the average daily exposure ranged from 1.5 kV/(m-h) to 24 kV/(m-h). Maximum values ​​are noted in very rare cases. From the research data obtained, it can be concluded that there is no significant relationship between field exposure and the general health of people.

Electrostatic effect on human and animal hair

The research was carried out in connection with the hypothesis that the field effect felt by the surface of the skin is caused by the action of electrostatic forces on the hair. As a result, it was found that at a field strength of 50 kV/m, the subject felt itching associated with vibration of the hair, which was recorded by special devices.

Effect of electric field on plants

The experiments were carried out in a special chamber in an undistorted field with a voltage from 0 to 50 kV/m. Slight damage to leaf tissue was detected at exposures ranging from 20 to 50 kV/m, depending on the configuration of the plant and its initial moisture content. Tissue necrosis was observed in parts of plants with sharp edges. Thick plants with a smooth rounded surface were not damaged at a voltage of 50 kV/m. Damage is caused by crowns on protruding parts of plants. In the weakest plants, damage was observed within 1 - 2 hours after exposure. It is important that in wheat seedlings, which have very sharp tips, the crown and damage were noticeable at a relatively low voltage of 20 kV/m. This was the lowest threshold for lesion occurrence in the studies.

The most likely mechanism of damage to plant tissue is heat. Tissue damage occurs when the field strength becomes high enough to cause corona and a high-density corona current flows through the tip of the leaflet. The heat generated by the resistance of the leaf tissue leads to the death of a narrow layer of cells, which relatively quickly lose water, dry out and shrink. However, this process has a limit and the percentage of the dried plant surface is small.

Effect of electric field on animals

Research was carried out in two directions: studying at the level of the biosystem and studying the thresholds of detected influences. Among the chickens placed in a field with a voltage of 80 kV/m, there was an increase in weight, viability, and low mortality. The field perception threshold was measured in domestic pigeons. Pigeons have been shown to have some mechanism for detecting low-strength electric fields. No genetic changes were observed. It is noted that animals located in an electric field of high intensity may experience a mini-shock due to extraneous factors, depending on the experimental conditions, which can lead to some anxiety and agitation in the subjects.

A number of countries have regulations that limit the maximum field strength values ​​in the area of ​​overhead power line routes. A maximum voltage of 20 kV/m has been recommended in Spain and the same value is currently considered as the limit in Germany.

Public awareness of the effects of electromagnetic fields on living organisms continues to grow, and some interest and concern about these effects will lead to continued relevant medical research, especially on people living near overhead power lines.