A Note on Photons
Although
wave-particle (photons-EM field) duality is a characteristic of the entire EM
spectrum, the energy of photons below the frequency of visible light is so low
that many refer to this as a region of waves rather than particles. Many of the
physical characteristics of photons, such as size and shape, are illusive and
debated in the scientific community. [2]
The most widely accepted facts are that photons have no mass and their energy
increases with frequency.
A short history of Biophotonics
In the
1920s, Alexander Gurwitch, Professor of Histology,[3]
asked why organs had a definite shape. He argued that chemical reactions are
isotropic (the same in all directions) which means that chemistry can’t
determine shape. In his signature experiment, two onion roots were arranged at right
angles to one another with the horizontal root (Inductor) pointed towards the
vertical stem (Detector), with a space between the two for either normal window
glass or quartz glass plate. Gurwitch recorded the
rate of cell division (mitosis) on the detector. With window glass, no cell
division occurred, whereas with quartz glass, cell division increased
significantly. Gurwitch
was aware that normal window glass blocks UV rays and quartz glass plate is
transparent for UV light of about 260 nm. He concluded that 260 nm UV emissions from the Inductor
were stimulating increased cell division in the Detector, and that this “mitogenetic radiation” might regulate cell growth and
differentiation.
In the 1940s, L. Colli
(
Since enzymes and anti-oxidants
normally mop up reactive oxygen and free radicals before they can damage cells,
healthy cells tend to release very few photons, making them hard to detect,
even in a pitch-black lab.
In the 1980s, manufacturers such as
Researchers are trying to develop
ways to convert patterns of photon emissions into images of the body that
resemble X-rays or CAT scans. However, cells are sensitive to many factors that
alter the rate at which photons are emitted. This causes problems with
reproducibility of results, even for relatively simple systems. [6]
Apparently direct diagnosis of disease from biophotons
will remain difficult without some technical or medical breakthrough. [7]
Still, the difficulties
of reproducibility does not rule out the possibility that information
transfer is taking place.
The Biophotonic model
In the 1970s, Fritz-Albert Popp discovered
a much wider spectrum of photon emissions than had previously been recorded and
coined the term “Biophoton’. [8]
The energy released in
assumed conventional processes, such as oxidation, and the reorganization of
hydrogen bonds and Van der Waals complexes, is too low to excite electronic
energy levels corresponding to the observed spectral range of ultra weak photon
emissions (UPE), noted in various sources from 200 to 900 nm. [9]
In the 1980s, Popp found that two
cells separated by an opaque barrier release biophotons
in uncoordinated patterns. Remove the barrier and the cells soon begin
releasing photons in synchrony. The cells, Popp concluded, were communicating
by light. [10]
Popp found that carcinogenic
substances absorb UV light (at 380 nanometers), and re-emit it with a changed
frequency. He found that photo repair works most efficiently at 380 nm, the
same wavelength the carcinogens would react to and scramble. He deduced that
carcinogens must inhibit photo-repair, and if so, there must be some light in the
body responsible for photo-repair. A prestigious journal on cancer agreed to
publish these results. He was invited to speak to the world's leading cancer
researchers. Popp's science was unassailable, except for one detail: it assumed
that a weak light of 380 nm was being produced in the body, which most
scientists refused to believe.
Popp also discovered the photons in
the living systems he had examined were more coherent than anything he had ever
seen. In quantum
physics, coherence means that subatomic particles are linked by bands of common
electromagnetic fields, so they can 'communicate'. As they get into phase, they
begin acting like one giant wave.
From experiment, he showed that one
of the most essential sources of biophoton emission
was DNA; that the more DNA unwound, the higher the intensity of light, and also
that DNA was capable of sending out a large range of frequencies.
Modern conventional biology is still
at a loss to adequately explain the process by which cell differentiation,
migration, and integration occur with such speed and accuracy to form living
organisms. [11] Popp believes that weak biophoton
emissions are sufficient to orchestrate body processes, [12] and
is the answer to the question of morphogenesis; that is the question of how
living forms take shape. Note that this is what Gurwitch
originally argued for his mitogenetic radiation. Mitogenetic radiation is now considered ultraweak
photon emissions.
Results of other researchers have
supported biophotonic theory, and in fact an International Institute of Biophysics (IIB)
was founded, with about forty scientific groups worldwide focusing on biophotonic studies [13]. Although
perhaps deserving of it, Popp is not yet on the list of Nobel prize winners, [14]
as is often claimed on the internet.
Although
Some theorists suggest
that the notion of a common cellular language puts biophotons
at the center not only of biological communication, but also of
consciousness. Scott Hagan, a
theoretical physicist at the British Columbia Institute of Technology in
Hagan and Stuart Hameroff, associate director of the Center for Consciousness
Studies at the
Members of the IIB
certainly concur that quantum theory needs to be evoked to allow for the
emergence of consciousness, although the specific function of biophotons is not made clear. [17]
Biological Coherence model
Originally, Biological
Coherence referred specifically to the work of Herbert
Fröhlich, professor of Solid State Physics at the
University of Salford in the 1970’s, He was among the first researchers to suggest
that waves or vibration allow proteins to cooperate with one another and carry
out instructions from DNA. [18]
Observing that millivolt
electrical potentials maintained across cell membranes ~10 nm thick give rise
to huge fields ~107 volts/m, Fröhlich proposed that membrane molecules must be
highly electrically polarized and thus could interact to produce coherent
surface acoustic vibrational modes in the 10-100 GHz (microwave) frequency
range. [19]
According to Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose, Fröhlich termed these modes acousto-conformational
transitions, or coherent (pumped) phonons, and noted such coherent states are
termed Bose-Einstein condensates in quantum physics. [20]
Fröhlich proposed that metabolic energy is not being lost as heat
but is stored in these vibrations, now known as Fröhlich
Oscillations. [21] This storage of
energy is analogous to the non-dissipative storage of magnetic energy in
inductors in electric circuits.
He showed that once
energy reaches a certain level, molecules begin to vibrate in unison, until
they reach a high level of coherence, when they may take on certain properties
of quantum mechanics.[22]
Semiconductor model
Discovery of the Hall effect [23]
in the perineural system confirmed Albert Saint-Gyorgyi's suggestion that semiconduction
is occurring in the human body. [24] Saint-Gyorgyi
was not the only one thinking about biological tissue as a solid sate semiconductor.
In the 1970s, Freeman W. Cope produced pivotal work linking physics and
biology, and developed a solid-state theory of biological processes. He deduced
that the activity in the cell is not just electrochemical, and looked at the
cell function as if the organelles were three-dimensional semiconductors. [25]
In semiconductors, a phonon is a special type
of vibrational motion, in which the elements of a crystalline lattice uniformly
oscillate at the same frequency. [26]
Only
certain vibrational modes are possible, and each is characterized by its
mechanical energy. Only a few modes are active at low energies, which are
acoustic modes. As mode energy increases, at a certain point many modes become
active. These are optical modes. An
electron can give energy to a lattice, in which case it excites an available
phonon mode. An electron can also acquire energy from a lattice, in which case
a vibrational phonon mode dissipates. It is easy to think of these vibrational
modes, or phonons, as particles. Then you can talk about phonon, as well as
photon emission and absorption by an electron. These are important energy
exchange mechanisms in semiconductors. [27]
Acoustic
mode phonons are low frequency, and correspond to sound waves in the lattice. Optical mode phonons always have some
minimum frequency of vibration, even when their wavelength is long. They are
called optical because in ionic crystals (like sodium chloride) they are
excited very easily by infrared radiation. [28]
James Oschman, author of Energy Medicine: the scientific basis [29], subscribes to the Piezoelectric / crystal / Semiconductor Model. He refutes the "bag model” (of biological processes), in which molecular reactants in the enzymatic pathways move, meet, and react randomly. He maintains the cell is filled with filaments, tubules, fibers, and trabeculae, collectively called the cytoplasmic cytoplasmic
matrix or cytoskeleton. Many of the enzymes once thought to be
floating in the "soup" are actually attached to structures within the
cell nucleus. This provides an assembly line arrangement along which reaction
sequences and frequencies can proceed rapidly. Furthermore, it serves as an
integrated piezoelectric The property
of certain crystals that causes them to produce voltage when a mechanical
pressure is applied to them such as sound vibrations.
This technique is used to build crystal microphones, phonograph cartridges and
strain gauges, all of which turn mechanical movement into voltage. solid
state system, thereby coordinating activities such as repair and defense as
well as movement of nutrients, hormones, and toxins.
Oschman, suggests that therapies based on homeopathy (hōmēŏp`əthē), system of medicine whose
fundamental principle is the law of similars—that like is cured by like. , herbs, aromatherapy, sound, heat,
light, and crystals are effective because they provide the frequencies needed
for healing. Peter Lindemann also found
that “the (Eeman) relaxation circuit must be able to
carry detailed vibrational information” [30]
The (sort of) Convergence of Models
The Biological Coherence, Semiconduction,
and Biophotonics models, developed by a number of
different western scientists[31],
appears to be converging with the physical basis of the Chinese model.
This integrated model
maintains that all parts of the living matrix create vibrations that propagate
within an organism and radiate into the environment at different frequencies,
including visible light. Each molecule, cell, tissue, and organ has a resonant
frequency that coordinates
its activities. Living matter is highly sensitive to the information conveyed
by these signals, which may integrate processes such as growth, defense, injury
repair, and the function of the organism as a whole. [32]
This
convergence is indicated in a number of publications. The
stated goal of the International Institute of
Biophysics (IIB) paper Anatomic
Characterization of Acupuncture System and Ultra-weak Photon Emission. [33]
is to link traditional Chinese acupuncture with
Western bioregulatory concepts. The paper notes that
a western concept of a bioregulatory system based in the connective tissue
of the human body began to be developed in the 19th century, in
parallel with the cell pathology model dominating medicine today [34]. The association of acupoints
and meridians with connective tissue has already been noted in the PSN paper
validation of hef.doc. The IIB paper outlines a more refined perspective on biological
tissue.
It is widely recognized that major
constituents of living organisms are not so much solid state semiconductors as
they may be liquid crystal, including DNA cytoskeltal
and muscle proteins, and collagens [35]
Liquid crystals are states or phases of matter between solid crystals and
liquids, and are called mesophases. A liquid crystal
has orientational order and some translational order,
but is flexible.
Water is structured in biological
tissue, meaning that it has the ability to form three-dimensional mutually
bonded networks of molecules. The collagenous liquid crystal mesophases in connective tissue combined with the
associated structured water constitutes a semi-conducting highly responsive
network that extends through out the organism. This network is directly linked
to the intracellular matrices of individual cells, forming an excitable
electric continuum for rapid intercommunication throughout the organism. [36]
This excitable electric continuum
and the acupuncture system have a common anatomical basis. Both support rapid semiconduction of protons, which is much faster than
conduction of electric signals by nerves. This “ground substance” may form a
much better intercommunication system than the nerves.
Evidence
supporting the hypothesis of liquid crystal tissue comes from nuclear MRI studies
of living human muscles, as well as the successful imaging of live organisms
using an interference color technique that amplifies weak birefringence typical
of biological liquid crystal. [37]
Based
on research, it has been concluded that collagen structures conduct and modify
photon pulses coming from biological sources.
Popp
et al’s biophoton physical model for inter and extra
cellular communication postulates that the photon is trapped and emitted by cellular physical
resonance devise, presumably DNA, resulting in a high degree of coherence. The
resulting long range EM waves and fields can be seen as a basis of self
organization.
Bonghan Kim, a surgeon, claimed to have
discovered anatomically distinctive corpuscle like tissues at the acupoints, and threadlike ducts at the meridians of human
skin. He traced the ducts, now called Bonghan ducts,
and found they formed a circulatory network throughout the body.
The alleged Bonghan
corpuscle and duct system is gaining more credibility with independent research
findings, providing an anatomical basis for the acupoint
and meridian system. Bonghan ducts appear to supply
the channels in the connective tissue with DNA granules inside, connecting acupoints in the skin to internal organs. As the narrow channels form a network of tubes with light
sources, they can become an optical (fiber optic) channel which can produce a
coherent photon state. [38]
This is a scientific interpretation of acupuncture therapy. [39]
This interpretation is supported by the fact that biophoton
emissions have been recorded from acupuncture points during electro
acupuncture. [40]
The book Bioelectrodynamics and Biocommunication, a collection of technical articles edited by Mae-Wan Ho, Fritz-Albert Popp and Ulrich Warnke, draws many of the same conclusions as the IIB paper,
and also confirms that in the 1990s a technique was
developed to image live organisms by interference colors by detection of
“dynamically ordered, coherent liquid-crystalline mesophases
of the macromolecules making up living tissues…” [41]
This book also notes that biocommunication denotes the
process of signal generation, transmission and transduction covering the entire
electromagnetic spectrum and in both the ‘phonon’ and ‘photon’ modes. [42]
In an article titled Nonlinear bio-photonic crystal effects
revealed with multimodal nonlinear microscopy,[43]
a Chinese team reports: “Highly optically active nonlinear bio-photonic crystalline
and semicrystalline structures in living cells were
studied by a novel multimodal nonlinear microscopy. Numerous biological
structures, including stacked membranes and aligned protein structures are
highly organized on a nanoscale and have been found
to exhibit strong optical activities through second-harmonic generation (SHG)
interactions, behaving similarly to man-made nonlinear photonic crystals.” Photonic crystals are periodic
optical nanostructures that are designed to affect the motion of photons in a
similar way that periodicity of a semiconductor crystal affects the motion of
electrons/(protons?). Various forms of photonic
crystals have been studied scientifically for the last 100 years. [44]
Interestingly, the
Mae-Wan Ho/ Popp book was published in 1994. An entry in The Journal of the Korean Physical Society,
dated 2002, states: “Another possible application (of biophoton
emission counts) is to evaluate the function of acupuncture meridians because
there are suggestive reports on the correlation between biophoton
emission rates and the condition of the meridians. [45]
The IIB paper was published sometime after 2007, [46]
while the latest mainstream MRI studies are only now (2010) speculating that fascial
connective tissue might be the anatomic basis for the acupuncture meridian
system, as noted above.
Obviously there is a significant delay between the
time key research is done and the time by which it has been disseminated into
the general scientific community. Much
additional research undoubtedly will be done before this model is even
generally acknowledged.
Of course there is still a lot of
debate on what exactly biophotons are doing. Ken Muldrew, a biophysicist at the
MIT
Review recently published a news article which discusses the hypothesis that
microtubules can act as wave guides, channeling light from one part of a cell
to another. Regardless
of skepticism, the article notes, biophotons, bioelectrodynamics and biocommunication
have become an established area of scientific inquiry. [48]
The Work of Jacques Benveniste
Jacques Benveniste’s
entry into controversy began at INSERM [49],
where he and his researchers found evidence of the “memory of water”, whereby water diluted to the point where the
original molecules of a substance can no longer be present exhibit the
characteristics of the original substance. [50]
His meticulous studies are widely
regarded as making a valid case for homeopathy, [51] If water were able
to imprint and store information [52]
from molecules, this would have an impact on our understanding of molecules and
how they "talk" to one another in the body. The conventional theory
of how molecules communicate in the body requires direct contact, a process
which is too slow and too dependent on chance. According to Benveniste's
theory, which has been supported by experiment, molecules rely on
electromagnetic signaling at low frequencies (less than 20 khz), corresponding to frequencies in the audio
range.
Beneviniste
experimented with a devise that was essentially a standard audio
amplifier connected to another coil to create an “audio frequency
oscillator”. Yolene
Thomas notes that she worked with Beneviniste
between 1992 and 1996 to show that they could transfer molecular signals
indirectly to water or directly to cells with this amplifier, giving rise to
“digital biology”. [53]
McTaggart notes that these signals could be
recorded and played back using a PC. [54]
Reputable research supporting Benveniste's results slowly began to surface in other
areas. In 1992, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
(FASEB) held a symposium, organized by the international Society for
Bioelectricity, examining the interactions of electromagnetic fields with
biological systems.
Numerous other scientists have
replicated high dilution experiments, and several have endorsed and
successfully repeated experiments using digitized information for molecular communication.
Independent scientific work in this
area continues to surface, with the expected mainstream skepticism. A 2011 article in Wired magazine, entitled Bacteria on the Radio: DNA Could Act as Antenna notes “Theoretical physicists have proposed
an explanation for how bacteria might transmit electromagnetic signals:
Chromosomes could act like antennae, with electrons traveling gene circuits to
produce species-specific wavelengths.” “…according to
Interestingly,
Glen Rein postulated the antenna function of DNA back in 1996, based in part on
the reality of the “Phantom DNA Effect”. [56]
The most unassailable tests of
homeopathy were performed in
Wave Genetics
According
to Petar Gariaev, distinct
types of acoustic and electromagnetic fields from DNA [note:
which he says themselves are holograms and solitons,
or are associated with
holograms and solitons, it is not clear from the original text] are the simplest examples of DNA
coding. These fields are generated by the so called “non-coding”,
or “junk” DNA, estimated to compose 98% of all DNA. Mathematical modeling was used to develop a laser beam
tunable to specific frequencies. A series of experiments demonstrated the
ability of the
laser beam frequencies to promote regeneration of a damaged pancreas in rats. Gariaev calls this technology “Wave
Genetics.” [58]
However, in the West, it has apparently been known for decades that many
noncoding sequences are functional. These include
genes for functional RNA molecules (see above) and sequences such as origins of
replication, centromeres, and telomeres. Some
sequences may have no biological function for the organism, such as endogenous
retroviruses. However, many types of noncoding DNA
sequences do have important biological functions, including the transcriptional
and translational regulation of protein-coding sequences, origins of DNA
replication, centromeres, telomeres, scaffold
attachment regions (SARs), genes for functional RNAs, and many others. Other noncoding
sequences have likely, but as-yet undetermined, functions. (This is inferred
from high levels of sequence similarity seen in different species.) [59]
How does this relate to Gariaev’s position?
Gariaev
et al also showed that there is a fundamental similarity between fractal
sequence structures of DNA and human speech. In 1990 Jeffrey Delrow discovered that the four “letters” of the genetic
alphabet (Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine and Thymine) in DNA form fractal
structures. The
theory of fractal representation of natural human and genetical
languages, developed by Gariaev and M U Maslov, holds that by use of human
language structure, the quasi-speech of DNA can be “edited’ by a voice
modulated laser beam [60].
It seems that Benveniste’s
theory of molecular communication would fit into the expanded biological
coherence model, but the difference in frequency between Fröhlich’s
model, in
the 10-100 GHz (microwave) frequency range, and Benveniste’s, below 20 kHz,(audio/radio) will
need to be explored.
Low Frequency Biological EM Phenomenon
Although the electromagnetic models
appear to be converging, it is not quite clear how all the model threads
connect.
Benveniste formed a company to provide EM
signaling to biological components via audio frequencies; Digi
Bio, and since then digital biology has become an established field. [61]
Although some references
suggest biophotons effect the entire EM spectrum,
none appear to really address the issue of how photons in the range of visible
light, from 4
14 Hz (400000000000000 Hz) to 7.5 x 10 14 Hz
(7500000000000000Hz),[62] induce
electromagnetic
signaling in molecules at frequencies less than 20 kHz (20000Hz), the frequency
of audio and radio signals. We know from Fourier analysis that high and low frequency components
affect one another, but this cannot be the whole story.
Popp does not seem to
include frequency in his description of the phenomena of biological
development. His actual statements on how biophotons
may effect molecules appear to be somewhat more complex than just “exciting”
molecules. From the text Integrative Biophysics: Biophotonics[63] Popp notes that with higher orders of quantum
coherence, one expects biological structures to be based on cavity resonators
and wave guides. Miotic activity can be described in
terms of superpositions of cavity resonator waves,
which also represent coherent states of the biophoton
field…. The living cell may have developed to the degree of coherence of the biophoton field where Bose-condensation [pure coherence]
and thermal dissipation balance one another. This explains delayed
luminescence.… Biophotons originate from a
coherent field which keeps its coherence thru some type of coupling between
radiation and matter. The electromagnetic field pattern is the driving force
for the movement and interaction of molecules, while matter constitutes the
boundary conditions of the field.
Perhaps the answer also
has to do with phonons, discussed above under Semiconductor model. In 2007, Dr. Mae-Wan Ho wrote:
“[Veljko] Veljkovic and [Irena] Cosic essentially asked a fundamental question in biology:
what is it that enabled the tens of thousands of different kinds of molecules
in the organism to recognize their specific targets…”
They proposed that molecular interactions are
electrical in nature, and take place over macroscopic distances. Cosic later introduced the idea that molecules recognize
their particular targets and vice versa by electromagnetic resonance.
“In other words, the molecules send out specific
frequencies of electromagnetic waves which not only enable them to 'see' and
'hear' each other, as both photon (light) and phonon(sound) modes exist for
electromagnetic waves, but also to influence each other at a distance…” [64]
Interestingly, although these ideas strongly resemble those of Jacques Benveniste, his name appears nowhere in Ho’s TheRealBioinformaticsRevolution paper.
According to Elizabeth
B. Bauer, photon-phonon coupling creates the sub atomic blueprint for healthy
cells through photon chemistry. Sound and light are closely connected in their
action on the energy states of our DNA, and the shifting energy states of the
photon and phonon are responsible for health or disease.
Photon-phonon
coupling then, would appear to address the issue of the relationship between
low frequency audio and high frequency photons. Interestingly, there exists such a phenomena, as discussed in the inorganic physics literature.
The Institute of Condensed Matter Physics
reports that localized mechanical modes (phonons) exist that couple to the light field “via radiation
pressure”. [65] The Optics Info
Base reports Photon and phonon coupling by electrostrictive
forces in photonic crystal fiber.[66] Since, as
established above, biophotonic crystal effects have
been observed in human tissue, such coupling in biological systems appears
entirely plausible.
Raman spectroscopy can be used to study low frequency modes. Laser light interacts with molecular vibrations,
phonons or other excitations in the system, resulting in the energy of the
laser photons being shifted up or down. This shift in photon energy gives
information about these modes. [67]
At a more conventional level, researchers
are studying the resulting energy transfer and biological effects on molecules using
the signature frequency at which those molecules
absorb light. [68]
Low frequency signals appear to be
very important in healing. In Dr. John Zimmerman's 1980s studies of therapeutic
touch, the SQUID[69],
an extremely sensitive magnetometer, measured large biomagnetic
fields emanating from the hands of therapists when they relaxed into their
meditative or healing states. The fields pulsed at swept frequencies from 0.3
Hz to 30 Hz, and primarily between 7-8 Hz. (7-8 Hz is in the range of the
fundamental Schumann Resonance)…In the experiment, no biomagnetic
pulses were observed from non-practitioners. This field is also noticed coming
from practitioners of Qi Gong, Yoga, Zen, and the martial arts. Furthermore,
the biomagnetic pulses are in the same frequency
ranges that are used in pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy to
jump-start the healing of bone fractures, a medical procedure that also applies
magnetic fields to induce current flow in nearby tissues. [70]
We can conclude that, although a
number of questions remain, the biological coherence, semiconductor,
biophotonic and Chinese models are convergent toward
a single credible model. Although western energy medicine is not
formally established as in Chinese medicine,
evidence supporting the efficacy of human healers has been provided by
SQUID experiments.
A Connection Between
Biophotons and Homeopathy; Between Popp and Benveniste?
Fritz Popp believes biophotons orchestrate body processes, and his work on biophoton emission seems often to be sited as an
explanation for homeopathy, without actually explaining the details of how the
two might be related. [71]
Jacques Benveniste
and his work are also often associated in popular literature with Popp and biophotonics. This is especially true in Lynn McTaggart’s book The
Field, which may be the source for many of the popular associations.
The precise character of
the association of
Popp and biophotons on the one hand and
Benveniste and homeopathy on the other is not clear.
In terms of technical
collaboration, I can find no evidence that Popp and Benveniste
ever spoke to one another. Although both Popp and Benveniste
did much of their work prior to the mid 1990’s, I could find neither studies,
nor collections of studies, to which both
Popp and Benveniste have contributed to. On
the other hand, Popp and Dr. Mae-Wan Ho have collaborated frequently.
In McTaggart’s book, the
concept of “signature frequency” appears to be important in determining the
details of exactly how biophotons might orchestrate low
frequency body processes. The central issue seems to be
ambiguity in use of the term “frequency” and definition of “signature frequencies”.
McTaggart states that Popp found
that molecules in cells would respond to certain frequencies and that a range
of vibrations from the photons would cause a variety of frequencies in other
molecules of the body. She also states that “the biophoton
vibrations Popp had observed in the body caused molecules to vibrate and create
their own signature frequency, which acted as its driving force and also its
means of communication. ” [72]
McTaggart further states that Benveniste learned how vibrations of Popp’s biophotons could cause new molecules to vibrate and create
their own signature frequency, even in the absence of physical molecules. “ If photons in the body excite molecules along
the entire spectrum of electromagnetic frequencies, it is logical that they
would have their own signature frequencies.” [73]
“Signature frequency” is a well known concept in conventional physics. Atoms and molecules have
signature frequencies of vibration in the range of visible light which are
detected by absorption spectroscopic analysis. [74]
In conventional physics,
the frequency range of visible light ranges from 4 14 to 7.5 x 10 14 Hz, [75] and photons do not cause
molecules to vibrate; the
atom or molecule absorbs the frequency of visible light which matches its own
natural resonant frequency. [76]
Multidimensional Model
The Multidimensional model holds that a human being consists of multiple
layers, or dimensions, that coexist simultaneously. There seems to be general
agreement about four main dimensions: the physical-etheric, emotional, mental, and
spiritual. Versions of the multidimensional model have been discussed over the
years at annual conferences of the International Society for the Study of
Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM),
An interesting version of the
multidimensional model has been advanced by William Tiller, professor emeritus
at
The basis of the multidimensional
model appears to derive from the Vedas, which are the
oldest written tradition in India, dating to
2,000 - 600 B.C. [77]
In the resulting Yogic
science, the chakras, which represent
energy centers of different dimensional levels, have been primarily the object
of meditation. However, it has been pointed out that through modern
physiology we can see that the seven chakras of traditional Yogic practice
correspond exactly to the seven main nerve ganglia, or glands, which emanate from the spinal column. [78]
Marmas on the other hand, defined as prana
(subtle energy) points, have been a primary topic of Yogic and Ayurvedic medicine. The marmas
are said to connect to the nadis (subtle nerves) and
chakras of the subtle body and mind, and bridge the physical and subtle bodies
in Yoga science. They correspond to acupuncture points in Chinese medicine, and
are the subject of Ayurvedic acupuncture, which has
also been called marmapuncture. [79]
The multidimensional model has not
been scientifically well substantiated, primarily because the chakra system, with the possible
exception of the marmas, is acknowledged to be
non-physical. Research suggesting scientific
verification of the Chakras comes from Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama
in the 1950s [80]
, and Dr. Valerie Hunt in the 1970s. Both used instruments that measured
physical electrical fields which are thought of as secondary fields caused by
the non-material chakras.
Dr. Motoyama detected electrostatic fields at the traditional
chakra locations. His results are said to have been repeated by Itzhak Bentov, author of Stalking the Wild Pendulum. [81]
A
standard EMG can only measure up to 1 kHz; the higher frequencies are assumed
to be noise and filtered out. Dr. Hunt found that a specially wired Electro Myo
Graph (EMG) machine detected very high frequency signals; much higher than
normally found in muscular activity, apparently at the traditional chakra
locations. These signals appear to exhibit chaos, and have been interpreted as
having a very high information content. [82]
Dr. Hunt also correlated the EMG readings with the color descriptions of the
chakras given by energy healer Rosalyn Bruyere [83]
The
Hunt studies recorded ‘Chakra’ EMG frequencies of up to 16 kHz, but also
measured EEG frequencies up to 200 kHz in meditators, as high as their
equipment would go. [84]
In
2008, the Indian Journal of Physiology
and Pharmacology [85]
published a short paper by RE Mendanha, a
physiologist, regarding the issue of high frequency EMG signals in humans. He
references the work of Motoyama and Hunt, and notes
that the standard procedure of filtering out higher frequencies because they
are assumed to be noise may be filtering out coherent information of the human biofield.
Mendanha has developed a low cost way to study such signals,
by combining standard EMG limb electrodes with a laptop computer, sound card,
and windows application software. Using this system he is able to record
frequencies of up to 96 kHz, enabling FFT analysis up to 48 kHz. Ambient
voltage was also recorded.
With
the electrode attached to the subjects left wrist, Mendanha
found hundreds of well formed minor potential peaks, all the way up to 42 kHz.
He found that the relative peak at 40 kHz was profoundly effected
by the switching on of a compact florescent bulb. He also found that following meditation, a
distinct peak occurs at about 40 kHz.. (Figure D
below). Interestingly, he found that the ambient data also showed this distinct
peak at 40 kHz. He concludes high frequency oscillometry
opens a new field of research.
From: RE Mendanha: http://www.ijpp.com/vol52_4/398-402.pdf
The book Holistic Nursing; a Handbook for Practice, by Barbara Montgomery Dossey, Lynn
Keegan notes: “Curtis, Zeh, Miller, and
Rich measured chakra functioning and found that people with more psychological
symptoms had more poorly functioning chakras.” [86]
However, Curtis, Zeh, Miller, and Rich did not use
electrostatic fields or electromyography over the alleged chakras, but rather
an Inneractive Aura Video System 5.1, [87]
which is discussed below. The Aura Video System obtains its data from electrodermal activity of the hands.[88] Electrodermal activity is associated with the physical meridian
energy flow of Chinese medicine, not with the Ayervedic
non-physical chakras.
A further problem, it seems, is that
the original researchers placed sensors only at alleged chakra locations. I
could find no references to researchers who placed these types of sensors at
intermediate locations along the spine. An HEF may be inferred, but it has not
yet been verified by instrumentation that there are discrete energy centers
along the spine.
Little
scientific evidence for the anatomical existence of the marmas
can be found on the internet.
The issue of measuring voltages from human beings to obtain information
on the human energy field is discussed further in the PSN paper
Voltages From the Human Body.
Tiller
notes that in the theoretical physics literature on the Big Bang theory, one
finds that our normal state is called the U(1) electromagnetic gauge symmetry
state, and there is a higher gauge symmetry state, SU(2), which has a higher thermodynamic free
energy per unit volume than U(1), and in which electric and magnetic monopoles
naturally coexist. The SU(2) state is associated with
a time period closer to the Big Bang.
Tiller
thought that if humans had an organ or body system present from birth that was at a
higher gauge symmetry, it would enliven the body; it would direct chemical,
electrical, and optical flows; cause the heart to pump and neural synapses to
operate. He found that bringing the
south pole of a DC magnet near an acupoint associated
with a particular muscle group strengthened that muscle group, and that bringing the north
pole of that magnet near the same acupoint weakened
that muscle group. He argues that
because the DC magnet is effecting the acupoints, it
must be accessing magnetic monopoles, and concludes the acupuncture meridian
and chakra system both operate at a higher gauge symmetry than U(1) (normal
reality); perhaps SU(2) This further suggests that human bioelectromagnetism is different than normal Maxwellian electromagnetism. [89]
Tiller’s multidimensional model was
used by Richard Gerber, a practicing physician trained in internal medicine and
devoted to researching vibrational healing. Gerber became a definitive
authority on energy medicine with the publication of his seminal contribution Vibrational
Medicine. [90]
The
credibility of the SQUID, electrostatic field detection, and EMG results
suggesting an HEF could be expanded considerably if more tests, by more people,
were done and reported, on paar with the research
done with MRI and acupuncture. Dr. Hunt apparently will soon market her version
of an HEF monitor, [91]
but before you buy one, check out Mendanha’s do it yourself approach.