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The catalogue of these pursuits is indeed a long one and can by no means be completed here, but we will attempt to cover historically those researches which warrant our attentions, based on the value of the attained results.
We will also include research currently being
done by BSRF and others. The means to detect communications and
energies which exist outside of the electromagnetic spectrum has
been an enduring quest of qualitative researchers for many years.
While conventional modes of discovering these "biodynamic"
signals has in the past relied on the human subject as an integral
component of detection, we are concerned here with what has been
referred to as the "automatic detecting instrument" - sans human
subject. Our investigations into the detection of biodynamic signals
begins with the outstanding work of L. George Lawrence.
He summarized that living plant tissues or leaves were capable of simultaneously sensing temperature change, gravitational variation, electromagnetic fields, and a host of other environmental effects - an ability no known mechanical sensor possessed. These initial investigations led him to the works of Alexander Gurwitsch, a Russian histologist, whose experiments in the 1920s proved that all living cells produce invisible radiations of a biodynamic character.
While observing the cells of onion roots, Gurwitsch noticed that they began dividing with a distinct rhythm causing him to trust that some type of vital force from nearby cells was the cause.
To verify this hypothesis Gurwitsch devised a type of ray gun which entailed mounting an onion root tip inside of a thin glass cylinder which was then aimed at a matching arrangement with a small area of onion root exposed to act as a target. Gurwitsch allowed the onion "ray gun" to bombard the sample for three hours, at which time he examined the target specimen under his microscope.
The number of cell divisions in the irradiated area had increased by 25 percent!
Gurwitsch tried to block the emanations with a thin slice of quartz crystal, but this proved ineffective. Only glass or a gelatin substance guaranteed blocking the transmissions.
Owing to the fact that these
rays from the onion "ray gun" demonstrated increased cell division
or mitosis in the target, Gurwitsch called them "mitogenetic rays."
Many other laboratories would confirm his findings. Researchers in
Paris, Moscow, Berlin, and Frankfort all corroborated Gurwitsch’s
results. Only the U.S. Academy of Sciences reported that
Gurwitsch’s
discovery was not replicable, and suggested it was merely his
fertile imagination.
Over the course of his experiments, Lawrence would begin to modify the basic recording apparatus from the simple galvanic skin response indicators, to ultra-high-gain piezo-electrometers. He also did away with the pen recorder, opting for a built-in audio oscillator which produces a steady tone, changing to distinct pulsations when the plant sensor is activated by external stimulation.
Aural monitoring has many advantages over the pen recorder, chief of which is the relative ease with which one can oversee (hear) the plant’s response. Another feature Lawrence would bring to the field was the replacement of the test plant with biologically active sensors, or "biodynamic transducers".
These
could range from simple tubes containing vegetal material in a
temperature controlled bath, to thin AT-cut quartz crystal wafers
bonded with specific organic materials housed in a Faraday chamber.
In the latter device, the highly reactive organic material induces
changes in the crystal, which when used in an oscillator circuit,
will alter the oscillator’s frequency.
The base of this tube contained a biodynamic transducer which was connected to the recording instrumentation.
The complete "biosensor" tube was mounted on top of a low power telescope for directional sighting. To induce a stimulus into the directional biosensor, Lawrence would train the sights of his instrument on a plant or tree some distance away that had been previously wired with electrodes. These electrodes were connected to a switch which when closed would introduce a pre-measured current into the tree or plant.
Back at the test site, Lawrence would then gently electrocute the tree or plant by radio control, causing his biosensor apparatus to respond wildly.
This was an exciting new breakthrough in the field of detecting biodynamic signals for the instruments were now directional and worked at a considerable distance. But, this is certainly not the end of the story. On the day of these experiments, Lawrence and his assistant decided to take a late afternoon break. The biosensing instrument had been left on and was pointing in a random direction at the sky.
As they began to eat their lunch, the steady sounds from the equipment abruptly changed to the familiar series of pulsations instantly signaling that it was picking up some sort of disturbance. After checking the apparatus and finding no malfunctions, Lawrence determined that the signals had to be coming from outer space!
These seemingly intelligent gestures from an advanced civilization would most probably be transmissions of a biological nature, and not from the electromagnetic spectrum which had so consumed the academicians of previous SETI projects.
This discovery would remain the primary
focus of all of Lawrence’s later experiments with biosensing
instruments.
He believed the signals were not directed at earthlings, but were probably transmissions between companion civilizations, which he felt would communicate via "eidetic imagery". This led him to begin analyzing these signals with video recording equipment. The images produced by these signals were called "biograms" and were basically digital spectrograms with a gray-scale resolution of 640 x 482 x 8 bits.
Interpretation of these biograms needs considerable study.
Unfortunately, there has been little information on this aspect of
Lawrence’s work, and it seems as though this was to be the last
installment of his labors.
The whereabouts of his equipment and/or notebooks is not known at this time. An important document for the re-creation of Lawrence’s experiments is the movie version of "The Secret Life of Plants". In this video Lawrence is shown at work with his biosensing equipment, and one can hear recordings of the reception of biodynamic signals.
One credible resource states that Lawrence was an expert oceanographer, historian, cartographer, and originator of the world’s first laser engine. He is credited with the authorship of some 46 books, but we have recently discovered that the name "L. George Lawrence" was a pseudonym he used for his popular works, and only two books bearing that name are to be found.
As the managing director of the Ecola Institute in the 1970s, he was
engaged in nuclear radiation research, medical and agricultural biomagnetic research, and conceptive space research for NASA among
other agencies. It is quite probable that much of the work that
Ecola was pursuing was of a confidential or classified nature.
Many of these recreations
and new discoveries have been chronicled in the column, "The
Borderland Experimenter" and elsewhere in the journal (see:
http://www.borderlands.com/newstuff/research/plant.htm).
The impetus which directed our experiments toward those of Lawrence
was the fact that he was able to obtain directional and "wireless"
biodynamic signals over great distances.
Originally, sections of plant leaves were used which had the electrodes clamped to them in the traditional manner.
This proves to be a cumbersome procedure, and the plant material clamped as such quickly becomes stressed and ceases to respond at all. Hundreds of different "non-plant" substances have been tested in biosensor designs, most of which have failed in their capacity to produce the dynamic response of living materials. Unfortunately, Lawrence left few clues as to what would be the optimum arrangement here.
We know that in his early work, Lawrence used a variety of mustard seeds floating in a nutrient bath
for the reception of biodynamic signals. In later years, he would
speak of using thin sections of plant stems or roots as a biodynamic
transducer. Our finest results were obtained using this arrangement.
The advantage of this system over the simple biomonitor is that it affords greater selectivity with regard to sensitivity when monitoring signals.
The drawback is that since
these more sensitive units are not a production item, one must be
somewhat skilled at building electronic instrumentation.
Unfortunately, there is not enough room here to give step by step
instructions on the construction of such a project from a schematic
diagram for those with little knowledge in electronics manufacture.
The basic details of the circuit’s operation will be covered here,
but some understanding of schematics and components is assumed.
The
connections to the biosensor or plant material may be done any
number of ways already discussed.
Referring to the schematic, we will begin with the Wheatstone bridge section.
The biosensor connected to input J1 forms part of a Wheatstone bridge with the other legs formed by R1 and R3. Power to
the bridge is furnished by B1, which is controlled by R2. Switch S1
is an input/output polarizer which permits reversal of the current
or excitation applied to the biosensor. This is most important, as
the setting of S1 will determine whether the plant’s own generated
currents will be superimposed upon the excitation currents.
This will have to be readjusted occasionally as the biosensor or plant settles into its baseline (relaxed) condition. Indications of biosensor response will be observed on the meter, and in the fluctuations of the audio tone coming from the speaker.
The actual amount of excitation controlled by R2, and the state of the superimposition of plant currents must be determined by actual usage. Performing these experiments in an area of low electromagnetic interference is ideal, but is not necessary unless one needs to control any outside influences.
Armed with this instrument, one should be able to
conduct a wide variety of unique experiments.
Parts List:
Selected References
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