Is Magnetism a Life form ? The varied manifestations of magnetism have puzzled many people. Some terms used for these magnetic manifestations are: cosmic unrest, organism-like, biological form, and some actions of magnetism are described as: feeding, reproducing, active, altering, etc. "It appear that the radical element responsible for the continuing thread of cosmic unrest is the magnetic field. [...] The magnetic field exists in the Universe as an 'organism', feeding on the general energy flow from stars and galaxies. [...] Magnetic fields (and their inevitable offspring the fast particles) are found everywhere in the universe where we have the means to look for them. [...] What is this fascinating entity that, like a biological form, is able to reproduce itself and carry on an active life in the general outflow of starlight, and from there alter the behaviour of stars and galaxies?" - Parker (1979, his chapter 1).
The most powerful magnets on Earth have a magntic field strength
near 160 000 Gauss
16 Tesla [1 Tesla =
104 Gauss] (e.g.,
Scanlan 1997),
certainly strong enough to make frogs levitate two meters of the ground
(e.g.,
Main 1997;
Woloschuk 1997).
Diamagnetic (e.g., going against the ambient magnetic field) materials
such as water, hazelnuts, plastic, wood, tulips, and many living
creatures on Earth, have been levitated already in artificial magnetic
fields in labs in the Netherlands, in Grenoble, and the USA (e.g.,
Buchanan 1997).
Can strong magnetic fields affect humans? A study with a 10 Gauss magnetic field suggested that such a field could elicit epileptic activity in sick people preparing for brain surgery (e.g., Fuller et al. 1995; Kirschvink 1997).
Are small magnetic fields affecting humans ? An electronic current betrays its presence by generating its own magnetic field. Numerous electrical appliances in a kitchen will generate at a short distance a magnetic field. Moving a magnet across electrical wires in a bike's dynamo will produce enough electricity to light up a lamp. In a 5-year, US $5 million study, various magnetic field levels and configurations in residential homes, ranging in intensity from 0.1 µ Tesla = 1 mGauss, up to 1 µ Tesla = 10 mGauss, and with various shapes (thickness of electrical wires, distance of wires), have been carefully tested with over 1200 children, and the results showed no biological effects (e.g., Taubes 1997). All putative biological side effects due to small magnetic fields < 10 mGauss have remained unproven so far (being too weak or negligible), and putative magnetic effects on our dreams are still unproven (e.g., Saint-Germain 1996).