Human Subject Effects on Torsion Pendulum Oscillations: Further Evidence of Mediation by Convection Currents

Human Subject Effects on Torsion Pendulum Oscillations: Further Evidence of Mediation by Convection Currents

BRIEF REPORT HUMAN SUBJECT EFFECTS ON TORSION PENDULUM OSCILLATIONS: FURTHER EVIDENCE OF MEDIATION BY CONVECTION CURRENTS Richard Hammerschlag, PhD1,...

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BRIEF REPORT

HUMAN SUBJECT EFFECTS ON TORSION PENDULUM OSCILLATIONS: FURTHER EVIDENCE OF MEDIATION BY CONVECTION CURRENTS Richard Hammerschlag, PhD1,2,# Ann Linda Baldwin, PhD3,4 and Gary E. Schwartz, PhD4,5

Context: When a human subject sits beneath a wire mesh, hemispheric torsion pendulum (TP) a rapid-onset series of oscillations at frequencies both higher and lower than the fundamental frequency of the TP have been consistently observed. Objective: This study was designed to replicate and extend prior findings that suggest the human subject effect on TP behavior is due to subject-generated, heat-induced convection currents. Design: Effects on pendulum behavior were tested after draping an aluminized “space blanket” over the subject and by replacing the subject with a thermal mattress pad shaped to approximate the human form.

Main Outcome Measures: Real-time recordings and Fast Fourier Transform frequency spectra of pendulum oscillatory movement. Results: The space blanket blocked, while the mattress pad mimicked, the human subject induced complex array of pendulum oscillations. Conclusions: Our findings support and strengthen previous results that suggest the effects of human subjects on behavior of a torsion pendulum are mediated by body-heat-induced air convection rather than an unknown type of biofield. Key words: Biofield, Convection, Torsion pendulum

Setting: Experiments were performed in a basic science university research laboratory.

(Explore 2016; ]:]]]-]]] & 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

INTRODUCTION The torsion pendulum (TP) is a device capable of rotational (twisting) oscillation, with independent amplitude and frequency parameters similar to those of a classical swinging pendulum. Various forms of a TP have long been used for measurement of weak forces, most notably Coulomb’s studies of the electrostatic force between charged particles and the Cavendish experiments on gravitational force between two masses.1 More recently, such twisting pendulums have been reported to detect electrical disturbances associated with geophysical events.2,3 TPs of several configurations (pyramidal,3 hemispheric 4–6) have also been constructed to test for effects of human

subjects on pendulum behavior. In control studies, with no subject present, the initiation of hemispheric pendulum rotation by a puff of air (or a gentle manual torque) results in oscillations that trace out a damped sine wave with a single frequency, as with a classical pendulum. In contrast, when a human subject sits beneath the hemisphere with head partially within the dome, a rapid-onset series of oscillations —at new frequencies both higher and lower than the natural frequency of the TP—are consistently observed.4–6 Several approaches have been designed to identify the means by which human subjects induce the anomalous TP behavior. Grounding the subject as well as the TP did not suppress results, suggesting that static electricity is not a causative factor.5 Altered air currents, produced via the subject’s breathing, movement, or emitted body heat, have also been examined as potential mediators of human/pendulum interactions. Subjects instructed to minimize breathing and movement affected the TP in a manner similar to the initial findings.5 Further, when a covered electric cooking pot was placed under the TP in a position comparable to that of a human subject’s head and warmed to body temperature,4,5 effects on pendulum behavior were described as “negligible.”4 In a further test of the subjectgenerated convection currents hypothesis, placement of a thick plastic shield between subject and pendulum essentially eliminated the novel oscillations.6

1 The Institute for Integrative Health, Baltimore, MD 2 Consciousness and Healing Initiative, San Diego, CA 3 Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 4 Laboratory for the Advances in Consciousness & Health, Department of Psychology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 5 Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ # Corresponding author at: The Institute for Integrative Health, Baltimore, MD. e-mail: [email protected]

& 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 1550-8307/$36.00

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A No Person Control

Time (sec)

C Person Under Pendulum

B No Person Control FFT

Frequency (Hz)

D Person Under Pendulum FFT

Figure 1. Torsion pendulum behavior in the absence (A and B) and presence (C and D) of a human subject. Time and frequency domains are shown in (A) & (C) and (B) & (D), respectively. Amplitudes are in arbitrary units in both cases. In light of initial speculations that the observed effects of human subjects on the TP may represent a new fundamental “force” in physics,5 attempts to rule out explanations based on classical physics are of fundamental importance. Accordingly, our experiments extend previous studies described above: we not only wrap an aluminized “space blanket” around the subject’s head and body to shield the pendulum from the subject’s body heat, we also replace the human subject with an electric mattress pad shaped to approximate the form of the subject beneath the pendulum. In this way, we have examined further the question of whether the human-subjectinduced perturbations of pendulum oscillation are a consequence of radiating body heat or a human bioenergy field.

METHODS The basic apparatus and experimental design, including the plastic mesh hemispheric dome suspended by a monofilament nylon line, the dome’s tracking spot, video camera, and

A Person without Space Blankets

Time (sec)

data collection software, followed closely on the original setup of Hansen and Lieberman,4,5 as replicated by van den Berg and van der Sluys6 (Figure 3A). Our two significant variations were placement of the computer and researcher in a room separate from the site of the pendulum and subject, and placement of the seated subject approximately 18″ below the lip of the hemisphere. The separate rooms prevented possible biofeedback for the subject, and possible heat and/or electromagnetic effects from either the researcher (computer operator) or the computer itself. The vertical spacing between the subject’s head and the hemisphere was introduced to facilitate subjects’ entry and exit from beneath the pendulum. Preliminary runs with the 18″ gap showed little difference in effects on pendulum behavior from those when subject’s head was partially within the dome. Data were collected for 15 min in every experimental session. Aluminized polyester “space blankets” (1.3 m  2.1 m, Coghlan’s Emergency Blanket) were obtained from Coghlan’s Ltd, Winnepeg, Canada. Polyester heated mattress pad (UBF-T

B Person with Space Blankets

Time sec)

Figure 2. Torsion pendulum behavior in time domain before (A) and after (B) draping human subject with two space blankets.

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Human Subject Effects

Twin size, 85 W) was obtained from Biddeford Blankets Corp, Mundelein, IL. Fast Fourier transforms (FFT) were performed via SIGVIEW software (SIGVIEW.com). The level of complexity as measured by multiscale entropy7 was compared in a blinded fashion between four human subject runs and four thermal mattress pad runs using Matlab Software (Mathworks, Natick, MA). Study approval was received from The University of Arizona Human Subjects Protection Committee.

RESULTS The effects of a human subject on torsion pendulum behavior are presented in Figure 1. Time domain (real-time oscillations) and frequency domain (Fast Fourier transform) patterns are shown for no subject present (Figure 1A and B) and subject present (Figure 1C and D). As previously reported,4–6 the presence of a human subject introduces numerous new oscillation frequencies. Effects of draping a seated subject’s head, trunk, and legs with aluminized space blankets on human-induced pendulum behavior are presented in Figure 2. With a person draped under two blankets, the anomalous new frequencies were no longer present (Figure 2B). The damping effect was reproduced with a second subject. Substitution of the human subject by a heated mattress pad shaped to mimic the seated human form produced an array of new pendulum oscillation frequencies (Figure 3). With the mattress pad positioned under the pendulum (Figure 3A), but not turned on, only the fundamental frequency of the pendulum was observed (Figure 3B). At 30 min after turning on the pad, an array of new oscillation frequencies appeared (Figure 3C), similar to those seen with a human subject (Figure 1D). At 55 min after turning the pad off, the frequency spectrum was again dominated by the fundamental frequency of the pendulum (Figure 3D). At 30 min after turning the pad back on, a range of new oscillation frequencies again appeared (data not shown), similar to those seen in Figure 3C. Effects of the thermal mattress pad were reproducible in six runs. Multiscale entropy analysis7 revealed no difference in the complexity of time domain TP oscillation patterns between human subject runs (n ¼ 4) and thermal mattress pad runs (n ¼ 4) (data not shown).

DISCUSSION The present findings represent a second independent replication of the effects of a human subject on the oscillatory behavior of a torsion pendulum.5,6 The presence of a subject seated beneath the hemispheric pendulum, whether the person’s head is partially within the dome or at a short distance below the dome, leads to a marked increase in pendulum oscillations at frequencies both higher and lower than the natural frequency of the pendulum. Replication was achieved under conditions in which the computer used for data collection was in a room separate from that of the pendulum and subject.

Human Subject Effects

A. Mattress Pad Under Torsion Pendulum

B. Mattress Pad Off

C. Mattress Pad On Post 30 minutes

D. Mattress Off Post 55 minutes

Figure 3. Torsion pendulum behavior shown in the frequency domain in response to a thermal mattress pad shaped to resemble a human subject. (A) Position of mattress pad and experimental apparatus. (B) Frequency spectrum with pad in place but not turned on. (C) Frequency spectrum 30 min after turning on the pad. (D) Frequency spectrum 55 min after turning off the pad.

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Our findings support and extend recent observations suggesting that the human subject effects on torsion pendulum behavior result from body-heat-induced air convection6 rather than an unknown type of biofield.5 The absence of anomalous pendulum oscillations when the test subject is draped with two aluminized “space blankets” is consistent with results from a subject wearing a specially constructed plastic helmet.6 The explanation that heat radiating from the subject may underlie the novel pendulum behavior is reinforced by our studies in which the subject was replaced by an inanimate heat source (mattress pad) with thermal emission (85 W) similar to that of a human.8 With the mattress pad shaped to resemble the seated human form, time domain patterns and frequency spectra were obtained that were visually undetectable from the patterns produced by a human subject. Multiscale entropy analysis confirmed the inherent similarity in the level of complexity between the thermal mattress pad and a human subject in relation to their effects on TP oscillatory behavior. Our findings, similar to the results of others,6 should not be interpreted as ruling out the existence of a human biofield9; only that such a phenomenon may not underlie the human-subject-related effects on torsion pendulum behavior. Other evidence, from both pre-clinical (cell culture10 and animal11,12) and clinical13,14 studies of biofield therapies, for example, Healing Touch, Qigong, Reiki, and Therapeutic Touch, suggests that information can pass from one living being to another without physical contact. The mechanism(s) underlying such effects of biofield therapies, however, remains little understood.15

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a grant to Richard Hammerschlag from The Institute for Integrative Health (TIIH), Baltimore, MD (award date 12/18/13). TIIH had no part in study design, performance, or write-up. We thank J. Norman Hansen, Ph.D., for his help and encouragement in setting up the torsion pendulum, including supplying a parts list. We also appreciate the interest of Andrew Ahn, M.D., in this project, especially for conducting the multiscale entropy analysis of our data. We thank David Muesham, Ph.D., for helpful suggestions on an earlier draft of this article.

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Human Subject Effects