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1. Electricity

2. History

4. Electricity in nature

1. Electricity

Electricity is a set of phenomena caused by the existence, interaction and movement of electrical charges. The term was introduced by the English naturalist William Gilbert in his essay “On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies and the Great Magnet - the Earth” (1600), which explains the operation of a magnetic compass and describes some experiments with electrified bodies. He found that other substances also have the property of being electrified.

2. History

Electricity was one of the first to attract the attention of the Greek philosopher Thales in the 7th century BC. e., who discovered that amber (ancient Greek? lekfspn: electron) rubbed with wool acquires the properties of attracting light objects. However, for a long time, knowledge about electricity did not go beyond this idea. In 1600, the term electricity itself (“amber”) appeared, and in 1663, Magdeburg burgomaster Otto von Guericke created an electrostatic machine in the form of a sulfur ball mounted on a metal rod, which made it possible to observe not only the effect of attraction, but also the effect of repulsion. In 1729, the Englishman Stephen Gray conducted experiments on transmitting electricity over distance, discovering that not all materials transmit electricity equally. In 1733, the Frenchman Charles Dufay established the existence of two types of electricity, glass and resin, which were revealed by rubbing glass on silk and resin on wool. In 1745, the Dutchman Pieter van Musschenbroek created the first electric capacitor - the Leyden jar.

The first theory of electricity was created by the American B. Franklin, who views electricity as an “immaterial liquid,” a fluid (“Experiments and Observations on Electricity,” 1747). He also introduces the concept of positive and negative charge, invents a lightning rod and, with its help, proves the electrical nature of lightning. The study of electricity became an exact science after the discovery of Coulomb's Law in 1785.

Further, in 1791, the Italian Galvani published “A Treatise on the Forces of Electricity in Muscular Movement,” in which he describes the presence of electric current in the muscles of animals. Another Italian, Volta, in 1800, invented the first source of direct current - a galvanic cell, which was a column of zinc and silver circles separated by paper soaked in salted water. In 1802, Vasily Petrov discovered a voltaic arc.

Michael Faraday - founder of the doctrine of the electromagnetic field

In 1820, the Danish physicist Oersted experimentally discovered electromagnetic interaction. Closing and opening a circuit with current, he saw vibrations of a compass needle located near the conductor. The French physicist Ampere in 1821 established that the connection between electricity and magnetism is observed only in the case of electric current and is absent in the case of static electricity. The works of Joule, Lenz, and Ohm expand the understanding of electricity. Gauss formulates the fundamental theorem of the theory of electrostatic fields (1830).

Based on the research of Oersted and Ampere, Faraday discovered the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction in 1831 and created on its basis the world's first electricity generator, pushing a magnetized core into a coil and recording the occurrence of current in the turns of the coil. Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction (1831) and the laws of electrolysis (1834), introduces the concept of electric and magnetic fields. An analysis of the phenomenon of electrolysis led Faraday to the idea that the carrier of electrical forces is not any electrical liquid, but atoms - particles of matter. “The atoms of matter are somehow endowed with electrical forces,” he claims. Faraday's studies of electrolysis played a fundamental role in the development of electronic theory. Faraday also created the world's first electric motor - a wire with current rotating around a magnet. The culmination of electromagnetism research was the development of the theory of electromagnetic phenomena by the English physicist D. C. Maxwell. He derived equations linking together the electric and magnetic characteristics of the field in 1873.

In 1880, Pierre Curie discovered piezoelectricity. In the same year, D. A. Lachinov showed the conditions for transmitting electricity over long distances. Hertz experimentally records electromagnetic waves (1888).

In 1897, Joseph Thomson discovered the material carrier of electricity - the electron, whose place in the structure of the atom was later indicated by Ernest Rutherford.

In the 20th century, the theory of Quantum Electrodynamics was created. In 1967, another step was taken towards the study of electricity. S. Weinberg, A. Salam and S. Glashow created a unified theory of electroweak interactions.

Electric charge is a property of bodies (quantitatively characterized by the physical quantity of the same name), manifested, first of all, in the ability to create an electric field around itself and through it influence other charged (that is, having an electric charge) bodies. Electric charges are divided into positive and negative (the choice of which charge to call positive and which negative is considered purely arbitrary in science, but this choice has already been made historically and now - albeit conditionally - a very specific sign is assigned to each charge) . Bodies charged with a charge of the same sign repel, and those with opposite charges attract. When charged bodies move (both macroscopic bodies and microscopic charged particles carrying electric current in conductors), a magnetic field arises and, thus, phenomena occur that make it possible to establish the relationship between electricity and magnetism (electromagnetism) (Oersted, Faraday, Maxwell). In the structure of matter, electric charge as a property of bodies goes back to charged elementary particles, for example, an electron has a negative charge, and a proton and positron have a positive charge.

The most general fundamental science that deals with electric charges, their interaction and the fields generated by them and acting on them (that is, almost completely covering the topic of electricity, with the exception of such details as the electrical properties of specific substances, such as electrical conductivity (etc.) -- this is electrodynamics. The quantum properties of electromagnetic fields, charged particles (etc.) are studied most deeply by quantum electrodynamics, although some of them can be explained by simpler quantum theories.

4. Electricity in nature

A striking manifestation of electricity in nature is lightning, the electrical nature of which was established in the 18th century. Lightning has long caused forest fires. According to one version, it was lightning that led to the initial synthesis of amino acids and the emergence of life on earth (Miller-Urey Experiment and Oparin-Haldane Theory).

For processes in the nervous system of humans and animals, the dependence of the cell membrane throughput for sodium ions on the potential of the intracellular environment is crucial. After an increase in the voltage on the cell membrane, the sodium channel opens for a time of the order of 0.1 - 1.0 ms, which leads to an abrupt increase in voltage, then the potential difference on the membrane returns to its original value. The described process is briefly called a nerve impulse. In the nervous system of animals and humans, information from one cell to another is transmitted by nerve impulses of excitation lasting about 1 ms. The nerve fiber is a cylinder filled with electrolyte. The excitation signal is transmitted without a decrease in amplitude due to the effect of a short-term increase in the permeability of the membrane to sodium ions.

Many fish use electricity to protect themselves and search for prey underwater. The voltage discharges of the South American electric eel can reach a voltage of 500 volts. The power of electric ramp discharges can reach 0.5 kW. Sharks, lampreys, and some catfish use electricity to search for prey. The electrical organ of fish operates at a frequency of several hundred hertz and creates a voltage of several volts. The electric field is sensed by electroreceptors. Objects in water distort the electric field. Using these distortions, fish can easily navigate in muddy water.

5. The image of electricity in culture

In mythology, there are gods capable of throwing lightning bolts: the Greeks have Zeus, Jupiter, Volgenche from the Mari pantheon, Agni is the god of the Hindus, one of whose forms is lightning, Perun is the thunder god in the ancient Russian pantheon, Thor is the god of thunder and storms in German-Scandinavian mythology.

One of the first to try to comprehend the image of electricity was Mary Shelley in the drama “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus,” where it appears as a force with which one can revive corpses. In the Disney cartoon Black Cloak, there is the anti-hero Megavolt, who commands electricity, and in Japanese animation and games there are electric Pokemon (the most famous of which is Pikachu).

6. Production and practical use

faraday electricity nature charge

Generation and transmission

The early experiments of antiquity, such as Thales's experiments with amber sticks, were in fact the first attempts to study issues related to the production of electrical energy. This method is now known as the triboelectric effect, and although it can attract light objects and create sparks, it is essentially extremely ineffective. A functional source of electricity appeared only in the 18th century, when the first device for producing it was invented - a voltaic pole. It and its modern version, the electric battery, are chemical sources of electric current: their operation is based on the interaction of substances in the electrolyte. The battery provides electricity when needed and is a versatile and widely used power source that is well suited for use in a variety of environments and situations, but its energy supply is finite and once depleted, the battery needs to be replaced or recharged. To meet more significant needs in a larger volume, electrical energy must be continuously generated and transmitted through power lines.

Typically, electromechanical generators are used to generate it, driven either by the combustion of fossil fuels, or by using energy from nuclear reactions, or by the force of air or water currents. The modern steam turbine, invented by Charles Parsons in 1884, currently generates approximately 80% of the world's electricity using some form of heating source. These devices no longer resemble Faraday's unipolar disk generator, created by him in 1831, but they are still based on the principle of electromagnetic induction discovered by him - the occurrence of electric current in a closed circuit when the magnetic flux passing through it changes. Towards the end of the 19th century, the transformer was invented, allowing electricity to be transmitted more efficiently at higher voltages and lower currents. In turn, the efficiency of energy transmission made it possible to generate electricity at centralized power plants to the benefit of the latter and then redirect it over fairly long distances to end consumers.

Generating electricity from kinetic wind energy is gaining popularity in many countries around the world.

Since it is difficult to store electricity in quantities that would be sufficient on a national scale, it is necessary to maintain a balance: generate exactly as much electricity as is consumed by users. To do this, power companies need to carefully forecast load and constantly coordinate the production process with their power plants. At the same time, a certain amount of capacity is kept in reserve so that in the event of certain problems or energy losses, the power grid is protected.

As modernization proceeds and the economy of a particular state develops, the demand for electricity increases rapidly. In particular, for the United States this figure was 12% growth per year during the first third of the 20th century, and similar progress is currently being observed in such rapidly developing economies as China and India. Historically, the growth in demand for electricity has outpaced similar indicators for other types of energy resources. It should also be noted that concerns about the environmental impact of electricity generation have led to a focus on generating electricity through renewable sources - particularly wind and hydropower.

Application

Electric lamp

The use of electricity provides a fairly convenient means of transmitting energy, and as such it has been adapted for a significant and still growing range of practical applications. One of the first commonly available uses of electricity was lighting; the conditions for this were created after the invention of the incandescent lamp in the 1870s. Although electrification had its risks, replacing open fires with electric lighting has greatly reduced the number of fires in homes and workplaces.

In general, since the 19th century, electricity has become an integral part of the life of modern civilization. Electricity is used not only for lighting, but also for transmitting information (telegraph, telephone, radio, television), as well as for setting mechanisms in motion (electric motor), which is actively used in transport (tram, metro, trolleybus, electric train) and in household appliances (iron, food processor, washing machine, dishwasher).

In order to generate electricity, power plants equipped with electric generators have been created, and batteries and electric batteries have been created to store it.

Today, electricity is also used to produce materials (electrolysis), process them (welding, drilling, cutting), kill criminals (electric chair) and create music (electric guitar).

The Joule-Lenz law on the thermal effect of electric current determines the possibilities for electric heating of premises. Although this method is quite versatile and provides a certain degree of controllability, it can be considered as unnecessarily resource-intensive - due to the fact that generating the electricity used in it already required the production of heat at the power plant. Some countries, such as Denmark, have even passed legislation limiting or completely banning the use of electric heating in new homes. At the same time, electricity is a practical source of energy for cooling, and one of the rapidly growing areas of demand for electricity is air conditioning.

Bibliography

1. Borgman I.I. - “Electricity”

2. Matveev A. N. - “Electricity and magnetism”

3. Paul R.V. - “The Doctrine of Electricity”

4. Tamm I. E. - “Fundamentals of the theory of electricity”

5. Franklin V. - “Experiments and observations on electricity”

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History of the discovery of electrical phenomena

Thales of Miletus was the first to draw attention to electric charge 600 years BC. He discovered that amber, rubbed with wool, will acquire the properties of attracting light objects: fluff, pieces of paper. Later it was believed that only amber had this property. In the middle of the 17th century, Otto von Garicke developed an electric friction machine. In addition, he discovered the property of electrical repulsion of unipolarly charged objects, and in 1729 the English scientist Stephen Gray discovered the division of bodies into conductors of electric current and insulators. Soon his colleague Robert Simmer, observing the electrification of his silk stockings, came to the conclusion that electrical phenomena are caused by the separation of bodies into positive and negative charges. When bodies rub against each other, they cause electrification of these bodies, that is, electrification is the accumulation of a charge of the same type on a body, and charges of the same sign repel, and charges of different signs attract each other and are compensated when connected, making the body neutral (uncharged). In 1729, Charles Dufay discovered that there are two types of charges. Experiments conducted by Du Fay said that one of the charges is formed by rubbing glass on silk, and the other by rubbing resin on wool. The concept of positive and negative charge was introduced by the German naturalist Georg Christoph. The first quantitative researcher was the law of interaction of charges, experimentally established in 1785 by Charles Coulomb using the sensitive torsion balance he developed.

Slide 3

Why do electrified people's hair rise up?

The hair is electrified with the same charge. As you know, like charges repel each other, so hair, like the leaves of a paper plume, diverges in all directions. If any conducting body, including a human body, is isolated from the ground, then it can be charged to a high potential. Thus, with the help of an electrostatic machine, the human body can be charged to a potential of tens of thousands of volts.

Slide 4

Does an electric charge placed on the human body in this case have an effect on the nervous system?

The human body is a conductor of electricity. If it is isolated from the ground and charged, then the charge is located exclusively on the surface of the body, so charging to a relatively high potential does not affect the nervous system, since the nerve fibers are located under the skin. The influence of an electric charge on the nervous system is felt at the moment of discharge, during which a redistribution of charges occurs on the body. This redistribution is a short-term electric current passing not along the surface, but inside the body.

Slide 5

Why do birds land on high-voltage transmission wires with impunity?

The body of a bird sitting on a wire is a branch of a circuit connected parallel to the section of the conductor between the bird’s legs. When two sections of a circuit are connected in parallel, the magnitude of the currents in them is inversely proportional to the resistance. The resistance of a bird's body is huge compared to the resistance of a short length of conductor, so the amount of current in the bird's body is negligible and harmless. It should also be added that the potential difference in the area between the bird’s legs is small.

Slide 6

Fish and electricity.

Pisces use discharges: to illuminate their path; to protect, attack and stun the victim; - transmit signals to each other and detect obstacles in advance

Slide 7

The most famous electric fish are the electric eel, electric stingray and electric catfish. These fish have special organs for storing electrical energy. Small tensions arising in ordinary muscle fibers are summed up here due to the sequential inclusion of many individual elements, which are connected by nerves, like conductors, into long batteries.

Slide 8

Stingrays.

“This fish freezes the animals it wants to catch, overpowering them with the force of the blow that lives in its body.” Aristotle

Slide 9

Som.

Electrical organs are located almost along the entire length of the fish’s body and produce discharges with voltages of up to 360 V.

Slide 10

ELECTRIC EEL

The most powerful electrical organs are found in eels that live in the rivers of tropical America. Their discharges reach a voltage of 650 V.

Slide 11

Thunder is one of the most dangerous phenomena.

Thunder and lightning are one of the menacing but majestic phenomena with which man has been prepared since ancient times. A raging element. It fell upon him in the form of blinding giant lightning, menacing thunderclaps, downpour and hail. In fear of the thunderstorm, people deified it, considering it an instrument of the gods.

Slide 12

Lightning

Most often we observe lightning that resembles a winding river with tributaries. Such lightning is called linear; when discharged between clouds, their length reaches more than 20 km. Lightning of other types can be seen much less frequently. An electrical discharge in the atmosphere in the form of linear lightning is an electric current. Moreover, the current strength changes in 0.2 - 0.3 seconds. Approximately 65% of all lightning. Which we observe have a current value of 10,000 A, but rarely reach 230,000 A. The lightning channel through which the current flows becomes very hot and shines brightly. The temperature of the channel reaches tens of thousands of degrees, the pressure rises, the air expands, and it’s like an explosion of hot gases. We perceive this as thunder. A lightning strike to a ground object can cause a fire.

Slide 13

When lightning strikes, for example, a tree. It heats up, the moisture evaporates from it, and the pressure of the resulting steam and heated gases lead to destruction. To protect buildings from lightning discharges, lightning rods are used, which are a metal rod that rises above the protected object.

Slide 14

Lightning.

In deciduous trees, the current passes inside the trunk through the core, where there is a lot of sap, which boils under the influence of the current and the vapors tear the tree apart.

View all slides

We use it daily. It is part of our daily life, and very often the nature of this phenomenon is unknown to us. We are talking about electricity.

Few people know that this term appeared almost 500 years ago. The English physicist William Gilbert studied electrical phenomena and noticed that many objects, like amber, attract smaller particles after rubbing. Therefore, in honor of the fossil resin, he named this phenomenon electricity (from the Latin Electricus - amber). By the way, long before Gilbert, the ancient Greek philosopher Thales noticed the same properties of amber and described them. But the right to be called a discoverer still went to William Gilbert, because there is a tradition in science - whoever began to study first is the author.

The people who tamed electricity

However, things did not go further than descriptions and primitive research. Only in the 17th–18th centuries did the issue of electricity receive significant coverage in the scientific literature. Among those who, after W. Gilbert, studied this phenomenon, one can name Benjamin Franklin, who is known not only for his political career, but also for his research into atmospheric electricity.

The unit of measurement of electric charge and the law of interaction of electric charges are named after the French physicist Charles Coulomb. No less significant contributions were made by Luigi Galvani, Alessandro Volt, Michael Faraday and Andre Ampere. All these names have been known since school. Our compatriot Vasily Petrov, who discovered the voltaic arc at the beginning of the 19th century, also conducted his research in the field of electricity.

"Volta Arc"

We can say that, starting from this time, electricity ceases to be the machinations of natural forces and gradually begins to enter the lives of people, although to this day mysteries remain in this phenomenon.

We can definitely say: if electrical phenomena did not exist in nature, then it is possible that nothing like this would have been discovered until now. In ancient times, they frightened the fragile mind of man, but over time he tried to tame electricity. The results of these actions are such that it is no longer possible to imagine life without him.

Humanity was able to “tame” electricity

How does electricity manifest itself in nature?

Naturally, when the conversation turns to natural electricity, lightning immediately comes to mind. The above-mentioned American politician was the first to study them. By the way, there is a version in science that lightning had a significant impact on the development of life on Earth, since biologists have established the fact that the synthesis of amino acids requires electricity.

Lightning is a powerful discharge of electricity

Everyone knows the feeling when, when you touch someone or something, an electrical discharge occurs, causing slight inconvenience. This is a manifestation of the presence of electrical currents in the human body. By the way, the nervous system functions due to electrical impulses that come from the irritated area to the brain.

Signals are transmitted electrically within brain neurons

But not only humans generate electric currents within themselves. Many inhabitants of the seas and oceans are capable of generating electricity. For example, an electric eel is capable of creating a voltage of up to 500 volts, and the charging power of a stingray reaches 0.5 kilowatts. In addition, certain types of fish use an electric field that they create around themselves, with the help of which they can easily navigate in muddy water and at depths where sunlight does not penetrate.

Amazon River electric eel

Electricity at the service of man

All this became the prerequisites for the use of electricity for domestic and industrial purposes. Already in the 19th century, it began to be used regularly, primarily for indoor lighting. Thanks to him, it became possible to create equipment for transmitting information over vast distances using radio, television and telegraph.

Electricity for transmitting information

Now it is difficult to imagine life without electric current, because all the usual devices work exclusively on it. Apparently, this was the impetus for the creation of electrical energy storage devices (batteries) and electric generators for those places where high-voltage poles have not yet reached.

In addition, electricity is the engine of science. Many instruments that scientists use to study the world around them are also powered by it. Gradually, electricity is conquering space. Powerful batteries are installed on spaceships, and solar panels are being built on the planet and wind turbines are installed, which receive energy from nature.

Electricity engine science

And yet this phenomenon is still shrouded in mystery and darkness for many people. Even despite school education, some admit that they do not fully understand the principles of how electricity works. There are also those who are confused about the terms. They are not always able to explain the difference between voltage, power and resistance.

It is unlikely that Luigi Galvani, who discovered “animal” electricity at the end of the 18th century, and Niels Bohr, who proposed the planetary model of the atom at the beginning of the 20th century, assumed that their discoveries would not only lay the foundation for the widespread, growing use of electricity, but also serve as the basis for scientific research on unraveling nature's greatest mystery - where does life begin? Where is the line between living and inanimate nature?

Electricity entered human life and changed the conditions of his work and life. There are many examples of the use of electricity in industry, transport, communications, everyday life, medicine and art. Electricity made it possible to create new production technology and materials that do not exist in nature. The electric vehicle, replacing the automobile, is the future of individual transport. There are many examples in life when electricity saved a person’s life.

A huge achievement in the field of prosthetics. Work on creating an artificial heart is promising. A person with a heart transplanted from someone who died in a disaster lives for years if his heart and the heart of his donor have compatible biopotentials.

In the process of life, every living organism - a person, animal or other creature - creates various fields and radiation around itself. Their complex picture reflects the work of physiological systems that ensure homeostasis of the body, that is, the constancy of the internal environment. The study of biofields and bioradiations opens up new diagnostic possibilities, so scientists all over the world are engaged in such research, among whom domestic scientists and engineers play a leading role. The methods of visualizing physical fields and radiation described below allow us to significantly expand the capabilities of our senses, look into the very depths of the body and brain, and observe physiological life in its changes. For medical diagnostics, these methods are of particular value because they are completely sterile and non-invasive. In addition, this is the basis for early diagnosis, since functional disorders usually appear long before the onset of irreversible pathology, when the patient can still be easily cured.

Life on Earth arose and developed in interaction with electromagnetic fields. Electricity is inherent in all living things, including its most complex form - human life.

Scientists have done a lot in studying this amazing interaction between electricity and living things, but nature still hides a lot from us.

The purpose of the article: to theoretically and experimentally study the occurrence of static electricity in living nature.

Research objectives:

Determine the factors and conditions that contribute to the occurrence of static electricity.

Establish the nature of the effects of static electricity on living organisms.

Formulate directions for the beneficial use of the results obtained.

Historical reference

Where did this word come to us - electricity? The history of the science of discovering electrical phenomena can begin with the research of Gilbert, the physician of Queen Elizabeth of England, who in 1600 published his first scientific treatise “On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies and the Great Magnet – the Earth.” " It described more than 600 experiments on the study of magnetic and electrical phenomena and made the first attempt to create a theory of electricity and magnetism.

Until 1600, the doctrine of electrical phenomena remained practically at the level of knowledge of Thales of Miletus, who, back in the 6th century BC, was one of the first to describe the ability of rubbed amber to attract light objects.

The word amber comes from the Latvian gintaras. The Greeks, who collected transparent, golden-yellow amber on the shores of the Baltic Sea, called it (electro). The ancient Romans and Arabs had many names for amber: resin of centuries, tears of the daughters of the Sun, sun stone. Since ancient times, there have been many legends and stories about amber. Here is one of them.

Phaeton, the son of the sun god Helios and the oceanid Clymene, persuaded his father to let him ride across the sky in a golden chariot instead of him. The father gave in to his son's persistent requests. Phaeton got into the chariot and rushed across the sky. But the winged fiery horses immediately sensed the young man’s weak hand. They carried the chariot, flew close to the Earth, scorching it with fire. A terrible fire began on Earth. The angry Zeus the Thunderer threw fiery lightning at the unfortunate Phaeton and killed him. The body fell into the water of the Eridanus River. Phaethon's sisters, the beautiful Heliades, turned into coastal poplars, inconsolably mourned their dead brother. The slender trees near the tomb bowed in grief, and the girls’ bitter tears froze in amber clusters in the icy water.

What attracted the attention of the ancients to these warm stones of amazing beauty, sometimes containing strange small insects inside? They had one unusual property - they could attract dust particles, scraps of thread, and pieces of papyrus. This property of amber, obviously, determined its name in ancient times in the languages of different peoples: the Greeks called it electron - attracting to itself, the Romans - harpax, which meant a robber, the Persians - kavuba, i.e. a stone capable of attracting chaff.

It was believed that the amazing properties of amber were discovered by the daughter of Thales of Miletus. But it was most likely known before. Thus, Humboldt, who visited the Indians of the Orinoco River basin at the end of the last century, became convinced that these tribes, untouched by civilization, also knew the electrical properties of amber. Most likely, the story of the amber spindle of the daughter of the Milesian philosopher is just a beautiful ancient fairy tale.

Amber in those distant times was considered a valid medicinal and cosmetic product. It was believed that amber necklaces and rosaries protected against misfortunes, diseases and the “evil eye”. This is probably why in the paintings of the old Flemings, Madonnas with babies in their arms were often depicted with amber necklaces.

In 1551, Cardan’s treatise “On Precision” was published, in which he points out that amber attracts various substances to itself, and a magnet attracts only iron. Half a century later, Gilbert, in his treatise “On the Magnet,” used the word electric for the first time: “Electric bodies are those that attract in the same way as amber.” Gilbert includes sulfur, glass, jet (a type of coal), iris, sapphire, carborundum, Bristol diamond, amethyst, rock crystal, slate, sealing wax, rock salt, etc. among them. It turned out that there are quite a lot of such substances. Gilbert called them electrical substances and noticed that the flame destroys the electrical properties of bodies acquired through friction.

Man and electricity

Since ancient times, man has tried to understand phenomena in nature. Many ingenious hypotheses explaining what is happening around people appeared at different times and in different countries. The thoughts of Greek and Roman scientists and philosophers who lived before our era: Archimedes, Euclid, Lucretius, Aristotle, Democritus and others - still help the development of scientific research.

Interesting in studying the topic “Electricity and Man” is the first information about electricity and magnetism. They come from the ancient trading city of Miletus on the Mediterranean Sea, their author is the Milesian philosopher Thales (late 7th - early 6th centuries BC). Thales' students accumulated bit by bit information about electrification, which was, to one degree or another, associated with a living organism, with a person. Thus, in ancient times, the electrical properties of some types of fish were known and they were even used as a remedy. 30 years BC, Diascord treated gout and headaches with electric shocks. In the Russian chronicles of the 14th century there is a description from which it is clear that this amazing healing remedy was also known to the Russians. Electricity and man is a question that is of interest to people of our time. When studying electricity, many experiments are carried out with human participation. For example, when conducting experiments with electrification of a person, he is placed on an isolated bench. This is done to ensure that all charges remain in the body and do not flow into the ground. Electrical experiments that are carried out with human participation do not always have a good effect on him. Thus, with the help of an electrostatic machine, the human body can be charged to a potential of tens of thousands of volts. The human body is a conductor of electricity. If it is isolated from the ground and charged, then the charge is located exclusively on the surface of the body, so charging to a relatively high potential does not affect the nervous system, since the nerve fibers are located under the skin. The influence of an electric charge on the nervous system is felt at the moment of discharge, during which a redistribution of charges occurs on the body. This redistribution is a short-term electric current passing not along the surface, but inside the body.

Severe electric shock is possible at voltages starting at approximately 30 V.

The human body is a conductor of electrical charges; upon contact, charges are redistributed, and charges of different signs are attracted (electrostatic induction). This happens if you bring your hand to a charged cartridge case suspended on a silk thread, in which case the cartridge case will be attracted to the hand.

The current leads to changes in the body of the organism. The current, passing through the human body, affects the central and peripheral nervous system, causing disruption of the heart and breathing.

A thunderstorm is also a kind of electricity. According to some reports, it is believed that you should not stand in a crowd during a thunderstorm because the vapors released when people breathe increase the electrical conductivity of the air.

The organs of the human body create a magnetic field around themselves. It has been established that a magnetic field is formed along the excited nerve approximately five ten-thousandths of a second before the transfer of excitation. Apparently, at the moment of irritation, the molecules carrying a charge somehow change their position in space, allowing a wave of excitation to pass along the nerve. It is this movement of molecules that is likely the cause of the magnetic field.

The first electrification of the human body was carried out in 1740 by Abbot Nolet. The experiment consists of lifting the demonstrator onto a metal stand 80 cm thick and connected to an electrostatic generator that generates a voltage of 30 kV negative relative to the ground.

The demonstrator's electrical contact with the platform must be perfect and for this he must remove his shoes. In fact, a sole 1 cm thick is not an obstacle to charges (they can penetrate a sixty-meter layer of air!), but at the same time, their accumulation would be carried out in a very unpleasant way: with the help of many small sparks jumping from the sole to the foot.

An approximate calculation shows that with a potential difference of 300 kV relative to the Earth, the excess number of electrons accumulated on the demonstrator - about 10 trillion - is ridiculously small. This figure may seem huge, but in fact, if you compare it with the number of electrons naturally present in all atoms and molecules of our bodies (about 1027), then its insignificance becomes obvious. We emphasize that a significant accumulation of charges is again prevented by the colossal force of their mutual repulsion, so the experiment, while providing amazing effects to the viewer’s gaze, remains completely safe

First of all, it makes your hair stand on end. They show the distribution of the electric field near the head, that is, the direction of the lines of force: perpendicular to the conducting surface, as expected.

Secondly, when an electrified subject extends his index finger to the flame, he brings a metal rod to another - grounded - rod, which is held by his assistant, then a spark jumps between the rods (the demonstrator's rod is negatively charged, the grounded rod is positively charged).

Thirdly, a crown lights up around the head and fingers in the dark. What is curious: the positive corona turns out to be much more extensive than the negative one. This is due to the different mobility of positive and negative ions in the air. The latter are mostly electrons, and clusters of molecules stuck to an electron are relatively bulky and rather inactive.

Electricity and hearing

Electricity affects not only the person as a whole, but also his organs.

The doctor of the St. Petersburg Maximilian Hospital R. Brenner studied in detail which organs of hearing are affected by electric current. In a major work published in the 60s of the 19th century, he summarized the results of his own research and the data of other authors. The goal of his work is to develop therapy for hearing diseases based on more general physiological principles. The results of studies of the occurrence and nature of auditory sensations showed that in patients (those suffering from deafness) and healthy people they are different when exposed to direct current of different values. Brenner especially noted the dependence of sensation on the opening and closing of the electrical circuit, the location of the electrodes, and the size of their surface. Various electrodes were used, the polarity and their placement changed. The main one was an active electrode placed in the external auditory canal, filled with a one percent solution of table salt. The second electrode was a thin metal plate with a much larger surface area, located in the experiments of Brenner and subsequent researchers on the neck or forearm. Even then, it was possible to establish the occurrence of auditory sensations in normally hearing people in conditions where the active electrode located in the ear is the cathode. Due to its small surface, the current density of the cathode is much greater than that of the anode. With this arrangement of the electrodes, a clear auditory sensation occurs when closing

There is no direct current electrical circuit; when the circuit is opened, there is no direct current. The opposite phenomenon occurs when the area of the electrodes and their location change, when the anode is the electrode located in the ear canal, and the cathode is the electrode with a larger surface. The sensation of sound occurs when the circuit opens. Auditory sensations are assessed differently by different people - as ringing, knocking, sonic boom, hissing. Most often they are assessed as ringing.

Of great importance in understanding the mechanism of auditory sensations were the results of a study in which currents of various frequencies were used, which made it possible to establish the appearance of a musical sensation, which was observed when a current with a frequency of 1000 Hz was applied and in transient modes during the discharge of a large capacitor. The frequency of the current at which auditory sensations appear was determined in comparison with the sensation of the sound of a tuning fork tuned to a certain frequency. Generalization of the results obtained has significantly expanded the understanding of the mechanism of auditory perception. Hearing researchers have established that only thin fibers of the auditory nerve are structures whose irritation by currents of various frequencies causes auditory sensations in the form of a sound of musical tonality, sound volume, in a word, only they are characterized by a differentiated perception of an electrical stimulus, which is completely absent in people suffering from hearing loss.

The fight against poor hearing is a social problem. Between the ages of 60 and 70, approximately a quarter of the population suffers from some degree of hearing loss. Hearing impairment occurs when there is damage (disease) to the sound-conducting and sound-receiving apparatus. Hearing loss is treated with conventional therapeutic agents; If this does not help, then hearing amplification devices are used.

Electric welding in living tissues

Electric Welding Institute named after. E. O Paton (Ukraine), headed by Boris Evgenievich Paton, is the world's largest research center in the field of electric welding and electrometallurgy. The discoveries and developments of his scientists are used in a variety of fields of technology and production. And recently, electric welding began to be used in medicine. Paton’s team not only put forward and theoretically and experimentally substantiated the idea of connecting living tissues with electric current, but also, in collaboration with doctors and specialists in the field of electrothermy, put it into practice.

It is known that several generations of scientists have been and are working on the creation of new high-quality suture materials, stitching devices, and various adhesives for connecting tissues for surgery. After all, unfortunately, operations do not always end successfully: often an infection penetrates into the wound, an inflammatory process occurs, and a scar remains for a long time, or even forever. The use of electric current in surgery has long been abandoned, since living tissue dies in the zone of its action.

A group of scientists working on the problem of its “electric welding” managed to stop the viability of organs and tissues in the area exposed to electric current. A protein found in the cells and intercellular space of the human body was used as a “welding material”. When a surgeon, using a special clamp connected to the electrical circuit of a welding machine, connects and compresses the edges of the tissue, under the influence of an electric current of a certain voltage and frequency, the protein coagulates at the site of tissue dissection, and thus it is reliably “welded.” The necessary parameters for the effect of electric current on tissue (voltage, frequency, duration of action, etc.) have been established experimentally. Experimentally (in experiments on laboratory animals) it was found that 4-6 weeks after welding, the structure of living tissue is completely restored, and without the formation of scars.

The first welding of living human tissue in world practice when removing a patient’s stomach was performed in June 2000. Nowadays, methods of performing operations using electric welding on the gall bladder, liver, intestines and other abdominal organs are being developed and mastered. Scientists, like real welders, repeatedly check (in laboratory experiments) the reliability of connections of various tissues. It is very high: for example, the weld seam of such a delicate organ as the gallbladder can withstand pressure of up to 300 mm Hg. Art. As a result, when they began to perform operations on humans in the last two years, over 500 tissue connections were performed using electric welding, and not a single case of postoperative complications was observed. So there is every reason to believe that it is possible to significantly expand the scope of use of electric welding in medicine. Welding engineers have already created the necessary automatic equipment for this. The main elements of its welding unit are a source of alternating electric current in the high-frequency range and a computer that controls the operation of the device. Sets of conventional and special surgical instruments necessary for welding living tissues have also been created.

Electric field

The honor of the discovery of bioelectricity belongs to the professor at the University of Boulogne, Luigi Galvani. He discovered that an electric current passed through the nerve of a dissected frog's leg caused it to contract (even the famous scientist Georg Ohm used this “device” for some time). When Galvani touched the frog's body with two conductors made of different metals, a current flowed through them. Based on this experience, Galvani decided that the living body is the source of animal electricity. Another Italian professor, Alessandro Volta, expressed strong disagreement with this statement. With the help of his experiments, he proved that a current occurs between two conductors even if they are immersed in resin or in a solution similar in composition to it, so animal electricity has nothing to do with it. And both were wrong: Galvani in his interpretation of his experience, and Volta in his denial of animal (bio-) electricity. By the way, descendants introduced even more confusion by calling a chemical current source operating on the phenomenon discovered by Volta galvanic, and a device for measuring the potential difference of electric current (which replaced the frog's leg) as a voltmeter.

Nevertheless, the advent of the voltmeter and the possibility of stable recording of animal electricity marked the beginning of methods for studying the electrical characteristics of the organs of the human body, primarily the heart and brain. The presence of electrical phenomena in the contracting heart muscle was first discovered by German scientists R. Kölliker and I. Müller (1856) using a frog specimen, and Charpy (1880) and Waller (1887) were the first to record a human electrocardiogram.

An old photograph shows a half-naked elderly man sitting in the middle of the room with his feet in two basins with solutions. To the right and left there are two more basins on stands, into which a person’s hands are lowered. The room is filled with some bulky instruments connected by wires to basins. There is an expression of stern determination on the man’s face, which speaks of extraordinary fortitude. This is how the electrocardiogram was recorded at the beginning of our century, when this method was just beginning to be introduced into medical practice. What is the essence of the electrocardiography process itself?

Each muscle fiber, including the fiber of the heart muscle, is surrounded by a sheath - a membrane, which represents an obstacle to the movement of ions of substances dissolved in the biological fluids of our body. Some ions overcome these obstacles more easily, others more difficult, therefore the concentration of ions outside and inside the fiber is not the same. Each ion is an electrically charged particle, therefore, a different number of charged particles accumulates outside and inside the membrane, and an electrical potential difference arises. During muscle contraction, complex electrochemical processes take place in the muscle fiber and its membrane, as a result of which the properties of the membrane change dramatically: permeability instantly increases, and ions rush through the membrane that could not pass through it at rest. But the movement of ions is electric current!

Measurements using microelectrodes brought into direct contact with the tissues of the heart show that the change in potentials during the operation of this organ is approximately 100 mV. Due to the electrical conductivity of the surrounding tissues, an electrical current passes through the chest with each heartbeat. By connecting a sensitive device to any two points on the surface of the body, you can monitor the change in the potential difference (1-2 mV). These changes, amplified and recorded on paper, are called an electrocardiogram (ECG).

The shape of the ECG depends on the thickness of various parts of the heart muscle, and on the location of the heart in the chest, and on the condition of its various parts. If the electrodes are always placed at the same points on the body, one can draw appropriate conclusions based on the shape of the curves. In medical practice, the most widely used are 12 standard ways of placing electrodes (leads) on the human body. After examining the patient, the doctor receives 12 curves, which allow him to examine the patient’s heart from different angles in order to more accurately make a diagnosis.

Shown are electrocardiograms of a healthy person (a), as well as patients with various heart diseases (b-d). Normally, the ECG consists of three upward-directed waves (P, R, and T) and two downward-directed waves (Q and S). Deviations from the norm - changes in the time intervals of the general cycle between all or its individual phases, changes in the amplitude values of the voltages of the teeth, etc. indicate a disturbance in the functioning of the heart.

An electrocardiogram is taken using an electrocardiograph - a device that allows you to measure voltages from 0.01 to 0.50 mV with recording of the results (on a tape or on the oscilloscope screen). If we divide the voltage corresponding to the wave on the ECG curve (0.3-0.5 mV) by the input resistance of the electrocardiograph (0.5-2 MΩ), we obtain the current strength (10 -11-10-12 A). Knowing the current and voltage, you can estimate the amount of electrical energy generated by the heart over a certain period of time.

The activity of the brain is studied in the same way. Electroencephalography (from the Greek brain) is a graphical summary recording of the biopotentials of its individual zones, regions and zones, regions and lobes. However, the electrical activity of the brain is small and is expressed in millions of fractions of a volt, so it is recorded only with the help of special highly sensitive devices - electroencephalographs.

The first electroencephalogram (EEG) was taken in 1913 by the Russian scientist V.V. Pravdin-Neminsky. Using a string galvanometer, he recorded various types of changes in the potentials of the dog's naked brain, and also presented their description and classification. In 1928, the German psychiatrist Berger first recorded the biocurrents of the human brain, using needles as discharge electrodes, which he inserted into the frontal and occipital regions of the head. This method of diverting brain biocurrents was soon replaced by applying metal plates (electrodes) to the scalp. EEG reflects both the morphological (related to the structure) features of brain structures and the dynamics of their functioning.

The patient is placed in a separate room-cabin; a lot of sensor-electrodes with wires extending from them are mounted on his head. First, to identify the morphological features of the brain, an EEG is taken at rest, and then the dynamics of its functioning are recorded: sound signals of varying intensity and frequency are heard in the cabin, the light flashes, the patient is asked to hold his breath and, conversely, take deep breaths and exhalations.

The EEG of a healthy adult reveals two main types of rhythms: alpha rhythm (frequency 8-13 Hz, amplitude 25-30 μV) and beta rhythm (frequency 14-30 Hz, amplitude 15-20 μV). Violations of the norm can determine the severity and location of the lesion (for example, identify the area of the tumor or hemorrhage). It is interesting to note that when death occurs, the electrical activity of the brain first increases very quickly, and only then disappears. Random electrical impulses are sometimes observed for an hour.

Another important research method is associated with an intense electric field, which is created around a living organism due to the accumulation of a triboelectric charge on the skin. This charge flows through the stratum corneum deep into the body, and the relaxation time, depending on the resistance of the epidermis, can vary widely: from 15 minutes to 10 seconds. The resistance of the epidermis varies from 10 11 to 10 9 Ohm/cm 2 due to the diffusion of water through microcapillaries during skin respiration, which is one of the main mechanisms of thermoregulation. Thus, the dynamics of the electric field surrounding the body reflects the thermoregulatory reactions of the body. In addition, the external electric field, due to vibration of the charged surface of the body caused by the mechanical movement of internal organs, is modulated by the rhythms of the heart, breathing, peristalsis of the stomach and intestines, microtremor (trembling) of muscles, etc.

Thus, the spatiotemporal distribution of the electric field in the space surrounding any biological object in real time reflects the functioning of its physiological systems.

Medicine owes much to electrical phenomena. According to observations dating back to ancient times, the therapeutic effect of electrical phenomena on humans can be considered as a kind of stimulating and psychogenic agent.

X-ray

Nowadays, it is probably impossible to imagine medicine without X-rays. X-ray discovered a fundamentally different source of radiation, which he called X-rays. Later these rays were called X-rays. Roentgen's message caused a sensation. In all countries, many laboratories began to reproduce Roentgen’s installation, repeat and develop his research. This aroused particular interest among doctors. Physics laboratories, where the equipment used by Roentgen to produce X-rays was created, were attacked by doctors and their patients, who suspected that their bodies contained swallowed needles, metal buttons, etc. The history of medicine has not known before such rapid practical implementation of discoveries in field of electricity, as happened with a new diagnostic tool - x-rays.

New advances in electrical engineering have accordingly expanded the possibilities for studying “animal” electricity. The Italian physicist Matteuci, using a galvanometer created by that time, proved that an electrical potential arises during muscle activity. Having cut the muscle across the fibers, he connected its transverse section with one of the poles of the galvanometer, and the longitudinal surface of the muscle with the other pole and obtained a potential in the range of 10 - 80 mV. The value of the potential is determined by the type of muscle. According to Matteuci, the “biocurrent flows” from the longitudinal surface to the transverse section and the cross section is electronegative.

A relatively weak static electric field does not seem to have any effect on humans. One has only to remember that we live in the Earth's electric field, which is approximately equal to 100 V/m. During a thunderstorm, this field increases tens of times. In a strong electric field, air can become ionized, which is generally harmful to health. Electrical discharges are also possible, which can simply kill

As for high-frequency electromagnetic fields, they are very dangerous, because they cause local overheating of internal organs and parts of the body. (For example, microwave radiation with a wavelength of about 3-10 cm is harmful to the eyes). As a result of exposure to microwave radiation on the body, serious health disorders are possible, and the risk of cancer increases significantly.

Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky

Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky was born on February 8, 1897 in the town of Tsekhanovets, formerly in the Grodno province, where there was then an artillery brigade in which his father, a career military man, served. In the year of his son's birth, Leonid Vasilyevich Chizhevsky had the rank of captain (in 1916 he became a general). Being a widely educated man, he was interested in science, invention (he invented a protractor for firing guns at an invisible target from closed positions), and rocket weapons. The future scientist’s mother, a poetic and musical person, died of tuberculosis when he was not even a year old.

The boy received his primary education at home, which included natural sciences and mathematics, but his greatest interest at an early age was aroused by humanitarian subjects that corresponded to his inner inclinations: he loved music, poetry, and painting. Books became the source of his passion for astronomy, which was reinforced by “nightly” observations of the starry sky using a telescope purchased for them. These observations aroused admiration in the boy and revealed to him “the unspeakable splendor of the supermundane world.” Observations of the Moon and especially Halley's Comet made a huge impression on him.

Chizhevsky studied atmospheric electricity, namely the biological action of air ions - charged air molecules. The hypothesis about the influence of air ions on the vital functions of organisms required experimental confirmation, and Chizhevsky set up a laboratory at home with funds from his family (his relatives sold some of their things and helped care for the experimental animals). In 1924, he became an employee of the Kaluga Practical Laboratory of Animal Psychology (and soon a member of its scientific council), where he conducted many observations of animals. In 1929, his article was published in one of the French magazines, which was the first thoroughly substantiated work on the therapeutic effect of air ions in diseases of the respiratory tract of animals and humans; it was the first time the term “aeroionotherapy” was used. In the same year, Alexander Leonidovich was elected a member of the Toulon Academy of Sciences.

It should be noted that even in the initial era of the development of knowledge about electricity, the influence of atmospheric charges on plants and animals was noticed, but these observations were ambiguous, unsystematic and in most cases had no practical value. Only at the beginning of this century it became clear that part of the air (especially its layers adjacent to the earth’s surface) is in an ionized state (ionization occurs mainly under the influence of radiation from radioactive substances contained in the earth’s crust, as well as cosmic rays).

Air ions (aeroions) have the ability to attach several neutral gas molecules to themselves and form stable complexes of 10-15 molecules that carry a charge. Such a complex of particles is called a light ion. By attaching to themselves the smallest liquid and solid particles suspended in the air, ions become heavy and usually inactive. Both light and heavy ions have two polarities - positive and negative. The number of ions in the air varies depending on meteorological and geophysical conditions, time of year or day, and other reasons. In rural or mountain air, the number of light air ions of both signs on a sunny day reaches 1000 V1cm3 (at some resorts their number rises to several thousand); heavy ions are usually absent in clean air. In the air of industrial cities, the number of light ions drops - sometimes to 50-100, and the number of heavy ones - increases to several thousand, even tens of thousands per 1 cm3. Thus, the electrical state of clean rural and polluted urban air is very different.

This difference is important for human health, because heavy ions, or pseudoions (charged dust, soot, smoke, various fumes) are harmful, and light ions, with a negative sign, have a beneficial and healing effect on living organisms. The scientist who first established this fact and studied in detail the effect of air ions is A. L. Chizhevsky.

Although the idea of the biological effect of natural air ions was expressed by many scientists, it did not have theoretical or experimental justification and did not find practical application. And only Chizhevsky showed in his works the need to control air ionization in public, industrial and residential premises in the same way as its temperature and humidity are regulated. According to Chizhevsky himself, this happened because almost all experimenters did not attach importance to the polarity of ions, and he specifically studied the effect of positive and negative air ions separately on living organisms.

For these purposes, he used a high voltage source with a rectifier, to which a metal device with points was connected, with the help of which he received -10 4 air ions per 1 cm 3, having only a negative and only a positive charge. Experiments allowed him to establish that negative air ions have a beneficial effect on the body, while positive ones most often have an adverse effect (for example, they suppress the appetite and growth of rats). Subsequently, the scientist conducted numerous series of experiments with various objects (plants, pets, etc.), which confirmed his conclusion.

He also found out how air devoid of air ions acts on animals by performing the following experiment: into a sealed glass chamber where the test animals were placed, air was supplied through a tube into which a loose cotton swab was inserted (its thickness was determined in advance so that it would absorb all air ions contained in the air, without changing its chemical composition); The control group of animals was in exactly the same chamber, with the same diet and lifestyle, but air was supplied to them through a tube free of a cotton swab. After a relatively short period of time, the test animals fell ill and then died; Chizhevsky established that air deprived of ions is dangerous for the body.

To make sure that air ions are a factor necessary for life, the scientist, using the same installations, created artificial ionization of already filtered air inside the chamber: behind a layer of cotton wool, he soldered a thin tip into the tube, which was connected to the negative pole of a high voltage source: animals in In this case, they did not get sick and grew even better than the controls.

In 1931, a decree was issued by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on the scientific work of A. L Chizhevsky in this area; he was awarded prizes from the Council of People's Commissars and the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the USSR; At the same time, the Central Research Laboratory of Ionification was established with a number of branches, of which he was appointed director. At TsNILI, experiments were carried out with thousands of biological objects - rabbits, sheep, pigs, cattle, birds, seeds of various plants and the plants themselves. In all cases, the beneficial effects of negative air ions have been established, stimulating the growth and development of organisms.

A few years later, these studies were confirmed in the works of domestic and foreign scientists. The effectiveness of using artificial air ionization in medicine for preventive health purposes has also been confirmed.

Electromagnetic fields and the human brain

Scientists from the Joint Institute of Earth Physics named after. O. Yu. Schmidt RAS studied the influence of physical fields of various natures (mainly electromagnetic) on the behavioral reactions of living organisms, including people. Weak (background) atmospheric electric and geomagnetic fields, constantly acting on earthly creatures, are changeable: they experience annual, daily and faster fluctuations. But their presence and variations are so common that, as a rule, they are not noticed, although the parameters of fluctuations in natural electric and magnetic fields are ambiguous and have a wide range of values. For example, the amplitude (in this case, deviation from the average value) of the electromagnetic field strength is especially large at frequencies from 1 Hz to 20 kHz, and resonances (sharp changes) are observed at frequencies 8-10, 16-17, 20-24 Hz.

It is noteworthy that these frequencies are close to the frequencies of the basic rhythms of the human brain, as well as infrasound, which, according to many scientists, affects the human subconscious (this, in particular, explains the cases of unaccountable horror that sometimes engulfs sailors, since one of the natural sources of infrasound is rough sea). Numerous studies have established that this coincidence of frequencies plays an important role: changes in electric and magnetic fields at this frequency have an adverse effect on humans.

In recent years, scientists have figured out what deviations of physical fields from a stable state must be so that they are felt in the same way as, for example, magnetic storms by some people. At the same time, an amazing fact was discovered: the physical characteristics of natural “harmful” fields differ from “normal” ones almost imperceptibly. However, the manifestation of very small changes in several even weak fields (electric) at once can have a noticeable effect if their actions are consistent with the rhythms of physiological processes.

Miracles in the bone marrow

Back in the early 1950s, Dr. Marcus Singer of Cleveland University showed that nerves should account for at least one-third of the total tissue mass in spontaneously regenerating limbs. By transporting an additional nerve to the frog's amputated leg, he grew about 1 cm of new tissue. But is the nervous system capable of providing the necessary electrical signal to “start” the blastema? In search of an answer, Becker began measuring electrical voltages on the “external” side of the nerve fibers themselves. According to traditional ideas, there is only one mechanism for transmitting an electrical signal - short impulses “running” along the nerve fiber. Becker became convinced that there was another channel here - peri-neural cells, through which current continuously flows. This current, penetrating a dense network of peripheral nerves, forms “patterns” of the surface field. As soon as it is deformed as a result of injury, the peri-nervous tissue begins to “give out” electricity, drawing it from the depths of the body; and if the "nervous" mass in the affected area is large enough, the voltages generated will be able to initiate regeneration. Otherwise, scars form.

The fusion of bone tissue is one example of the human ability to spontaneous regeneration, although it is not only nerves that “work” here. When bent or broken, bones themselves become electrically polarized. Their “crystalline” crystalline structure transforms mechanical stress into electrical energy. And this energy interferes with the cellular repair mechanism, helping, first of all, the formation of a blastema on the damaged part. Unfortunately, sometimes something happens to this mechanism and fusion does not occur. And then only electricity can help successful treatment.

Animal studies confirmed this idea, and work on humans began. By passing an electric current directly through a fracture, Dr. Carl Brigton and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania treated several critically ill patients who were at risk of amputation because their injured limbs had become infected. Many US clinics have adopted the experience. Electricity has become the treatment of choice for hard-to-heal fractures. Several methods of electrotherapy have emerged. However, Bassett prefers electrical “coils” - a solenoid - to electrodes; they do not need to be implanted. His procedures are successful in 85% of cases, and he hopes to improve results to 95 – 98%.

Bioenergy

In the 50s, Robert O. Becker, using electronic equipment, began to study the “electrical pattern of wounds.” It turned out the following. Once a wound occurs, the damaged cells begin to produce electrical current. By measuring the tension generated by damaged parts of the body, Becker discovered the key to one of the strangest paradoxes of nature, formulated as follows: why is it that a lowly organized salamander can regenerate one-third of the total body mass, but a person is barely able to restore even a single damaged organ? Yes, because only currents of a few billionths of an ampere are capable of returning to a forgotten evolutionary mechanism.

Guided by this consideration, Becker, using implanted electrodes, stimulated the regeneration of the amputated forepaw of a rat up to the knee joint. The grown paw, although not perfect, had a multi-tissue organization, including new muscles, bones, cartilage, and nerves.

For more than 20 years, Becker persistently worked on an unorthodox theory according to which higher animals, be it frogs, rats or humans, are not capable of regenerating naturally because their bodies do not generate enough electricity to “start the regenerative mechanism,” but if the cells are created the appropriate “ electrical environment,” then they, like salamander cells, can transform into new tissues. It's time for traditional medicine to realize that regeneration can do wonders. The method is applicable to all tissues: the brain, peripheral nerve endings, fingers, limbs, organs can be restored. “If we were able to identify the mechanisms that stimulate regeneration in a salamander, then there is nothing stopping us from doing the same in humans,” says Becker.

Nowadays, many operations are being carried out in the world, and here, too, there is electricity. Perhaps every person has been subjected to anesthesia to one degree or another. Surgeons use local and general anesthesia for abdominal and non-abdominal operations. The consequences of anesthesia are, of course, painful, but in many cases the operation saves lives. And this is the main thing.

Huge credit for the creation of bioelectric anesthesia to the Central Research Institute "Electronics".

There is such a science as resuscitation, it has achieved a lot. As long as the electrical activity of the heart remains, the struggle for the life of the dying person continues, and in many cases the person can be saved.

The man's head was shaking and his hands were shaking. Medicines helped little. Having seated the patient in a chair, the doctor placed small silver-plated metal plates - electrodes - on his temples, securing them with ordinary plaster. An electric current passed through the electrodes into the patient's body. Under the influence of current, shaking of the head and hands decreased. And hope for recovery lit up in my eyes.

Electricity in Animal Bodies

Using a frog as an example, we will show how a current can be created in the frog's body. Galvani conducted the following experiment. Having connected two wires of different metals, he touched the leg of a freshly prepared frog with the end of one of them, and the lumbar nerves with the end of the other; at the same time, the muscles of the paw contracted convulsively. This can be explained by the fact that the Dao of metal and the liquid of the paw constitute a galvanic element. The current generated when the circuit is closed irritates the frog's nerve endings.

The bird's body also has electricity. The body of a bird sitting on a wire is a branch of the circuit connected parallel to the section of the conductor between the bird’s legs. When two sections of a circuit are connected in parallel, the magnitude of the currents in them is inversely proportional to the resistance. The resistance of the bird's body is enormous compared to the resistance of a short length of conductor, so the amount of current in the bird's body is negligible and harmless. It should also be added that the potential difference in the area between the bird's legs is small.

Birds most often die when they sit on a power line and touch the pole with their wing, tail or beak, that is, they connect to the ground.

Another interesting phenomenon. When the current is turned on, the birds fly off the wires. This is explained by the fact that when high voltage is turned on, a static electric charge appears on the feathers of birds, due to the presence of which the feathers of the bird diverge, like the brushes of a paper plume connected to an electric machine. This static charge causes the bird to fly off the wire.

Some fish use current for self-defense. These fish are called living powerhouses. The most famous electric fish are the electric eel, electric stingray and electric catfish. These fish have special organs for storing electrical energy. The slight tension that occurs in ordinary muscle fibers is summed up here thanks to the sequential inclusion of many individual elements, which are connected by nerves, like conductors, into long batteries. Thus, the electric eel, which lives in the waters of tropical America, has up to 8 thousand plates, separated from one another by a gelatinous substance. A nerve coming from the spinal cord approaches each plate. From a physics point of view, these devices represent a kind of system of high-capacity capacitors. The eel, storing electrical energy in these capacitors and discharging it at its discretion through the body touching it, produces electrical shocks that are extremely sensitive to humans and fatal to small animals. In a large eel that does not discharge for a long time, the electric current voltage at the moment of impact can reach 800 V. Usually it is somewhat less.

Among other electric fish, the Torpedo ray, which is found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans, stands out. The dimensions of the torpedo reach two meters, and its electrical organs consist of several hundred plates. Torpedo is capable of delivering up to 150 discharges per second, 80V each, for 10-16 seconds. The electrical organs of large Torpedoes develop voltage up to 220V.

In the electric catfish, which produces discharges of up to 360V, the electrical organ is located in a thin layer under the skin throughout the body.

A characteristic feature of fish with electric organs is their low susceptibility to the action of electric current. For example, an electric eel can tolerate 220V voltage without harm.

Another fish that is associated with electricity is the sea lamprey. When excited, it emits short electrical impulses. Each such impulse represents an electric current, which from one part of the lamprey’s body passes through the water to another. The lamprey perceives any changes in the impulse sent by it. Usually such a change means that no more than ten centimeters from the head there is some object that differs in its electrical conductivity from water. Often this object turns out to be a fish, to which the lamprey immediately attaches itself with its jawless mouth and begins to “drill” a hole, getting to the blood.

Where do fish get electricity?

Cell membranes, capable of “sorting” positive and negative ions outside and inside the cell, are “organizers” of potential differences. Depending on the state of the cell, its membranes have different electrical conductivity. There is no excitation, sorting begins, a potential difference arises. The cell is excited, conductivity has increased, ions from different sides of the membrane, positive and negative, rush towards each other, as a result of which a zero potential is established. In other words, the cell is constantly generating electrical current. Bioelectricity, carrying certain information, thereby coordinates the most complex life processes.

Some fish that do not have special electrical organs also emit discharges. But they are small and low-power.

Fish signals are easy to detect. Since it is electromagnetic, its electrical component is captured by electrodes, and its magnetic component by special antennas. The magnetic component easily overcomes screens that are impenetrable to a normal electric field. Therefore, fish signals can be caught even in the air above the aquarium using inductive coils, even when the aquarium where the fish are located is surrounded by a Faraday grid.

Fish not only generate, but also perceive electrical signals. They have special organs for this. When giving signals, fish sometimes use a rather complex coding system - low-frequency oscillations, impulses of various frequencies, durations, and voltages. This language is just beginning to be deciphered.

It was known that there are bodies that are good conductors for electrical fluid, while others are dielectrics. Benjamin Franklin suggested that many examples of both attraction and repulsion of charged bodies can be explained on the basis of ideas about an excess or deficiency of electrical fluid. When an electrode has an excess of electrical fluid, it is considered positive and is designated with a plus sign, and vice versa.

Franklin described electric charges in terms of plus and minus, since two bodies that were originally electrically neutral could be made charged by rubbing together. The charge on one body is completely different from the charge on another, since, although these bodies are attracted to each other, each of them will repel a similarly charged body. Moreover, these two bodies can be brought into contact so that they again become neutral, or with zero charge

Franklin arbitrarily named the "negative" charge that appears on solid rubber when rubbed against wool or hair. Accordingly, the wool or hair is charged positively.

Assessment of the degree of electrification

When many bodies rub against fur, electrification is observed. I set out to find out whose fur is more electrified. I pre-dried the fur of the kitten and dog (electrification is significantly weakened by high humidity). During the experiments, it was necessary to ensure that the Marquis kitten did not have time to lick its skin and thereby violate the conditions of the experiment. Then she rubbed the comb in turn on the fur of each animal the same number of times, brought it to a foil sleeve suspended on a thread, and measured the angle of deviation from the vertical. (tab.)

Animal Angle of fur deflection Wool

Kitten Soft, velvety

Dog Long, medium hard

Based on the results of the experiment, the following hypothesis can be made: the stiffer the wool, the worse the ability to electrify other bodies. Perhaps cat hair has better electrifying properties than dog hair. However, further research with a larger number of experiments is required to verify these claims. It’s nice that the champion in this area was a kitten who could not surpass his opponent in weight, speed, traction and volume.

Is it good when hair is electrolyzed?

In order to find out how electricity affects a person, I conducted an experiment.

I took two combs, a wooden one and a plastic one. Having combed my (dry) hair with combs, it turned out that after this the hair was attracted to the comb. But they are better attracted to a plastic comb rather than a wooden one. This can be explained by the fact that wood is less electrified. Before rubbing the comb on the hair, the number of positive and negative charges on the hair and the comb is the same. After rubbing the comb on your hair, a positive charge appears on the hair, and a negative charge appears on the comb.

When your hair is electrified, it is not very convenient and not natural at all, so it is better to use wooden combs, it will be better for your hair and for you.

Humanity has tried to logically explain various electrical phenomena, examples of which they observed in nature. Thus, in ancient times, lightning was considered a sure sign of the wrath of the gods, medieval sailors trembled blissfully before the fires of St. Elmo, and our contemporaries are extremely afraid of encountering ball lightning.

All these are electrical phenomena. In nature, everything, even you and me, carries within itself. If objects with large charges of different polarities come close, then a physical interaction occurs, the visible result of which is a flow of cold plasma colored, usually yellow or purple, between them. Its flow stops as soon as the charges in both bodies are balanced.

The most common electrical phenomena in nature is lightning. Every second, several hundred of them hit the Earth's surface. Lightning usually targets isolated tall objects, since, according to physical laws, the transfer of a strong charge requires the shortest distance between a thundercloud and the surface of the Earth. To protect buildings from lightning strikes, their owners install lightning rods on the roofs, which are tall metal structures with grounding, which, when struck by lightning, allows the entire discharge to be discharged into the soil.

Another electrical phenomenon, the nature of which remained unclear for a very long time. Mostly sailors dealt with him. The lights manifested themselves as follows: when a ship was caught in a thunderstorm, the tops of its masts began to blaze with bright flames. The explanation for the phenomenon turned out to be very simple - the fundamental role was played by the high voltage of the electromagnetic field, which is observed every time before the onset of a thunderstorm. But not only sailors can deal with lights. Pilots of large airliners have also experienced this phenomenon when flying through clouds of ash thrown into the sky by volcanic eruptions. The fires arise from the friction of ash particles against the skin.

Both lightning and St. Elmo's fire are electrical phenomena that many have seen, but not everyone has been able to encounter them. Their nature has not been fully studied. Typically, eyewitnesses describe ball lightning as a bright luminous spherical formation, moving chaotically in space. Three years ago, a theory was put forward that cast doubt on the reality of their existence. If it was previously believed that various ball lightnings were electrical phenomena, then the theory suggested that they were nothing more than hallucinations.

There is another phenomenon that is of an electromagnetic nature - the northern lights. It arises as a result of the influence of the solar wind on the upper Northern Lights. They look like flashes of a variety of colors and are usually recorded at fairly high latitudes. There are, of course, exceptions - if it is high enough, then residents of temperate latitudes can also see the lights in the sky.

Electrical phenomena are a rather interesting object of study for physicists all over the planet, since most of them require detailed justification and serious study.