The Geomagnetic Field and Life Geomagnetobiology

The Geomagnetic Field and Life Geomagnetobiology

A.P. Dubrov Academy of Seiences of the USSR

Translated from Russian by Frank L. Sindair

Translation editor Frank A. Brown, Jr. Northwestern University Evanston, /llinois

SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, LLC

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Dubrov, Aleksandr Petrovich. The geomagnetic field and life.

Translation of Geomagnitnoe pole i zhizn'. Bibliography: p. 1. Magnetic fields- Physiological effect. 2. Life (Biology) 3.Magnetism, Terrestrial.

I. TitleQP82.2.M3D813 574.1'91 78-1705 ISBN 978-1-4757-1612-2 ISBN 978-1-4757-1610-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-4757-1610-8

The original Russian text, published by Gidrometeoizdat in Leningrad in 1974, has been substantially expanded and revised by the author for the present edition. This translation is published under an agreement with the Copyright Agency of the USSR (V AAP).

feo.ua~uumuoe no.te u muaub A.D.[l,yöpoS

GEOMAGNITNOE POLE I ZHIZN' A.P. Dubrov

© 197 8 Springer Science+ Business Media N ew York Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1978

All righ ts reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, phot~copying, microfllming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

To the memory ofmy

father and mother

Foreword to the American Edition

Dubrov' s treatise is the first general review of the biological effects of the geomagnetic field tobe published in English, itself a very valuable contribution. Dubrov appears to have done a fine job of understanding and sumrnarizing the non-Russian Iiterature and an even !arger mass of Russian literature, of the interesting nature of much of which I, for one, was unaware. This last is, to my rnind, an especially worthwhile aspect of the book for westem biologists unfamil-iar with the Russian language.

While a number of excellent contributions have appeared in Western jour-nals since Dubrov completed his manuscript, and presumably some others in Russian joumals, nothing with which I am farniliar gainsays any of the facts, interpretations, or hypotheses presented in the book. It is remarkably complete in its coverage of the Iiterature to the beginning of 1976. Indeed, later reports simply strengthen themes that are presented and defended by Dubrov.

The book carries a nice flavor of the current state of the subject, a subject that undoubtedly will become increasingly appreciated as we move down from the crest of the reductionist binge biology has been on over the past decade or two and commence asking broader questions about regulation and interrelations. And this book, coming along now as it is, should have a tremendous impact on the transition. Biologists are now in the process of leaming that something that fairly recently was regarded as absurd and even "theoretically impossible" is now becoming a well-established fact. However, its flip-flop properties render it difficult to evaluate though the overall phenomenon is clearly real. The subject will be urged upon science and scientists for resolution by an enlightened public that is being bombarded with more and more semipopular articles on biological influences of microwaves, radio waves, powerline frequencies, electric and magnetic fields, airbome ions, etc. People will recall the sad episodes of the recent past when ignorance of the latent effects of ionizing radiation perrnitted aeleterious exposure to it.

vü

vili Foreword to the American Edition

My only points of ambivalence with respect to Dubrov's book are his speculations concerning possible roles of the geomagnetic field beyond those already demonstrated and conceming its mechanisms of action. And yet, for many persons more theoretically or speculatively inclined than I am, these could be among the most stimulating parts of the book. Anyway, every author has the right to express his own views, and Dubrov does so with an apparent wealth of general background.

In brief, in my opinion this volume will be an excellent, much needed addition to the scientific Iiterature.

Frank A. Brown, Jr.

Morrison Professor of Biological Seiences Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois

Preface to the American Edition

I am very pleased that my book The Geomagnetic Field and Life is being published in English in the United States. Thanks to the initiative of Plenum Press, a publishing hause that is widely known in all countries, I have a great new opportunity to make direct contact with friends throughout the world.

My book on the geomagnetic field can be regarded as an abstraction, whose purpose is to provide a better picture and understanding of the world araund us, its main driving forces, and factors, to help us to know ourselves, and to proceed further. The essence of the abstraction is that in treating the problern I have deliberately ignored the diverse effects of various extemal factors on living organisms and have confined myself to an analysis of the effect of the GMF. This approach allows me to go one step further-to draw various conclusions and propose theories that rnight bring us closer to a proper understanding of the true nature of the phenomena. Philosophers have long been aware that by such abstract thinking we can deterrnine the nature of phenomena more reliably, completely, and comprehensively, penetrate to the very core of the observed effects, and perceive the depth of their interrelations.

Hence, although Ideal only with the GMF and the entire book is devoted to its decisive role in all the processes occurring in the biosphere, it should be bome in rnind that the GMF never acts alone anywhere, but is always combined in an intricate complex with the action of other important physical environmental factors that affect the vital activity of living creatures-temperature and light, atmospheric and terrestrial electricity, ionization and pressure, gravitation and cosrnic rays, and many other, as yet unknown, fields and radiations.

Many scientists have contributed to the investigation of this problem, but the first names to be noted must surely be those of the Russian scientist A. L. Chizhevskii and the Italian scientist G. Piccardi, who have eamed worldwide fame by their titanic research on heliobiology and heliophysicochernistry over many years.

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X Preface to the American Edition

A great contribution toward the clarification of this complex problern was made by the fundamental discoveries in 1965-1967 by Frank Brown and Y. Park (Evanston, Illinois), who showed the important role of the GMF horizontal component in biological rhythmicity and spatial orientation, and also the ability of living organisms to form relations between the GMF and the surrounding spatial distribution of light.

After we discovered in 1969 that the permeability of biological membranes depends on and is regulated by diurnal variations of the GMF, the immense dass of rhythmic phenomena studied in chronobiology received an explanation. The theory of functional dissymmetry, which we developed in 1973, deepened our knowledge of this relation between living objects and the GMF.

An important milestone in the forward march of biogeophysics was the establishment of the effect of slow rotation of biological objects and the effect of slowly rotating magnetic fields (l-2 rpm) on biological function (T. Hoshizaki and K. Hamner, 1962-1968; F. Brown and C. Chow, 1973-1976). This opened up new pathways to the discovery of new geophysical factors of great ecological significance and to the study of the interrelations of living organisms.

Our discovery of the role of the GMF in genetic homeostasis from an analysis of available research (1969-1975) provided the basisnot only for a new outlook on evolution and understanding of the past history of development of the organic world, but also (and this was most important) showed the role of the GMF in evolutionary processes taking place in the biosphere at present. Weshall obtain an even deeper and greater understanding of this close relation between the GMF and biological objects when scientists in the near future discover the intimate mechanism of interaction of biological fields at different Ievels (molecular and cellular, arganismal, and populational) with the GMF, and the essential way by which the GMF acts on organic molecules and water molecules-tbe basis of our existence on earth.

Some of my future readers, especially physicists, who have a skeptical attitude toward the biological effect of the GMF and who, of course, cannot have a full and detailed knowledge of the geomagnetobiological research cited, will find it difficult to understand the solidity and intensity of my belief in the role of the GMF in the development of the biosphere and all the processes occurring in it. On this point I think it apt to quote the very eminent evolutionist Ernst Mayr: ''In each period of time a particular group of facts and some prevailing theories so occupy the minds that to any other viewpoint it is extremely difficult to give any objective attention. Hence, we must show caution in the assessment of our present-day convictions" (982, p.21). This appeal of one of the greatest evolutionists in the world makes us confident that our aspirations, approaches, and outlooks in relation to the role of the GMF in the biosphere will be correctly understood by scientists of the world and the broad mass of readers.

I am deeply grateful for the exceptional assistance given to me by Mr.

Preface to the American Edition x.i

Christopher Bird (Washington, D.C.) and by Lidya Zhdanova and Tamilla Nedoshivina (Leningrad), editors in the Soviet publishing house "Gidrometeoiz-dat,'' for preparation of the Russian and American editions of my book. It is only by their efforts that this book has been published in the form in which I present it now for the judgment of my numerous friends and readers throughout the world.

In conclusion, I would like to mention that the person who first suggested this book was my great and wonderful friend Dr. Lazar' Vitel's (Leningrad), whose faith in my competence and ability to write such a book has inspired me.

Aleksandr P. Dubrov

Acknowledgments

The author sincerely thanks the following persons, whose help contributed to the successful completion of the work on the book:

Docent Dr. V. V. Abros'kin, Voronezh, USSR Dr. Matyas Banyai, Estergom, Aranyhegy, Hungary Prof. Dr. G. Hecker, Berlin-Dahlem, FRG Dr. C. J. Beer, Tucson, Arizona Prof. F. A. Brown, Jr., Evanston, Illinois Dr. Mrs. C. Capel-Boute, Brussels, Belgium Prof. Dr. P. P. Chuvaev, Minsk, Belorussian SSR Prof. Mrs. Eleonora Francini Corti, Florence, Italy Prof. T. A. Davis, Calcutta Mr. Ira Einhorn, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mr. V. V. Fedulov, Moscow Dr. Mrs. L. E. Fisher, Moscow Mr. Michel and Mrs. Francoise Gauquelin, Paris Dr. S. I. Gleizer, Kalirungrad Dr. Carlo R. Lenzi Grillini, Florence, Italy Prof. Roberto Gaultierotti, Milan, Italy Prof. Franz Halberg, Minneapolis, Minnesota Dr. Ernst Hartmann, Eberbach am Neckar, FRG Dr. Bensan Herbert, Downton, Wiltshire, England Dr. Eugen Jonas, Mana, Czechoslovakia Dr. B. N. Kazak, Moscow Prof. C. Louis Kervran, Paris Dr. A. Korschunoff, Fürstenfeldbruck, FRG Dr. A. V. Koval'chuk, Uzhgorod, Ukrainian SSR Dr. S. M. Krylov, Moscow

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Prof. V. Laursen, Charlottenlund, Denmark Dr. Mrs. L. M. Luk'yanova, Apatity, Karelian SSR Prof. S. A. Mamaev, Sverdlovsk, USSR Dr. I. A. Maslov, Moscow

Acknowledgments

Dr. E. Stanton Maxey, Stuart, Florida Prof. Dr. H. von Mayersbach, Hanover, FRG Dr. L. D. Meshalkin, Moscow Mr. Juri and Mrs. Ludmila Molchanov, Moscow Prof. Hideo Moriyama, Oiso-machi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan Dr. E. N. Moskalyanova, Voronezh, USSR Miss Olga Muzyleva, Moscow Dr. T. G. Neeme, Tallinn, Estonian SSR Dr. Yu. I. Novitskii, Moscow Dr. W. Paulishak, Rockville, Maryland Prof. Mrs. A. T. Platonova, Irkutsk, USSR Dr. Mrs. E. D. Rogacheva, Gorki, USSR Dr. Mrs. G. Shelepina, Moscow Dr. A. D. Shevnin, Moscow Dr. 0. V. Starovskii, Moscow Docent Dr. S. Sh. Ter-Kazar'yan, Erevan, Arrnenian SSR Prof. Dr. Solco W. Tromp, Oegstgeest (Leiden), Netherlands Dr. R. Vasilik, Kiev, Ukrainian SSR Dr. B. M. Vladimirskii, Nauchnyi, Crimea, USSR Dr. Mrs. Violetta S. Zabelina, Kharkov, Ukrainian SSR

I am grateful to Mrs. Irina Petukhova, Mrs. Marina Lotvina, and Miss Svetlana Dolinskaya for technical assistance.

A.P.D.

Contents

Foreward to the Russian Edition . ................................. .

Editor' s Note 3

I ntroducti on 7

Chapter 1

General Account of the Geomagnetic Field 9

Elements of the Geomagnetic Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Constant Magnetic Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Reversals of Constant Geomagnetic Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Variable Magnetic Field and Its Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Quiet and Disturbed Variations of Magnetic Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Geomagnetic Pulsations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Magnetic Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Magnetic Disturbances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Interplanetary Magnetic Field and Geomagnetic Activity . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Chapter 2

Role of Geomagnetic Field in Vital Activity of Organisms on Earth . . . 27

Globality and Universality of Synchronaus Course of Some Biological

Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Direct and Indirect Evidence of Effect of GMF on Biological Objects 35

Experiments Involving Shielding of Biological Objects from Effect of

GMF ............................................... 37 Cells in Vitra • Culrure of lsolated Cells • Plants • Microorganisms •

Insects • Higher Animals • Man

XV

xvi Contents

Observations on People under Waterand in Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Submarine Conditions • Space Conditions

Experiments Involving ~ompensation of Gl\1F ................... 47 Plants • Birds • Fishes • Mammals • Insects • Man

Biological Effect of Artificial Weak Magnetic Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Protozoa. Annelids, Microorganisms • Plants • Birds • Fishes • Mammals • Man

Orientation of Biological Objects Relative to the Geomagnetic Poles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Biomedical Statistical Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 Colloid Systems and Physicochemical Reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 3

Questions of General Geomagnetobiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Paleomagnetobiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Archeomagnetobiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Effect of Geomagnetic Field on Genetic Borneostasis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 The Geomagnetic Field and Biological Rhythmicity ............... I 02 The Geomagnetic Field and Morphological and Functional

Biosymmetry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Analytica! Basis of Functional Symmetry and Dissymmetry. . . . . . 118 Experimental Investigations Confirming Conclusions on Functional

Dissymmetry and Its Role in the Action of the Gl\1F . . . . . . . 123 Individual Single Responses of Biological Objects as an Expression

of Functional Dissymmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Possible Causes of Biological Symmetry and Dissymmetry . . . . . . 131 Combined Action of the Geomagnetic Field and Gravitation on

Biological Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Fundamental Bases of Biological Effect of Gl\1F (Hypotheses) . . . . . 146

Sensitivity of Living Organisms to the Gl\1F and Biological Superconductivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Universality of Action of the GMF and Biological Symmetry 153

Chapter 4

Specific Aspects of Geomagnetobiology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Man ..................................................... 159

Effects of the Gl\1F on the Healthy and Siek Human Organism . . . 159 General State of Organism • Higher Nervaus Activity and State of Vegetative Nervaus System • Skin Electric Potentials • Blood • Growth and Sexual Development • Effects of the GMF on the Fernale Organism • Effects of the GMF on the Siek Human Organism • Different Kinds of Disease • Cardiovascular Pathology • Psychic Disorders • Eye Diseases • Urolithiasis • The Geomagnetic Field and Occupational Activity • Biological Effect of Anomalaus Geomagnetic Field

Contents xvii

Anima! W orld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I 90 Microorganisms and Virus es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l 90 Insects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l 90 Sex Ratio and Mutations • Rhythmic Activity • Insect Grientation • Beetles, Termites • Flies • Bees • Drosophila

Birds .................................................. !96 Fish .................................................. 204 V arious Representati ves of the Anima! World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 l 0 Plants .................................................. 215 Magnetotropism and Otientation • Sex Determination • Polatity • Dissymmetry • Rhythmicity of Processes • Circadian Rhythmicity • Seasonal Rhythm

Chapter 5

Possible Mechanisms of Biological Effect of the Geomagnetic Field 235

Role of Water Molecules .................................... 235 Role of Biological Membranes ............................... 236 Role of Biomagnetic Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 Magnetoecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241

Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Index ........................................................ 313

Foreword to the Russian Edition

It is now generally acknowledged that many processes in the biosphere depend on cosmic conditions, primarily the state of the magnetosphere. In this respect the appearance of A. P. Dubrov's The Geomagnetic Field and Life is timely and essential.

This book, however, can be regarded from different Standpoints and will undoubtedly give rise to a great deal of scientific controversy and discussion. For instance, consideration from the viewpoint of geophysics will certainly give rise to the question: Is it possible that slight variations of the geomagnetic field, measured in gammas, can have such a pronounced effect on living organisms when the biosphere is filled with artificial electromagnetic fields of much greater strength? Biologists, on the other hand, who know the great importance of such climatic factors as light intensity, temperature, and air hurnidity for the vital activity of living organisms, will quite rightly pose the question: Can the effect of the geomagnetic field and its variations be significant? A sirnilar question can certainly also be posed by medical researchers, geneticists, and ecologists, since in this book the author gives an account of observed correlations between the variation of the geomagnetic field and biological processes.

I would like to point out, however, that, irrespective of the Standpoint of the reader, this book, which contains a considerable amount of biological and geophysical data, cannot fail to be of interest.

By correlating numerous and diverse investigations the author shows for the first time the role of the geomagnetic field as a very important environmental factor affecting man and living organisms on the earth. This I regard as the important service rendered by the author and the great value of the book as a whole.

To the author and all those who are studying the biological roJe and impor-

2 Foreward to the Russian Edition

tance of natural magnetic fields we wish great success in this complex and difficult work.

V. A. Troitskaya

?resident of International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy Chairman of Scientific Council on Geomagnetism Academy of Seiences of the USSR

Editor's Note

Ten to twenty years ago very few papers devoted to the biological action of magnetic fields could be found in the world scientific literature. Some scientists completely rejected the idea that any magnetic field could affect any biological system. Yet now we have a book on the effect of the geomagnetic field (GMF) on life processes.

While this book was being prepared for publication there occurred two events in the scientific life of our country, which have brought out even more the topicality of the questions raised by the author.

In Belgorod in September, 1973 the Council on the Complex Problem "Cybemetics," Academy of Seiences of the USSR, the Belgorod Pedagogic Institute, the Institute of Problems of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly, and the Belgorod Regional Health Department held the Second All-Union Symposium on the Effect of Natural and Weak Artificial Magnetic Fields on Biological Objects.

The interest in this effect is dictated by life itself. Alteration of environmen-tal conditions and the modern tempo of life have made man more and more sensitive to the stimuli always present in the earth's biosphere and to those which have appeared only in this country, e.g., electromagnetic fields (emfs), to which all lif e on earth is exposed.

The problems raised were of a complex nature, involving careful mea-surements of the physical parameters of emfs, the detection of fine biological reactions, and the assessment of the overal1 response of the complex human organism. The solution of these problems requires the creative collaboration of different specialists. Hence, biologists, doctors, biophysicists, physicists, chernists, geologists, and representatives of other specialties-a total of 70 dele-gates from 18 towns in the Soviet Union-took part in the work of the sym-posium.

In Moscow in March, 1974, there was a conference on the theme "Cosrnic

3

4 Editor's Note

Factors and the Evolution of the Organic World," convened on the initiative of the Scientific Council, Academy of Seiences of the USSR, on Pathways and Features of the Historical Development of Anima! and Plant Organisms; the Paleontological Institute, Academy of Seiences of the USSR; and the Moscow Society of Naturalists. Several papers presented at this conference showed that reversals of the GMF could affect the evolution of the organic world.

Thus, from complete rejection of any biological effect of magnetic fields to the recognition of them as a factor affecting the evolution of the organic world is the path traversed by magnetobiology in recent years. To provide a picture of this arduous path in a small book is a difficult task. Dubrov, however, who has had great personal experience in dealing with some problems of magnetobiology, has managed to cope with this task.

Why have biologists and medical researchers hitherto shown hardly any interest in the GMF and, with a clear conscience, ignored this environmental factor in their accounts of all life processes?

The fact is that the birth of the space age, which has made an impact on many purely terrestrial matters, has also had a considerable effect on the de-velopment of magnetobiology. As the author observes, the development of mag-netobiology has been closely correlated with progress in the conquest of space.

The flights of the first space ships heightened interest in the problern under discussion. On being separated from earth, the cosmonaut is deprived not only of the earth's gravitational attraction, its usual atmosphere, and many other condi-tions essential for life, but also of the GMF. On the other hand, space-ship designers hope to provide protection for the vehicle from harmful ionizing radia-tion by a powerful artificial magnetic field. Thus the cosmonaut and other biolog-ical occupants of aspaceship will, more than anyone else, be subjected foralang period to magnetic fields differing from those on earth. Can such changes affect vital activity?

Affirmative answers to this question are given in this book. The author shows that with each step in the investigation of the biosphere man has become more and more convinced that terrestrial life is extremely closely "fitted" to terrestrial conditions of existence. The linkup of different sciences, sometimes quite remote from one another, has now reached the stage where biophysics and geophysics unite. Geophysicists have hitherto characterized magnetic storrns and earthquakes only in technical terrns, whereas they are now beginning to show interest in, for instance, the number of heart attacks among people during a magnetic storrn and the behavior of animals before an earthquake. Biophysicists, in their turn, though not abandoning their favorite Iabaratory factors--electric current, ionizing radiation, light, etc.-have become interested in the possible biological effect of the GMF.

The author, a biologist by training, has quite rightly devoted the first chapter of the book to a detailed account of the geophysical data relating to the GMF. This is followed by a description and a critical analysis of diverse biological data

Editor's Note 5

indicating an effect of natural and weak artificial magnetic fields on various living objects.

Of particular importance is the evidence that artificial weakened magnetic fields can produce responses in man, animals, plants, and rnicroorganisms. The few investigations made in this area so far indicate a possible role of the GMF in life processes.

A comparison of normalandabnormal (with respect to the constant compo-nent of the GMF) parts of Belgorod Region shows that they differ as to crop yield, occurrence of relict plants, and incidence of disease among the population. In addition, the motor activity of insects and birds is altered in the area of the Kursk magnetic anomaly. This initial information indicates that a biological analysis of the conditions in the regions of different magnetic anomalies will be worthwhile.

Finally, the vectorial nature (the directivity of the lines of force) of the GMF also affects biological processes. We are not referring here merely to the use of the GMF, among other orienting factors, by migrating birds and fishes.

It should be noted that since artificially produced "magnetic anomalies" also affect very diverse biological objects, ecological magnetobiology has be-come a recognized branch of science. The orbit of interest of this science in-cludes not only the spatial variations of the GMF, but also the temporal variations of this geophysical factor. To the union of geophysics and biophysics we must add astrophysics, since changes in the GMF are closely correlated with solar activity.

This branch of ecological magnetobiology is interwoven with heliobiology, which is concerned with the effect of solar activity on the biosphere. The faunder of heliobiology, A. L. Chizhevskii, did not believe that solar activity affects the biosphere only through alteration of the GMF. The biologically active factor could be radio waves, air ions, ionizing radiation, or solar Z ernission, which is still not understood by physicists.

Thus, the hypothesis of an orienting (in time and space) effect of the GMF on biological objects has been formulated. It is gratifying to find comparisons of the results of field and Iabaratory experiments that can resolve the main problern of magnetobiology-the explanation of the intimate mechanism of action of magnetic fields on biological objects.

There are probably several such mechanisms, including those mentioned by Dubrov-the effect of natural magnetic fields on the intrinsic magnetic fields of biological objects, on the permeability of biological membranes, and on the properties of aqueous systems of biological objects. In the last case, problems of magnetobiology are intertwined with problems of physics and engineering, since magnetic treatment of aqueous solutions is finding wide application as a solution to some technological problems.

Yu. A. Kholodov