科学家发现大气中的电场与生物体之间存在直接联系

科学家发现大气中的电场与生物体之间存在直接联系

Researchers studying the electrical fields generated by living organisms have made the surprising discovery that they nearly mimic those present in the Earth's atmosphere.

研究生物产生的电场的研究人员有了惊人的发现，他们几乎模拟了地球大气中的电场。

In a new study published in the International Journal of Biometeorology, the team of researchers from Tel Aviv University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Alaska say the electrical similarities are essentially the same across both vertebrates and invertebrates.

在《国际生物气象学杂志》上发表的一项新研究中，来自特拉维夫大学、麻省理工学院和阿拉斯加大学的研究人员表示，脊椎动物和无脊椎动物的电相似性在本质上是相同的。

Electrical fields in the atmosphere and those found in living organisms may have more in common than we realize.l (Photo: John Fowler [CC by 2.0]/Flickr)

Scientists have long known that animals use electrical currents to send signals through the nervous system. Our cells in particular are specialized to conduct electricity, utilizing ions from charged elements like sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium to control currents. While the electricity generated by animals occurs at extremely low frequencies (up to only 50 hertz), it's enough to produce 100 watts of power at rest.

科学家们早就知道动物利用电流在神经系统中传递信号。我们的细胞特别擅长导电，利用钠、钾、钙和镁等带电元素中的离子来控制电流。虽然动物产生的电力发生在极低的频率(只有50赫兹)，但它在休息时足以产生100瓦的电力。

In the study, the researchers theorize that the cells of living organisms likely evolved to mimic the electrical fields of the natural environment over billions of years.

在这项研究中，研究人员推断，生物体的细胞可能在数十亿年的进化过程中模仿了自然环境的电场。

"We hypothesize that over evolutionary timescales living organisms adapted and evolved to actually use the electricity in the environment — global lightning," Price added. "This has likely not changed over billions of years and is similar to the evolution of our eyes, which evolved using the sunlight nature gave us."

“我们假设，在进化的时间尺度上，生物体适应并进化到实际使用环境中的电力——全球闪电，”普莱斯补充说。“这可能在数十亿年的时间里都没有发生变化，这与我们眼睛的进化类似，我们的眼睛是利用大自然赋予我们的阳光进化而来的。”

The body electric

带电的身体

Discoveries like this one are important to the medical community as it may open new avenues for treating illnesses such as epilepsy and Parkinson's, both of which are related to abnormalities in the body's electrical activity. A 2017 study published in Epilepsia on the frequency of epileptic seizures in relation to the weather, for instance, discovered an uptick in occurrences when atmospheric pressure was low. The risk decreased during times of high atmospheric pressure.

这样的发现对医学界来说很重要，因为它可能会为治疗癫痫和帕金森等疾病开辟新的途径，这两种疾病都与身体的电活动异常有关。例如，2017年发表在《癫痫》(Epilepsia)杂志上的一项研究发现，当大气压力较低时，癫痫发作的频率会上升。在大气压高的时候，风险降低了。

"Our review of previous studies revealed that lightning-related fields may have positive medical applications related to our biological clock (circadian rhythms), spinal cord injuries and maybe other bodily functions related to electrical activity in our bodies," Price said. "The connection between the ever-present electromagnetic fields, between lightning in the atmosphere and human health, may have huge implications in the future for various treatments related to electrical abnormalities in our bodies."

普赖斯说:“我们对以往研究的回顾表明，与闪电有关的领域可能对我们的生物钟(昼夜节律)、脊髓损伤以及与我们身体电活动有关的其他身体功能有积极的医学应用。”“一直存在的电磁场、大气中的闪电和人类健康之间的联系，在未来可能会对与我们身体电异常相关的各种治疗产生巨大影响。”

While the study comprised a retroactive review of previous links between animals and atmospheric lightning, the research team says the next step will be to design new experiments to further explore the potential benefits.

虽然该研究回顾了动物和大气闪电之间的联系，但研究团队表示，下一步将是设计新的实验，进一步探索潜在的好处。

"One new experiment we are now planning is to see how these fields may impact the rate of photosynthesis in plants," Price added.

“我们现在正在计划的一项新实验是，看看这些农田如何影响植物的光合作用速率，”普莱斯补充说。