LIVING PLASMAS

by Massimo Teodorani

(Original in Italian, abstract and PDF link at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/253218733_Living_Plasmas)

We are used to living in a world where matter has three well-defined states: gaseous, liquid and solid. It is in the midst of these 3 components that we lead our lives, beginning with our birth as organic fetuses. The organic structure of our bodies is itself made of these 3 elements: this is living matter based on DNA and its ability to self-replicate and intelligently transmit the memory of a double helix bringing the information sufficient to assemble the proteins of the living cell. Structures of this kind can come to create only when there are the right conditions: in particular the presence of carbon and water, through which it is possible to create extremely efficiently the macromolecules that then lead to the birth and evolution of life , here on Earth and probably also on other worlds. Leaving a door open to the functions of silicon in its potential capacity to lead to the formation of living structures somewhere in the universe and under very special conditions, we remain convinced that the mechanism based on carbon chemistry is the most universal for the formation of life. And we also know that even in the interstellar space organic carbon-based molecules can form, as our radio astronomy observations have repeatedly demonstrated. For millennia, man has studied the mechanism of life in many ways, and only very recently have we discovered DNA and its functions. Today we are able to describe the mechanism of life quite well, so much so that we can not only read but also write (the very recent news of the discovery of the biochemist Craig Venter) the structure of DNA. Although we are able to understand how the mechanism of life manifests itself, we still do not know exactly what it is today.

Questions like "what is life?" Became even more disturbing when in August 2007 in German and Russian numerical simulation laboratories, it emerged that when a plasma (a kind of broth composed of electrons and free ions) comes in contact with a cloud of fine dust grains, these grains immediately acquire an electric charge by sucking electrons from the plasma that surrounds them to form a nucleus of electrons which in turn attracts the positively charged ions of the plasma itself, thus giving rise to those that have been called "crystal of plama". What really strikes is that, driven by electrostatic forces, the dust grains are animated by twisting in helical structures, while the plasma becomes polarized. Under these conditions the powder grains inside the plasma acquire self-organizing characteristics, since they, thanks to the plasma in which they are immersed, start to spin in electrically charged helical structures which end up attracting one with the other one. Similar experiments have been carried out since 1998 even in conditions of zero gravity in the space stations such as the Russian Mir, but it took molecular dynamics simulations performed on the computer by physicists such as German Georg Morfill and Russian Vadim Tsytovich to understand well that what happens when dust comes into contact with a plasma, what is called the fourth state of matter. What really upsets this research is that these plasma crystals take shapes that rapidly evolve into a double helix that is identical to that which characterizes DNA, and which shows an exceptional self-organizing ability. But there is more, since this form is replicated in other plasma crystals as if these forms were reproduced by transmitting their "genetic code" in all that surrounds them. The simulation shows that these helices can have two stable configurations represented by a small and a large spiral, while each propeller contains various sequences of these two states: the researchers believe that this dynamic feature allows these structures to memorize information; in fact they can divide, form exact copies, interact with neighboring spirals, and induce changes in other spirals. And it all comes from a vortex spiraled by electromagnetic forces, a vortex that is transmitted all around forming helical structures identical to those that produced them: the helix represents a kind of informative code, which ends up replicating itself passing any structural transformation from a generation to the next and to shape increasingly complex and stable structures. Basically we have a physical system where the dust particles are held together by electromagnetic forces that seem to contain a code that is completely comparable to the genetic information that holds the organic matter together and with the characteristic of reproducing exactly like a living cell. In other words, it really seems that these structures made of dust and plasma are real living beings capable of reproducing and evolving, and in order to do so they are also able to feed themselves famly of all the plasma they have at their disposal. This phenomenology has made us think that the "helix code" is really the distinctive feature that characterizes the mechanism of life, and that, above all, it can be explained not only in the organic form that we have always known but also in a disquieting inorganic form. In fact, the same Gregor Morfill of Max Planck Institut für Extraterrestrisches Physik had no difficulty in stating the following: "From our numerical simulations it appears that by assembling powder particles together with a plasma it seems possible to meet the commonly accepted minimum conditions to define the mechanics of life, for which it is enough to obtain a sufficient concentration of electrically charged dust and the process of self-organization and growth can be triggered: it is concluded that complex self-organized structures of plasma exhibit all the necessary properties that qualify them as candidates of the matter living inorganic ". So plasma crystals are a completely inorganic form of life, which seems to respond precisely to the aspirations of some American astrobiologists when they want to look for clues to what they already call "weird life".

[IMAGE] Helix structure of DNA (left) and simulation of the helical trajectory of powder grains in a plasma

Now that we know the existence of plasma crystals thanks to some experiments carried out in space and to very precise and rigorous numerical simulations, we just have to look for them somewhere. It seems that the most suitable places are in the cosmos, and in particular in the interstellar dust clouds, in the circumstellar medium or in the rings of planets like Saturn or Uranus, all environments rich in both dust and plasma particles. And let's not forget that plasma represents 99% of matter in the universe. These are ideal environments also because in these particular conditions the electromagnetic processes that lead to the formation of helical codes are not particularly disturbed by the effect of gravity. If things really are in these terms, then this strange mechanism could be largely the most common in the generation of "vital structures" in the universe, to the point of suspecting that in the interstellar clouds there are not only organic molecules but also primed structures from plasma and dust that reproduce and evolve, perhaps even intelligently; which is to say that interstellar clouds could themselves be a living form. In this regard one can not help but think of the very famous science fiction novel written in 1957 by the great British astronomer Fred Hoyle (the father of the cosmological theory of the steady state), where a living and intelligent cosmic cloud threatens Earth.

[IMAGE] Two examples of nebulae recently taken by the Hubble Space Telescope

We have seen that laboratory simulations on plasma crystals seem to truly lead to living structures. But we also know that life often leads to intelligence. One wonders then if these structures can evolve in such a way as to become intelligent or sentient. There are several clues that make you think, and two in particular: the very characteristics of coherence of the plasmas as such, and certain manifestations of strange luminous plasma phenomena occurring recurrently not in cosmic space but in some places on our planet.

The quantum physicist David Bohm realized that a plasma seems to represent a very peculiar state of the electrically charged matter, in which the particles that compose it (electrons and ions) seem to behave like an intelligent conglomerate with both individual and collective characteristics, and with a configuration a dynamic that suggests the existence of a "memory" inside the plasma itself, where even the particles furthest from the center of symmetry of the plasma cloud seem to be constantly informed of what happens in the center. In the course of his investigations, Bohm soon realized that, for example, the electrons, once they become part of a plasma, stop appearing as individual particles and begin to behave as if they were part of a larger and more interconnected whole, a sea of ​​particles that gives the impression of being apparently alive, intelligent and conscious due to the self- regulation characteristics that can be found by studying its behavior both in the laboratory and using the table equations. At this point one would think that a plasma, precisely because of its unique characteristics, could under certain conditions function as a kind of "neural structure", able to receive, process and transmit information of some kind: in essence it could behave like a kind of computer. But it could also give rise to the phenomenon of Life, as the very recent research on plasma crystals seems to demonstrate. Regardless of the mechanism of life, it is the very coherent structure of a plasma that could also function as a kind of "quantum soundbox", in the same way that microtubules operate in an orchestrated manner in our brain - based on research of the mathematician Roger Penrose and the neurophysiologist Stuart Hameroff - determine the formation of moments of consciousness. Let's try to imagine that the orchestral quantum mechanics is able to operate even within the plasma particles and then we can expect not only a living structure, but also an intelligent and conscious structure.

[IMAGE] HD 44179: a mysterious geometric structure made of gas, dust and plasma around a dying star (image taken from Hubble Space Telescope). Do we really have to think that it was built by chance?

In very special situations, such as due to lightening or the formation of very strange atmospheric condensations of luminous plasma, it is possible that the phenomenon of plasma crystals (or something very similar) may also occur on our planet. Strange, for the truth are certain coincidences. Some phenomena of light, whose plasma nature was clearly demonstrated during research carried out in the Hessdalen valley in Norway and also in other places in the world including Italy, the interacting plasmas and dust behaviors detected by Morfill and Tsytovich seem quite similar: spheres of light that tend to divide to unite, to multiply, exactly as a living cell would. All this has been observed and documented. In fact, it is not a matter of simulations but of transient manifestations of plasma actually existing on our planet, when particular conditions - such as piezoelectricity and the semiconductivity of certain rocks - in the subsoil allow it. These phenomena of light, when they appear simultaneously in several points of the same valley, seem to be connected to one another, since they often tend to react in concert when only one of these globes of light is stimulated by electromagnetic sources. The thing that really amazes me is that the mechanism of formation of these spheres of light contains exactly the same ingredients as the crystals of plasma: a plasma and atmospheric dust in the form of aerosols, with water vapor that generates thermal-electric processes as a catalyst. chemicals capable of confining these plasma spheres. Sometimes they are seen to flicker in the sky assuming real helical trajectories, just like the plasma crystals of the simulations of Morfill and Tsytovich. One thing is certain: these plasma spheres have a tendency to multiply and evolve, and they do so in the order of minutes or even seconds.

[IMAGE] Luminous plasma at Hessdalen (Norway) and Watersmeet (USA) and their transformations (above and at the center), and helical trajectory in the sky (below) produced by a "Hessdalen light" (Project Hessdalen 1984)

And this is not the case, since suddenly the bright plasma spheres - especially those studied at Hessdalen - can take perfectly geometrical shapes, such as rectangles or triangles. At first glance it would seem that the plasma behaves like snow crystals, organizing itself into geometric and symmetrical structures, and this would not be enough to make it an intelligent organism. But evidence that recur constantly for centuries in many locations of the world, show that these forms of plasma are attracted to man and tend to interact with him, as if they were truly endowed with true characteristics of intelligence and even of consciousness, since they seem able to trigger in the minds of people more accommodation strange phenomena that have much in common with telepathy. For now, we are dealing with testimonies, but we will soon be verifying it with crucial experiments that will involve the direct and simultaneous measurement of both the biophysical parameters of the brain and the electromagnetic characteristics of the phenomenon of light as such.

Therefore, structures with many characteristics similar to those detected by numerical simulations on plasma crystals, also seem to appear on our planet. Spheres of plasma that are born suddenly and then reproduce and evolve very quickly, sometimes taking geometric forms, and interacting with the man himself. They are one of the greatest frontiers of physics, where physics itself - and no longer biology - could become the protagonist in determining exactly what Life is and with it the intelligence and consciousness that seem to spring from it in a completely natural way .

What do we have now? We know that: a) plasmas coupled to dust particles can acquire characteristics similar to DNA; b) the plasmas are highly coherent structures and behave like the components of a software in such a way as to make a very precise intelligent program work; c) more or less structured forms of plasma are recurrently manifested as "anomalous luminous phenomena" in many parts of the Earth, with the characteristic of "reproducing" in the same way as cell multiplication and interacting with man.

We just have to go deep, since computerized numerical simulations only serve us to describe certain types of behaviors mathematically: now we need to study them better in our environment. It is highly probable that some plasma phenomena seen (and sometimes even measured) on our planet are correlated with the phenomenology of plasma crystals. If we could prove it, then we could also find that the most universal form of Life is based precisely on the interaction between the subatomic particles of a plasma - ions and free electrons - and microscopic particles of matter scattered throughout the universe. On Earth as in the interstellar spaces of the clouds of diffuse matter immersed in the plasmas, in the rings of gaseous planets made of tiny particles fed by the magnetospheric plasmas of their giant planets, and perhaps also in other cosmic environments that we do not yet know, mechanisms could occur that they have been at the root of the creation of organic life. Well-defined characteristics of the plasmas determined by their internal coherence in particular and favorable conditions could also take the aspect of intelligence and consciousness, while the action of the plasmas could be decisive in "shaping" the material itself as we know it, as well as life for as we do not yet know it.

Bibliographic References and Internet

1. Hoyle, F. (2003). The Black Cloud. Ed. Feltrinelli.

2. Silverman, J. (2007). "Are we Looking for Aliens in the Wrong Places?": Http://science.howstuffworks.com:80/weird-life.htm

3. Teodorani, M. (2004) "A Long-Term Scientific Survey of the Hessdalen Phenomenon". Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 18, n. 2, pp. 217-251: http://www.scientificexploration.org/jse/articles/pdf/18.2_teodorani.pdf

4. Teodorani, M. (2007). Entanglement. Ed. MACRO Editions.

5. Teodorani, M. (2008). Spheres of Light. Ed. MACRO Editions.