BASIC INFORMATION:
SPECIAL TOPICS
PRIORITY ITEMS:
OBRL PROGRESS REPORT Prepared by James DeMeo, Ph.D.
Summer 2006
Director, Orgone Biophysical Research Lab
Greensprings Center, Ashland, Oregon, USA
Contents of This Report:
James DeMeo's Forthcoming Lectures and Seminars in Germany:
Munster, Munich and Berlin, 6-19 October 2006.
The OBRL To-T Experiments: Thermal Anomaly in the Reich Orgone Accumulator.
Anomalous Reactions of an Orgone-Charged Neutron Counter.
Electroscopical Discharge Rate Variations
The Fitzroy Tube Effect
Investigations into the Ether-Drift Experiments
Greensprings Seminars and Orgonomy Conferences: 2007
Publications in Progress
Fund-Raising Appeal
This Report will summarize the results of several on-going projects as undertaken at the Orgone Biophysical Research Lab, near Ashland, Oregon. Several of the projects are long-term, and so the results presented here constitute only a Preliminary Reports, with minimal or no citations to prior work, and awating a final publication in more polished and definitive forms.
This Report continues as a follow-on from prior publicly-released Reports and other materials, which are aside from what is published in our Research Journal, Pulse of the Planet. For more information, please review those prior reports here:
OBRL PROGRESS REPORT Summer 2002
OBRL Report on Summer 2003 Seminars
Conference on New Research in Orgonomy, Abstracts Summer 2005
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Before detailing recent research undertaken at OBRL, and given the fast approach of the forthcoming lecture and seminar dates, we firstly would invite those of our readers in Europe to review our "Forthcoming Lectures" webpage, which gives full details on these events:
http://www.orgonelab.org/lectures.htm
These lectures and seminars will cover the following general topics:
"Die Forschungstätigkeit des Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory" ("Orgonomic Research at the Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory").
"Update on Saharasia: Neue archäologische Erkenntnisse zur Saharasia-Theorie: Eine Periode friedlichen Zusammenlebens in der Vorzeit und die Implikationen für die moderne Welt" ("Update on Saharasia: New Archaeological Findings on an Ancient Period of Peace, and Implications for the Modern World")
"Saharasia, die gegenwärtige Ausbreitung der Wüsten, deren Auswirkung auf das Weltklima, die globale Erwärmung und das El Nino-Phänomen" ("Saharasian Desert Expansion: Influences upon the Modern World Climate, including Global Warming and El Nino").
A downloadable printable PDF Flyer is also available from the above website, with information in both German and English language.
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The OBRL To-T Experiments: Thermal Anomaly in the Reich Orgone Accumulator
In the 1950s, Dr. Wilhelm Reich observed the orgone energy accumulator appeared to radiate a subtle warmth which he later measured. This was identified as a spontaneous warming inside an enclosed orgone energy accumulator over the environmental temperature: The temperature-orgone minus temperature-air which was shortened to the To-T effect, or as later called the orgone accumulator thermal anomaly. Reich argued this anomaly was caused by a subtle frictional warming of the air from moving orgone energy which existed at higher concentrations inside the accumultor than outside of it. This experiment has been replicated many times, though usually without sufficient systematic efforts to satisfy the critical physicist. My own efforts starting in 2001 were aimed at developing a very systematic To-T experimental protocol, to document this anomaly in a way that would be "bullet-proof" against the criticisms of all known classical thermodynamic explanations.
Work on this subject has been undertaken by the author over many years, starting as early as the late 1970s, with occasional but generally positive results in observing the thermal anomaly within the orgone accumulator. However, proir to around c.2000, my observations were never sufficient or significant enough, in my own estimation, to merit publication of results. I did make a rebuttal argument against one research who obtained negative results using inadequate methodology, and also previously presented a short critique evaluating another claim on the "naked" bare-metal "accumulator", which could not be replicated, but which did document some of the pitfalls and difficulties with this experiment.
Starting in 2001, using systematic and around-the-clock data-recoridng methods, my own work on the To-T question began in earnest. By Summer 2005, I could present my preliminary results, to a Conference on New Research in Orgonomy hosted at the OBRL Greensprings Center. A short summary Abstract of that work was made publicly available (in the booklet of Conference Abstracts). Here I will give a further updated report on the progress of th To-T experiments. None of my prior presentations constitute a full elaboration of my observations and findings, nor an overview of work on this question done by others -- this will come with publication of my full results at a later date.
For my experiments, a small but powerful orgone accumulator (ORAC) was constructed, composed of galvanized steel plate composing a cube with interior dimensions of 10 cm. square, covered by three plys of steel-wool and acrylic felt, such that the outer dimensions grew to approx. 20 cm per side. A final layer of plastic kitchen wrap was added to inhibit air motion. The control enclosure (CONT) was composed of a cube of identical size as the metal one in the accumulator, but made instead of multiple layers of thin poster-board material which I empirically determined had nearly the same thermal resistance value as the galvanized steel. Five layers of the poster-board material as used in the CONTR equaled the thermal resistance of one 27-gague layer of galvanized sheet steel as used in the ORAC. The exterior of the CONT was composed of multiple layers of acrylic felt, again as empirically determined to have a similar thermal resistance to the steel-wool and acrylic layers in the orgone accumulator. These evaluations were determined by placing the different layerings of materials over a thermistor, and then exposing the upper surface of the layers to an artifical heat source, and determining the rate at which temperature increased on the opposing side where the thermistor was located. The rate of temperature decrease under cooling environmental conditions could also be determined by this method, when the artificial heat source was removed. I could then add or subtract layers from one or both of the ORAC or CONT enclosures, so as to create a thermally-matched pair. By empirical testing, the ORAC and CONT pair would yield only ~0.1 degreee C. difference when heated with an intense radiation source far exceeding anything expected from the slow daily rise and fall of environmental air temperatures. Once this was done, calibrated thermistor probes were inserted inside the ORAC and CONT, and measurements could be made of their interior thermal differences -- To-T.
While some To-T work has taken place inside the Greensprings Laboratory building, under a shaded staircase with the windows blacked out, all of the measurements reported here were made were made within a fully-shaded outdoor thermal shelter, specially constructed for this purpose. The shelter was constructed of plywood in the forest under the shade of evergreen trees, in a spot where only patchy sunlight penetrated to the forest floor. The interior of the thermal shelter was totally isolated from all direct and most diffuse sunlight. Additional plywood and celotex fibreboard or polystyrene insulation panels were placed against the exterior of the shelter for additional shielding against even patchy sunlight, and most diffuse light. Ventillation gaps existed at the top and bottom edges of all walls. Sometimes the northern exposure was left fully open, without a wall, to allow diffuse light and full ventillation to flood the inside of the shelter. In later experiments, this was closed off, though excellent air ventillation continued throughout the experiments. In most places, the wall thickness was composed of from three to four layers of plywood, celotex and/or polystyrene panels.
Thermal Shelter in the Forest Shade
This kind of natural environment is necessary for optimal orgone accumulator functioning.
Early in my work, I used mercury thermometers by which to make measurements of To-T, following a protocol nearly exactly as given by Reich. However, for around-the-clock monitoring of the thermal anomaly, this difficult procedure required making visual measurements every hour, which quickly became impractical. At one point, during our summer seminars, a team composed of myself and four students went out and recorded such temperature measurements in the thermal shelter every two hours, around the clock over nearly five days, using flashlights and magnifying glasses to observe thermal readings from inside ORACs and CONTs, and of open air temperatures at various points around the thermal shelter. This was difficult to maintain, and became an impetus to try out electronic temperature monitoring systems, in spite of my early misgivings about having electronic wires going inside the accumulator. The following system was developed.
The ORAC and CONT were constructed to specifically receive electronic temperature probes in their upper interiors, through a short plastic tube which connected from the outermost layer to the final interior layer of galvanized steel in the ORAC, or of posterboard material in the CONT. The ORAC and CONT were sited within the thermal shelter, and allowed to gain maximum open air exposure, but as little sunlight as possible: no direct sunlight whatsoever, and minimal diffuse lighting from northern exposures only. In later experiments, even this diffuse light was almost fully excluded. The ORAC and CONT were at first suspended by string from the ceiling of the thermal shelter, but later on they rested upon a thin wood board which was suspended by heavier rope. Their position was about one meter above the bare-earth floor of the shelter, and they were separated by about one meter, with the multi-layered walls of the structure being about an additional meter from each of the ORAC and CONT enclosures. Independent air temperature probes, AIR3 and AIR4, were located close to the ORAC and CONT respectively.
Suspended Frame for ORAC and CONT Enclosures
Polystyrene, Celotex and Plywood insulation layers can be seen in the background.
ORAC (left) and CONT (right) showing thermistor insertion tubes.
Separate air temperature probes, AIR3 and AIR4, are inside the green-felt covered plastic tubes taped to the wood dowels at 10 cm distance from the ORAC and CONT.
Data were gathered by use of sensitive thermistor probes, which could be calibrated down to thousandths of a degree C. We used the Vernier Lab Pro data acquisition system and Logger Pro software, with a Macintosh Lombard G4 laptop computer for in-situ recording. The computer and Lab Pro were located inside the thermal shelter, but at a distance and shielded with celotex and/or styrofoam panels to prevent radiation or thermal convection effects from their electronics from affecting the experiment. The computer is a low-emissions laptop, and received electrical power from a long cord extended from a garage building about 50 meters distance.
Laptop Computer for Data Recording
Separated from the ORAC and CONT at identical distances, with several interposed sheets of insulation. To the immediate left of the computer is a wall connecting to the open north side of the structure, with a full open gap for air ventillation above. It was observed that placement of the computer at different possible locations had no discernable effect upon the readings. ORAC and CONT locations were also periodically switched, every 5 days, to guard against any persisting external influence. Open air temperatures were also taken near to both the ORAC and CONT, to allow for compensation against environmental thermal differences between the two locations.
The Vernier system allowed each thermistor to be individually calibrated, either to an absolute thermal reference temperature, or to bring their readings closer to each other. I chose to use this latter method, calibrating all thermistors to the same readings, down to hundreths or thousandths of a degree. This was done by using a specially-constructed calibration chamber composed of nested styrofoam insulation boxes. All four thermistors were placed inside a small airtight plastic box, such that the thermistor probes were within one cm of each other. That box was placed inside a small styrofoam box, which was in turn placed inside a larger sealed styrofoam insulated cooler box. The larger cooler box was then placed on a rotating platform which turned a full circle about once every 4 minutes (reversing direction thereafter), to equally expose all thermistors to identical exterior thermal-radiation sources. While inside this rotating calibration chamber, and allowing for adjustment time, the thermistors were calibrated to yield nearly the same reading for the temperature inside the chamber, to within a maximum differential of around 0.005 degree C, or 5/1000ths of a degree. Since measured To-T values ranged upwards of around 0.2 degrees on average, with daily peaks approaching one full degree C., I was satisfied the calibration procedures were more than adequate to insure instrumental reliability, and that the measured temperature readings were accurate.
Rotating Calibration Chamber
Inside is a smaller styrofoam box, with a smaller sealed plastic box inside that which contained the actual thermistor probes being calibrated.
Once the calibration was accomplished and verified by allowing the temperature curves to be observed and plotted over some hours, to insure there would be no significant displacements away from a near-zero difference, and without shutting down the computers or recording devices, all thermistors were removed from the clibration chamber and placed inside the ORAC and CONT enclosures, and inside the protective plastic-felt tubes for AIR3 and AIR4. Measurements were then automatically taken by the Logger Pro software once each minute. By monitoring AIR3 and AIR4 temperatures close to the ORAC and CONT, I could determine if one side of the thermal shelter was preferentially warmed by local sunlight or wind, and take steps to correct this though the addition or removal of shade panels on the outside and inside of the structure. A remote-reading infrared thermometer was also used to make these determinations. With work, I found it was possible to reduce the temperature differences between the AIR3 and AIR4 thermistors down to less than around 0.2 degrees C, and this measured parameter was later used as a correction-factor for all readings. So for example if the ORAC was located on the side of the structure where the environmental temperature was 0.2 degrees warmer than where the CONT was located, I would lower the To-T by that 0.2 degrees, or whatever it might be.
Data would be recorded on a given computer file over a period of ten days, which was about the maximum amount of data this particular computer and software could automatically record without suffering memory problems. Also, every five days, the locations of the ORAC and CONT would be switched, by a simple slow rotation of the suspended framework and board upon which the ORAC and CONT, and AIR3 and AIR4 probes were secured. In this way, once the calibration procedures were finished and the thermistor probes properly inserted into the different chambers, the experiment could be run without further approach of a warm human body, other than my usual once-per-day visit to the thermal shelter to examine and save the data. After ten days, the experimental run would be ended, and a new recording file created using the same calibration values as the old file. About once each month, calibration curves would be re-plotted, and thermistor values corrected back to a common zero if necessary. Only rarely was this necessary, and in each case the corrected values were never more than around 0.05 degrees C.
Figure 1: To-T August 2004 Orgone Accumulator Thermal Anomaly. A Solar-Tidal Cosmic "Heart-beat" Pulsation in the Accumulator?
This ten-day measuring period shows a pulsating orgone-energetic thermal effect timed to Noontime Solar-excitation maxima, as marked with yellow circles. One also observed a Midnight solar-excitation minima in the data. However, one cannot easily observe any clear effect in the To-T from the diurnal daytime temperature maximum of ~4 PM and temperature minimum of ~6 AM.
In a prior report from August 2004, noted in the above Conference Abstracts I gave a short preliminary report of the results from this methodology. Very clear and significant results were obtained, indicating a pendulation of To-T effects with an average of around 0.25 degrees C positive To-T (ORAC warmer than CONT), and a peaking of effects from around +0.2 to +0.6 degree C., always around solar noontime when the Sun stood highest in the sky. It also yielded a minimum reading at around midnight, when solar-tidal forces are at a minimum. This result, as summarized in Figure 1 above, was highly anomalous, not only for the spontaneous warming effects inside the ORAC over the thermally-balanced CONT enclosure, but due to the To-T maxima and minima being timed so exactly to solar-excitation tidal force maxima and minima. Since daytime air temperature peaks out around 4 PM, and declines to a minimum temperature just before dawn at around 6 AM, this suggested a real anomaly inside the orgone accumulator which was directly linked with solar excitation, but not with the subsequent thermal effects of solar radiation upon the local environment. In short, the orgone accumualtor seemed to sense, by itself, the solar excitation, even when kept in a dark shaded location. The presence of a secondary "excitation peak" at the midnight hour also was of interest, given certain cosmic-astronomical considerations. Overall, the data suggested an energetic pulsation similar to a living "heart-beat", with each pulsation lasting 24 hours.
After these excellent results had been observed, a period of more than a year passed where I attempted new technical methods to improve upon the readings, and overcome the persisting 0.2 degrees C. natural environmental variation within the thermal shelter.
For a time, to overcome slight environmental temperature differences, I used the same rotating calibration chamber platform mentioned above to measure ORAC and CONT temperatures -- the platform turned in a full circle once every 4 minutes, whereupon a switch was automatically activated and the entire device rotate in the opposite direction, thereafter repeating continuously as minute-by-minute measurements were made via thermistors and the computer. This approach insured that both the ORAC and CONT enclosures were subjected to nearly identical environmental temperature variations over the course of the day. It worked very well to average out the small environmental thermal variations inside the thermal shelter, and is still used as for the periodic calibrations. However, the slow rotating motion of the orgone accumulator appeared to partially disrupt its energetic parameters, causing it to periodically "flicker out" like a candle in a breeze, often reducing the To-T to negligible values. This was so, even when both the ORAC and CONT were housed inside a special sealed box, which kept the same common air rotating with the two enclosures. After a period, this rotating was discarded for the actual measuring of To-T.
Later, I dug holes in the ground of around 0.75 meter depth, lowering both the accumulator and control into these holes, as a means to overcome the slight difference in air temperature from one side of the thermal shelter to the other. The underground method proved unworkable, as the holes unexpectedly proved to have their own inherent thermal differences even greater than what existed above ground inside the thermal shelter. An attempt was made to overcome this problem by ventillating the holes with a fan which drew air in from the bottom and out through a connecting ventillation shaft kept at some distance from both enclosures. This helped but did not eliminate the problem. I tried all sorts of shallow underground arrangements, where the holes communicated by a separate large pipe, or were separate and sealed off, with openings only to the outside air, or no opening, and with fan motors turned on, or turned off. I tried using primitive holes with bare earth exposed directly to the outside of the ORAC and CONT, and also inserted large diameter cardboard tubes into the holes, into which the ORAC and CONT were inserted. No strong positive To-T was observed in any situation. In the end, underground dew deposition indicated these holes were moist environments even during the dry Oregon summer, and this factor alone suggested a negation of orgone energy accumulation effects, which are minimized by the presence of water. The underground method was thereafter discontinued.
Underground To-T Experiments: A Failed Effort
Holes for ORAC/AIR3 probes (left) and CONT/AIR4 probes (right) are seen, lined with cardboard sonotube, though the holes are too deep to observe the enclosures from this perspective. This method was abandoned due to excessive moisture in the holes, which predicts a dimunition of the orgone accumulator thermal anomaly. And in fact, no thermal anomaly was observed in this arrangement.
While Reich undertook To-T measurements in buried orgone accumulators and obtained very good results, his experiment was fully exposed to sunlight on the upper soil surface, which was not the case in my own experiments. In my experiments, I decided to firstly and thoroughly explore the effects of To-T in a fully-shaded environment, deliberately excluding strong solar excitation. I reasoned, solar excitation should appear at some minimal level, even without direct sunlight striking the exteriors of surfaces close to the ORAC or CONT. The accumulator should function, I reasoned, without such direct solar radiation, which by itself might confound the results with classical objections (ie, strong solar heating effects) that would render any results indeterminate. I was interested to obtain a significant and "bulletproof" To-T effect even if the anomaly was of a much smaller quantity. It would make no sense to boast of a very high "To-T" if this had been obtained outdoors in burning sunlight, or in other circumstances where classical thermodynamics or thermal lag effects would constitute a very large proportion of the measurements, or where one would be unable to sort out what was influencing what.
Consequently, I kept returning to the original and simpler method as reported above from August 2004, of situating the orgone accumuator and control above the ground, sheltered within a dry shaded structure but without moving them, and then taking added measures to minimize or compensate for remaining environmental thermal variations within the temperature shelter.
That original 2004 protocol is now in operation once again, as described above, since mid-Summer 2006, but with a few added features. I now mathematically compensate for remaining measured small temperature variations within the thermal shelter. Given the slow rise and fall in air temperatures over the course of the day, and shifting solar position, the differences between the two open air temperature probes, AIR3 and AIR4, was routinely variable from zero to around 0.2 degree C. This amount, whatever it was, is now subtracted from the actual measured To-T, to yield an Adjusted To-T reading. This latter adjusted reading today yields the most significant readings, as by measuring the actual environmental temperature differences, and subtracting them from the measured To-T, it provides a control against persisting small environmental temperature variations which impinge upon the ORAC or CONT enclosures.
Figure 2: Adjusted To-T Methodology, 2-4 August 2006
BLUE is the actual To-T. RED is the actual measured air temperature difference close to the ORAC and CONT. GREEN is the To-T Adjusted value, which substracts the RED from the BLUE. The YELLOW circles marks Solar Noon, while the BLACK circles mark the midnight hour.
Figure 2 above shows two days of this measuring technique. The blue line shows the exact To-T measurement, the difference between the ORAC and CONT. It varies over the 24-hour period by around -0.4 to +0.5 deg C., which while somewhat positive, does not appear to be significantly so. An examination of the environmental temperature variations inside the thermal shelter suggests otherwise, however. The temperature difference between AIR3 probe kept close to the ORAC, and AIR4 probe kept close to the CONT, indicated a persisting mechanical warming influence upon the CONT which is greater than that experienced by the ORAC, at a value reaching up to 0.3 degrees C. This indicated the CONT was constantly being environmentally warmed over the ORAC by that amount, and this mechanically and artifically drove down the To-T measurement. We therefore can construct a "To-T Adjusted" reading, though simple subtraction. When this is done, the Green curve in Figure 2 emerges. It shows a very significant variation from around -0.1 to +0.8 degrees, with an average of around 0.2 or 0.3 degrees C. As seen previously in Figure 1, the peak times for the To-T in Figure 2 also were at solar noon, and not at the peak daytime temperature, which is typically around 4 PM. The trough or valley of these measurements is also close to midnight, which also is significant. Air temperatures steadily cool at night until early morning at around 6 AM, when the Sun starts to rise and mechanically warms the environment. If the To-T effect were purely a mechanical response to environmental temperature variations, then one would expect it to generally follow the daytime thermal maximum and minimum. But this is not the case. The curve instead is suggestive of a solar-excitation or tidal-cosmic function in the orgone accumuator, much as solar excitation influences the ocean and earth tides, atmospheric pressure waves, and the biological rhythms of animals and plants. Numerous studies of plants and animals have shown similar solar-tidal excitation curves, even when they are kept in darkened laboratories under controlled conditions, much like within our darkened thermal shelter.
Figure 3: 2-13 August 2006: To-T Adjusted Methodology
Inclusive of the same data given in Figure 2, only the To-T Adjusted values are given.
Figure 3 above shows the extracted To-T Adjusted measurements for August 2nd through 13th, 2006, which includes the same data-period as given in Figure 2. The scale is more compressed than in Figure 2, and one can once more see the peaking of temperatures at solar noon, with minima around midnight. Secondary midnight pulses are difficult to observe in this plot, given the saw-toothed nature of the AIR3-AIR4 temperature readings, which imparts a similar saw-toothed quality to the To-T Adjusted readings. The To-T Adjusted curve is not as smooth as the standard To-T, but one can nevertheless observe similar tendencies. The averages for this plot of only 10 days is around 0.2 deg C, with solar-noon peaks ranging from around 0.4 to 0.7 deg C., and valleys of around 0.2 deg., all of which fall very close to midnight. Also of note, two periods of cloudy weather occurred during this sequence of days, as noted with the small cloud symbols. On both of these days, To-T was reduced, in accordance with orgonomic theory which holds that during epochs of moist cloudy-rainy weather, orgone charge is removed from the ground environment into the clouds overhead, thereby reducing orgone accumulator charge and functioning. It then behaves like an ordinary "box".
Discussion
We should anticipate there would be some component of mechanical thermal variation within the measured data. The two enclosures ORAC and CONT, while constructed to nearly identical specifications, cannot be perfectly identical as to thermal resistance, heat capacity or infra-red properties. Consequently, whatever those difference might be, it is argued they should not significantly exceed the measured environmental differences between thermistor probes AIR3 and AIR4, which do have identical construction compositions, and typically cycle between 0 and 0.2 degrees at most. When substracted from the readings, the Adjusted To-T still persists with peaks at much higher values than this 0.2 degrees. In other experimental runs, the peak values for Adjusted To-T have approached a full +1.0 degree C., in fact. And as discussed below, it appears the CONT enclosure may be more succeptible to environmental warming than the ORAC. The ORAC and CONT enclosures were originally constructed to have very similar thermal resistance values, so their rates of warming and cooling over the course of the 24 hour day/night cycle are anticipated to be nearly identical in any case.
Breaking down thermal influences into the three classically accepted components, of conduction, convection and radiation, we can discuss the anticipated effects:
Conduction: Still air is not a good conductor of thermal energy and actually acts as an insulator. Nor is the board material upon which the ORAC and CONT rests, with a slight inclination to allow air movement to the bottom side as well, likely to affect them significantly. The board is not subject to temperature variations any different than the ORAC and CONT enclosures. We can therefore anticipate only the most insignificant effects from conduction. But as an insurance against any such effects, plans are already in process to replace the board with apparatus to suspend the ORAC and CONT from above, using thin rope, allowing a more direct exposure of the ORAC and CONT bottoms to open air movement.
Convection: Air typically acts to move thermal energy from one location to another by convecting warm air towards cooler locations, and vice-versa, due to density-weight differences. This factor might create thermal variations inside the thermal shelter, particularly during times of wind, where the air temperature outside was either significantly warmer or cooler than the air temperature inside the shelter. In such a case, a warm or cool wind would penetrate, and it it struck either the ORAC or CONT preferentially, it could potentially affect the readings. However, the AIR3 and AIR4 temperature probes are close enough to pick up most of such influences, and responds much quicker to them than does the interior thermistors of the ORAC and CONT enclosures. Also, since the thermal shelter has ventillation gaps in its walls, along the ground base and under the roof-line, with numerous other large and small air gaps especially on the north side, any wind which penetrates tends to quickly affect the entire interior of the structure. Likewise, any temperataure differences created by unequal solar warming of the exterior -- which in any case would have to penetrate firstly through the upper canopy tree cover -- and which could penetrate to the interior of the structure, would also be picked up by the AIR3 and AIR4 termistors, and be corrected for in the final Adjusted To-T values.
Radiation: This factor may be the strongest unknown variable influence of all, as we expect the Sun, the warmed tree canopy above the thermal shelter, the roof of the shelter, and the ground surrounding the shelter, all to radiate thermal infrared (IR) radiation in accordance with their temperature. As the Sun starts to rise everything in the environment would warm in this manner, and continue warming until the thermal maximum of around 4 PM. However, in fact we should expect the CONT enclosure to more readily react to thermal IR than the ORAC. We know that metals are largely reflective of thermal IR radiation. Insulation in homes often incorporates reflective metal foils for this very purpose, of reflecting away thermal IR in hot sunny climates, to keep the house cool. In colder climates, the metal reflective barrier is placed facing to the inside of the house, to reflect heat back inside, to keep the house warm in winter. We should therefore expect a solid metal box as in the ORAC interior, to reflect away any environmental thermal IR radiation which developed over the course of the day. The CONT, however, would allow thermal IR to enter inside, and provide some small warming of its interior. We therefore observe several paradoxes in the To-T readings, based upon the anticipated effects of environmental thermal IR. By the time the Sun rises in the early morning, nearly all objects have cooled to a similar lower thermal-IR radiant signature. As the Sun begins to warm the air and surface objects, which then radiate IR through the walls of the thermal shelter, we should anticipate that the CONT would start to warm up preferentially over the ORAC, given its metal-box IR-reflective interior. The CONT would be somewhat "transparent" to incident IR, allowing it to penetrate and warm the interior of the CONT. But this is not the case. The ORAC in fact starts warming over the CONT, and most interestingly, this begins from around midnight but accelerates towards the noontime peak in To-T. This AM warming of the ORAC is fully anomalous, especially for the AM period AFTER sunrise when the CONT ought to start preferentially warming its interior from incident thermal IR.
This fascinating experiment developed by Reich in the 1940s appears to document a clear "living" pulsation with the atmospheric orgone energy, modulated by solar-excitation and timed to cosmic "solar-tidal" effects. If this is true, then by monitoring the phenomenon over some months or years, it should be possible to also identify a lunar-tidal effect within the data. Only recently is sufficient data being gathered systematically over the 24-hour clock, and over the weeks and months, where such an effect can be searched for.
Further details on this fascinating experiment will be given periodically. For now, it is my intention to run this experimental protocol over a full year, improving upon it as much as is possible.
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Anomalous Reactions of an Orgone-Charged Neutron Counter
One of the more interesting physics anomalies which Wilhelm Reich identified was an erratic high count-per-minute (CPM) on a standard Geiger-Muller (GM) counter which was allowed to soak for a prolonged period inside a strong orgone energy accumulator. From this work, and related work on orgone-charged high-vacuum tubes, he demonstrated several effects which stood in clear violations of standard ionization theory. Reich's orgone charged GM counters, and later his orgone-charged high-vacuum tubes (or "vacor" tubes as he called them) yielded high CPMs without the presence of nearby nuclear sources. They instead responded to the presence of life-energetic charge and pulsation. Rather than "atomic bullets" racing through space which created small ionization trails in the tube of a GM counter, Reich's work suggested the clicks on a GM counter were in fact the result of rapid sequential increases and discharges of orgone energy tension with the GM tube.
Starting in the early 1990s, I became interested in this phenomenon, and undertook several experimental approaches towards replication. Among other steps, I obtained a RadAlert-50 portable GM counter, and allowed it to charge up inside an orgone accumulator over many months. Periodicially it was removed and turned on, but never showed any anomalous reactions, with the CPM remaining at standard background, between around 5 to 20 clicks every minute. However, this device has a GM tube which is directly soldered to an interior circuit-board and contained within the plastic hand-held case. It was possible the case was interfering with orgone energy (OR) absorption into the tube. I also obtained several used GM counters, where the GM tube was on an extension cord separate from the electronics of the counter, battery and display. In those cases, the GM tubes only were wrapped in OR-blanket materials, and allowed to sit over months. However, they also they never yielded any clearly anomalous CPM, except for the occasional erratic outburst, which could not be interpreted usefully.
In the meanwhile, I had undertaken work with orgone-charged high-vacuum tubes, which were kept charging inside a very highly-charged OR darkroom at the OBRL Greensprings Center. These tubes yielded anomalous flashes of light when initially touched, and stronger slow pulsing glows when stroked with the bare hand. This latter effect was documented on a time-lapse photo, shown below, the procedures of which were previously described in the #5 issue of our journal, Pulse of the Planet #5 (Heretic's Notebook, p.55, 2002). This photo basically replicated one made previously by Dr. Reich, but without even the low-voltage electricity Reich used to excite his tubes. In his experiment, by OR-charging the tubes, he got them to glow at excitation voltages lower than deemed necessary by standard ionization theory. In my experiment, no applied voltage was necessary at all, as they could be excited to glow by merely stroking with the hand -- and it did not matter how the electrodes were touched or grounded. Even the person doing the stroking could hold a grounding-wire, and the tube could be grounded as well. The glowing occurred nevertheless, indicating it was purely an orgonotic effect unrelated to classical electricity as from power-lines.
Orgone Energy Darkroom, at the OBRL Greensprings Center
Glowing Orgone-Charged High Vacuum "VACOR" Tube
Charged up inside the Orgone Darkroom over many months, now glows when stroked with the hand, without application of electrical current, and in spite of all efforts to "ground" the phenomenon out with conductive wires.
A parallel consideration was highlighted in an article I wrote "Auroras at the Tree-Tops", which documented various eye-witness statements and observations by professionals who lived and worked in the Arctic north, that the aurora phenomenon sometimes could move down very close to Earth's surface, literally at tree-top level. This also was a violation of classical ionization theory, which demands that no such glowing could occur except in the deep vacuum of the near-space environment.
With these encouraging signs, and in spite of failures to get a standard GM counter to show anomalous reactions after lengthy OR charging, I continued with this line of research as a "back-burner" project. By 2002, I obtained a specialized GM device which suggested a very promising new approach, one which also went to core issues of standard nuclear radiation theory. This device was a Ludlum Model 12-4 Neutron Counter. It was purchased used, but otherwise in excellent condition, and was sent to Ludlum for a complete check-up and calibration before the following experiments were undertaken. The device has an unusual look, with a large plastic sphere of around 12" diameter, inside of which is located a special spherical thick-walled GM counter which is generally sensitive only to very intensive gamma radiation. By classical atomic theory, neutrons are emitted but cannot be detected as they pass through ordinary detectors without interacting with them. The neutron must firstly pass through a material known as a "neutron moderator", after which in some mysterious fashion, the neutron is slowed down and then it will become detectable. In early experiments with nuclear radiation, it was observed for example, that if a GM counter was placed a meter away from a very strong radiation source, it would yield a given CPM. Normally, if you placed a thick lead shield in between the radiation source and the detector it would lower the counts. Or, if a steel plate was inserted in between, the CPM might skew away from strong beta-particles or gamma-rays, towards x-rays, the "braking radiation" effect. The braking-radiation or "bremstrahlung" radiation might require a more sensitive detector to identify, but it also could be detected. But what about the elusive neutron, which remained only in the world of pure theory over many years? They can be detected in very heavy-walled GM tubes suitable for only the most powerful radiation if one firstly places a block of "neutron moderating" material between the radiation source and the detector. And this moderating material must be a very high-dielectric plastic material, as is typically known to be very good for making orgone energy accumulators.
So let us review: Neutrons are considered to be the "glue" which holds the atomic nucleus together, composed as it is of a collection of like-charged proton particles. Just how this "glue" works, they cannot say, but neutrons were in fact proposed as a solution to the riddle of how the nucleus stays together and therefore permits the various elements to remain stable over time. Regarding unstable radioactive elements, when they undergo radioactive discharge, neutrons are emitted in proportion to any proton decay emissions which accompany their transmutation of elements. They are most abundantly discharged when atomic fission is occurring, as within a nuclear power plant, or any radioactive ore sample with a very high CPM. In such cases, the radioactive materials will glow with a deep blue color. Inside nuclear power plants, this blue glow -- called "Cherenkov radiation" in honor of the Russian who firstly described the effect -- occurs in coordinated rise and fall with the rise and fall of the overall radiation levels inside the reactor. Both the radiation levels and the blue-glow can be "moderated" by moving "neutron moderating rods" into the reactor core, which are composed of a similar plastic material. From this, there are many points of agreement between Reich's OR theory, and that of classical physics, but it requires abandonment of at least some parts of the "particle" theory of matter.
By my argument, the sub-atomic "glue" which "glows blue" may in fact be the orgone energy itself, being mis-identified as "neutrons". By this interpretation, there would be no "neutron particles", only the ocean of orgone energy which is misinterpreted and called "neutrons". And the "neutron moderator" is therefore understood as being a good orgone-absorbing material, a dense plastic with a high dielectric constant, as might be used in orgone accumulator construction. I therefore considered, by this line of reasoning, that a detector which was already specially constructed to detect "neutrons" might show stronger reactions to OR-charging than other devices I had previously experimented with. This proved to be so.
Ludlum 12-4 Neutron Counter, being Charged Inside the OBRL Orgone-Energy Darkroom
The wires supply external DC power to run the instrument, and provide for a data-acquisition system connecting to a computer located in the adjacent Greensprings laboratory.
After the Ludlum neutron counter arrived at OBRL, in Summer of 2002, it was firstly evaluated in the laboratory, away from any orgone accumulators. It would typically yield from zero to 2 CPM, very low readings, which is typical for neutron counters I was was informed. I exposed it to radioactive mineral sources which would cause a standard GM counter to sing, with perhaps 1000 CPM, but the neutron counter was unreactive to them. When I inquired about the kind of radioactive mineral required to get the neutron counter to react, I learned it would do so only if taken into a nuclear power plant, and any such samples of sufficient radiation to cause the neutron counter to react would require special permits because of the high radiation and danger involved. I had taken a course in radiation biophysics at the University of Kansas many years ago, in a classroom adjacent to an experimental nuclear reactor, and so had a clear knowledge of these kinds of sources. I did not wish to have them around my laboratory, and so never procured the necessary samples. After some weeks of observing the neutron counter make its single "chirp" about once a minute, it was moved into the OR darkroom for charging.
Over the months, I would periodically visit the OR darkroom and turn on the neutron counter to observe any effects. At first, it appeared to do nothing, but then slowly began giving chirps of up to 10 CPM. This persisted for more than a year, of CPM values ranging from the original zero to two CPM, upwards of 10 to sometimes 15 CPM maximum. Then during Summer of 2003, during the time of the OBRL Greensprings Seminars and when several visitors from the USA and overseas were staying at the OBRL facility, the following event happened. One of the conference participants who also was assisting in the work, Mr. Tom DiFerdinando, went to sit in the orgone darkroom for personal charging. While there, as was typical of the procedures when anyone went into the OR darkroom, the GM counters being charged were turned on, to monitor any anomalous activity. He observed a slow rise over perhaps 10 minutes, to a point where the chirping of the neutron counter was hysterically fast. By the time I was informed and came down to look, the neutron counter was chirping away at what the meter analog dial showed to be around 20,000 CPM! Other scientists in attendance witnessed this event, and it was videotaped. We observed that no amount of jiggling the cords, or rapping on the instrument, would affect the readings -- it clearly was not due to any kind of "shorting out" of the electrical components. The device was then moved outside the orgone room, but still continued chirping at high levels. The effect subsided finally after around an hour.
A few similar reactions of the neutron counter were observed over the year thereafter. The meter tended to "react" when people went inside the orgone room, especially when moving around or moving orgone blankets around -- this was how the first reaction noted above was triggered, according to Mr. DiFerdinando, by unfolding an orgone blanket and gently spreading it out near to the detector. At other times, no such human motion or OR blanket motion would trigger such reactions, so clearly this by itself was insufficient. We also observed the proximity of thunderstorms in the region, and not necessarily passing overhead, would trigger reactions. Taking the device out of the orgone room into the open air or laboratory would trigger reactions, as would moving it from the laboratory back into the OR room. And such reactions would not develop at the time of the moving of the device, but often only after it had been moved, and then allowed to sit in the new environment for some minutes or hours. The basic pattern seems to be, anything which changes the orgone charge or tension in the environment had the possibility of triggering such a reaction.
Finally, I decided to set up the neutron counter, and a standard GM counter, for constant monitoring using our Vernier data acquisition system. An external power supply and data-output port was added to the neutron counter, allowing it to be left on for very long periods. Data from the device was carried by a cable to a Macintosh G3 laptop computer situated inside the Greensprings laboratory building. This computer monitored not only the neutron counter, but also a standard RadAlert portable GM counter as mentioned above, plus a temperature probe. With constant monitoring, some new patterns were observed. Data collection from the device added some clarity to these isolated observations.
Figure 4: OR-Charged Neutron Counter: Local Weather Reactions? June 2006
Apparatus soars to several thousand CPM during periods of local (but not overhead) thunderstorms.
Figure 4 above shows a 5-day period of monitoring of the neutron counter, at a time when thunderstorms were in the region, but never passing directly overhead. As seen, the count-rates were upwards of 1700 CPM as determined from the data port (which approximated around 20,000 on the meter's analog dial). Figure 5 below shows one of the smaller of these reactions, peaking at "only" 165 CPM. it shows a curve which gradually increased from background levels to a plateau of around 50 CPM which lasted for some hours. The meter then increased its counts towards 100 or more, then finally to the maximum of 170, after which it fell down to a low reading of approximately 15 CPM, where it stayed for the next several days.
Figure 5: OR-Charged Neutron Counter: 26 June 2006
Discharge curve with approaching thunderstorms. Lowered counts after storm dissipates local atmospheric OR tension.
This curve is suggestive of the "orgasm formula" or "life formula" Reich observed in the functioning of living organisms, and which also is seen in a less-organized manner in weather processes: tension and charging towards a high peak excitation in the local atmosphere, followed by discharge and relaxation with a lower net energy level afterwards. This curve in the neutron counter followed the growth and decline of a local thunderstorm.
Observations have since suggested, there may be some affect from sunspots in the reactivity of the neutron counter, which also integrates with local thunderstorm activity. While our constant-monitoring data system has only been running for a few months, after an initial set of measurements which correlated nicely with a very large sunspot group and local thunderstorms, we have entered into a period of no sunspots, no thunderstorms, and no reactions at the neutron counter.
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Electroscopical Discharge Rate Variations
Another subject of investigation at OBRL, is to constantly monitor the parameter of the electroscopical discharge rate, and its variation both within and outside of the orgone energy accumulator. This work has been a source of ongoing back-burner efforts, but we have finally managed to develop a system for evaluating the discharge curves of two Kolbe-type electroscopes simultaneously, over a period of several hours. After several hours, the calibrations of the instrument go completely haywire, however, so constant-monitoring is presently very much limited to individual trial runs. This work also continues.
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The Fitzroy Tube Effect
One very interesting parameter which is of interest in the field of experimental orgone energy research, is the effects of orgone-charge on crystal growth. We have found an "instrument" which allows this parameter to be studied in some detail: the Admiral Fitzroy Stormglass Barometer.
The Fitzroy stormglass dates back to the 1700s, and gained its name from Admiral Fitzroy, who was the Captain of the Beagle, the ship which Darwin made famous. Fitzroy himself was a pioneer in weather research, and was the first to make coordinated weather maps based upon reports from various ship's captains who served in the British navy. He is written into all the meteorology textbooks in the "history" sections. Lesser-known, however, is his interest in the crystal stormglass barometers, which today bear his namesake. He wrote about them in his publication "The Weather Book" from 1863.
The tubes themselves are a composition of camphor, alcohol and water, with other ingredients. A super-saturated solution of material is made within a sealed glass vial, and this is then allowed to stand undisturbed over time. When kept in the shade but in the open air, there is a slow aggregation of the lose material inside the glass into distinct crystaline forms. And the forms often resemble organic structures, such as tree-branches, feathers, or tuffs of cotton. And they tend to grow and decline in coordination with weather conditions, but not with respect to simple temperature. If left in the open sun, the crystals will tend to dissipate as the solution heats. If subject to very cold conditions, the crystals will grow in abundance. But when kept within a more ordinary temperature range, one will see an identical increase and decrease in crystal abundance with changes in weather, which is at least as great as what occurs with intensive heating or cooling. So the effect is not direclty temperature-dependent.
Crystals in the Fitzroy Stormglass Barometer
As seen on a highly energetic "OR-day"
We can now report some general observational principles which have not been heretofore known about this device:
* The crystals grow and decline more in reaction to the proximity of the overhead high-altitude jet-stream. This "jet stream" as described in classical meteorology, is understood in orgonomic terms as a current of orgone energy moving at high altitudes, but also having influences upon the local surface environment.
* The crystals often show qualitative changes which appear similar to the shape and form of cirrus clouds as seen at upper atmospheric levels. This suggests: Firstly, that life-energetic parameters governing crystal growth in the upper atmosphere will create similar structural patterns within crystal forms in the lower atmosphere. Secondly, that crystal growth in cirrus clouds within the upper atmosphere probably is governed by fractal mathematical patterns, such that small crystals as seen in the Fitzroy tube will mirror larger "crystal" shapes and forms within larger cloud structures. For those who have observed the interesting variations in shapes and forms within cirrus clouds over the years, the Fitzroy stormglass suggests a direct life-energetic governance of those shapes and forms.
* By charging a Fitzroy stormglass tube inside an orgone energy accumulator, it tends to increase the amount of crystal growth independent of any temperature effects. This suggests, the principles of crystal growth and decay within non-living nature are life-energetic at their foundations.
As a means to stimulate more research on the Fitzroy Stormglass, the OBRL bookstore and on-line catalog, Natural Energy Works, began to import these devices from a German manufacturer, as they are otherwise very hard to find.
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Investigations into the Ether-Drift Experiments
In June of this year, Dr. DeMeo presented a paper on Dayton Miller's Discovery of the Dynamic Ether Drift to the Society for Scientific Exploration, at the SSE's annual Conference as held this year in Orem, Utah. This paper included materials from several prior publications on the subject, which remain available from internet:
http://www.orgonelab.org/miller.htm
http://www.orgonelab.org/MillerReich.htm
http://www.orgonelab.org/DynamicEther.pdf
A copy of DeMeo's PowerPoint presentation to the SSE is being made publicly available, as a pdf download (7.2 MB), here:
http://www.orgonelab.org/EtherDriftGIF.pdf
The idea has now come, to prepare a book which will present these issues in greater depth, and which will include discussion of the more recent research of Dr. Yuri Galaev of the Institute for Radiophysics & Electronics at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Galaev's work has confirmed the Miller ether-drift experiments "down to the details", and overall this body of work stands as a great validation for the existence of a cosmological ether in space which has properties very similar to Reich's orgone energy.
It is proposed, to assist bringing Dr. Galaev to the USA, to reproduce his interferometer experiments at the OBRL Greensprings Center, and then to cooperate on publication of new results. The fulfillment of this idea, is at present only an idea, and will require significant funding. To which we direct the interested reader, below.
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Greensprings Seminars and Orgonomy Conferences: 2007
In order to devote significant attention to the above research projects, we did not offer the usual Summer Seminars this year 2006. However, it is our intention to offer at least a limited program next year in 2007, with perhaps a more ambitious seminar program in 2008. Next Summer 2007, there will be a major orgonomy conference held at the Wilhelm Reich Museum in Rangeley Maine, and another Conference on New Research in Orgonomy held near London in the UK, and we hope to participate and/or attend at both of them, encouraging others to do likewise. Since orgonomy has a relatively small following in the world, it is best if our time and resources were focused upon a smaller number of events at any one time. Depending upon the scheduling of those events, and our own needs and activities, we will probably only host an Independent Study Seminar at OBRL for 2007, with resumption of the full seminar schedule in Summer 2008.
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Publications in Progress
We have ambitious plans for publications, but often lack the time and resources to implement them as desired. At the moment, we are producing an English-language edition of Roberto Maglione's excellent book "Wilhelm Reich and the Modification of Climate" which was translated from the original Italian. It is a comprehensive overview of the history of Reich's method of Cosmic Orgone Engineering, more popularly known as "cloudbusting", and one which stays true to Reich's vision, without all the "madhouse cloudbusting" as has swamped the internet. It will be professionally produced and is geared for the professional scientist. We hope it will make a positive difference in the world, given how the "Pandora's Box" of cloudbusting has already been thrown open wide, stimulating so many wrong directions and problems. The book will probably appear early next year, 2007.
We also wish to produce a new issue of Pulse of the Planet, which would include the research papers presented at the OBRL 2005 Conference on New Research in Orgonomy, as well as those presented at a possible forthcoming Conference of similar subject material in 2007. Beyond that, three works by James DeMeo are "on the back-burner" but slowly developing:
* Greening Deserts: A Life-Energetic Approach, which would cover his 30+ years of field work with the cloudbuster, as well as theoretical work on questions such as "greenhouse warming", "El Nino" and so forth.
* Saharasia Since 1900, a social-historical survey of changes in human societies world-wide since the time-frame of the original Saharasia study. While the original Saharasia used individual cultures and tribes, with ethnographical data, by which to make an analysis, "Saharasia Since 1900" would rely upon demographic and sociological findings which use the modern "nation-state" as their unit of evaluation. From this, an overview of the most- and least-violent human societies would be made, with added historical analysis which takes up where the original Saharasia left off.
* Positive Ether-Drift Experiments from 1887 to 2007, and their Implication for Modern Science. Covering the Michelson, Miller and Galaev experiments, with discussion on similar life-energetic discoveries as made by scientists in other disciplines.
As one may note, this quite an ambitious program for publication, and of very important works. Stay tuned!
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Fund-Raising Appeal
The works in progress as reported in this Report were made possible only through the generous donations of various individuals. Without those added financial resources, only a smaller portion of this work would have transpired. We therefore ask our readers to consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory, or to include a bequest to OBRL in their will, to help us carry on with this work into the exciting, though already chaotic, New Millennium. There are only a few places where the research tradition developed by Wilhelm Reich is openly worked with and carried forward in a serious and focused manner, and OBRL is one of the primary institutions on our small planet that is doing so. OBRL has been the organizational vehicle for James DeMeo's interdisciplinary work along this track, and in this effort he has been joined by others in mutually-supportive efforts. With additional funding, even more could be done. We are now seeking donations for sponsoring student assistants during the OBRL Seminars, to continue with and expand all the above programs, to implement DVD recordings of our extensive archive of many videotapes from lectures and field expeditions, and for continuance of basic laboratory research into orgone energy phenomena. A more formal and elaborated fund-raising letter is available on request, and is posted here:
http://www.orgonelab.org/funding.htm
Or, you can make a donation on-line right now, using your visa or mastercard, from here:
http://www.orgonelab.org/cart/donation.htm
Send your tax-deductible donations or bequests to:
PO Box 1148, Ashland, Oregon 97520 USA.
Tel-Fax: 541-552-0118.
E-mail to: info(at)orgonelab.org
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