專利事務所名片

The Tomato Plant Sensed the China Earthquake?

Yung-Sen Lin¹*

¹Department of Biomechatronic Engineering, National Ilan University, 1, Sec. 1, Shen-Lung Road, I-Lan, 260, Taiwan, ROC.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: DysonLin@hotmail.com

 

Abstract

I observed unique electrical signals from the tomato plant five days before the China earthquake on May 12, 2008.

Meanwhile there were other precursors for the earthquake: 50% concentration drop of the ionosphere above the earthquake area(3), crocodiles roaring in Taiwan three days before the earthquake (the crocodiles also roared seven days before the 921 earthquake in Taiwan on September 21, 1999). They are consistent with my results.

 

Introduction

The tomato plant generates electrical signals in response to flame, ice or mechanical wounding(1). Typical electrical signals of the tomato plant are with frequencies of 0~0.02 Hz, with amplitudes of 5~50 mV and last for half an hour to one hour.

My electrical signals were with frequencies of 0~12 Hz, with amplitudes of 3~80 mV and lasted for five days.

 

Materials and Methods

I used piercing electrodes to measure the tomato plant’s electrical signals. My experimental method was similar to what Dziubińska el. al. used(2) but with some differences. I used a tomato plant which was 75 cm high and about three months old. I used 0.2 mm silver-coated copper wire as piercing electrodes. I used the XctionView II data acquisition system from Singa Company, with 10 MΩ input resistance for each electrode. My Faraday cage was open and unshielded in the front (southern) side. I used only one channel, measuring the potential difference between the tomato plant and the soil. My sampling rate was 100 Hz, with a 0~20 Hz band pass filter. After the experiment, I filtered out the low-frequency (< 0.1 Hz) signals by Matlab to make the high-frequency characteristic of the signals more clear. Five days before the earthquake, the tomato plant underwent a leaf-burning experiment and generated typical one-hour electrical signals for leaf-burning. The burning possibly made the tomato plant more sensitive to the earthquake.

 

Results

I observed the electrical signals from the tomato plant five days before the China earthquake on May 12, 2008, as in Fig. 1. They are different from all the known electrical signals of plants.

Fig. 1. Electrical signals from the tomato plant for the China 8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008, with low-frequency (< 0.1 Hz) signals filtered out.

Later, I recorded similar signals for two local earthquakes with other two tomato plants.

Fig. 2. Electrical signals from the tomato plant for the Ilan 6.0 earthquake on June 2, 2008, with low-frequency (< 0.1 Hz) signals filtered out.

Fig. 3. Electrical signals from the tomato plant for the Ilan 4.5 earthquake on July 12, 2008, with low-frequency (< 0.1 Hz) signals filtered out.

For comparison, the following are signals on ordinary days.

Fig. 4. Electrical signals from the tomato plant on ordinary days (May 23~26, 2008).

 

Discussions

The mechanism for the tomato plant to generate electrical signals for a big earthquake is unknown. Possibly it sensed the ionosphere concentration drop or something else. Ikeya’s research suggests there is a strong electrical field before a big earthquake that animals and plants can feel and respond to(4).

I propose to monitor the tomato plant’s electrical signals to predict big earthquakes. This could be life-saving in the future. I need further experiments to verify that.

 

Acknowledgments

Thanks for Dr. Kai-Hsiung Hsu, my ex-advisor at National Ilan University. He provided me the equipments.

 

References

1. Fromm, J. & Lautner, S. Electrical signals and their physiological significance in plants. Plant, Cell and Environment 30, 249–257 (2007).

2. Dziubińska H, Trębacz K & Zawadzki T. Transmission route for action potentials and variation potentials in Helianthus annuus L. J. Plant Physiol. 158, 1167 – 1172 (2001).

3. Taiwan satellite records change in ionosphere before Sichuan quake. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/asiapacific/news/article_1405700.php/Taiwan_satellite_records_change_in_ionosphere_before_Sichuan_quake (2008).

4. Ikeya M, Matsuda T & Yamanaka C. Reproduction of mimosa and clock anomalies before earthquakes. Proc. Japan Acad., 74(B), 60-64 (1998).

林湧森以植物電訊號預測地震研究過程

 

時間	事件
2007/05/07	考上國立宜蘭大學生物機電工程學系碩士班。
2007/09/17	碩一上開學，正式上課。
2007/09/20	請許凱雄老師擔任指導教授。
2007/09/28	開始參加許老師生命與訊號實驗室每週開會。
2007/10/06	開始以金桔做實驗，觀察植物電訊號。使用許老師所用的心電圖貼片做為表面電極。效果不佳。
2008/02/02	開始使用刺入式電極觀察仙人掌電訊號。效果良好。
2008/02/27	開始使用刺穿式電極做火燒番茄葉片實驗，觀察番茄。效果良好。
2008/05/12	四川大地震。意外發現番茄在地震前幾天即有強烈電訊號。
2008/08/15	完成要投稿「自然」的論文。許老師說他再稍微修改一下就可以投稿了。
2008/08/25	許老師帶我到台大物理系近代物理實驗室設置植物電訊號實驗裝置，並開始遠端長期觀測植物(牛舌蘭、番茄、仙人掌)電訊號。此套實驗裝置與宜蘭大學的相同。
2008/09/18(?)	許老師帶我去和格瑪公司總經理談製造植物電訊號量測儀器之規格，告訴他以植物電訊號預測地震的方法，並出示四川大地震的番茄電訊號。
2008/10/06	許老師帶我去台北的連邦國際專利，洽談申請專利事宜，並出示四川大地震的番茄電訊號。
2008/10/30	完成專利揭露書，交給許老師轉交連邦國際專利。
2008/12/22	許老師拿「專利申請權證明書」要我蓋章。我帶回去，沒蓋章。
2008/12/23	中午，我和爸媽到宜大與吳剛智系主任見面。系主任在看了「專利申請權證明書」以後，認為許老師行為不妥。系主任承諾當天下午會與許老師會面，妥善處理此事。系主任將會要求許老師以學校名義申請專利，而將我和許老師列為發明人。 晚上，媽媽打電話給系主任，詢問處理情形。系主任說他下午沒遇到許老師，但是有發電子郵件給許老師，請他要謹慎處理申請專利的事。系主任此時已到花蓮出差，要到2008/12/25星期四晚上或2008/12/26星期五早上才會回來。
2008/12/24	傍晚，我在邱弈志學務長的實驗室遇到學務長。我們到隔壁的邱弈志學務長研究室談話。我拿出「專利申請權證明書」。不料學務長說蓋不蓋章沒有對或錯的問題，而是選擇題：如果我選學位就拿不到專利；如果我選專利就拿不到學位。學務長說老師吃學生的事他看多了，如果要拿學位就必須妥協；這種事即使在美國也是一樣。 學務長說他不插手介入這件事，要我找許老師自行解決。 學務長說如果他是我指導教授，光是憑我去找系主任這件事，就會讓我畢不了業：只要在口試的時候隨便問我幾個我答不出來的困難問題，就可以讓我畢不了業了。
2008/12/25	晚上，媽媽打電話給系主任。
2008/12/26	早上，媽媽打電話給系主任。
2008/12/30	我和爸媽到實驗室與系主任及許老師見面。 系主任提出三點具體承諾： 1. 以學校名義申請專利，而將我和許老師列為發明人。我和爸媽同意。許老師則說我可以用我個人名義拿去申請專利。 2. 我可以用「以植物電訊號預測地震」做為碩士論文題目。仍由許老師繼續擔任指導教授。 3. 許老師將會幫我修改要投稿著名期刊「科學」(Science)的論文。該篇論文將由我掛第一作者，許老師掛通訊作者。
2009/01/08	晚上，我在實驗室內的許老師辦公室與許老師單獨會談。 許老師的意見如下： 1. 要投稿著名期刊「科學」(Science)的論文，許老師叫我自己改。 2. 許老師建議我們兩個人都不要申請專利，把這個重大發現奉獻給全人類。 3. 可是許老師又說以後要再找個時間和我談專利的事情。
2009/01/09	早上八點多，媽媽打電話給系主任。 系主任一面倒的偏袒許老師。而且系主任說許老師有很多種方法可以讓我畢不了業。眼見系主任已經無法秉公處理這件事情，於是媽媽跟系主任說我不要這個碩士學位了。我決定即使拿不到學位，也要把下學期念完，將來可用同等學力報考他校的博士班。 早上十點，我到育成中心參加實驗室開會。許老師當眾說前一陣子我和爸媽去找系主任是錯的。
2009/01/10	在晚間新聞看到關於「慶應大學植物的情緒部落格」的報導，我決定不再眷戀學術界，立即離開宜大，並且把我的「以植物電訊號預測地震」的研究成果放在我的部落格，奉獻給全人類。 在我的部落格張貼文章： 1. The tomato plant sensed the China earthquake? 林湧森的地震番茄－－以植物電訊號預測地震
2009/01/12	我和爸爸拿物理小考考卷到系辦，請廖先生轉交許老師。 在系辦門口巧遇歐陽老師和蔡老師，於是告知他們我要離開宜大。
2009/01/13	在我的部落格「林湧森的地震番茄－－以植物電訊號預測地震」張貼文章： 2. 地震預測計畫書 3. 揭露書