2009年2月12日

The Tomato Plant Sensed the China Earthquake?

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).