A NEW CONCEPT IN THE EARLY DIAGNOSIS OF CANCER

B.Ya.Gurvits*, B.A.Krylov**, K.G.Korotkov**
"Every body ... fills the surrounding air with infinite images of itself" Leonardo da Vinci
INTRODUCTION
Life sciences have traditionally been based on the assumption that the behaviour of the whole can be explained in terms of the properties of its components. It has always been thought that the complexity of an organism could best be understood by investigating the functions of its isolated organs, tissues, cells or molecules.
This reductionist approach has had a very successful history success, with the discovery of many fundamental principles concerning the interactions of the parts which go to make up a whole living organism. Most recently one only needs to look at the achievements of molecular biology. It is becoming clear, however, that there are some fundamental aspects of life which cannot be understood from the reductionistic point of view. In the living state the parts - the molecules, cells and tissues - are never isolated, and are not free to function separately, but rather co-ordinate their activities, to generate a unique state of dynamic order which is not found in any non-living system. Thousands of reactions are going on simultaneously in living systems, to constitute the perfectly organised dance of life. Precise co-ordination is needed at each of a number of hierarchical levels: electronic, molecular, cellular, all the way to the whole organism. However, most of the experimental methods used in contemporary life sciences are not suited to study these co-operative mechanisms. And so they have until recently been mostly ignored.
A famous biophysicist, Albert Szent-Gyoergyi, in his book "Bioelectronics" [1] wrote: "No doubt, molecular biochemistry has harvested the greatest success and has given a solid foundation to biology. However, there are indications that it has overlooked major problems, if not a whole dimension, for some of the existing questions remain unanswered, if not unasked. It failed to explain the wonderful subtlety of cellular regulations. Neither did it explain the mechanism of energy transduction, the transduction of chemical energy into mechanical, electric, or osmotic work. These transformations are closely connected to the very nature of life". Niels Bohr expressed a similar idea in his observation that a deeper understanding of life will require us to transcend the conventional physicochemical explanation [2].
Nevertheless, it doesn't mean that the conventional approach is totally wrong; but that the molecular events remain always integrated within the whole system as a continuum process. There is a need for a new holistic science paradigm that includes, but goes beyond molecular approach. Some approaches to this new paradigm include: Froehlich's idea of coherent long-range interactions in biological systems [3], Prigogine's dissipative structures [4,5], chaos theory [6,7], the unified field theory of A.Gurwitsch [8] and his concept on ultraweak photon emission from living systems, Pressman's ideas on electromagnetic fields and life [9], Bauer's concept of a biological system as a stable non-equilibrium complex of its subcomponents [10], fractal models [11], recent developments of quantum theory and coherent biophoton field [12], mainly based on Dicke's theory [13], etc.
DISEASE: THE DISTURBANCE OF HARMONY
It is important to realise that the holistic approach to the complex, dynamic, creative features of biological activity may also provide new insights on the nature of disease. Thus rather than the present explanations in terms of isolated "lesions" in particular mechanisms (biochemical, immunological, etc.) it becomes possible to consider disease in terms of disturbances to the co-ordination and coherence in a living system. At the same time, to study the transition from the normal to the pathological state in terms of these new concepts may throw light on the intrinsic principles of life.
Disease may be considered as a result of disturbance of the "perfectly arranged" co-ordination within an organism or of its harmonic connection with the surroundings. Clinical diagnosis usually reveals a disease in its last phase when the biochemical and biophysical status of an organism has undergone significant change. But the initial complex causal mechanisms of the disturbances remain hidden, since they are not revealed by standard diagnostic methods.
CANCER
Cancer is a very serious disorder, in which cells proliferate in an uncontrolled way, often ultimately leading to death of the organism. Such proliferation occurs because co-ordination is lost, in such a way that the cells no longer respond to signals from their neighbours. Within the tumour, the living process becomes greatly simplified, so as to be reduced almost to one main process - that of growth.
Since conventional medicine cannot go beyond the mechanistic approach, it leads us to address only the final result of the disease, and so to direct therapy only towards destroying the tumour. The alternative is to perceive cancer as a systemic disease. This requires us to understand the organism as an interactive system such that it will respond as a whole to any stimulus. Organisms are open systems, which continually exchange energy and matter with the environment. Because of their extreme sensitivity (now understood in terms of non-linear dynamics) they can respond to a vanishingly small input of energy, provided that it carries significant information. Accordingly, cancer can be seen as a process initiated on the information level, that reflects the intrinsic complexity and lability of life processes. Once disturbed from the harmonious state, living systems can neither shape themselves into highly organised patterns and structures, nor can they respond properly to their environment.
GAS DISCHARGE VISUALIZATION TECHNIQUE
Responding to this need for a new perspective in cancer we propose here an approach to early diagnosis based on the Gas Discharge Visualization Technique (GDV) [14,15]. A set of special computerized equipment and techniques has been developed, and is finding successful use in many kinds of studies of both physiological and pathological states [15].
Using a special electrode system, a high intensity electric field is created around an object, producing a gas discharge whose glow can be seen and measured. Such a discharge can be produced around any object, and will show variations in size, colour, distribution, etc. depending on very slight changes in the object, such as cannot be revealed by other techniques. These changes may include the electrical properties of an object, its emission characteristics, gas evaporation and energy exchange with the environment. In the case of living organisms the method reveals its complex reaction to external and internal factors. A whole range of subtle influences can become manifest. For example, it is possible to register the influence of the type of food eaten, medicines administered, and a number environmental factors such as exposure to pollution. Even the minute-to-minute changes in the state of a person's mind can be easily seen.
CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE NEW DIAGNOSTIC APPROACH
Chaos theory has already been used to describe a wide variety of phenomena in the life sciences. Increasingly it is becoming recognised that non-linearity is at the very basis of the living process, and is responsible for the fractal patterns that are so characteristic of life. These are found almost universally, both in the self-organisation of biological structures, and the homeostatic regulation of their function. Structural examples are seen in the blood and lymph vessels, bronchial tree, nervous system and even in the morphology of nuclear membranes within the cell [16]. Fractal patterns in function occur in heart activity, hormonal cycles, etc., and have recently been described in the mobility of cells in culture. Here it is significant that the fractal parameter differs between normal and cancer cells [21].
Fractal principles are now recognised to extend to the molecular level, for example to proteins and their complexes [16], and even to water. Water has long been recognised to have a complex dynamic structure - a fact which can provide a rationale for homeopathy. This supramolecular structure has now been found to have a fractal pattern - a fact which has suggested a mathematical model to explain the action of high potencies [18]. The process of potentisation in the preparation of homeopathic remedies has been discussed in terms of the progressive refinement of the quality of information held in the organisational patterns in the water[19]. The extreme sensitivity of living systems to the most minute stimuli, both endogenous and exogenous, is leading to the realisation that most biological transactions should be considered in terms of information. This sensitivity is itself a manifestation of the fractal order of chaotic processes [17].
Such concepts can be applied to the study of pathological processes. Here it might be expected that among the earliest events in such a process would be a decline in fractal order. The principle of self-similarity leads one to expect that the fractal pattern of an isolated part of an organism should reflect that of the whole system. This is because the hierarchic levels must always be integrated and form a continuum within the whole. This is consistent with a holistic approach to diagnostics and therapy. In view of the findings on the fractal nature of water, and of protein molecules and their complexes, we must expect fractal characteristics in blood plasma and other biological liquids. Thus it seems reasonable to expect that these might yield information concerning an organism's state of health.
According to these principles, our approach to pre-cancer diagnosis is to use the GDV method to detect changes in the supramolecular organization of human blood plasma. For this purpose the plasma is subjected to a potentiation procedure similar to that used in the course of preparation of homeopathic remedies. The plasma, as the "mother tincture", is diluted and succussed in water or salt solutions, to result in a series of "potencies", just as in homeopathy. Although, in each attenuation step the concentration of molecules is decreased, the information is not lost, but rather spread over the whole system [19]. These changes are reflected in the Kirlian GD images, and can be evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively.
This approach has been used successfully in preliminary experiments. Now it needs much further experimental work, extending the study to other types of disease, and to other biological fluids, such as urine, saliva and lymph. More theoretical work is also required so as to obtain a deeper understanding of the physical mechanisms.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Blood plasma samples were taken from patients with primary and metastatic cancer (carcinoma of the stomach, carcinoma of uterine cervix, bronchopulmonary cancer, adenocarcinoma, etc.), and compared with control samples taken from healthy donors. Samples were also taken from a patient with a benign tumour.
The experiments were carried out in a 1- or 4-well plastic plates containing 200 microlitres each of blood plasma solutions, diluted either in deionized distilled water (milli-Q Reagent Water System) or 0.9% NaCl. In some series we also used plasma diluted in various concentrations of NaCl, up to saturation. Some plasma samples were examined in the fresh state, and others after freezing and thawing.
Ten series of two-fold dilutions were made, so as to result in final concentrations of total protein of about 75 to 0.15 mg/ml. In some cases dilution was continued so as to reach a concentration of 15 ng/ml. The Gas Discharge visualisation setup comprised: image formation unit, high voltage circuit, image converter tube, TV camera, circuit transferring image to computer, computer with special software. Parameters for GDV were set at: 10 kV, 1024 Hz, and 0.5 sec.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
We found that the GDV characteristics of blood plasma samples were quite different for healthy donors and patients with cancer. Significant differences were seen in brightness, shape, size and colour of the images. But the most profound differences were revealed in two parameters: glow area and fractal coefficient.
It was found, in all the samples studied, that these two gas discharge parameters were significantly and reproducibly higher for cancer patients as compared with controls. Intermediate values were found for the patient with benign tumour. The difference between cancer and control was maintained throughout the dilution series.
Similar results were obtained with blood plasma samples in a series of successive two-fold dilution in NaCl solutions at concentrations from 0.9% up to saturation. The observed differences remained unaltered by freezing and thawing. These results were statistically significant and reproducible. It is noteworthy that the differences became more significant after dilution and potentisation than they were in the original plasma.
You may also see in Figs. 2 and 3 the repetitive "waves" of S (area) and of Q (fractal coefficient), the peaks being shifted as a result of one or two dilution with every fresh sequential dilution and potentiation. This kind of quasi-sinusoidal curve is typical for the reaction of biological objects in general to a variety of low-intensity stimuli. Such dose-response curves often reveal a complex polymodal character, and the presence of "dead zones". In addition, an inversion in the dose-response to high dilutions is also observed in most experiments. This effect is well known, mostly in pharmacology and immunology [20]. Among a number of explanations, it has been suggested that the effect is related to transmission of information via the molecular organisation of water. Much evidence supports the hypothesis that water acts as the signal pathway for the effects of many low-intensity physical influences, such as weak electromagnetic and other fields.
We believe that the differences we have observed in the Kirlian image between normal and pathological blood plasma cannot be attributed to the known changes in blood biochemistry characteristic of cancer. These include hypercoagulability, low pH resulting from lactate produced by anaerobic glycolysis, together with a number of other homeostatic abnormalities [21,22]. It seems virtually impossible to understand the effects described here without considering the role of supramolecular organisation in the aqueous medium of the organism.
Since the organisation of water is necessarily of a highly dynamic nature, one must consider that any body of water oscillates as a whole, so that any changes to the oscillatory pattern in one part of it will rapidly spread to the rest. This implies that the general oscillatory pattern of the water in an organism will be sensitive to any of a great variety of influences, even though they may occur at strictly localised sites. Thus it is to be expected that the effect of malignant transformation in any part of the body should be seen in the blood plasma.
It is particularly significant that the difference between cancer and normal were remained in evidence throughout the dilution series, even up to 1/1024 of the original plasma. It will be interesting to see whether these differences remain after further dilution - perhaps even beyond the Avogadro limit. This would confirm that the effects are associated with water structure, rather than with any molecular constituents of the plasma.
The simple and non-invasive method we describe can be used for integral early diagnostic criteria and prognostic implications of pathological states of an organism, especially of tumour transformation. This system could be further developed. Further detailed information may be obtained by means of an integrated analysis of all aspects of the image, including geometry, brightness, and spectral characteristics. It may then become possible to use the GDV method to classify the stages of progression of malignant transformation.
This technique opens a wide for the experimental study of energy-information aspects, not only blood samples, but of other biological fluids, and it may serve a number of valuable practical applications.

REFERENCES
1. Szent-Gyoergyi A. Bioelectronics. A study in Cellular Regulations, Defence, and Cancer. Academic Press, N.Y., London, 1968.
2. Bohr N. Unity of Knowledge. Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge. N.Y. (Eds. Yohn Wiley and Sons), 67-82, 1958.
3. Froehlich H. Long-range coherence and energy storage in biological systems. Int. J. Quantum Chem., 2, 641-649, 1968.
Prigogine I. Order through fluctuations: Self-organization and social systems. In: Evolution and Consciousness. (Eds. Jantsch E. and Waddington C.H.), 1976.
Prigogine I., Stengers I. Order out of Chaos. Bantam Books Inc., 1984.
6. Hao B.L. Chaos. World Scientific, Singapore, 1985
Pool R. Quantum Chaos: Enigma Wrapped in a Mystery. Science 243, 893-895, 1989.
Gurwitsch A. The Theory of Biological Field. M. Nauka. 1944 (in Russian).
9. Presman A.S. Electromagnetic Fields and Life. Plenum Press, N.Y., 1970.
10. Bauer E. Teoreticheskaya biologia. (Theoretical Biology). M-L. Izd. VIEM. 1935 (in Russian).
11. Mandelbrot B. Fractals: forms, chance and dimension. San Francisco: W.N.Freeman and Co., 1977
12. Popp F.-A., Ke-hsueh Li. Hyperbolic relaxation as a sufficient condition of fully coherent ergotic field. In: Recent Edvances in Biophoton Research and its Application. (Eds. Popp F.-A., Li K.H., and Gu Q.), World Scientific, Singapore, New Jersey, London, Hong Kong, 47-58, 1992.
13. Dicke R.H. Coherence in spontaneous radiation processes. Phys. Rev. 93, 99-110, 1954.
14. Kirlian S.D., Kirlian V.H. Journal nauchnoy i pricladnoy fotografii. 1961. (in Russian).
15. Korotkov K.G. Effect Kirlian. Izd. «Ölga». St.Petersburg. 1995. (in Russian).
16. Landini G., Reppin J.W., Path F.R.C. An "asymptotic fractal" approach to the morphology of malignant cell nuclei. Fractals, 1 (3), 326-335, 1993.
17. Goetze J., Briokman J. Self-similarity of protein surfaces. Biophys. J., 61, 109-118, 1992.
18. Garner C., Hock N. Chaos theory and homeopathy. The Berlin Journal on Research in Homeopathy, 1 (4/5), 236-242, 1991.
19. Resch G., Gutman V. Structure and System organization of homeopathic potencies. The Berlin Journal on Research in Homeopathy. 1 (4/5), 229-235, 1991.
20. Davenas E., Beauvais F., Amara J., et al. Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE. Nature, 333, N 6176, 816-818, 1988.
21. Glassman A.B., Jones E. Thrombosis and coagulation abnormalities associated with cancer. Ann. Clin. Lab. Sci. 24 (1), 1-5, 1994.
22. Bucceri G., Ferringno D., Ginardi C., Zuliani C. Homeostatic abnormalities in lung cancer: prognostic implications. Eur. J. Cancer. 33 (1), 50-55, 1977.
* Institute of Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences 33 Leninsky prosp., 117071 Moscow, Russia
** Saint-Petersburg Federal Technical University "SPIFMO" 191040 Kouznechny per. 13/30, St.-Petersburg, Russia

Mutual influence- an experimental approach to the study of compatibility.
The problem of people influence upon each other is a very actual both for psychology and practical activity. The Kirlian effect in its photographic variant has been often used to reveal the degree of mutual influence, while the equipment of a new generation has enabled to simplify essentially the procedure of getting data and to introduce some elements of quantitative processing.
The experimental procedure.
The GDV patterns, taken in different regimes, of the fingers of two persons under the research were estimated. Any change in a pattern was judged both visually and with the help of the program. The procedure was the following:
shooting of the kirlianograms of all the fingers of one hand of an examined person 1 initially.
shooting of the kirlianograms of all the fingers of one hand of an examined person 2 initially.
shooting of the kirlianograms of one hand's fingers of the examined person 1, with another participant holding person 1 by his free hand.
shooting of the kirlianograms of one hand's fingers of the examined person 2, with another participant holding person 2 by his free hand.
shooting of the kirlianograms of the same fingers of both persons directed to each other.
shooting of the kirlianograms of one hand's fingers of the examined person 1, with another participant standing at his back.
shooting of the kirlianograms of one hand's fingers of the examined person 2, with another participant standing at his back.
The results.
The conducted test of a small group under the research showed visual changes that depend on the degree of participants mutual interest. In other words, the character of changes depended on how much the participants were drawn to each other. For example, for colleagues working together without any liking towards each other there was practically no change. But in the case of two young couples experiencing strong mutual affection, a definite transformation of the general GDV pattern and its parameters was observed while applying different methods of testing. Sometimes these transformations caused a change in a pattern type during the experiments.
In Fig. 1 some examples of the patterns are given, which are characteristic of a couple with strong mutual affection (Galina-Oleg). It is interesting to point out that initially the GDV patterns of Galina belonged to R-type with a number of breaks and specific aggressive ejection. The GDV patterns of Oleg belonged to K-type without essential defects. While shooting in the regimes 3-4, when a partner holds another partner by his free hand, an abrupt change in a fluorescence type occurred: as if they replaced each other. Galina’s fluorescence transformed into the smooth K-type while Oleg’s fluorescence became of R-type. We can figuratively say that they exchanged their energy during the contact. In the regime 5 in most of the patterns you can see that the outline of fluorescence of both partners became thinner in the contact area.
Other couples showed some more types of patterns in this regime: with complete smoothening of fluorescence of one partner, with increasing or reduction of fluorescence of one, fluorescence of the other remaining the same. As a rule fluorescence of different people is separated by a little space, and this can be easily explained by the physical nature of gas discharge process, but sometimes in the GDV images there could be observed the inter-penetration of the fluorescence streamers of the two partners. A special map was worked out to estimate the changes observed and to describe them both in kind and in degree.
Conclusion.
The material, accumulated experimentally, does not furnish explanations about the connection between the observed effects, the psychological characteristics of the persons under the research and the level of their relation. We can argue about the mutual influence of their energy, aura, increasing or smoothening fields, but all these arguments will be of a speculative character. We lack statistical material to compare the psychological and circadian tests, besides, it is interesting to trace the development of persons relations in time. It is a complex but a very interesting task. With the help of the «Crown TV+ it is possible to get the images, which reflect the change in the state during the contact of two persons. The further issue to be investigated is whether this state depends on physical, psychological or informational aspects of a contact. The authors are very grateful to professor A. Krashenuk for giving an opportunity to conduct experiments and for his help in this work.

Experimental investigations of a human body Energy-and-Information activity after death
Does the life of soul end with the death? What should we expect beyond the threshold of this world? These problems, which have always beset mankind, are again making their appearance on the European intellectual horizon. Religions and esoteric knowledge have always taught that death is much more than merely a process of transformation of living material into dead material. Now that recollections of people who have experienced clinical death are becoming accepted as real, the question of survival of some vital element is entering the realms of science.
Many of the physico-chemical processes occurring at the time of death are known. These changes proceed in linear fashion with the gradual process of destruction and decomposition. The Gas Discharge Visualisation technique, however, goes beyond the classical biochemical approach, to reveal some aspect of energy-and-information and its distribution in the living body. This being so, it became of great interest to find out how this changes after death. In this way we might gain information on how the transition from dying state to death takes place. The experiment was organised as follows.
A special group of doctors and assistants took part in every experiment. The selected body was transported to the experimental room and was placed in a definite position. The left hand was installed in a definite position on the electrode and was fixed by a special device that ensured a stationary position of the hand and the fingers during the experimental session. The discharge Kirlian photos of four fingers (excluding thumb) of the left hand were taken every hour day and night. Then the photos were processed in controlled conditions, scanned to the computer and from the every image a set of parameters (area, average intensity, fractality, etc.) was calculated. Then graphs of these parameters versus time were created. As a result of this process we got for every experiment the curves of glow intensity changes in time during 3-6 days and was able to compare these curves.
To evaluate the meaning of the submitted data it was necessary first of all to make a scheme of classification of individual deaths into groups. After examining the results it was immediately observed that most of the curves did not decline in monotone fashion but tended to oscillate - sometimes markedly. Thus the most natural classification seemed to be according to the amplitude of this oscillation. The data were divided into three groups (fig.1):
Curves with relatively weak oscillation amplitude (area curve oscillations range not more than 600 units);
Curves with relatively weak oscillation amplitude but with one pronounced peak;
Large amplitude curves (area curve oscillation range is more than 600 units) with oscillations of long-duration.
Now we could see a very interesting feature: each of these groups is characterised by a particular type of death:
group I: calm, "natural" death caused by degeneration of body tissues.
group II: "violent" death as a result of a traffic accident with skull injury.
group III: "unexpected" death as a result of some tragic circumstances which in more favourable conditions could have been avoided. For example suicide and murder.
In all cases the intensity declined eventually to a steady "basal" level, with very little oscillation - such as might be expected from a non-living object of the same electrical characteristics. In more detail the main features of curves belonging to each group were as follows:
group I. These curves began with a period varying from 16-55h with small but significant oscillations, before falling to become steady at basal level.
group II. These show a pronounced peak: in one case during the first 8 hours after death, in the other during the first day. Oscillations come to basal level approximately two days after death.
group III. This group showed several features distinguishing them from the other groups (fig 2):
- higher amplitude and duration of oscillations;
- progressive reduction in amplitude from beginning to end of the experiment;
- peaks at night, from 9 p.m., varying in height and duration;
- sharp drops in amplitude at the end of the first day and especially at the end of the second day.
Throughout the period of experiments weather and atmosphere conditions were monitored. Although they varied over a wide range, no correlation with discharge characteristics was found. Thus we can confidently assert that the results we obtained were not due to changes in environmental temperature, pressure or humidity.
On the basis of these results we conclude that energy-information does not comes to zero at clinical death. In some cases it continues to be present even as much as 4 days after death - a time when all biochemical processes characteristic of life will have ceased and been replaced with autolytic and putrefactive processes. It was particularly significant that course of decline in energy-information depended on the cause and nature of death. These few results need to be confirmed and extended. Naturally, we see a large amount of work ahead. In some years these experiments had been reproduced both in our laboratory, and in some others. The result was in principle the same.
It seems, then, that traditional spiritual teachings are right in their insistence that something of a person survives after death. These results raise not only biological and practical questions, but also philosophical ones. Our common-sense view of life and death may need to change. We have a feeling that we are standing at a threshold of a big new country, the exploration of which will give us some quite new perspectives.
Main results and ideas of this work were published in more than 60 articles and Dr. Korotkov's book "Light After Life". This book in English is available from ACCESS Publishers Network, 6893 Sullivan Road Grawn, MI 49637 USA.
In US: (800) 345-0096; from outside of US: (616) 276-5196, or (616) 276-5197 fax, or through Ingram, Baker & Taylor and other fine wholesalers.
ISBN 0-9644311-5-7 (c)1998 US$ 12.95, 216p. 15 ill., 30 charts, bibl., index. Backbone Publishing Company, leonidt@erols.com ;

The Phantom Leaf Effect - a new stage of understanding
K. Korotkov, A. Kouznetsov
Abstract
The claim has been made, a number of times, that Kirlian images of leaves would sometimes show the contour of cut-off parts of the leaf: the "phantom leaf effect". We present experimental data, gained with the help of a new computerised TV instrument, which lead us to a somewhat different interpretation. Our pictures show the tracks of streamers, caused by sliding discharges developing from separated points of the cut line. Although in some cases these streamers form the semblance of a contour, this was hardly clear enough to support the idea of a phantom replica. Nevertheless, certain other features, such as the extraordinary intensity of the streamers from the cut edge, and the otherwise unexplained tendency for them to lie parallel to each other, led us to suggest that they were guided by a quasi-coherent UV bio-photon emission from the ensemble of damaged cells at the cut edge.
Introduction
The phantom leaf effect occurs when a Kirlian image is made of a leaf from which part has been cut away. Occasionally one sees a contour of the excised part of the leaf - as a "phantom". Reports of this phenomenon caused some excitement towards the end of the 70’s, and led to speculations on vital forces, form fields, etc. However, the effect proved very hard to reproduce, and so remained highly controversial. Most scientists dismissed it altogether. Although, in 1979 the Indian researcher Choudhury was still reporting regular repetition of the phantom effect [1] his results and techniques were not clearly explained, and all our attempts to contact Dr. Choudhury failed. Thus in our book, published in Russian in 1995 [ ], we treated the effect as being due to experimental error. Later, in an extensive set of experiments, P. Garjaev was able to repeat the effect, but only in 3-4% of cases [3]. That is, from 100 picked leaves, an image of the cut-off part was observed in 3-4 cases only. We were inspired by Garjaev’s work to conduct similar experiments, with the use of a new class of instrument, as described below.
Experimental technique
Experiments were carried out with the use of a specialized TV system, developed together with specialists from plant "Electron". The essential features are shown in Fig.1.The sliding discharge from the object under study propagates along the outer surface of a transparent fiber-glass disc, which has a conductive metallic net on its inner surface. The specially-designed pulsed high-voltage from the "Crown" generator is supplied to this net. A TV matrix underneath the disk picks up the image and relays it to the computer and monitor via a standard video-blaster.
This system allows us not only to get single pictures of the corona, but to study the dynamics of its changes in real time by means of a sequence of shots. The Videoblaster SE-100 (Creative Labs) used in these experiments, allowed us to save up to 10 shots per second. Since only 0.02s was required for each exposure, this meant that, with an impulse repetition-frequency of 1,000Hz, a total of only 200 impulses were applied every second. These parameters were chosen on the principle of maximising the information obtained for the minimum influence to the object under study [2]. The data were processed with the "Kirlian Image Processor" program, developed by the authors.
Observing the dynamics on the computer screen, we could see how, for an object without strong surface or volume heterogeneity (an earthed metal polished cylinder) discharge streamers developed in even and stochastic manner along the surface while, for an irregular object, the streamers had distinct localisation points.
Plant materials have been studied in two ways: either picked off or still attached to the plant. In the first case were studied pine needles picked off from the freshly cut twig. With scissors or tip of a needle a 3-4 mm length was cut off, pinned by a steel grounded pin, and placed on the visualisation electrode. Voltage was applied and the corona observed on the screen.
In the second case indoor plants in pots were used. A leaf on its twig was placed on the electrode and pressed down by a flat piece of plastic to ensure contact with the electrode. Before doing this, a defect was made in the leaf, either by cutting off the tip or by cutting a hole inside the leaf. Note that in this case it was unnecessary to ground the plant. This made no difference to the results, because grounding was achieved by the capacitative connection of the plant to earth. Observation was continued from 2 to 60 seconds.
Results
The Gas Discharge glow, or corona, from a whole tree leaf or fir needle appears as a number of bright spots, which in a leaf were located along the perimeter and in the region of the main veins. Usually the brightness of all the glowing spots was approximately equal (fig.2). With higher voltages the spots increased in number but with little increase in brightness. The main character of the image could be seen both on photograph and on TV image.
Quite different were the images when a part of leaf or needle had been cut off. For the pine needles, 3-5% of studied samples exhibited a glowing protuberance projecting some 5-7 mm beyond the cut end (fig.3). This protuberance first appeared about 0.3 - 0.5 sec after the voltage was applied, and remained during the whole time of the recording, i.e. up to 60 sec.
In the case of the leaves, about half of them exhibited a number of glowing spots along the edge of the cut. The brightness of these spots was several times higher than those seen in the normal (uncut) parts of the image (fig.4). The spots occurred at several locations along the cut edge, regardless of whether the tip had been cut off or the inner part of the leaf removed (see below). Again, some 0.3 - 0.5 sec elapsed from the application of voltage to the appearance of the spots, and these then remained during the 60 sec recording. Bright streamers, of 5 - 7 mm length, were often seen at some locations, where they remained for 20-40 sec.
In exploring other experimental situations we compared the images obtained when the hole was made open to the outside with those when it was entirely internal. The streamers usually began to appear from one side of the cut and then, in some cases, proceeded to cover the whole area from one side to the other, so as to give an impression of "filling-in" the removed part.
Detailed observations were made on the corona from leaves with cut-off tips. Usually one or several streamers emerged at the edge of the cut and remained stable for tens of seconds. In some cases these streamers gave the impression of an extension of the leaf at the removed area. If the leaf was cut so that sharp corners were formed, then discharges appeared and stayed at these corners.
A common (and puzzling) observation was to see the streamers taking their origin not at the edge of the cut, but at some distance away. This "gap" was seen both for bright spots and short (about 3 mm) streamers. [Fig. ? Q3]. When the leaf was put close to the electrode, but without making contact, then bright discharge channels through the air gap could be seen between the cut edge and the surface of the electrode.
We then put the cut-off tips on the electrode surface at a distance of 1 - 2 mm from the edge from which they were cut. In 0.3 - 0.5 sec after turning the voltage on bright streamers extended from the body of the leaf to the cut-off tip. As before, these lasted in their original places for about 10-30 sec, after which they re-appeared at random places along the cut edge..
If the cut-off tip was replaced with a metal bit of the same form, the same picture could be observed, but in this case the streamers appeared immediately after the voltage was turned on and then remained in the same places during the whole recording.
In a number of experiments with dried leaves and needles, and with pieces of metal of similar forms, these unusually bright streamers were never seen.
Discussions
In order to understand the effects just described, let us consider the physical processes of gas discharge, responsible for the Kirlian Effect [2]. The Kirlian image is due to avalanche discharges, which occur most strongly at particular points, where conditions are most favourable. That is, where the electric field reaches high enough intensity in relation to surface or volume heterogeneity of the object, and to the gaseous composition in the immediate environment. The value of the current is determined by two main factors: the tension of electrical field at the surface and discharge circuit's impedance. When, instead of being in contact with the electrode, the grounded leaf is placed at a distance from it, the potential difference increases. At small distances it provides optimal conditions for the development of intense discharge channels, in which the current is increased by the avalanche multiplication of charged particles in the air gap.
The uncut leaf is covered by a thick layer of epidermal cells and wax shell, while the inside structure is a system of channels and cell clusters filled with cytoplasm, juice and tar [4]. As a model it may be considered as a system of conducting structures covered by dielectric material. In the uncut leaf the discharge current is limited by the resistance of its dielectric surface, which has a value of 1-10 megOhms. That is why only a low-current avalanche stage of the sliding discharge was observed [5]. The ignition points of the avalanche are related both to the characteristics of the internal conductive structures, and to the properties of gases emitted through the pores. These reasons alone would lead us to expect that the Kirlian image could yield information on the physiological state of leaves, and their reactions to various influences [2,6]. When a leaf or needle is cut, a row of damaged cells is exposed, and some cellular fluid is released. Eventually this fluid starts to thicken and form a protective film. But for quite a long time the conductive structures are exposed at the cut, and provide conditions for the flow of high current.
Calculations have shown [7] that a projection only 1 micrometer high will cause the electric field to increase locally by 10 - 100 times, depending on its particular form (fig.5). That is why the discharge generally starts close to such micro-projections. The same mechanism is responsible for the observed glow at the ends of the cut. When sharp corners are left at the ends of the cut edge, then these can serve as the origin of two streamers, which may bend towards each other so as to resemble the form of the cut-off part, and so suggest a phantom.
The inner structure of the leaf forms a complicated system of conductive channels and dielectric layers. This influences the heterogeneous time-space distribution of potential along the surface, which is built up by the short voltage pulses. For edges of the cut located in different places on the leaf, the value of potential depends on a great many factors: geometry of the electrode, position of the leaf on the surface of the electrode, the potential of other parts of the leaf etc. But all these factors have an understandable physical nature. Although, from the appearance of the image, it may seem as if the discharge channels "fill" the whole removed area, streamers could equally well be observed between the cut line and an equi-potential metallic object. The majority of "phantoms" reported in previous publications and registered during our study, can thus be explained by well-known physical processes. They give us no reason to speak about "morphogenetic field" or "phantoms", and the apparent contour of the cut-off part is but a topological coincidence under a lucky choice of the cut line location.
Although the occasional "phantom" appearance seems thus to be explicable, certain other features of our results, concerning the streamers from the cut edges of leaves, require further discussion. These streamers were of an unexpected brightness, they did not start immediately the voltage was switched on, they tended to run parallel to each other, and sometimes they began at the far side of a "gap" from the cut edge of the leaf. In control experiments we examined the corona from the cut tip of a grounded piece of wire in plastic insulation (Fig, 5). As can be seen, the glow is concentrated in the area close to the cut, and has a typical diffuse form with no streamers (as in the case of the pine needles) and no gap. A similar picture is seen from a grounded metallic object without any sharp protrusions - e.g. a coin or metallic disc. There is a bright but very even glow around the whole outer edge. So how can we explain the long streamers of 5-7 mm from the cut edges of living plants? They cannot be explained by the vaporization of some gas component of the leaf, because diffusion would soon blur the effect, and so could not account for the well-formed channels which are observed to persist for 20-40 sec.
To explain these phenomena, and the experimental data on the leaf phantom effect demonstrated by other researchers, we need to introduce several new concepts. To begin with, it is known that gas discharge can be initiated by charged particles, or any kind of ionising radiation, including ultra-violet. We suggest that it is significant that living objects are continuous sources of both particles and photons - including ultraviolet[8]. In addition, there is much evidence that these photons are at least quasi-coherent.[8]. This property of coherence is known to enhance the transmission of photons through biological materials, which are more opaque to disorganised light. It would also tend to confine the emission into parallel rays (similar to the induced emission of a semi-conductor laser) and so account for the well-defined, and more-or-less parallel bright streamers which we observed.
This hypothesis accords with the developing perceptions of the holographic structure of biological fields. Initially it was stated by Karl Pribram [9] in the form of holographic principles of brain and memory organization. Later these ideas were applied to various systems of the organism [10-14]. We have developed such ideas into a concept of morphological synergisation of biological objects [15]. The hypothesis is that any biological structure, starting from the cell level, is the source of a wide spectrum of fields in accordance with the principles of mesoscopic theory of condensed matter, developed by Kaivarainen [12]. These fields include acoustic, EM and gravity. With every field is connected a system of quasi-particles. In an organism these fields are coherent and form a dynamical space-time interferential picture - a hologram. The writing and reading of the traditional hologram needs a support coherent wave. For a biological object, however, it is possible to form a hologram without this reference wave, since the emission from each point of the object could be regarded as the support wave for every other point. In this case the 3D hologram could be re-constructed from a small part of it, sice this would contain all the necessary information about the whole picture. It is logically sound to assume that, under certain conditions, this ensemble of coherent particles can be a source of coherent emission. This hypothesis complies with the concept of coherent states in biology [16], the experimental data on super-weak UV emission of biological cultures [8,17] and experimental observations of laser generation in DNA [18]. An additional argument for this hypothesis is that the image of a cut leaf can be recorded on sensitive photo-material without any electrical field [3].
Conclusions
The analysis of experimental data on the dynamics of the discharge development gained through the usage of a new TV equipment, as well as the study of the published gas-discharge photos of "phantoms" gave rise to a hypothesis that the unusual streamers at the freshly-cut edge of a leaf could be induced by quasi-coherent ultra violet photons arising from within the leaf. Thus we suggest that the vague "form field" originally envisaged to account for the phantom leaf phenomenon, can be replaced by a set of real physical processes.
Appearing at some points on the cut of the leaf, this generation could cause the development of very intensive discharges close to this surface or form a separated zones of ionization. In its turn this causes the glow at a certain distance from the surface. In case of ionisation this distance could be big enough to be interpreted, with some imagination, as a reconstruction of the cut-off contour.
The introduced hypothesis needs elaborate experimental and theoretical justification. Still, it complies well with the developing concept of the biological objects as a quantum self-organising systems, having a very high degree of ordering and reacting in a specific way on the stress factors.
Literature
1. J.K. Choudhury et al, J. Inst. Eng. (India), v. 60, Pt EL3, p. 61-73 (1979)
2. K.Korotkov, Kirlian Effect. St.Petersburg, "Olga" Publishing House, (1995) (in Russian)
3. P. Garjaev. Wave Genom. Moscow. "Obchestv Polza" Publishing House, (1994) (in Russian)
4. P.H.Raven, R.F.Evert, S.E. Eichhorn. "Biology of Plants", Worth Publ. Inc (1986).
5. P. Dashuk et.al. Electron Technique. 6, p.9 (1975) (in Russian)
6. V. Lisikov et.al. "Photos of the Biological Objects in the High Frequency Electrical Currents", Kishinev (1962) (in Russian)
7. Slivkov "Electrical Insulation and Gas Discharge in Vacuum", Moscow, Atomizdat (1972) (in Russian)
8. F.A. Popp., K.H.Li, Q. Gu. (ed). "Recent advances in biophoton research and its applications". World Scientific, Singapore, New Jersey, London, Hong Kong. (1992)
9. K. Pribram "Languages of the Brain", Monterey, Calif.: Wadsworth Publ.(1977)
10. S.R. Hameroff et al . "Models for molecular computation", Computer, November p.30-39 (1992)
11. Jubi et al., "Quantum optical coherence in cytoskeletal microtubules: implication for brain function". Biosystems. (1994)
12. A. Kaivarainen, "Hierarchic concept of matter and field". NY (1995) Privately published ISBN 0-9642557-0-7
13. Lechleiter et al, "Spiral waves: spiral calcium wave propagation and annihilation in Xenopus laevis oocytes". Science. 252, 123-126 (1991)
14. R.Nobili, Phys. Rev. A: Gen. Phys. v. 32, N 6, p. 3618 -3626 (1985); v. 35, N 3 , p. 1901-1922 (1987)
15. K. Korotkov, A. Kouznetsov, "The Concept of the Interferential Spatial Field Structures in Biology." In the book "The Biomedical Informatics and Eniology". St.Petersburg, "Olga" Publishing House, (1995), p.33-49 (in Russian)
16. Zhang C., Popp F., Bischof M. "Current Development of Biophysics". Hangzhou Univ. Press. 1996.
17. V.Kaznacheev, L.Michajlova "Ultraweak Radiations in the Intercell Interactions". Novosibirsk, Nauka (1981) (in Russian)
18. P.Garjaev et.al. Quantum Electronics, v.21, N 6, p. 603-604 (1994) (in Russian)

The Aura and the Kirlian effect.
Notions about some kind of body radiance are very ancient and can be found in many traditions throughout the world. Such radiance was held to indicate the quality of a person's spirit. Mentions occur a number of times in The Bible, for example: "when the prophets beheld God, and saw him in an aureole, they were inspired with profound veneration". ( Daniel 7:9, 10, Revelation).
In the 19th century, together with the flourishing of spiritism, many people were claiming to be able to see luminescence around the body, and to even derive from it some notions about health and psychological condition. And even in the 19th century, some 30 years before the Kirlians, gas discharge had been observed to change with a person's mood or condition (Pogorelsky, 1899). Pogorelsky's idea of a "physiological polar energy" was in accord with other ideas of vital energy, which were current at the time.
Sometimes this aura was seen as multi-coloured, but more often as a monochrome bluish-grey. Only a small proportion of people can naturally see the aura in daylight. For most people it was necessary to have a darkened room with subdued lighting from the side. Many pages in the works of Rudolph Steiner are dedicated to the aura. During the 1920s Dr Walter J. Kilner, an electrotherapist of Saint Thomas' hospital in London, discovered that viewing the aura could be facilitated by looking through a deep blue filter. This was made by putting a solution of the dye dicyanin between two glass plates. The aura appeared as a greyish haze around the body, and could even be photographed by later researchers.
As we have discovered, the same effect can be obtained by using screens made out of polarisation filters.
The Russian inventor Zolotov developed a special method of photography. A person is placed against a black background - either the night sky or a big box upholstered inside with black velvet. Light from a bright bulb is directed frontally onto the object and photographs taken with considerable over-exposure. In the photos, due to over-exposure, the body appears uniform white, and a hazy radiant aureole can be seen in the black space around it. The appearance of this aura varies with individual human subjects. More recent use of this phenomenon has been made in the well-known exhibition device "Aurograph", by which photos of a man’s aura can be taken on Polaroid film.
In a quite different system the English researcher Harry Oldfield uses a video camera with normal lighting conditions. The digital output from the camera is processed by computer so as greatly to enhance the contrast, and make visible small differences in brightness which are not apparent to the eye. He makes diagnostic use of this in connection with his Electro-Crystal Therapy.
The fact that the aura can be registered by several photographic methods suggests that at least one component of it is conventional light. There appear to be no records of the aura being seen in total darkness, and so it is probably not self-luminous. Thus the light which is seen must come from light incident on the subject. If the light source is on the same side as the person viewing the aura, then the auric light would need to be somehow reflected back towards the viewer. In principle this could happen either by reflection from particles in the air (e.g. dust) or by scattering from the air molecules themselves - which is what accounts for the blue light we see in the sky. On the other hand if the light is behind the subject then refraction may play a role. This last seems a real possibility when one considers that the human body is usually some 15(C higher than the environmental temperature. This means that, close to the body, there will be a layer of warmer air with lower refractive index. These warm air layers are clearly seen beyond the asphalt surface in hot sunny day and often very well registered in cinemas.
In Zolotov’s experiments (fig.1.1) a flow of falling light is used; most part of a passing wave "A" is absorbed by an absolutely black body (or it goes away into the space) and only little part is reflected back towards the viewer. This light is very faint, but sufficient to exposure the photo-film even if the ratio of reflection is little.
What is the role of screens and polarisation spectacles? They transmit in a different ways light waves with different properties, and an observer gets a picture of the distribution of visible light fields. Of course, it is only a part of the whole Aura.
Thus, we can conclude that a man is surrounded by a shell of warm air. This is true, although less so, even if he is clothed. So long as he does not move too much, this warm air will rise, causing a slow convection current. There is no doubt that a complex convection-field exists around a warm-blooded organism. Moreover, it is very sensitive to physiological, pathological and even mental states. Much diagnostic use has recently been made of this fact. For example skin temperature changes markedly immediately over a region of inflammation. It also changes even in the remote zones of projection of an affected organ. This distribution of temperature will of course influence the heat currents, and so may contribute to the visible aura.
In further confirmation are some experiments made by Fritz Gize in 1934, as described by Kalgren (1995). He made the convection currents more easily visible by projection on a transparent screen. If the subject (unclothed) is engaged in intellectual work, the maximum radiation moves towards the head, while radiation from the lower part of the body almost disappears. During intense intellectual concentration, as in mental arithmetic or learning by heart, the maximum heat appears in the midline between the eyes and upper boundary of the forehead.
If an emotional note is introduced into the mind, the radiation from the head decreases while that of the abdomen immediately starts again. It becomes especially strong in the thorax, where it takes on a distinct character, which differs from the head radiation in the presence of rhythmic, spurting impulses of heat waves.
When the person's mind is engaged in strong mind activity his whole body emits enhanced heat. In this case the abdominal zones are often found in a special state, with little waves rising very brightly and rapidly. These average three times faster moving waves than in the case of the emotional contents of a mind. These heat waves can be detected as much as 2-3 metres above a man.
Besides this convection-field, it is now clear that a living organism has a very complex radiation-field. This field occupies a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum from ultra-violet (about 1015 Hz) down to extra-low frequencies of a few Hertz or lower. At this lower end are found the electrical waves from the brain and heart, which can be detected with conventional electrical instruments. At the upper end visible, ultraviolet and near infra-red radiations have been detected with the use of the sensitive photon counter. Between these two extremes lies a huge region of the spectrum, encompassing some 1013 orders of magnitude, going from radio and microwaves at the lower end to far infra-red at the upper end of frequency. Much less is known of these radiations since they are very hard to detect and characterise. Nevertheless there are good reasons to think that radiations throughout this band are significant for the organism and contribute to its field.
What stands out already, from many studies on both the extra-low frequencies of heart and brain, and the much higher optical frequencies, is that the electromagnetic field of an organism is varying all the time in response to the slightest change in physiological condition. This has been most clearly shown in relation to light frequencies, including ultra-violet. The intensity is so low that it can only be detected by means of a photon counter. Nevertheless it can be shown that this radiation is exceedingly sensitive to physiological state. It thus has great potential for diagnostics. In addition it has a great many other uses, such as to indicate the freshness of foodstuffs, and the effect of pollutants on living trees, etc. In Germany now there is an installation whereby one can measure the emission of light from the whole surface of the human body. The rapidly-growing scientific work on these "biophotons" already forms the basis of a new direction in biophysics [Popp 1992, Zhang 1996]. Although they are undoubtedly related to the aura, biophotons are too weak to contribute directly to the visible aura - especially as they do not penetrate clothing.
There is also evidence that, although they are so weak, these fields can serve as a medium of communication between organisms. Likewise, organisms are exceedingly sensitive to some external electromagnetic fields. For example, the earth's field is necessary for health: a young organism may even die if this field is excluded by confining it to a Faraday cage. And there is much evidence for detrimental effects of some man-made fields, even if extremely weak.
In addition to conventional electromagnetic fields, there is good reason to suspect that the aura also comprises other, more subtle fields. For example it can very easily be detected by dowsing. A skilled dowser can show how the extent of the aura outside a person's body varies both with his state of health and with his mental state. Less well known is the work of the talented researcher Polakov from Saint-Petersburg, who died in 1996. His method is based on automatic writing [Polakov 1982]. This is a standard method among mediums, who have been able to reveal much information unobtainable by the normal sense channels. Polakov's method is essentially "automatic drawing": the operator (who must have acquired a certain degree of sensitivity) faces the patient, and holds a pen over a piece of paper on which is the outline of a human figure. In a while a shaded area, which resembles a pattern of the aura, appears around the figure (Fig.1.2). Being a gifted physicist, Polakov worked out a system of computer processing which took into account not only the form of the outline, but the frequency of hand movements in each part of the drawing of the aura. It was found that the spectrum of frequencies was individual for the patient, and in addition was related to disease conditions. Polakov was able thus to create a library of typical patterns. The method cannot be too difficult, since he trained large numbers of his pupils to do it.
What kinds of fields are responsible for dowsing phenomena? In Polakov's case it cannot be electromagnetic because the method worked equally well with a photo of a person when the living person could be very far away. Even the person's name could be sufficient. Thus far there is no clear physical description of this type of field. But it must surely be a very important component of the aura - perhaps the most important, in the sense of carrying the most information.
In addition to various types of radiation, it is reasonable to include smell in the aura. Smell in this case is a conscious impression of one person from a cloud of molecules surrounding the body of another person. We do not know really what is the role of smell in our life. Why a smell, drifted suddenly, arises an avalanche of reminiscences? Why do we spend so much money to different perfumes? One can only guess how much the world of a dog is richer, and how much the additional information it receives, perceiving the individuality of every molecule, brought by the air currents. In natural life different attracting adores are widely spread especially ones for attracting males during the conjugal period. Forgetting about dream and food, overcoming any difficulties, often to meet the death, the beetle and cockroach, the octopus and shark, the deer and bear run, fly and swim, sensing the smell of their partners. Do smell sensations only rudimental unnecessary feeling for us or do they have some special, important for our life meaning? There are wide areas for study.
Consequently, the physical aura of the biological object and man in particular is the total combination of the physical fields and radiations, formed by a body in space both due to its own emission and interaction with the processes in the environment. An organism is an open system and as such cannot be considered without taking into account all the external connections and interactions. Thus, the physical aura must be made up of many components. Which of these stands out above the rest depends on the conditions. It seems very likely that other physical fields exist in the aura, which have yet to be recognized by physics. We can assume the existence of physical fields of unknown nature, we can develop a conception of these fields’ carriers as well as principles of their experimental discovering. Such an approach can be very productive. At the same time it would be surprisingly if all this fields and radiations served only as a buffer of the energy, worked out by an organism. Their diversity is very considerable and they are connected with the peculiarities of an organism too tightly.
Already considerable data point to the existence of an informational field. Such a field would form the next level of reality above the electromagnetic field. It is here that the processes of self-organization begin. The subsequent formation of more stable structures in matter then serves to maintain the integrity of the information field. The structures within this field exist outside of common three-dimensional space, and are defined instead by co-ordinates of time, energy and information. Thus they exist in their own virtual hyperspace. This kind of idea is commonplace for mystics and spiritual adepts, as can be understood from many ancient holy books. The aim of scientists is to express this idea in the modern language, bring it into the circle of scientific paradigm and, of course, to substantiate it experimentally [Korotkov 1995, Tiller 1997].
Within the framework of such a concept we can talk about the informational aura of a man. It manifests itself vividly in everyday life. Hundreds of examples can be found in literature - "a monk in an aureole of sanctity"; "his features radiated honor and dignity"; «they recognized the Empress by her features", showing that many people have perceived this aura while meeting with renowned people, or beautiful women. A person's aura forms gradually, under the influence of education, up-bringing and atmosphere. Innate factors are of great importance too - for example in the little boys (tulkus) who are reincarnations of great lamas in Tibet have a strong aura from birth. So this aura is the result of action of many factors, functioning in the same direction.
Even if it is not consciously seen, the aura can have strong effects at a subconscious level. Thus when a great actor creates not only the physical face but the inner world of the part he is playing, something is transmitted to the audience which cannot be described entirely in physical terms. It is not merely the words and the visual image since, as is well known, most of the effect is lost in television drama. Art in its higher manifestations generates a particular state of informational space.
Physics is now beginning to conform with esoteric knowledge in that it is becoming reasonable to speak about the hierarchy of the aura levels. Next to the material body is a physical aura made up of the superposition of physical fields. These contribute to an informational aura, which may be seen as a combination of informational fields - still to some extent local. Beyond these there is a more global field, formed by contributions of the whole of mankind.
At present our physical instruments will only register the first, physical, component of these auras. However, the physical aura is connected immediately with the informational one, any change in this is reflected in the physical aura, and can be recorded instrumentally. This connection is mutual. It acts to the both sides. The difference is that the informational aura is connected with the structures of higher levels and it changes in accordance with the behaviour of these structures.
Consequently, studying the physical aura, one can get notions about the physical body as well as about subtle plans. But as we have seen, the physical aura consists of many different components. That is why, optimally, one should employ a combination of devices, based on different principles. At the same time we know that none of the known fields can be registered immediately, but only by their influence upon physical objects and processes. The electric field is registered by diversion of a test charge, while the magnetic one by movement of a magnetized arrow or conductor of current, the gravitation field- by movement of a test mass. Moreover, various principles of registration allow revealing differing aspects of the properties of these fields, as was demonstrated by Gorshkov [1993] in analyzing magnetic fields generated by a person.
For optimal registration the fields of the physical aura it is necessary to find a physical process, sensitive to the maximum quantity of components of this aura. In fact the Kirlian corona does respond to several of these components. While the discharge is initiated mainly by charged particles and photons, its characteristics also depend on the distribution of electromagnetic field, the surface and volumetric properties of an object and the composition of its gaseous environment. All of these are important components of the physical aura of a person. As we can see, the characteristics, registered incidentally, determine the state not only of the physical body, but first of the entire informational-energetic one. The structure of fluorescence of man’s hands reflects a wide spectrum of his energetic, psychological, physical and emotional peculiarities. Now we have got much more possibilities to penetrate deeper into the mystery of the human being due to appearance of new computer equipment.

Kirlian Effect - advanced scientific tool to study mind-body functions by READING AURA
New Generation of Kirlian Instruments
We are glad to introduce a new practical and research concept for study of biological field of human being (color 3-D Aurograms of Human Field) and the first in the world instrument for these purposes.
The instrument idea is based on Kirlian Effect and is using the most advanced electronic and computer technologies. This achievement became possible in the last two years only due to the development of modern computer technology.
Over the years since the inception of Kirlian photography in the 1940’s a number of problems have become evident. Lack of technical standardization together with the considerable requirement for time and operator skill have led to difficulty in reproducing published results. Moreover, the complexity of the kirlian image and the lack of a basis for statistical comparison have made it difficult to arrive at clear-cut conclusions. Those, together with the lack of a theoretical background, acceptable to the mainstream scientific community have led to the atmosphere of skepticism, which prevails today. Nevertheless, in recent years a great deal of theoretical and experimental research on this subject has continued, especially in Russia. Our contribution thus far is summarized below.
New Generation of Kirlian Instruments
In the history of Science developing of a new instrument always resulted in new understanding of Reality. Microscope, telescope, X-rays, topography, ultra-sound - without these instruments modern science is powerless.
Now a new instrument came to being - Computerised Gas Discharge Visualisation technique, based on well-known Kirlian Effect. Modern scientific means: special optics, digitised TV matrix, picture processing with powerful computer - created a new base for introduction this technique into scientific practice. This is a first tool that let us to visualise the distribution of human’s fields, and to make it easily, reproducibly, graphically and, the last but not the least, inexpensive. At this stage of scientific development these features will contribute to the common trend in biophysics from the comprehension of biological objects as solid stable structures to the perception of their dynamic spatial field essence. That is why we see our task not as a development of one more diagnostic instrument, but as a step to a new understanding of Reality. A lot of scientific institutions, conventional and alternative medical practitioners from Australia, England, Finland, India, Mexico, Peru, Russia benefit from using this technique now.
Application in Complementary and Alternative Medicine : advanced diagnostics
Every physical organ, every function of the mind-body has its precise effect on the human aura. By reading aura around fingers we can determine the malfunction of every organ of the body, long before physical symptoms become evident. Investigation of a person’s health and psycho-emotional state, both at the given moment in time and in its change over time; the influence of different drugs, medicine, exercises. Promising results were obtained in express-diagnoses of cancer by evaluating the dynamic of changes of the pictures.
Special field - is the study of Gas Discharge Characteristics of blood samples. It was shown, that they are quite different for a healthy patients and patients with cancer or with different phases of cardiac disorder.
Evidence of the mind-body activity after death
In 1993 Dr. Korotkov and his associates obtained strong experimental evidence of human life energy for up to 6 days after physical death. Characteristic pattern emerged according to the manner of death, i.e. peaceful death, sudden unexpected death, suicide. Details are described in the book by K. Korotkov in Russian and English (Email: leonidt@erols.com)
Energetic properties of plants, crystals, minerals
Modern Kirlian equipment, designed by Dr. Korotkov, is capable to quantify the energy state of different objects, both living and inanimate, and their influence on the people who interact with them.
Investigations into Parapsychology and Healing
Ability to read aura provides insight into much more than the physical body. Using modern Kirlian technology it has become possible to carry out innovative experiments in the area of telepathy, telekinesis and energetic healing modalities. Special techniques have been developed to check the changes of person state during mediation, spiritual healing and training.
Scientific background
The problem of quick diagnostic evaluation of the health and psycho-emotional state of patients is one of the most important in medicine. This coupled with the ability to identify the grounds or indications of developing diseases are of great importance. For all these problems it is desirable to have equipment and techniques capable of delivering appropriate indications, preferably through automatic user-friendly devices.
Using the Gas Discharge Visualisation technique (GDV) the Russian scientist Prof. Konstantin Korotkov has developed a set of such devices. Using a special electrode system the approach creates a high intensity electric field around an object which produces a gas discharge whose glow can be seen and measured.. The discharge appears independently of the nature of the object, consequently with experimental experience one can cause virtually any object to glow. This could be a nail, a stone or a plant; any biological essence adds its own unique aspect to this glow, changing its brightness, size and colour.
The discharge reveals the features of an object that cannot be determined by other techniques in additional to which one can track any small change which occur. The electrical properties of the object, emission characteristics, gas evaporation, energy exchange with the environment - all these parameters of the object contribute to its glow. All attempts to assign or relate this glow to other factors such as sweating or conductivity alone have, after careful analysis proven incorrect. For example with complex objects it is possible to determine the influence of different factors such as medicine, type of food, environment, etc. The method reveals the complex reaction of an organism to different influences.
Methodology
A person puts his finger on the electrode, the computer screen then shows the glow around the finger including any peculiarities and defects, associated with different diseases. The patient then receives a colour printout of the screen picture chosen along with diagnosis and recommendations.
Main Users of technique
Investigation of a person’s health and psycho-emotional state, both at the given moment in time and in its change over time; the influence of different drugs, medicine, exercises.
Investigation of energy-and-information characteristics of plants, leaves, seeds, etc.
Study and prediction of person’s state by kirlianograms of blood and other biological liquids.
Investigation of a person’s Consciousness, changed states; testing of super-sensitive abilities.
The device can be used both for the defectoscopy of un-isotropic dielectrics and for investigation of biological objects energy-and-information state, in particular, express-diagnostics of a person psycho-physiological condition. The device differs from the foreign analogous by the optimisation of parameters, multi-functioning, data stability.
The "CROWN" instruments
To overcome some of the above problems we have developed an instrument that has a number of special features.
Optical link to a CCD camera, interfacing to computer. This has several advantages over photography:
It enables one continuously to follow changes in the image with time. In this way meaningful lasting changes can be distinguished from moment-to-moment variation much better than by a few isolated snapshots.
The information is available immediately in digital form, and so can be processed by the analytical software at any time. Storage, transmission and reproduction of the image is greatly facilitated.
The messy and time-consuming procedure of photography is completely eliminated.
Image analysis software. Among the many features are:
Intensity spectre can be represented both as a curve and in false colouring, and manipulated in a number of other ways, including contrast expansion of selected regions, inversion and binarisation.
The image can be divided into sectors to correspond with acupuncture meridian system and with the information on area and pattern of intensity, can be further processed for convenient use in diagnostic.
Facility to record on computer the high-frequency (corona) current which constitute the gas-discharge. We found that this correlates with the integral light intensity of the image. Thus the whole complex image can be reduced to a single parameter, varying over time. This has great advantages for research, where one may simply want unambiguous data on the effect of a procedure. Graphs of current can then easily be obtained over any desired length of time.
Attachment ("remote sensor") which permits one to register distant (psychokinetic) influence. Here the discharge takes place in special device, and results are monitored as changes in the corona current.
Disturbance to the human subject, or organism, is minimised by the use of very short (10 mks) pulses.
The instrument is contained in an easily portable case, and is used with IBM computer.

Scientific studies to date
Physical nature of the Kirlian Effect
2. Basic biology
Extensive studies on yeast cultures have revealed clear correlation between standard microbiological parameters relating to stage of grows and health of the culture, and a number of parameters of the discharge, including current, spectral characteristics, and measures of its morphology, including fractal dimension.
Studies on plants, seeds and vegetables suggest the technique may be useful in relation to plant health, e.g. to monitor effects of pollution.
The phantom leaf effect has found new promising explanation.
Investigation on human health and activity
Typical changes in the image during normal physical, emotional and intellectual activities have been established. The effect of stress and its and its subsequent resolution has been followed on-line. Against this basis for normality, we can be confident of what constitutes pathology.
In studies on the morphology of the image, in a large number of human volunteers in various states of health, we have been able to define seven basic types. We have confirmed a relation to the meridian system as discovered by Peter Mandel, and consider that these basic types could be used to define energy conditions in relation to eastern medicine.
Studies on blood and other body fluids indicate that the kirlian image of these also correlates with state of health, and so could contribute to diagnosis.
Investigation on states of energy and consciousness
The corona current (and thus intensity of the image) correlates strongly with a person’s energy: tiredness, time of day, alcohol etc. It increase greatly during a healing session, both for the healer and the healee. Even during distant healing this effect can be clearly seen. With training current can be intentionally increased, e.g. by meditation. With the benefit of continuous feedback provided by the corona-current facility we now have a system both for testing the competence of healers and sensitives, and also for training them.
Psychokinetic effects on remote sensor.
Over fifty healers and sensitives, and a comparable number of unselected "normal" individuals were first taken through a training programme using the sensor as biofeedback. Those who succeeded were then tested for their ability to influence it from a remote site - in a few cases as far as 3,000m. Twenty-eight of the "professionals" but none of the "normal" succeeded in registering at least some influence.
After death studies
Although most of the biochemical parameters used in criminology decrease rapidly and reach a baseline level within the first day after death we found, surprisingly, that in the first few hours the kirlian image was almost indistinguishable from that in life. Its subsequent course was strongly influenced by the manner of death. After peaceful death of old people it declined smoothly to a baseline level within the first day, but particularly so in the case of two suicides, in which it only reached baseline after oscillating violently for as much as four days. We speculate that the subtle body may actually remain for some time after clinical death.
Further work projected
Technical development
Instrument hardware and software. These will be continuously improved and updated. The next step will be developing of computer-operated instrument with flexible parameters providing all necessary functions in one instrument. The developed software may be used for other kirlian systems, which enable the transformation of data from system to system.
With the development of computer programmes that can learn to recognise patterns, it will be an obvious step to apply this kind of technique to kirlionics.
Basic science
Theory. The kirlian effect is only one of many phenomena that cannot be explained by the conventional biochemical view of life based on random thermodynamics. We have begun to build a new theoretical basis for life in which information plays a key role. In addition, it would account for much of the so-called paranormal phenomena. Called the theory of Morphogenetic Synergisation, it aims to unify science, subtle energy and the spiritual realms. Further developments of this theory are planned, with more mathematical formalisation. Since Akimov’s theory of torsion fields is likely to become important in the understanding of subtle energy, we have already approached him with a view to collaboration.
Phantom leaf effect. Now that we can be confident in reproducing this interesting phenomenon, it is clear that it deals not with mysterious "phantom field", but with some physical effects. Preliminary data suggests a relation to the leaf’s biophoton coherent emission.
Remote influence. More work is planned in this field. The main objective to investigate what, in physical terms, is happening and to find out basic conditions and terms.
Group influence. There are several publications that describe an effect of group energy, or emotion, on random event generators. We plan to seek such effects on the remote sensor. For this purpose we will collaborate with a theatre groups and educational centres.
Interpersonal interactions. With two or more individuals, each monitored by a Crown instrument and/or encephalographic, it will be possible to investigate the effects of different types of interaction.
Healing. Further studies are under way to monitor the course of healing using the Crown instrument. We propose to collaborate in this with the Russian Federal Institute of the Human Brain. Using EEG as a monitor they have revealed phase-correlations between particular areas of the healer’s brain and healee’s brain.
Applications
Clinical studies.
With the use of the Crown instrument one can obtain a number of quantitative parameters relating to a person’s energy state. Thus it could be very useful not only for initial diagnosis, but to obtain immediate feedback on the effect of any clinical procedure.
A number of collaborative studies have been initiated, in which kirlian data will be recorded alongside the corresponding clinical data. In this way we hope to accumulate a comprehensive database, which could be used in all kinds of clinical situations.
Water and Food quality control.
The "CrownTV" instrument allows in any premise with usual daylight in 3-5 minutes getting in the computer the kirlianogram of a biological field of a person and creates the picture of Aura. This may be used as follows:
1. Express-diagnosis of psycho-physiological state of a person by visual and program correlation of patient's kirlianogram with diagnostic table.
2. Control of a patient's state changes during medical, biotherapy, healing, energy-and-informational influences for the person organism. Aurogram picture reflects the subtle changes of psycho-physiological state and may be estimated both visually and quantitatively.
3. Study of kirlianograms of water, blood, and other liquids for the estimation of their structure properties.
4. Study of luminescence of plants, leaves, animals, and biological tissues.
"CrownTV" instrument is dedicated for professionals of conventional and alternative medicine, psychologists, researchers in the field of consciousness study and biophysics.
reveals the complex reaction of an organism to different influences.
Product Range of a Gas Discharge Visualisation (GDV) Instruments
Model "CrownTV".
Device consisting of hardware and software for direct computer registration and processing of GDV glow pictures by means of a special TV system with fiber-glass optics at a day-light conditions with real-time processing.
"CrownTV" Instrument has the parts as follows:
1. Electronic-optical hardware (sizes 300x400x150 mm, weight 5kg, power supply 110/220V).
2. Computer videoblaster connected to parallel port.
3. Software "GDV" complex having the programs as follows:
"GDVPrint" - for the initial processing, saving and printing of kirlianograms;
"GDVAura" - for creating Aurogram pictures;
"GDVAnalysis" - for quantitative analysis of kirlianograms.
4. Manual, describing the main principles of creating, processing and analyzing the kirlianograms.
As it is clear from the practice of using of Kirlionics in different countries: Australia, England, Finland, Germany, Hong-Kong, Mexico, Peru, Russia - any person having at least beginning knowledge of using the computer can study the operation with an instrument in two days.
Instrument should be connected with computer, the main demands are:
IBM 586/100 MHz/16 Mb RAM/200 Mb free HDD/Win3.11/Win95
Kirlianograms are printed with any colour printer.
The price of the "CrownTV" complex is US$ 6000.00 (including delivery by UPS).
Model "CrownPhoto"
Device consisting of hardware for photo-registration of GDV glow.
Price $ 650.00 (including delivery by UPS).
General Features and Conditions
All devices are portable, easy to operate and absolutely safe for both patient and operator.
The software is oriented on un-qualified user, has friendly state-of-the-art graphic interface, flexible system of education and help.
Every device is guaranteed for two years against manufacturing defects.