Researchers studying the connection between human mortality and solar activity were extremely delighted in 1934 when a brilliant work by T. and B. Düll, titled “On the influence of solar eruptions on mortality and the existence of a 27-day period in fatal cases,” appeared in *Virchow’s Archiv* (vol. 293, no. 2, p. 272, 1934). This outstanding article by the Düll brothers fully confirmed the main provisions and ideas we had long expressed in our works. Since the work of the Düll brothers is based on in-depth study of this issue, on fundamental and precise statistical data, and contains many interesting findings, I consider it highly appropriate to examine it in detail.
Fig. 105. Vector diagram of the daily course of the horizontal component of the Earth’s magnetic field on calm days at sunspot maximum (1) and minimum (3), and on disturbed days at sunspot maximum (2) and minimum (4). Scale unit = 10 (after Angenheister, Bartels).
The Düll brothers had at their disposal statistical materials on daily mortality, including causes of death (individual assessment), as well as data on suicides and accidental deaths from two locations: Copenhagen (1928–1932) and Zurich (4,000 cases over the same period). Thus, over five years, they analyzed 40,000 individually assessed cases, each linked to a specific day, age, gender, disease, and cause of death. Causes of death and diseases were divided into 14 categories. The authors compiled highly detailed summary tables for each day over five years, containing all necessary information about causes of death. Once this painstaking work was completed, the German scientists decided to compare the course of mortality from various diseases with the dynamics of solar activity and solar eruptions.
As outlined earlier in this book, solar activity can be measured in two ways: 1) directly through purely astronomical or astrophysical observations, such as counting sunspots, measuring their area and polarity, observing prominences, faculae, flocculi, and other phenomena that trigger terrestrial effects like auroras, magnetic variations, magnetic storms, atmospheric electricity, and many others—all of which reflect solar perturbations to varying degrees. Thus, a researcher has the right to choose the method of comparison for physiological phenomena. They can correlate either with astrophysical or geophysical phenomena. Therefore, days with magnetic storms are separated by intervals of 27 days, coinciding with the rotation periods of the Sun’s upper layers, i.e., the recurrence of regions on the Sun producing various radiations—corpuscular or magnetic.
For their statistical work, the authors employed a well-known method often used in such studies. This method of overlapping periods was first applied by us in 1915. It involves dividing the entire numerical material, the so-called empirical series, into groups of 27 days each. These groups are then written one below the other, from top to bottom, and finally summed: the data for the first day of all groups are added together, and the result is divided by the number of groups. The same is done for the second day, and so on. By comparing the results, we obtain the arithmetic mean of all groups, in which all main regularities should manifest themselves extremely clearly, while deviations and random phenomena are smoothed out. Such are the laws of this method.
The mortality data for Copenhagen from January 1, 1928, to December 31, 1932—five years—yielded 68 groups of 27 days each. The same synchronous periods were used to divide all data on magnetic storms and the relative Wolf-Wolfer numbers. The results of all these calculations are presented in the form of curves shown in Fig. 107.
Examining these important curves reveals the following regularities:
1) Fluctuations in mortality from various causes in Copenhagen over a 27-day period tend to align with the 27-day period in sunspot activity, magnetic variations, and auroras.
2) The closest correlation between the aforementioned solar and geophysical phenomena in Copenhagen is observed in deaths from diseases of the nervous system and higher nervous activity. This was to be expected a priori. Here, we see a complete coincidence of the curves depicting the course of magnetic perturbations and mortality from nervous system diseases. In Fig. 107, black dots indicate the lag of mortality maxima. The greatest lag from the maximum in the course of solar or magnetic factors is seen in the mortality curve from respiratory diseases, amounting to eight days.
When examining the curves, it must be remembered that each represents the average course of 68 curves. This undoubtedly proves the existence of a powerful influence of solar perturbations on the physiological mechanisms in the human body that govern vital functions. It is striking that even the details of the curves show similarity. One cannot but agree that the phenomenon is more than remarkable.
After thoroughly processing the statistical material for Copenhagen, the Düll brothers set out to study mortality in the same context for another city. Indeed, the results of such work would be of immense value if the two curves representing the course of mortality numbers from the same group of diseases in two cities, far apart from each other, showed clear similarity in their rhythm.
Such work was conducted by the German researchers using mortality data from certain diseases in Zurich over the same period, 1928–1932. The authors themselves write that the results they obtained exceeded their wildest expectations. Figs. 119 and 120 speak for themselves. It turned out that the curves not only coincided in general features over a 28-day period but also in fine details. However, there is one extremely important detail: in the Copenhagen figures, the curves are shifted two days to the left, meaning that over these five years, the maximum in Zurich occurs two days later than in Copenhagen. I would like to emphasize this fact, as a more detailed study of it than was done by the German authors could shed light on the mechanism of action.
Indeed, how can we explain this phenomenon of lag or, conversely, advance depending on the geographical latitude of the location? Between Copenhagen and Zurich, from north to south, there are about 1,000 km. Geomagnetic phenomena in Copenhagen and Zurich manifest simultaneously; electromagnetic waves emitted by excitation sites on the Sun should also reach these two cities simultaneously. However, this may not be the case with solar corpuscles: as they penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere, they do not uniformly envelop it but selectively, depending on meteorological and geophysical conditions. It is well known that the paths of corpuscular streams from the Sun are highly complex, and the corpuscles themselves are not uniformly distributed in the atmosphere but depend to some extent on latitude and other conditions.
Having obtained such a significant result from their research, the Düll brothers did not stop there but decided to verify their numerical work again, applying a slightly modified method to the data processing. As is known, moderate magnetic perturbations recur every 27 days, while very large ones often occur in isolation or at intervals close to 30 days. Naturally, it seemed very interesting to study in detail whether these major magnetic storms coincide in time with mortality trends.
For this purpose, the authors did the following: over five years, from 1928 to 1932, they selected all days on which, according to geomagnetic observatory data, strong magnetic storms occurred. It turned out that during this five-year period, there were 67 days with strong magnetic perturbations, i.e., 67 days with significant magnetic disturbances. The day of the magnetic storm was marked with the letter “n.” Along the “n” axis (dashed line, Figs. 113 and 114), by overlapping periods, average values were obtained from 67 cases and for several adjacent days: 10 days before “n” and 10 days after “n.” Thus, the authors obtained average curves of the course of magnetic storms, which were then compared with the course of mortality from various causes in Copenhagen and Zurich.
During the processing of the materials, it was noted that out of the 67 days, 22 days with strong perturbations fell in 1930 (instead of the average 13 days). Indeed, in 1930, there were the most and strongest magnetic storms. It should be noted that 1930 was a year of intense eruptive solar activity. The final results of this work by the Düll brothers are presented in several graphs. From examining the curves, the connection is evident both between magnetic storms and mortality in Copenhagen and Zurich, as well as between mortality in the two cities. The course of mortality in Copenhagen and Zurich at the main points of the curves tends to coincide. Thus, the connection between these phenomena is absolutely undeniable. In this case, despite a different calculation method, the result remained the same. All this undoubtedly proves that specific solar radiation has an extraordinarily powerful effect on certain physiological mechanisms in our bodies.
Shortly after the German authors completed their work on mortality data from Copenhagen and Zurich, they proceeded to process materials from Frankfurt am Main. In this work, titled “On the daily number of deaths and magnetic storms,” a very large statistical material—30,000 death cases—was included, along with data on solar and geophysical phenomena. The authors then summed the number of deaths in these three groups (Copenhagen, Zurich, and Frankfurt am Main) for each individual day of the processed period from January 1, 1928, to December 31, 1932, to the extent possible, eliminating local influences that undoubtedly exist alongside the sought-after factors. Over 1,927 days, the authors recorded 24,739 death cases, which constitutes more than one-third of the entire mortality material (70,000 cases).
One of the most astonishing results of this latest research is that the time interval between the maximum magnetic disturbance and the rise in mortality figures in 1930 was, on average, shorter than in the other four years: 1928, 1929, 1931, and 1932. In these years, it was 3, 3, and 3 days, while in 1930, on the days when the strongest magnetic disturbances occurred, mortality figures simultaneously reached their peak.
Let us turn to the graphical results of this work by the Dülls. It provides an idea of the relatively strong increase in magnetic activity shortly before and on the days with particularly high mortality figures. The large days and the days following strong magnetic disturbances are characterized by Fig. 112. Fig. 113 shows the increase in mortality figures after the “total” day of magnetic storms over all five years: the top curve presents data only for periods of particularly pronounced terrestrial magnetism during the equinoctial months, while the bottom curve covers all other months.
Figs. 114 and 115 were calculated based on the 27-day period. With this method, the entire series of observations for one or, accordingly, five years was divided into groups of 27 days each; they were arranged in rows and summed. The figures present, therefore, cumulative curves. Figs. 114 and 115, despite a completely different methodology, still show essentially the same as the previous curves. They also clearly reveal the slight phase shift between the curves of terrestrial magnetism and mortality in 1930, approximately 3–4 days, and a phase shift of 3 days in other years. The latter figure, Fig. 115, was created by shifting the bottom curve (mortality) four days to the left. Additionally, the figure shows that by summing 68 rows of 27 days each (corresponding, therefore, to a five-year observation period), significant smoothing of the amplitude occurs in both the curve of terrestrial magnetic disturbances and the mortality curve.
The most important results revealed by the Dülls’ statistical studies thus speak in favor of the already stated position at the very beginning regarding the influence of radiation emanating from the Sun on biological processes. In 1937, a new work by the Düll brothers appeared. In this work, all the above conclusions received further confirmation based on new numerical and statistical materials, such as data from Berlin, Hamburg, and Budapest. Thus, the synchronism of mortality across major European cities was once again confirmed and proven, as was the dependence of mortality dynamics on solar radiation.
I take particular pleasure in noting here the attention given to our works in this field by the Düll brothers, both in this article and in the special collection *Medical Meteorological Statistics* (1937), as well as in their report at the Frankfurt Conference for Medical-Natural Scientific Cooperation (March 30–31, 1936).
In concluding this review of the Dülls’ excellent work, I feel compelled to express admiration for the thoroughness and diligence of their brilliant research.
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Chapter X: Lost Equilibrium and the Protective Screen
The vast material on mortality collected by us, Dr. Föhr, and his colleagues, as well as the Düll brothers, establishes an absolutely undeniable and precise scientific fact: the number of deaths is distributed over time in accordance with solar radiation, which is causally linked to eruptions and sunspots on its surface. The nature of this radiation, its quality, and other properties are still very poorly understood. However, it would be absolutely incorrect to assume that diseases or deaths are caused by cosmic or atmospheric-telluric phenomena. This cannot be allowed. The issue is about the impetus provided by these external factors, which, striking a prepared organism, leads to its demise.
If we adopt this point of view, it becomes clear that the time of increased mortality is determined by cosmic factors, while the number of deaths depends on the organism’s readiness to perceive this external influence—in this case, harmful cosmic radiation. Therefore, it is naturally necessary to strictly distinguish between: 1) the external influence on the organism and 2) the organism’s readiness to perceive it. These are two things of entirely different significance.
However, it is not improbable that if radiation of this nature recurs frequently or lasts too long, it may itself so destabilize the organism that it becomes a factor of readiness, i.e., turns from a triggering factor into a provoking one. In other words, even the weakest electrical impulses lasting for many days would likely be sufficient to ultimately disrupt the electrical balance of a diseased organism.
On the other hand, it is possible that solar eruptions, occurring suddenly and sharply after a prolonged lull—immediately after a minimum—can produce a major biological effect, sharply increasing the number of deaths, since a large number of potential candidates for death or deterioration of health have accumulated during the quiet period. At the same time, it is certain that frequent impulses of cosmic radiation sharply reduce the number of candidates for death or disease deterioration. In such a case, even a sharp increase in the cosmic factor will not be accompanied by a particularly high rise in the number of illnesses or deaths.
From this, it follows that in a thorough study of this issue, all these factors must be taken into account. It is also certain that when studying the biological or physiological effects of solar or cosmic factors, the influence of meteorological agents—the effects of “weather”: pressure, temperature, humidity, windiness, and many others—must be considered for each individual case. All these factors, as statistics show (a large number of studies), have a specific impact on the organism and cannot be ignored in the study of this problem. However, meteorological factors, which are independent of the Sun, according to our statistical work, play a secondary role.
Now, two questions stand before us: 1) what is the mechanism of these harmful influences? and 2) how can they be prevented, how can a person be protected from them?
Opinions on the nature of this mechanism differ among authors. Some believe (with very weighty grounds) that the cause lies in short-wavelength electromagnetic radiation. Such short waves can be emitted by solar phenomena during eruptions, prominences, and solar vortices. These waves reach Earth in 8 minutes and 17 seconds, pass through its atmosphere, and act on the organism, particularly on its receptor systems. Others argue that the cause lies in the electrical and magnetic influences of the Earth’s atmosphere and crust, which depend on the Sun’s electromagnetic and corpuscular radiation. This hypothesis is plausible but significantly more complex. Finally, it is possible that both types of influences actually occur. At least, it is undeniable that solar phenomena, within one to three or four days of their appearance on the Sun, have a detrimental effect on weakened, elderly, or diseased organisms—particularly those with pronounced atherosclerosis, heart degeneration, as well as during crises in infectious diseases, etc.
They affect vital functions: the nervous system, respiratory centers, and the circulatory system, causing phenomena such as spasms, overexcitation, or parabiotic states in conditions of weakened functional activity of nerve structures. Following spastic overexcitation or parabiotic states, death ensues. Here, the experimenter faces great opportunities.
Electromagnetic waves of such length can now be generated in laboratories by Prof. A. A. Glagoleva-Arkadjeva’s method and used to influence dying animals. For a healthy person, these influences are nothing, or almost nothing. But imagine an elderly person with atherosclerosis or someone exhausted by illness, a severe chronic disease, or, conversely, suffering from an acute infection—imagine a person at the height of an infectious disease with a temperature of 40.5°C, tachycardia, a barely perceptible pulse, and weakened blood circulation. It becomes clear that the slightest external impetus can be fatal. And so it happens. It is not the strong, young, or healthy who perish from harmful solar radiation, but the sick. Almost instantly, those suffering from diseases of the nervous system and brain perish from harmful solar radiation; within two to four days after eruptions on the Sun, those with circulatory diseases, the elderly, and the infirm die, and the number of suicides sharply increases (affective phenomena associated with nervous system disorders).
But this is enough: the harmful influence of specific solar radiation is now proven.
The modest scope of this book and the need for maximum compression of material do not allow for a broad discussion of the physiological mechanisms of the lethal action of perturbations in the cosmic-telluric environment. The vast materials accumulated by science show that the living organism is highly sensitive to electromagnetic influences. We know that even minute fractions of electrical energy are sufficient to activate certain parts of our body, and that the organism likely contains receptors capable of responding to the tiny particles emitted during the radioactive decay of potassium-40 atoms. It is from such excitations that nerve cells are nourished, and so on. The accumulated scientific facts compel us to believe that the living organism, especially one in a diseased state, can resonate in unison with various factors of external nature, which can exert a tremendous influence on it.
The nervous and cardiovascular systems are apparently the most sensitive receptors of external influences, capable of reacting instantly. I will conclude with the following thought.
You see a piece of steel—cold, motionless, and seemingly completely insensitive to everything around it. A skilled craftsman takes a portion of this inert substance, gives it a certain shape, exposes it to the influence of a nearby magnet, and suddenly, in some inexplicable way, an invisible change occurs in its mass, making it capable—of what?—”to show north and south.” Yes, but much more than that: its oscillations will now indicate to the discerning eye the occurrence and course of storms on the Sun. Thus, an indifferent piece of steel has been transformed into the most delicate instrument, responding to the movement of matter located 150 million km away.
The molecule of iron from which the magnetic needle is made consists of atoms, which in turn are divisible, and so on. But in organic matter, each molecule contains more atoms than there are stars in the visible sky, and therefore the phenomena occurring in such a substance must be far more sensitive and responsive than in steel.
Now, another question arises: how can we protect a person from the lethal influence of the environment if it is associated with atmospheric electricity and electromagnetic radiation? How can we safeguard a sick person experiencing a disease crisis? After all, it is clear that if the crisis passes safely—and sometimes it lasts only a day or two—the person may live for decades.
The task at hand is to protect precisely such patients. Science can speak quite loudly on this matter. Yes, physics knows ways to protect a person from such harmful solar radiation or similar influences, no matter their origin. The savior is metal: iron, steel, lead. The shorter the wavelength, the thicker the layer of metal required to shield a person from external radiation and save their life.
What is the wavelength of these “harmful” electromagnetic radiations from solar perturbations and eruptions? On this question, we can only make more or less plausible conclusions. There is no need to think that these radiations have an ultra-short wavelength like “penetrating” radiation. There are grounds to believe that the radiation of interest to us lies within the range of ultraradio waves, i.e., centimeters, millimeters, or hectomicrons. Ultrarradio waves are adjacent on one side to decimeter radio waves and on the other to decamicron infrared rays. Do millimeter ultraradio waves penetrate the Earth’s ionized air layer? This is still a question, but on the other hand, it is known that even electrons and ions flying from the Sun at a speed of 1,600 km per second can excite short-wavelength electromagnetic waves.
It should be noted that neurohistologist and physiologist Prof. A. V. Leontovich found that the nervous system has “receptors” for millimeter ultraradio waves. If this is true, it is not difficult to calculate the thickness of the metal shield required to protect diseased or elderly organisms from these waves. All the calculated thicknesses of metals necessary to block these waves do not exceed fractions of a millimeter. Therefore, the technical implementation of hospital wards in the proposed system presents no difficulties whatsoever, though it would be advisable to make the metal lining of the wards thicker to also protect patients from even shorter wavelengths.
Such a ward should be lined on all six sides with a metal layer of appropriate thickness and impermeability, without a single opening. Entry and exit should be designed to prevent harmful radiation from penetrating inside, easily achieved with a well-armored double-door entrance. Lighting should be artificial and constant; normal ventilation should be replaced by conditioned air supply with a zone of maximum comfort.
The hospital equipped with such wards should be connected to an astronomical observatory. The first signal from an astronomer monitoring the solar surface and detecting signs of an eruption, or from a geophysicist or statistical analyst aware of the periodicity of these solar eruptions and storms, would prompt the transfer of patients suffering from the aforementioned diseases into a room whose walls shield them. In such a ward, patients would lie alone for one, two, three days, or longer if necessary, until the crisis passes, heart function improves, respiratory activity stabilizes, and the lethal radiation subsides. In some cases, even hopelessly ill patients might survive.
The recovery rate of the elderly, those with atherosclerosis, and patients suffering from influenza, pneumonia, myocarditis, etc., should rise sharply.
