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Search for plant biomagnetism with a sensitive atomic magnetometer

Corsini, Eric and Acosta, Victor and Baddour, Nicholas and Higbie, James and Lester, Brian and Licht, Paul and Patton, Brian and Prouty, Mark and Budker, Dmitry (2011) Search for plant biomagnetism with a sensitive atomic magnetometer. Journal of Applied Physics, 109 (7). 074701. ISSN 0021-8979 http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20110517-102403604

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Abstract

We report what we believe is the first experimental limit placed on plant biomagnetism. Measurements with a sensitive atomic magnetometer were performed on the Titan arum (Amorphophallus titanum) inflorescence, known for its fast biochemical processes while blooming. We find that the magnetic field from these processes, projected along the Earth’s magnetic field, and measured at the surface of the plant, is ≲ 0.6 μG.


Item Type:Article
Additional Information:© 2011 American Institute of Physics. Received 30 August 2010; accepted 1 February 2011; published online 5 April 2011. The authors are indebted to the University of California Botanical Garden staff who generously granted after-hours access to the garden facilities. We also acknowledge stimulating discussions with Robert Dudley from the department of Integrative Biology, with Lewis Feldman, Steve Ruzin, and Peggy Lemaux from the department of Plant and Microbial Biology, and with Philip Stark from the Department of Statistics, at University of California at Berkeley. Invigorating exchanges with our colleague Todor Karaulanov helped the understanding of the processes at hand. This project was funded by an ONR MURI fund and by the U.S. Department of Energy through the LBNL Nuclear Science Division (Grant No. DE-AC03-76SF00098).
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Office of Naval Research (ONR)UNSPECIFIED
Department of Energy (DOE) LBNL Nuclear Science DivisionDE-AC03-76SF00098
Subject Keywords:biomagnetism; botany; magnetometers
Classification Code:PACS: 07.55.Ge; 87.50.C-
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20110517-102403604
Persistent URL:http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20110517-102403604
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Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:23694
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Jason Perez
Deposited On:17 May 2011 18:59
Last Modified:26 Dec 2012 13:14

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