increase in the rate of learning. The concentration of
catecholamines increased in their brain (in the
hippocampus). However, the lag of imprinting in
chickens hatched out in the shielded chamber was
doubled.
In the shielded chamber, Podkovkin [1995]
subjected guinea-pigs to a DC MF ten times weaker
than the natural GMF for 30 min. An increase of
epinephrine and histamine levels and a decrease of
serotonin level in blood were observed. Another
group of animals was previously exposed to a 2 Gy
X-radiation. After 30 days, when all biochemical
parameters caused by the X-radiation became normal,
the animals were enclosed in the shielded chamber for
30 min. In this case the action of the weakened GMF
did not in¯uence the epinephrine and serotonin levels,
and the effect on the histamine level was essentially
weaker compared to that for guinea-pigs that were not
exposed to the preliminary X-radiation.
A weakened GMF also in¯uenced plants. A set of
speci®c features of cells in the meristem of seedling
roots of pea, ¯ax and lentil under conditions of GMF
shielding was revealed by electron microscopy.
Changes in different subcellular structures, especially
in mitochondria, were found [Beljavskaja et al., 1992].
A 68±75% reduction in proliferation of meristem of
these seedling roots was observed [Fomichjova et al.,
1992a]. The dynamics of RNA and protein synthesis in
cells of this root meristem was also investigated
[Fomichjova et al., 1992b]. A fall was shown in
functional genome activity in all the plants examined
under GMF shielding during the early prereplicative
period.
The most spectacular manifestation of the
in¯uence of the solar activity on GMF disturbances
are the Sun bursts. The in¯uence of solar activity on
the GMF, the biosphere and social processes was noted
as early as in the beginning of the century [Anuchin,
1908; Bogolepov, 1912]. However, this idea arose in its
entirety in the works of Chizhevsky [1928, 1931, 1973]
as the ®rst great interdisciplinary problem in the
history of science: ``Solar ActivityÐBiosphereÐ
Society'' [Vladimirsky, 1995]. He formulated the
following important empirical regularities:
1) Solar activity is of a broad nature, and it in¯uences
all living beings from bacteria to human beings;
2) The 11 year cycle is prominent in many phenomena
of the organic world, but different phenomena have
different phases regarding the solar cycle and are
affected by either a maximum or a minimum of the
solar activity;
3) The degree of prominence of the 11 year cycle for a
given biological parameter and its phase can be
different in different geographic areas, and over a
large territory these changes tend toward ``com-
pensation'';
4) The physical factor mediating the action of solar
activity on living beings and the biosphere is
mainly the EMF.
Chizhevsky's belief that revolutions and social
catastrophes are in¯uenced by solar activity led him to
prison. His books were withdrawn from libraries. In
1942 he was arrested. He was released as late as 1958
and a few years later, in 1964, he passed away
[Yagodinsky, 1987]. It was only as late as 1973 that his
remarkable monograph, ``The Terrestrial Echo of Solar
Storms,'' was republished, becoming available once
again to scienti®c society.
Magnetic storms correlate with anxiety and
irritability in people, lower attention and accuracy in
their work, which raises the probability of transport
accidents [Ashikaliev et al., 1995] and of mistakes by
airmen in piloting planes [Derjapa et al., 1986; Usenko
et al., 1989]. In the course of magnetic storms, the
number of ambulance calls increases [Sergeenko and
Kuleshova, 1995; Oraevsky et al., 1995] and glaucoma
attacks rise [Zhokhov and Indejkin, 1970; Kachevans-
kaja, 1989]. The information about acute attacks of
cardiovascular diseases is especially abundant [Klimov
et al., 1980; Novikova et al., 1989; Rozhdestvenskaja
et al., 1989; Gur®nkel' et al., 1995; Tyvin et al., 1995;
Villoresi et al., 1995; and others]. An essential increase
in the number of cases of instantaneous death from
cardiovascular disease takes place on these days
[Gnevyshev et al., 1982]. Most of the cited data were
obtained by correlation of the known days with MSs
with many years of records from the proper institu-
tions. All the data were statistically signi®cant.
The correlation between medical parameters as
well as social events and different data sets from
typical cycles (7 day, 27 day, 29.5 day, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11, 22,
35 year cycles) of variations in the solar activity were
revealed by spectral Fourier analysis in investigations
of records for deterioration of functional state of the
human nervous system [Belisheva et al., 1995],
psychopathic attacks [Rudakov et al., 1984], cases of
hospitalization of schizophrenia, alcoholic psychosis,
and epilepsy patients [Samokhvalov, 1989], risk of
breast cancer in women [Rjabykh and Bodrova, 1992],
rates of mortality and birth [Zajtseva and Pudovkin,
1995], the number of registered crimes [Chibrikin
et al., 1995a], the size of money issued [Chibrikin
et al., 1995b], and main events in European history
such as wars, economic cycles, social crises, and intel-
lectual creative works [Vladimirsky and Kislovsky,
1995].
30 Zhadin