SCIENCE | INNOVATION
Innovation with the Secret 99% of Our Bodies
The story of water, the fourth phase, molecules and their use in energy, health, technology, weather, and climate.
I’ll confess, I’m fascinated by water. Two-thirds of our bodies consist of water. In total, it makes up 99% of all molecules in our bodies. And still, there’s so much we don’t know. And that we should know to find the technological innovations of the future.
Don’t think this story is just for biologists. Or environmentalists. It’s not. It’s essential knowledge for teachers, for hardcore technology people. And chemists. Entrepreneurs in the energy field will be interested in it. And medical professionals. So bear with me while the story unfolds.
Recently I viewed a TED-talk by Dr. Gerald Pollack.
And I didn’t realize that even I, fascinated by water, know so little.
Questions
Well, all research starts with questions. And asking the right questions is always the main part of finding answers. So far, our scientists have looked mainly at the molecules of water. Thinking, oh, but that’s simple.
H2O. Water.
But is it so simple? We looked at the molecules, but do we understand how the molecules are connected? How they socialize with each other, share information, interact? How they build bridges? How they change their phases depending on the surroundings?
Hmmm. There’s a lot to find out there…
Here are just some random questions, Dr. Gerald got me to think about.
Why does evaporated water collect in clouds, when the evaporation is all over the broad surface?
Droplets can float on water. Why don’t they immediately emerge?
How can the Jesus-Christ-lizard from Central America walk on water? Yes, there’s surface tension, but is that just a single molecular layer?
When you have two beakers of water and put two electrodes in with high voltage between them, the water will form a bridge of up to 4 cm. Wow! How? Why?
And then about the phases.
- Solid
- Liquid
- Vapor
Sir William Hardy (1864–1934), biologist, food scientist and physical chemist, said there was a fourth phase. Somewhere in between solid and liquid. According to his research, it has a gel-like consistency.
And then he found out that some water is actually not H2O.
It’s H2O3.
Hmmm…
The fourth phase of water explains a lot. The clouds, the walking on water, the droplets, the bridge.
Well, there’s a lot more to know. Have a look at the full TED-talk by Dr. Gerald Pollack to find out.
How Is This Useful?
Well, water is everywhere. Our oceans make up for a large part of our planet. Our rivers are veins that flow through communities. Our body is made up of water. So why aren’t we studying water? The knowledge is mighty useful for
- the health of our overall bodies
- cleaning water and turning it into healthy drinking water
- retrieving energy from ocean water, from river water without dams
Energy
The fourth phase of water has a lot to do with electrons. The molecules interact with each other because the molecules become + and — .
So, how about water being a battery?
How does the battery recharge?
Apparently the recharge comes from light. Direct sunlight and indirect light. Infrared light. The energy everything emits. How can we see something, somebody in the dark? It’s because of infrared radiation.
So then a new equation emerges.
E = H2O
Hmmm…
So, what if we would use this knowledge to create free energy?
We need to create local, self-sustaining communities to find a sustainable way of living. And we already know that large water dams are very bad for the environment. So that’s not an option with water.
And the route we’re going now with fields full of solar panels and large areas full of windmills is not really sustainable either. We need this land for food production and abundant resources.
In my region, we don’t have the height to use gravity for energy. We, in Holland, are the lowlands, remember.
But we do have a river. The Meuse.
What if local communities could get energy supply from that? Small scale? We all have water taps in our houses. What if we would be able to energize our houses with normal tap water that we recharge with light emitted from our own bodies? Or some sun?
Clear Drinking Water
Because water separates in + and — zones, contaminated water can be collected. Bacteria can be put in to clean the water and the clean water can easily be taken out.
Hmmm…
Cleaning water without chemicals. Interesting.
It also seems that salt is excluded from the water in these experiments. So Dr. Gerald goes on to make freshwater from saltwater.
It would solve a lot of big world problems, don’t you think? Global Goals?
Health
And of course, this knowledge is very important for our health. Our cells are full of water and it seems that the water is showing the same processes as photosynthesis does.
And Dr. Gerald describes more. About influencing the blood flow. His experiments with water in a tube that moves on its own accord are fascinating.
Light is driving the flow. So we kind of recharge our bodies with light. And our heart doesn’t have to pump that hard because of water and light.
Hmmm…
Is that what they described in the Blue Economy innovations about the whale’s heart? That it uses just a tiny amount of energy (from plankton) to move the blood through the vessels. A blue whale pumps 220 liters (58 gallons) of blood with one heartbeat. That’s a big pump alright!
I always thought it was because the veins were moving and helping the liquid flow through. But maybe it’s more. Maybe it’s water and its chemical properties enhanced by the light that’s making a big difference.
Not interesting, you say?
NOT INTERESTING?
Well, if we have to design a better world than the one we have today, this is mighty interesting!
We need to create healthy food, and food is mainly made of…? Yes, you guessed right. Water!
We need to design a world driven by less energy. We need to design a world that provides energy in smaller-scale communities, so less is lost in long-distance transportation. We need to understand our planet better so we can live as humans in sustainable ways.
Within planetary boundaries.
Well, we better get a move on understanding then. And designing. And combining this biological knowledge with technical uses.
Designing the pumps of tomorrow.
Designing the factories of tomorrow, where pumps work together with the pipes to get the liquid flowing.
Designing the free energy sources of tomorrow.
Using the knowledge for healthy preservation of our food, which consists mainly of, yes, water.
Understanding water for our health. Why just spend money on the next cure for whatever, when we don’t even know how our water-filled body works to keep us healthy in the first place?
We might need all this wisdom if we are to survive as a species on this lovely planet of ours.
Our home. The least we can do is try to grasp her true wisdom.
Weather and Climate
One last piece of information then, as a dessert. In weather classes, we learn that the most critical factors are temperature and pressure. Well, we just learned that for the forming of clouds, the charge of + and — molecules is very critical.
Hmmm…
And before we start thinking, ah, let’s put some charge to the clouds and it’ll rain. Think again.
These reductionist solutions are short term. Water on our planet has her cycles. So if we make it rain now, we are stealing the water from someplace else. And if the water cannot interact with healthy soil, because we have so much degraded soil on our planet now, the cycles are broken and the climate will keep on getting worse and worse.
Conclusion
It’s time we see the interaction, folks. Small scale in biochemistry. And large scale in cycles and patterns.
There’s so much we don’t know yet. There’s so much we fail to grasp about our beautiful Mother Nature. And still, it’s the only source of healthy technology we really have available.
Innovation is needed fast. And I want to ask all scientists, technical people, and entrepreneurs, to help me work on the solutions for a healthy and happy future.
Happy innovating!
If you want to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or my website. Or somewhere in the world playing with water and waves, and feeling the energy it gives me…
Further Reading
About water and rivers
About healthy food
