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01Established
The Resonant Planet
Earth–ionosphere electromagnetics
The lowest resonance of the Earth–ionosphere cavity sits near 7.8 Hz. It is measured continuously with magnetometers and is one of the best-characterised very-low-frequency phenomena on the planet.
What is established
- The Earth and the ionosphere form a spherical electromagnetic cavity, and worldwide lightning maintains its lowest standing mode at roughly 7.8 Hz, with harmonics near 14, 20, 26 and 33 Hz.
- Observed amplitudes are small: picotesla-scale magnetic fields and tiny electric fields. They drift daily, seasonally and with solar activity.
- The resonances are used in geophysics as a proxy for global lightning activity and in atmospheric and climate research.
What is proposed
- That purpose-built ground networks could distribute power through this cavity at useful scale. Tesla proposed global wireless power a century ago; Wardenclyffe never delivered power, and no transmission of that kind has been demonstrated.
- That natural Schumann variation, at real-world amplitudes, has detectable effects on biology distinct from laboratory exposures at far higher field strengths.
What remains open
- Coupling efficiency through a lossy cavity: measured cavity quality factors are far too low to support efficient planetary power distribution.
- Separating weak geomagnetic variation from ordinary environmental confounders in any biological study.