The Magic of Resonance

Almost everyone has heard of the famous example where an opera singer shatters glass with the mere sound of their voice. This is due to a phenomenon called resonant frequency. 

A team of researchers wondered if they could reproduce the same effect with living cells, as they exhibit similar properties to liquid crystals. They wondered if by sending a specific electric signal (using devices with plasma antennas that pulse on and off), they could affect the cells, see their reactions and thus search for the exact frequency that would directly shatter a living microorganism, just like crystal glass would.

The magic number finally came as two inputs, one high and one low frequency, whereas the higher one had to be exactly eleven times higher than the lower one, also known as the 11th harmonic in music:

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This beautiful and scientific principle of resonance is hope for the cure of many diseases we have difficulties dealing with today. The researchers found that for instance pancreatic cancer cells have a resonant frequency between 100,000 and 300,000 Hz.

Imagine a future of medicine, where every disease known to man could be treated with the right combination of various vibrational patterns in relation to the disease’s resonant frequencies.

Will cover more about this subject in future.

You can see the full video as part of this Ted Talk: