Glossary on atmospheric electricity and its effects on biology.

There is an increasing interest to study the interactions between atmospheric electrical parameters and living organisms at multiple scales. So far, relatively few studies have been published that focus on possible biological effects of atmospheric electric and magnetic fields. To foster future work in this area of multidisciplinary research, here we present a glossary of relevant terms. Its main purpose is to facilitate the process of learning and communication among the different scientific disciplines working on this topic. While some definitions come from existing sources, other concepts have been re-defined to better reflect the existing and emerging scientific needs of this multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary area of research.

Adaptation to mountain γ-background: bacteria speciation.

PURPOSE: To study the adaptation of bacteria to the natural γ-background of mountains and anthropogenic emissions from nuclear power plants; to establish the main factors of variability and speciation of bacteria. METHOD: Analysis of materials on the radiation background and its impact on living organisms in the landscape of Armenia, calculation of the absorbed dose by microbes due to rock radiation. RESULTS: The review shows the death, reproduction, radioresistance and speciation of bacteria in changing conditions of low variable natural and anthropogenic γ-background. CONCLUSION: We assume that γ-rays from rocks activate cellular epigenetic mechanisms that regulate genome expression, signaling and, ultimately, variability of bacteria. Some of them have already been studied, others require research.

On the initiation of lightning in thunderclouds.

The relationship of lightning and elementary particle fluxes in the thunderclouds is not fully understood to date. Using the particle beams (the so-called Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements - TGEs) as a probe we investigate the characteristics of the interrelated atmospheric processes. The well-known effect of the TGE dynamics is the abrupt termination of the particle flux by the lightning flash. With new precise electronics, we can see that particle flux decline occurred simultaneously with the rearranging of the charge centers in the cloud. The analysis of the TGE energy spectra before and after the lightning demonstrates that the high-energy part of the TGE energy spectra disappeared just after lightning. The decline of particle flux coincides on millisecond time scale with first atmospheric discharges and we can conclude that Relativistic Runaway Electron Avalanches (RREA) in the thundercloud assist initiation of the negative cloud to ground lightning. Thus, RREA can provide enough ionization to play a significant role in the unleashing of the lightning flash.