Does solar activity affect human intellectual development?
Research has found a strong correlation, but a causal relationship cannot yet be confirmed.
On May 28, the Russian Komsomolskaya Pravda published an article.
Can space weather, especially solar activity, influence the formation of human intelligence?
This interesting question at the intersection of environmental biology and cognitive development has been the subject of recent research. Scientists are attempting to discover possible connections between solar activity phenomena and various indicators of human intelligence.
The core hypothesis of this study is that changes in atmospheric radiation ecology, regulated by space weather, can impact the development of human intelligence.
To quantify the impact of high-energy solar proton events on Earth's atmosphere, a new indicator—the Proton Flux Index (PFI)—has been introduced.
Through systematic comparative analysis of interdisciplinary datasets, researchers discovered remarkable correlations.
There is a strong correlation (r = 0.98) between the number of Nobel laureates and the ratio of galactic cosmic ray intensity to PFI.
A similar pattern (r = 0.76) was also observed in the analysis of positive and negative trends in average population IQ (the so-called Flynn effect).
It is noteworthy that no significant associations were found unless the prenatal period was considered and traditional solar cycle data based on sunspot numbers were used.
These results suggest that radiation patterns in the atmosphere caused by specific solar and galactic cosmic rays can act as mediators of stress, which in turn may influence the formation of neural chains during prenatal development.
Although the exact biological mechanisms of such effects remain unclear, the identified correlations lay the groundwork for understanding early brain development in humans. This opens up a new field of research.
This interdisciplinary work calls for further investigation into the role of space environmental factors in the formation of human intelligence. The data obtained, while correlational, does not prove direct causality but points to potentially important but rarely studied aspects of human interaction with space.
However, the very high correlations obtained from specific time variations and the new solar activity index warrant close attention and further research to confirm or refute this intriguing hypothesis.
Netizen Mitya made an interesting comment:
Many sunspots, few Einsteins.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833324835125259/
Disclaimer: The article represents the views of the author alone.