Magnetic field enhancement of water vaporization

The water vaporization rate, an essential process for all the biological processes, was found to be significantly influenced under static magnetic fields up to 8 T in air and oxygen. The magnitude of the effect depended on the field-field gradient product B.dB/dx rather than on B itself. Under forced flow conditions of the atmosphere, both enhancement and suppression of the vaporization rate were observed depending upon the direction of the gas flow relative to the field gradient. A mechanism is proposed to explain the results in a systematic manner based on the assumption of the creation of magnetic wind driven by the gradient susceptibility distribution caused by water content distribution in the atmosphere. It is discussed that this magneto enhancement of vaporization may be the indirect cause of frequently reported field effects on living organisms. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)00117-6].