Investigation of Ternion AG: Part 1 of 3
Application and detection of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation to materials for novel effect.
This article presents a summary of investigative results into the remarkable research and science of a little known company, Ternion Aktiengesellschaft of Glarus Switzerland. The company describes many novel effects of their research including, storage of foods for extended periods at room temperatures, vulcanization of rubber without the application of heat, and shockingly experiments on animals including humans. Prior to WWII the US military demonstrated interest in Ternion, the technology, and their results. In later years, Ternion sold some intellectual property rights to American tire companies. Even by today’s standards, Ternion’s claims are remarkable. Ternion’s research is not be confused with ‘diathermy’ or food irradiation techniques. The implications of Ternion’s work span far beyond those they claim.
This article is about results of an investigation of science, not a science paper, and not a confirmation by experiment of any of Ternion’s claims. Readers are encouraged to perform their own investigations and reach their own conclusions.
Investigation Begins
The investigation begins with a curious patent, ‘Process for Altering the Energy Content of Dipolar Substances’1 patent specification 417,501, accepted on September 28, 1934 for Ternion AG by James Yate Johnson, a 47 year old British Subject, living in London.
My initial thought, probably like others who reviewed Ternion’s patents, their technology was related to diathermy. Diathermy is the medical treatment using electromagnetic radiation to heat muscle tissue. Electricity was new in early 1900’s, and so the novelty of diathermy for treating muscle injuries was popular. After reading through Ternion’s patents it became abundantly clear they were describing results altogether different. Ternion described bombarding materials with electromagnetic radiation of a particular character, the ‘natural frequency’, which varies depending on material composition.
Today the predominant view is that below optical frequencies, electromagnetic radiation either passes through materials like HF radio waves, or results in heating, like IR and microwave radiation. Broadly that’s the case, but based on the claims of Ternion, success selling their IP, and their follow-up business, there’s more to the story.
Ternion’s describes a variety of effects like, chemical changes, chemical changes without use of catalysts, alteration in size (and energy) of molecules, extended preservation of food without refrigeration. In one experiment, Ternion describes exposing milk to electromagnetic radiation at its natural frequency with a large starting dose then smaller doses each week. The milk was preserved over a month at room temperature. At first, I thought this might be food irradiation techniques like those used by the military when preparing Meals Ready to Eat(MRE) for soldiers. Ternion’s work was different. The apparatus described and radiation was calibrated precisely to the material. This is quite different than MRE’s where the food packets are sealed in heavy foiled wrappers and blasted with gamma radiation to kill the bacteria.
I desired to learn more about Ternion AG and their work, the science, and apparatus they developed. Over a 10-yrs period I obtained a battery of materials, patents from around the world, newspaper clippings, and more. From available information Ternion AG was a public company so I thought the Swiss would keep records, similar to publicly traded American companies. Although owning to the many years that elapsed since WWII, my optimism was limited. My search for company records brought me to the Canton of Glarus Switzerland where I provided a written request for Ternion’s required government filings. For a modest fee, they performed a records search and sent the results to me.
Sadly, the search of Ternion’s records didn’t produce anything directly remarkable. Although indirectly, it was possible infer a a few noteworthy points. For instance, the company was started by two men who were not scientists. Not unusual by itself but for company working such novel technology I half expected a Steve Jobs or someone with a mix of science and business skill. Perhaps I’ve read too many Silicon Valley success stories? Next, the financial records show funding was significant for the time, when adjusted for 1900’s dollars. Finally, the company operated mostly in the dark. Ternion produced very little in the way of documentation I could find and virtually no records of employees where found in public. This appeared unusual to me. Most companies want you to know who they are as well as products they produce. In fact, they invest significantly in advertisements. Also unusual no records of company scientists working collaboratively, submitting papers to professional journals, etc was ever found. The opaqueness of company operations and personnel is unusual but I attributed it to craziness of WWII, lost records, and such. Occam’s Razor Hypothesis, all things being equal, the most simplest explanation is most likely, right? I didn’t think too much about the opaqueness until I discovered a connection to the US government and military industrial complex. More on that later.
Background
Before we cover Ternion’s technology, a short primer of related science for those that need a refresher. There exists a class of molecules collectively referred to as, Dipolar Molecules, where charge distribution is not isotropic. The result is that dipolar molecules are slightly more negative on one side, and slight more positive on the other. A common dipolar molecule found throughout nature and living creatures is Water or H2
O. In water, Hydrogen atoms don’t bond on opposite sides (180 degrees) as common sense would suggest but instead form an angle of 104.45 degrees. The charge imbalance is of particular importance.
When dipolar molecules are placed in an external electric field, like the electric field between two oppositely charged electrodes, Hydrogen atoms are attracted to the negative plate and Oxygen atoms are attracted to the positive plate. The imbalance in charge distributions, combined with alternating charge on electrodes, produces a rotational force on the molecule.
The process of molecular reorientation is more commonly known as an electric dipole moment or Polarization. During polarization, molecules do not respond instantaneously to changes in electric field but instead respond like components of a classical physical system. This type of polarization was thoughtfully covered in detail long ago by Peter Debye. In fact, Debye won the 1936 Nobel Prize2 in Chemistry for his work on Polar Molecules3. According to Ternion, Debye’s work is the basis for their theories and results. Next, let’s cover another important effect, resonance.
Resonance is an intensification and prolongation of waves in media produced by sympathetic vibration. We’ve all seen Tuning Forks produce sound when struck and breaking of wine glasses by sympathetic vibrations in a voice of a opera singers. A similar phenomena exists in atomic structures with electrical resonance. Resonance manifests in a variety of modalities. It’s long been known the composition of stars light years away are easily determined here on Earth by the spectra of light they emit. We can understand both the temperature of stars and their composition. Likewise gasses and solids Lasers vibrate sympathetically to produce brilliant coherent light sources all from resonance. Volume and shape of audio speaker cavities are engineered to produce the most gain at the most desired frequencies. Resonance can also be electrical like in Tesla coils and generate fantastic voltage pressures and exciting displays resembling lightning and corona discharges. Resonance is an important consideration in system designs. Regardless of the type of resonance, resonance produces impressive results not otherwise seen or demonstrated in our everyday experience. Next, we will segue in into the science of Ternion.
Further Reading
Investigation of Ternion AG: Part 1 of 3: Investigation Begins, Background
Investigation of Ternion AG: Part 2 of 3: Science of Ternion AG
Investigation of Ternion AG: Part 3 of 3: US Government Conspiracy, Science Implications, Disposition of Ternion AG & Scientists
James Yate Johnson, Process for Altering the Energy Content of Dipolar Substances, accepted September 28, 1934. https://mega.nz/file/W6xDAYJb#O8k9zVHR3jDdUVbb7pIC2_gXP_CBhR-Cml5JevHD3Zg
Peter Debye – Facts. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2023. Thu. 3 Aug 2023, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1936/debye/facts/
Debye, Peter. Polar Molecules. The Chemical Company, Inc., 1929.