Structure and property changes in certain materials influenced by the external qi of qigong

Temperature, time, pressure (or stress) are considered important factors in changing the Gibbs free energy and optimizing the structure and properties of materials during materials processing, The effects of some other variab les, including the magnetic field, electrical field, electromagnetic and ul trasonic radiation, and chemical reactions have also been well characterize d. These factors have been widely applied in materials processing, and thei r limitations have been discovered. Thus additional factors and innovative techniques are constantly being sought to overcome those limitations. This paper presents such an innovative technique called qigong. Three sets of ma terials-related experiments conducted by qigong doctor Yan and his collabor ators are described in which for the first time the effects of qi on inanim ate matter samples with no mechanical or electrical connection to the syste m are revealed on laboratory instruments. These experiments show that exter nal qi of qigong produces significant structural changes in water and aqueo us solutions, alters the phase behavior of dipalmitoyl phosphatidyl choline (DPPC) liposomes, and enables the growth of Fab protein crystals, These re sults demonstrate objective phenomena resulting from qigong and the potenti al of this ancient technology system, even in material processing. Importan t attributes of qi are summarized and the possible implications of these re sults from the materials perspective are discussed.