---
category: Scientific Theory & Technology
created: 2025-07-23
description: Animate physics is a term used to describe the study of physical phenomena
  related to living organisms, particularly in the context of consciousness and psi
  abilities.
summary: Animate physics is a term describing the study of physical phenomena in living
  organisms - particularly consciousness and psi abilities - contrasted with inanimate
  physics governing non-living matter, used in the Soviet and American parapsychology
  research context.
tags:
- concept
- physics
- biology
title: Animate Physics
updated: 2025-07-23
---

[Animate Physics](/concepts/animate-physics/) is a term used to describe the study of physical phenomena related to living organisms, particularly in the context of consciousness and [psi](/concepts/psi/) abilities. It contrasts with "inanimate physics," which focuses on non-living matter.[^1]

[Hal Puthoff](/people/hal-puthoff/) became interested in animate physics, seeking to understand how quantum theory might account for biological life processes and the source of human energy. He explored the idea that there might be fields and forces involved in biological systems that are not accounted for in traditional physics, such as the theoretical subatomic particle, the tachyon.[^1]

---

[^1]: Jacobsen, Annie. *Phenomena: The Secret History of the U.S. Government's Investigations into Extrasensory Perception and Psychokinesis*. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.