Migratory birds navigate with the help of the Earth’s magnetic field, but how do their compasses work? Peter Hore of Oxford University discusses whether quantum coherence and entanglement could be the answer.
Click here for the full article: The Quantum Robin
AbstractThis is an analysis of how magnetic fields affect biological molecules and cells. It was prompted by a series of prominent reports regarding magnetism in biological systems. The first claims to have identified a protein complex that acts like a compass needle to guide magnetic orientation in animals (Qin et al., 2016). Two other articles report…
Here is a fascinating YouTube video discussing different ways a pigeon might home. The people shown here are our heroes, who are really important people in the animal navigation world and especially in Pigeon navigation. You will find Tim Guildford at Oxford University, who believes that pigeons follow landmarks, The Wiltchokos who believe in magnetic…
Professor Kate Jeffery of University College London gave the annual address to the Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) this year (2014). This article published in RIN’s Navigation News is, for me, a seminal step forward in describing the parameters of animal navigation and building a structure to delve deeper into how navigation might work. Her idea that…
I was delighted to be able to attend the animal navigation conference at Reading University in May 2008. I attended as a dowser with the theory that animals can and do follow dowsable clues including earth energy lines as an aid to navigation. We all know that dowsers (water diviners) can find water. However what…
A summary 2011 The two prevailing ideas on long distance navigation are based around two ideas: Magnetic cues Olfactory cues (smell) It is clear that near home animals, birds and humans build up a map of their neighbourhood with remembered sights smells and landmarks. This is all mediated by the hippocampus. There is some evidence…
This paper is about the extraordinary Bogong moths of Australia who navigate to caves in the mountains during the summer to avoid high temperatures Read the article
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This article was published in Navigation News and is published with permission from the editor and the author. This is a very important piece of work by one of our heroes as it begins to show how magnetic information can be processed by an animals. Cryptochromes look alike a very promising route to understand how animals navigate as well as the quantum aspects covered.
Richard Nissen
Editor