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Summary of ideas Spring 2014
Intro I have put together this article to spell out some of the thinking that I have come across recently. A lot is highly contentious (such as Torsion waves) but as we struggle to understand how animals (and humans) navigate effortlessly, ideas which seemed so strong suddenly seem to be beset by impossible conditions. We…
Physical limits to magneto genetics – Markus Meister
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…
How do dogs relate to their owners?
Intro>> Here is a little story which asks how dogs relate to their owners. If when you read this you have opinions we would very much like to hear them and perhaps publish them. ———— A few years ago the mother of a friend died. She had always kept an Alsatian dog who was her…
The hippocampus of rats
Prof Kate Jeffery has done some very interesting work on how the hippocampus of rats processes navigational information. Scientists are clear that the hippocampus is critical for navigation but believe that it is only one part of a larger system that has many functions including recognising landmarks, computing distances and directions etc. and forming memories….
How do animals keep from getting lost?
Showcased at the Royal Institute of Navigation is this interesting piece on animal migration. Maura O’Connor is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn. Her first book is: “Resurrection Science: Conservation, De-Extinction and the Precarious Future of Wild Things,” from St. Martin’s Press. She is currently at work on a second book – an exploration of navigation traditions, neuroscience, and…