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The Science Delusion by Rupert Sheldrake
In this book he dedicates two chapters to this subject: “Are memories stored as material traces?” and “Are minds confined to brains?” The prevailing idea is that all our memories are stored in our heads. However, there are a lot of problems with this as it does not match the facts very well. The biggest …
Magnetoreception – the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field
David Keays is one of the mega stars of animal navigation research and has spent a life time trying to work out how magnetism might work. Here is a summary of his latest work: Magnetoreception is the ability to sense the Earth’s magnetic field, which is used for orientation and navigation. Behavioural experiments have shown…
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….
The prevailing ideas on Navigation
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…
Navigation Networks in the Brain
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…
Animal Navigation a new theory for 2025
How animals navigate has been a mystery forever. At present, the prevailing theory is that animal navigation is based on magnetic information. But there are huge problems with this approach. In order to use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate by, you need to know where you are and where you are going, as well…