Mine That Bird may have won the Kentucky Derby, but for generations scientists have wondered what steers all those birds. What explains the ability of migratory flocks to fly north as the weather warms and south again as winter approaches? Now, scientists at the University of Illinois believe they have come up with an answer and have published an article in the latest issue of Biophysical Journal. It has long been suspected that birds can see or sense the Earth’s magnetic fields, but exactly how they managed this feat remained unexplained. A bird changing courses would be approaching the electromagnetic field from a different angle and could arguably adjust its course just as a mammals adjust their terrestrial paths as their perspective on objects ahead are altered. Principal investigator Prof. Klaus Schulten, Swanland Chair in Physics, posits that cryptochrome, a photoreceptor, facilitates a biochemical process along with a superoxcide within a bird’s eye that involves a molecular spin. In humans, this superoxide is toxic and is thought to play a role in aging and cellular damage. In fact, human bodies have evolved “to play it safe.” Our eyes lack this bio-chemical compass, and we don’t see electromagnetic fields. Unlike the birds, human evolution opted for longevity over this inborn navigational ability.See the original press release on the University of Illinois website.
EMFs Steer the Birds
