Neuroscience; Molecular neuroscience; Systems neuroscience; Sensory neuroscience

A recent study adds a sixth way animals may use magnetoreception.

diagnose:funk's ElektrosmogReport 3/2026 digests 12 new peer-reviewed studies on biological effects of non-ionizing radiation. Two studies cover wildlife (bats, homing pigeons), two link cellphone use...

We must not be deaf and blind to the importance of animal senses outside of hearing and vision and, correspondingly, sensory pollution beyond noise and light.

Evidence from live gray whale strandings suggests that their navigation may be disrupted by increased radio frequency noise generated by solar storms, suggesting the potential for magnetoreception in ...

There is well-supported scientific consensus and widespread public knowledge that birds can use the earth’s magnetic field to orient. However, Lewin et al. show that long-distance foraging seabirds do...

Abstract. Birds can use two kinds of information from the geomagnetic field for navigation: the direction of the field lines as a compass and probably magn

Scientists have identified supermagnetic macrophages in the livers of homing pigeons (Columba livia domestica) that appear essential for navigation when the Sun is not visible, pointing to an entirely new mechanism for animal magnetoreception.

La magnétoréception, ou magnétoception, désigne l'existence d'interactions entre le champ magnétique et les êtres vivants, conduisant à des comportements particuliers des animaux. Il est ...

Certain animals can sense magnetic fields for navigation. Explore the experiments, species, and mystery behind magnetoreception.

Magnetoreception is like an internal compass that animals use in their journeys, using the Earth’s magnetic field. It helps migratory birds navigate across the central Asian flyway, for example, or turtles, fish and other animals travel across vast distances. Recent research raises new questions about the evolutionary origins of magnetoreception and suggests that it may have evolved independently in complex animals. About three billion years ago, the Earth was still anoxic (oxygen made up less than 0.001% of the atmosphere), and the oceans had an abundance of metal ions, including iron. Eukaryotic cells, which make up complex life forms, including animals, didn’t exist yet; life was dominated by archaea, the microorganisms that inhabit all kinds of extremes. In this scenario, iron ions found widely in the surrounding waters, could easily pass through a cell membrane and cause toxicity by stimulating free radicals in the cell. But the archaea were highly adaptable. These tiny microorganisms evolved the ability to protect themselves from the toxicity of iron by simply forming crystals out of iron oxide inside cell structures, a process called magnetite biomineralisation. The magnetic abilities of bacteria Like most other abilities, bacteria is assumed to have adapted magnetite biomineralisation, a process...