The Electro Sense

Cows and Deer Really Do Have a Magnetic Sixth SenseWhen herds stand next to power lines, which emit a mild electromagnetic field, they point indifferent directions. In the absence of power lines, they point along a north-south axis.The findings, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, comefrom the same biologists who used Google Earth images to identify a bovine north-south tendency.Some commentators dismissed those results, or said they didn’t necessarily indicate a magneticsixth sense.“These findings constitute evidence for magnetic sensation in large mammals as well as evidenceof an overt behavioral reaction to weak [extreme low-frequency magnetic fields] in vertebrates,”write the researchers.The next question: what are the cellular and molecular mechanisms used by the cows? Maybesalmon hold the answer.Citation: “Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields disrupt magnetic alignment ofruminants.” By Hynek Burda, Sabine Begall, Jaroslav Cerveny, Julia Neef, and Pavel Nemec.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 106, No. 11, March 16, 2009.For those of you disappointed to learn that cow tipping is just an urban legend, take heart: you cantell tall tales about how you once demagnetized a cow.Satellite images of cattle and deer herds suggest that low-frequency magnetic fields disrupt thetendency of four-legged animals to align their bodies with geomagnetic fields.The ElectroSenseTip Cows over and they still point north | Images show cows tend toorient themselves like a compass needle.August 26, 2008|Thomas H. Maugh II | Times Staff WriterBirds do it, bees do it, and so, apparently, do . . . cows?No, it’s not that. We’re talking about sensing the Earth’s magnetic field.German scientists using satellite images posted online by the Google Earth software program haveobserved something that has escaped the notice of farmers, herders and hunters for thousandsof years: Cattle grazing or at rest tend to orient their bodies in a north-south direction just like acompass needle.52 53