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As EU theorists examine the ecology of space
the distribution and interactions of structures in the cosmos
we may forget to ponder
what electromagnetic ecology has shaped us,
the observers.
Let's look at the relationship between organisms
and this massive magnetic sphere they live upon.
In the 1980's Francis Ivanhoe, an anthropologist and pharmacologist,
catalogued an intriguing observation
while studying Paleolithic human skulls from the northern hemisphere.
He noticed a correlation between periods of increased geomagnetic field strength
and sudden gains in cranial capacity.
This also coincided with two notable periods of cognitive innovation
such as the widespread domestication of fire.
Dr. Ivanhoe published such findings in the Journal of Human Evolution
and the Journal of Bioelectricity.
In 1990 he co-authored one study
with a distinguished fellow anthropologist Dr. Eugene Hamill.
By that time they had confirmed the geomagnetic intensity -
braincase expansion relationship in populations throughout East Asia,
Europe, North Africa and North America.
Ivanhoe posited that the strength of the geomagnetic field
was queueing growth hormone production through the hippocampus.
Its upper section called Amin's Horn
is an arch with one-way nerve traffic driven by a strong current.
It might be acting as a transducer, he thought,
which feels the strength of the Earth's magnetic field
and gives input to regulate growth hormone activity.
Ivanhoe also pointed out that among primate species
we humans are distinctive in the size of our hippocampus
and the development of its connections with the hypothalamus.
Professor and research director Michael Levin
cites Ivanhoe's finding and many others of consequence
in his summary of Bio- electromagnetics in Morphogenesis.
But do species on this planet show a capacity to more actively sense
the magnetosphere around them?
This is clearly the case.
In a tank of water surrounded by magnetic coils,
four scientists from the University of North Carolina
recreated the magnetic traits of two different real-life locations on the earth.
Sea turtle hatchlings of the loggerhead species
were put in a harness that recorded their swimming direction.
The turtles swam in highly divergent directions depending on the traits of the field
heading Southwest in the East Atlantic field
and North East in the West Atlantic field.
These directions are also consistent with optimal migratory trajectories
for navigating the North Atlantic subtropical gyre.
It is an intriguing insight for the scientific community
to observe the creatures of this world responding to artificially-created features
of particular magnetic topography with instinctual responses.
During the 80s and 90s, Robin Baker at the University of Manchester
published a series of experiments and discussions on human magnetoreception.
Blindfolded students were equipped with headbands
either containing magnets or identical bars of non-magnetic brass.
The students were driven through the town in a maze like fashion
and out along a straight highway
where he stopped to have them write on cards,
their guess of the direction back to the school.
Next he drove them to another location where he had the students guess again.
The students with fake magnets around their heads,
their magnetic sense presumably unimpaired,
had been able to guess the direction of the school with a surprising degree of accuracy.
Meanwhile, students with real magnets around their heads
had a significantly impaired direction sense.
Pigeons are a favorite subject of research on magnetoreception.
Recent experiments studying the capacity of pigeons
to navigate natural magnetic anomalies
have confirmed how strongly the species feels the Earth's magnetic features.
In the case of one series of experiments at magnetic anomalies,
some manner of magneto- receptive cells in their beaks
appeared to be their first choice of guidance system.
Pigeons which had this tissue of their beak anesthesized
were oblivious to the magnetic anomaly and successfully flew off rather easily.
Pigeons in the control group whose cells had not been anesthesized
flew haphazardly about with confusion.
On a rather individual basis these pigeons came to reason out the problem
and presumably disregarded their magnetic sense in order to leave the area.
So what does this experiment tell us?
Well, I'm sure many in the audience are surprised
that you can anesthesize part of a bird's beak
but that's besides the point.
It is of course fascinating to contemplate what life on this world feels like
to some of the other species around us.
For those in the field of conservation, who would apply their scientific skills
in stewardship of the biodiversity of this planet,
the topic of magnetic ecology is something to consider;
particularly the biological accuracy
with which life forms perceive the geomagnetic markers
that they base their behaviors upon.
Returning to the lab of the North Carolina biologists,
the team has found that the location of loggerhead turtle nests
varies in accordance with geomagnetism.
The researchers analyzed the data of nesting sites in 12 counties in Florida
over a 19 year time span.
Specifically, they found that nests placement varies
in accordance with inclination changes;
inclination being the angle of the Earth's magnetic field
where it enters the ground.
Unfortunately, a previous conservation practice was to protect turtle nests from predators
using cages of galvanized steel.
These cages have an unintended side effect
of altering field inclination within them at about 4% at the bottom
and 20% at the top.
In an experiment that is likely to arouse ambivalent feelings from PETA members,
the conservationists altered the magnetic field around turtle eggs using magnets.
They found that turtles raised in this distorted magnetic field
exhibited navigational ability that was no better than chance.
Their nearby siblings, hatched at about the same time in magnetically unobstructed nests,
retained their usual powers of magnetic guidance.
Concerning the cellular mechanisms by which our planet's electromagnetic field is felt,
organisms likely use multiple biological systems operating in tandem.
The primary challenge in understanding how creatures biologically detect magnetism
lies in the complexity of living systems.
Our human mind, with all its particular expectations,
has had some difficulty deducing where in the body we should look for this sense
and what structures we should expect to find.
Magnetoreceptive systems
have been clearly verified on the backs of magnetically sensitive bacteria
but magnetoreception in complex organisms
has been evidenced in places as diverse as the eyes and the ears,
often in the same organism.
The idea of magnetoreceptive cells in the beaks of pigeons
was recently thought to be a false lead
but experiments on pigeons neuroanatomy and behavior when their beak is anesthesized
would seem to conclude otherwise.
In our next episode we will explore more behaviors and specific biological mechanisms
through which we can observe evolved connections
between life-forms and the planets on which they live.
Has this glimpse of the literature excited you about biophysics
and the scope of science today?
Learn additional information in the Thunder- blog post which inspired this video
and check out the links in the description
to leap into learning more about the Electricity of Life.
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