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Magnetic Bacteria May Help Animals Navigate Earth
A researcher created a database with hundreds of millions of animal DNA sequences that contain types of magnetic bacteria that may help animals sense Earth’s magnetic field.
Sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing are the five primary senses we humans use to learn about and navigate our surroundings, but we aren’t the only animals to possess them. In fact, most other animals on Earth can see, smell, taste, touch, and hear. And some of them have additional senses we don’t possess and are just beginning to understand — like magnetoreception.
Animals with magnetoreceptive abilities can sense Earth’s magnetic field. Some use it to hunt, while others use it to navigate during migration. However, scientists have yet to understand how precisely they sense it. Plenty of theories have been proposed, of course, but one idea involving magnetic bacteria is gaining traction lately.
Earth’s Magnetic Field
As you likely know, Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field called the magnetosphere. This field makes compass needles point North and, more importantly, protects Earth from dangerous space conditions, like solar flares, that could decimate the planet.
