Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: amused

Quantum Robins

I love this article about bird navigation. 

*chuckle*  1) Some things are easier to do with magic than science. 
2) Animals can develop either or both kinds of technique. 
3) It's really amusing when scientists try to study magic with science.
Tags: magic, nature, science, wildlife
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  • 2 comments
siege

siege

January 23 2011, 04:55:50 UTC 10 years ago

Also see evidence of a third type of photoreceptor in the human eye (not a rod or a cone, but apparently a different type which senses light/radiation even when the primary receptors are gone); and Foxes apparently use magnetic fields when hunting (possibly as one would use the range lines on a flip-up iron sight on a rifle, to judge distance when leaping).
siege

siege

January 23 2011, 05:05:58 UTC 10 years ago

Ah: Melanopsin is a relatively common light-sensitive chemical which signals at higher wavelengths and regenerates at lower wavelengths; it is apparently the chemical responsible for light-sensitivity in these human cells, as well as the skin and even deep-brain and pineal regions which are thought or known to be light-sensitive.

I'm wondering just how sensitive it is, and how sensitive (or concentrated) it needs to be to initiate a response in its various housing cells -- would a single photon (or other particle) be sufficient?