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New evidence for a human magnetic sense that lets your brain detect the Earth’s magnetic field


thatsocrates

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https://theconversation.com/new-evidence-for-a-human-magnetic-sense-that-lets-your-brain-detect-the-earths-magnetic-field-113536

A human response to Earth-strength magnetic fields might seem surprising. But given the evidence for magnetic sensation in our animal ancestors, it might be more surprising if humans had completely lost every last piece of the system. Thus far, scientists found evidence that people have working magnetic sensors sending signals to the brain – a previously unknown sensory ability in the subconscious human mind. The full extent of our magnetic inheritance remains to be discovered.The Conversation

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Interesting article.

I had a random thought on this subject a couple of weeks ago. Messages travel up and down the spinal column using electricity, this will create a magnetic field that can interact with the Earth's field. What if our lack of a directional sense is because of our upright stance? That animals with horizontal spines will get a different feeling when they are oriented in different directions. Biogenetic crystals of magnetite are a new wrinkle for me...

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17 minutes ago, ecstaticdancer said:

Messages travel up and down the spinal column using electricity, this will create a magnetic field that can interact with the Earth's field.

Just a detail but ... These are not really electrical signals; there is no current flowing down the neurons, but cascades of potential changes caused by ions been pumped through the cell membrane.

I don't know if this is a criticism of your concept or not, because I don't know if this mechanism would be affected by magnetic fields. 

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5 hours ago, Strange said:

Just a detail but ... These are not really electrical signals; there is no current flowing down the neurons, but cascades of potential changes caused by ions been pumped through the cell membrane.

I don't know if this is a criticism of your concept or not, because I don't know if this mechanism would be affected by magnetic fields. 

No, me neither.

I was under the impression that electricity was the movement of charged particles, ions in this case. Any effect would be very weak in any case.

Critique away, I'm not invested in this.

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15 hours ago, Strange said:

I don't know if this mechanism would be affected by magnetic fields. 

It is. There’s even an entire type of treatment based on it. It applies magnetism to alter behavior and is called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.  

Another interesting detail, separate but related, is the voltage difference between our head and our feet. Can’t recall the exact value, but remember it surprised me how big it is. 

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1 hour ago, iNow said:

It is. There’s even an entire type of treatment based on it. It applies magnetism to alter behavior and is called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation.  

Is that a sense though?

We can be affected by caffeine but we can't tell which cup contains it in a taste test. 

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