Researchers explain how birds navigate

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Upon excitation with light an electron moves from one end of the molecule to the other. The time it takes for this electron to return to its initial position is sensitive to the magnitude and direction of magnetic fields similar to those of the Earth ...
Upon excitation with light, an electron moves from one end of the molecule to the other. The time it takes for this electron to return to its initial position is sensitive to the magnitude and direction of magnetic fields similar to those of the Earth. Birds may use a similar phenomenon to navigate. Graphic by Devens Gust, Arizona State University

It has long been known that birds and many other animals including turtles, salamanders and lobsters, use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate, but the nature of their global positioning systems (GPS) has not been completely understood.


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