In an experiment studying rainbow trout, researchers have just solved a long-running mystery of science: what makes migration possible.
The answer? Basically, migratory animals have magnets embedded in their friggin’ brains. Well, if not in their brains exactly, then woven into the fabric of their sensory tissue.
A breakthrough study published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal found that tiny iron-rich cells called magnetite embedded in the nasal passage of the rainbow trout were 100 times more powerful than previously thought, and essentially act as tiny compass needles inside the animal’s sensory system.
Fox News reports “These crystals lean back and forth like a sail in response to Earth’s weak magnetic field, and that the cells they are embedded in somehow convey their swaying movements to the brain. This is believed to confer trout and other migratory animals with a “magnetic sense” by which to judge direction.”
Lead researcher Michael Winklhofer said, “we show for the first time that the internal compass needle has a strong connection to the plasma membrane [or outer membrane] of the cell, which is important to realize an immediate sensing process.”
The magnetite cells are distributed sparsely and evenly—only one in 10,000 of the trout’s nasal cells is a “compass” cell—which made detecting them difficult in previous studies. Scientists have been trying to figure out whether magnetite cells could be powerful enough to play a part in migration for 30 years, and now thanks to this study’s technique of placing the trout’s cells inside a “rotating magnetic field” to separate the compass cells, we now understand the signal from these cells is strong enough to factor into animals’ sensory experience and explain their outsized directional abilities.
“It is quite possible that similar magnetite crystals are involved in detecting magnetic fields in numerous animals,” said Kenneth Lohmann, a leading biology professor.
It’s been a big couple weeks for scientific discoveries: first we confirm the existence of the Higgs boson, that makes matter as we know it comprehensible, and now we discover what makes migration possible. Go science!
[Image via Shutterstock]
July 10, 2012 at 4:03 pm, Hamptons Afterprom Party Scammer Made $34,000 Off Rich Teens said:
[...] What makes migration possible? Birds have magnets in their freakin’ brains. How come that took us so long to figure out? [Death+Taxes] [...]
July 10, 2012 at 7:03 pm, This & That - The Daily What said:
[...] have discovered what makes migration [...]
July 10, 2012 at 7:05 pm, This & That | SillyPortal said:
[...] have discovered what makes migration [...]
July 10, 2012 at 11:44 pm, Allan Zabraczki said:
Seriously? You're using Fox News as a source? Get a fucking clue. Fox News is your home for lies and misinformation. I don't trust them at all about anything.
July 10, 2012 at 11:45 pm, Michael Zions said:
Magnetite is the iron-bearing mineral, not the cells.
"found that tiny iron-rich cells called magnetite".
July 11, 2012 at 12:35 am, Mitchell Nemitz said:
Don't forget, we had our first sighting of dark matter threads as well.
July 11, 2012 at 12:53 am, Carlos Vergara said:
Could this explain whales and other sea animals hiting land where they were not supposed to, due to Earth's magnetic field alterarions here and there?
July 11, 2012 at 1:03 am, Nikita Veasey said:
Also, remember this is a study that only researched rainbow trout. There have been extensive studies into what makes certain migratory birds do what they do but with little confirmed results.
I am not disputing that they have cracked what causes this one species of fish to migrate the way it does, but considering several types of bird get thrown off course when the sky is overcast that suggests a non-magnetic source of their migratory navigation system.
Just think its a bit much to use the title "scientists just discovered what makes migration possible".
July 11, 2012 at 2:29 am, Laura Meyer said:
Neat!
July 11, 2012 at 2:43 am, MK Skogen said:
So Run D.M.C. cracked this biological mystery?
July 10, 2012 at 11:22 pm, Guerrilla Monkey – Today’s bookmarks said:
[...] Scientists just discovered what makes migration possible [...]
July 11, 2012 at 6:47 am, Vincent Gladue said:
well this interesting, go science indeed.
July 11, 2012 at 12:41 pm, Loopy Toktyn said:
It should be noted that while it /looks/ and /quacks/ like a Higgs Boson, it's still not entirely certain that it's the Higgs Boson. They've discovered /something/, but they still need to make sure it is what they think it is.
July 12, 2012 at 2:39 pm, Ruth Rosin said:
Enough with this egregious nonsense!
The only living organisms able to navigate by using the earth's magnetic field are human. And humans can do it only provided they purchase, fashion, borrow, or steal an inanimate magnetic-compass: which no sub-humans can do.
There has never been any really valid evidence that sub-humans can navigate by using the earth's magnetic field. And scientists striving to discover the organ that enables sub-humans to do it, are stupidly chasing phantoms!
July 13, 2012 at 12:50 pm, Weekend Reading 7/13/12 | Sightline Daily said:
[...] Scientists may have discovered what causes migration: magnets. [...]