This Quantum ‘Sixth Sense’ Could Allow Birds to Navigate Earth’s Magnetic Field

How do migrating birds know where to go? New research suggests “spooky action at a distance” might be involved.

Read More:
Migratory birds eye-localized magnetoreception for navigation
“Migratory birds use a magnetic compass in their eye for navigation. The involved sensory mechanisms have long remained elusive, but now, researchers have revealed exactly where in the eye avian navigation is situated.”

Billions of Birds Migrate: Where Do They Go?
“ Migratory birds have made their thousand-mile flights for millennia, but we are just now learning to map their mesmerizing journeys.”

Why Do Birds Migrate?
“One textbook explanation suggests either eating fruit or living in non-forested environments were the precursors needed to evolve migratory behavior. Not so, report a pair of ecologists from The University of Arizona in Tucson. The pressure to migrate comes from seasonal food scarcity.”

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Special thanks to Amy Shira Teitel for writing this episode of Seeker!

This episode of Seeker was hosted by Trace Dominguez

[BoltK]

I’m already kinda weird because I’m a young guy who’s like kinda obsessed with how awesome birds are. They’re literally little flying dinosaurs that wake me up every morning by singing lol, like I don’t understand how everyone isn’t amazed by birds. And now this is just another reason why birds are absolutely fascinating.

[MyDevOpsJourney_]

Bird migration related to quantum entanglement... Now that's cool... 😎

[seasesh]

"more research is needed" buzz word for seekers

[AifDaimon]

If their built in compasses could somehow be applied to our GPS systems, I wager it'd be next to impossible for us to get lost ever again

[zakiducky]

I wonder, then, what effects a pole flip would have on the world’s birds. There’s been lots of speculation that Earth’s magnetic poles will flip soon, perhaps even this century. Would all migratory birds suddenly start migrating south when they mean to go north, and vice versa? Or would a pole flip mean next to nothing for their navigation after the magnetic field stabilizes again? I guess we can’t know for certain until it actually happens.

[sebastianelytron]

There's a twist at the end... the birds are actually dead.

[Vlikdude]

Wow Jesus is awesome, how can anyone say this happened by random chance, the whole universe is so precisely created that we are even still discovering this new things, what force drives this proteins to do what they do, its mesmerizing.

[mpaulworkman]

I love this, quantum effects in biological processes are probably all over the place, waiting to be found. Maybe other avian riddles will be solved using quantum logic. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Both!

[PresidentialWinner]

I once did magic mushrooms at my summer cottage and saw the magnetic lines of the planet in the night sky. I could have navigated anywhere using them probably. I'm 100% convinced that humans either have this skill but its not unlocked or it's a remnant of our previous build, millions of years ago. Still, pretty crazy to see the night sky and all its magnetic lines. I love magic mushrooms.

[lazercamel]

they should add a small magnet near the birds eye and see if they travel in other directions

[rdeyeshine]

Should i have took a left at Albuquerque?

[Toastmaster_]

I've known for a while that birds could detect magnetic fields, but I didn't know any of the specifics. This is pretty fascinating.

[maximo]

The fact that I don't have this protein makes me wanna *cry*

[TKUA]

Wow life is so complex. How can you tell me this all happened by accident? Someone had to have designed this

[bannanaization]

Magnetite. Crystals are responsible for this. We humans also have this ability.

[jefkoele-wijn]

I also want a sixth sense, but I still have to decide which and then I need to make a plan to make it happen

[oliverchan]

"wet, warm and chaotic" great choice of wording

[tallietallie]

Omg I just discovered your channel because you’ve met my husband Mike in the Amsterdamse Foodhallen yesterday. Love your content already! Greetings from a new follower.

[michaelcheverie]

I'm looking for the documentation regarding quantum entanglement in the Cry4 protein in the bird's retina. I didn't see anything about quantum entanglement in the articles listed in the doobly-doo. Help me, please.

[richarddeese]

Thanks! The truth is, there are *_all kinds_* of 'sixth senses.' Some animals can sense electromagnetic fields in other animals - presumably to help see them as predators, prey, or mates. Different animals can see in different wavelengths than humans - such as bees, which can see ultraviolet patterns in flowers that are invisible to us. Some snakes (possibly all?) have small pits in their heads that can sense heat - allowing them to 'see' in infrared. The animal kingdom is endlessly fascinating, & Mother Nature is endlessly creative. IDIC, y'all! Thanks again. 𝓡𝓲𝓴𝓴𝓲 𝓣𝓲𝓴𝓴𝓲.