Can people feel the magnetic field?

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Can people feel the magnetic field?
Can people feel the magnetic field?
Anonim

The magnetic field that affects the human body and mind resembles the superpower that the X-Men have in science fiction films, but researchers believe that some people are actually able to sense the magnetic field of our planet. Many animals, from pigeons to turtles, use this perception for navigation, while cattle, according to previous research, prefer to be in the field while in it. For many years, there has been a debate among the scientific community as to whether people have such a flair. The results of the work, published in the journal eNeuro, state that yes.

We are part of the Earth's magnetic biosphere

As The Guardian writes, we, as a species, have not lost the magnetic sensory system that our ancestors possessed millions of years ago. According to Professor Joseph Kirshvink, head of research at the California Institute of Technology, humans are part of the Earth's magnetic biosphere. In their paper, Kirshvink and colleagues from the United States and Japan describe the discovery as a hexagonal cage, whose walls were made of aluminum to protect the installation from electromagnetic interference. These walls also contained coils through which currents passed, creating magnetic fields of about the same strength as that of the Earth.

Each participant was asked to enter a dark cage and sit on a wooden chair facing north. During the experiment, the team measured the subjects' brain waves using an electroencephalogram (EEG). In some experiments, the created magnetic fields were fixed in one direction, while in others they rotated. In other cases, no magnetic field was created - this meant that the participants were exposed only to the natural magnetic field of the Earth. At the same time, the subjects did not know which experiment was being carried out.

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Earth's magnetic field affects all living things

Results from 34 adult subjects showed that certain experimental scenarios caused alpha brain waves to drop. Alpha waves occur when we close our eyes and begin to relax. With an increase in the functional activity of the brain, the amplitude of the alpha rhythm decreases until it disappears completely. The drop in brain waves occurred if the artificial magnetic field was directed north and then turned up or down, or directed down when pointing north and turned counterclockwise. Like a man in the northern hemisphere nodding his head or turning his head to the right.

According to the researchers, the results obtained are akin to the fact that the brain "goes crazy" in response to an unexpected change in the environment. This means that the person is able to detect such changes - although the responses of the subjects varied greatly. According to the team, the new study suggests that the human magnetoreception system distinguishes north from south by supporting an alternative mechanism involving special cells containing iron-based crystals. It is believed that these crystals rotate like a compass needle, opening or closing pores in cells, thereby affecting signals sent to the brain.

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Animals feel magnetic waves

Since all subjects are from the northern hemisphere, the idea was that the cells of the subjects could already be tuned to the magnetic field - hence the ability to distinguish the poles. Nevertheless, it is too early to draw final conclusions. At a minimum, the experiment should be repeated with subjects from the southern hemisphere. Other researchers, who were not involved in the experiment, also call for caution, since it is necessary to distinguish between subtle changes in brain activity in response to a weak magnetic field, and another - to show that people are indeed able to detect a magnetic field in a meaningful way.

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