6 min
Episode #46 Problem/Solution - Navigation by Magnetoreception Science & You
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- Natural Sciences
A number of animals have the ability to sense the earth's magnetic field and to orient and move in relation to it. It seems that navigating using this magnetoreception sense is an elegant solution to the problem of finding one's way through an otherwise featureless environment like the ocean, but one that not all sea or land creatures share. Could this same sense have evolved separately in different animal species in response to similar problems? Or is it an example of selective and intelligent application by the Creator of a solution for a known biological problem? Creation Matters Vol. 21 No. 3, p.3, May-June 2016. References: Behe, MJ 1996 Darwin's Black Box. New York: The Free Press (Simon and Schuster); Denny, M and A McFadzean, 2011 Engineering Animals: How Life Works. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; Eder, SHK, H Cadiou, et al. 2012 Magnetic characterization of isolated candidate vertebrate magnetoreceptor cells. PNAS 109(30): 12022-12027; Hart VT, P Kusta et al. 2012 Magnetic alignment of carps: evidence from the Czech Christmas fish market. PLoS One 7(12): e51100; Windheuser, A. 2014 Fishy Business. Personal Communication. Douglas County/USD 497 District science and engineering fair.
A number of animals have the ability to sense the earth's magnetic field and to orient and move in relation to it. It seems that navigating using this magnetoreception sense is an elegant solution to the problem of finding one's way through an otherwise featureless environment like the ocean, but one that not all sea or land creatures share. Could this same sense have evolved separately in different animal species in response to similar problems? Or is it an example of selective and intelligent application by the Creator of a solution for a known biological problem? Creation Matters Vol. 21 No. 3, p.3, May-June 2016. References: Behe, MJ 1996 Darwin's Black Box. New York: The Free Press (Simon and Schuster); Denny, M and A McFadzean, 2011 Engineering Animals: How Life Works. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; Eder, SHK, H Cadiou, et al. 2012 Magnetic characterization of isolated candidate vertebrate magnetoreceptor cells. PNAS 109(30): 12022-12027; Hart VT, P Kusta et al. 2012 Magnetic alignment of carps: evidence from the Czech Christmas fish market. PLoS One 7(12): e51100; Windheuser, A. 2014 Fishy Business. Personal Communication. Douglas County/USD 497 District science and engineering fair.
6 min