Magnetic cells found in fish
JUL 10, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026156
Science : Although many animals rely on sight and smell to navigate, scientists had noticed that some birds and fish also seem to use Earth’s magnetic field. Now for the first time, magnetic cells have actually been located in an animal’s body. Michael Winklhofer of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich and colleagues, whose paper was published yesterday in Science, have isolated cells in the noses of rainbow trout that contain magnetite, the most magnetic of all minerals. The cells are so highly magnetic, in fact, that the fish may be able to detect “not only the direction of North based on magnetism, but small differences in magnetic field strength that can give them more detailed information about their precise latitude and longitude,” writes Sarah Williams for Science.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
