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Bird Navigation Based On Quantum Zeno Effect
KentuckyFC writes "How birds use the Earth's magnetic field to navigate has puzzled researchers for decades. In recent years, a growing body of evidence has pointed to the possibility that a weak magnetic field can influence the outcome of a certain type of chemical reaction involving the recombination of pairs of ions in bird retinas. The trouble is that the ion recombination is known to happen too quickly for the Earth's weak magnetic field to have any effect. Now it looks as if the quantum Zeno effect explains all, says one researcher (abstract). This is the watched-pot-never-boils effect in which the act of observing a quantum system maintains it for longer than expected. That's extraordinary news because it means a quantum sensor is determining the macroscopic behavior of living birds."
Schrodinger's Pigeon?!?!
3...
2...
1...
The days of the digital watch are numbered.
The lifecycle of cats is also determined by quantum mechanics.
Periwinkle. Fade, unless you wash with Tide. God kills a kitten. By weighing the same as a duck (or wood, or a witch).
The one thing you've learned in your life, and it makes no sense. That must be depressing. Or maybe it's deeply philosophical.
I'm intrigued that this effect happens in avian retinas. Do birds actually *see* magnetic north and south? As in, everything to the north is tinted one color, and everything to the south is tinted another hue?
Fascinating. Birds (and possibly dinosaurs) see the world as one gigantic rave. Sometimes I feel I'm missing too much by being born human.
Genocide Man -- Life is funny. Death is funnier. Mass murder can be hilarious.
Thus explaining why birds weren't practical until the early 1900s.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
I'm sure there's a simple explanation.