Can anyone here give a knowledgeable appreciation of
this Nature's paper?

"Resonance effects indicate a radical-pair mechanism
for avian magnetic compass"
http://www.physics.uci.edu/~tritz/Pu...s/RITZ2004.pdf

The connection with plants? Well, birds and plants
have blue-light receptors called cryptochromes, whose
mechanisms could be affected by magnetic fields. As
shown in recent experiments, if one believes this source,

http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER...ION=&RCN=26320

relatively weak ambient magnetic fields (5 gauss) would influence
the function of cryptochromes in plants. Since on the other
hand "it's well known" that migrating birds evolved a magnetic
compass, the latter would work thanks to their retina's
cryptochromes. Rather than my paraphrasing, read the original press
elease there,

http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/664.htm?debut=16

A tall story? Or serious science?

In article ,
says...

relatively weak ambient magnetic fields (5 gauss) would influence
the function of cryptochromes in plants. Since on the other
hand "it's well known" that migrating birds evolved a magnetic
compass, the latter would work thanks to their retina's
cryptochromes. Rather than my paraphrasing, read the original press
elease there,

http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/664.htm?debut=16

A tall story? Or serious science?

Insofar as it demonstrates that the activity of some plant molecules is
affected by the ambient magnetic field, I assume it's probably correct.

Describing it as a "sixth sense" seems a bit over the top. Plants
don't tend to wander around very much, and thus would have no reason to
scan for changes in the ambient magnetic field.

Just being able to detect something is not enough to usefully describe
as an enumerated sense. We can detect strong microwave pulses because
the sudden thermal expansion of tissues in our head causes us to hear a
click. Should we describe that as a sense? Probably numerous such
'senses' could be invented.

- Gerry Quinn

Gerry Quinn wrote:


Just being able to detect something is not enough to usefully describe
as an enumerated sense. We can detect strong microwave pulses because
the sudden thermal expansion of tissues in our head causes us to hear a
click. Should we describe that as a sense? Probably numerous such
'senses' could be invented.

Actually, that last bit about uwaves sounds pretty dubious.
I assume by "tissues in our head" you include the brain?
Something than can cause such thermal stress in neural tissue as to
create an audible click would, I assume, be *very* damaging.

--
Dirk

http://www.onetribe.me.uk - The UK's only occult talk show
Presented by Dirk Bruere and Marc Power on ResonanceFM 104.4
http://www.resonancefm.com

Bossavit wrote:
Can anyone here give a knowledgeable appreciation of
this Nature's paper?

"Resonance effects indicate a radical-pair mechanism
for avian magnetic compass"
http://www.physics.uci.edu/~tritz/Pu...s/RITZ2004.pdf

The connection with plants? Well, birds and plants
have blue-light receptors called cryptochromes, whose
mechanisms could be affected by magnetic fields. As
shown in recent experiments, if one believes this source,

http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER...ION=&RCN=26320

relatively weak ambient magnetic fields (5 gauss) would influence
the function of cryptochromes in plants. Since on the other
hand "it's well known" that migrating birds evolved a magnetic
compass, the latter would work thanks to their retina's
cryptochromes. Rather than my paraphrasing, read the original press
elease there,

http://www2.cnrs.fr/en/664.htm?debut=16

A tall story? Or serious science?

It's reasonable science for sure. But relevant? That part is not clear-
not unless there are natural sources of MHz magnetic fields.

I would claim that the above work, taken collectively, points to
crytochromes being more interesting that previously thought.
Cryptochromes appear to be expressed in humans as well- and there's a
lot of work studying the role of cicadean rhythms as meadiated by the
cryptochromes.

--
Andrew Resnick, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology and Biophysics
Case Western Reserve University

In article ,
says...
Gerry Quinn wrote:

Just being able to detect something is not enough to usefully describe
as an enumerated sense. We can detect strong microwave pulses because
the sudden thermal expansion of tissues in our head causes us to hear a
click. Should we describe that as a sense? Probably numerous such
'senses' could be invented.

Actually, that last bit about uwaves sounds pretty dubious.
I assume by "tissues in our head" you include the brain?
Something than can cause such thermal stress in neural tissue as to
create an audible click would, I assume, be *very* damaging.

If you type "microwave pulses click audible" into Google you'll get
lots of links, though most seem to be just to abstracts.

Don't forget we're talking about very small physical movements and
pressure gradients, no more than with ordinary sound waves. Evidently
the sudden uneven thermal expansion is enough to cause these when the
temperature changes by a tiny fraction of a degree. The heating won't
do any harm, and the other effects should be no worse than those from
any audible sound being transmitted through the tissues.

(It may well be that the outer parts of the head expand relative to the
brain, as most of the microwaves will be absorbed in the outer layers.
Whether the 'click' comes from large scale expansion or small local
effects in the ear, I don't know, but some of the links will probably
tell you.)

- Gerry Quinn