Magnetic GPS to combat blindness

2004/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Zoologia

The blind mole rat takes a long time to dig into the ground. And it is that he has to make long trips to look for food and, although he has no eye, he is able to find the way.

For short distances use odour and balance to choose direction. However, over long distances, scientists have concluded that it combines all this information with the Earth's magnetic field. In fact, during laboratory tests it has been proven that the change of the outer magnetic field confuses the rat.

The mechanism is unclear, but some scientists believe that magnetite crystals in the nose can have a lot to do. The magnetite is oriented according to the magnetic field and allows rats to constantly check their direction.

Until now, the Earth's mammals that oriented the Earth's magnetic field were unknown.