
Dogs are sensitive to small variations of the Earth's magnetic field - gmatty
http://www.frontiersinzoology.com/content/10/1/80/abstract
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mturmon
On methods, quoting from the paper:

Alignment of the body (along the thoracic spine) in direction towards the head
(heading) was measured in freely moving dogs (i.e., not on the leash) in “open
field” (on meadows, fields, in the wood etc., i.e., unconstrained, and
uninfluenced by linear structures, such as walls and fences) away from the
road traffic, high voltage power lines, and conspicuous steel constructions
during defecation and urination by a hand-held compass.

So it was not as simple as directional preference in sidewalks or roads.

~~~
VladRussian2
have a dog and can say for sure that it is definitely nor random nor "simple
preference" (and magnetic alignment falls under "simple" category)

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tlb
The research seems credible, and they've convincingly excluded obvious things
like that they're actually aligning with the sun.

The striking thing is that they only align N-S when the declination of the
magnetic field is stable, but when the declination is changing they don't
align. The differences in magnetic field direction is only a few degrees, so
it's amazing that a dog whose head is flopping around can detect such small
changes.

~~~
a_bonobo
>they've convincingly excluded obvious things like that they're actually
aligning with the sun.

I don't know - for my taste, to exclude alignment to the sun they would have
had to keep the dogs in a closed environment with an artificial light source.
After all, even with clouds present you know where the sun is (and you can
still get sunburned etc.)

It also rings my "skeptical" alarm bells when they cite the "original"
evidence that cattle aligns along the N-S axis, but they don't cite the paper
that fails to replicate the "original" findings in cattle:
[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00359-011-0628-7](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00359-011-0628-7)

~~~
sp332
They've excluded it by showing that dogs line up with local magnetic fields
even when the sun is in various positions.

~~~
herbig
Yeah, but does the sun's position have any effect on the magnetic field?

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ars
Apparently Foxes are also sensitive to the magnetic field:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2SoGHFM18I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2SoGHFM18I)

~~~
icegreentea
Seems so awesome! Here's an article describing the research and proposed
mechanism: [http://phys.org/news/2011-01-predation-foxes-aided-earth-
mag...](http://phys.org/news/2011-01-predation-foxes-aided-earth-
magnetic.html)

~~~
ars
Thanks for that! The last paragraph makes it seem like every animal except
humans can sense the magnetic field. I'm slightly jealous.

~~~
Someone
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoception#In_humans](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoception#In_humans)

It also is unlikely that humans would be an exception here. However, my money
still is on "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". Animals may
be capable of magnetoception, but I don't think that has been proven yet.

For example, those foxes could try and minimize their shadows or changes in
their shadows. They might do that using an internal clock. Alternatively, they
might be able to perceive the polarization of the sky, and use that to guess
where the sun is (note the high variation in successful angles)

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cdeonier
I remember seeing a show remarking on similar sensitivity being observed in
foxes when hunting mice in the snow. Apparently, the fox is much more accurate
when diving when facing north.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2SoGHFM18I&feature=youtu.be&...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2SoGHFM18I&feature=youtu.be&t=1m35s)

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ortusdux
They don't want the sun in their eyes?

~~~
abc_lisper
This, is the right question.

~~~
phy6
Could be substantiated if dogs in the southern hemisphere preferred to face
south.

~~~
brc
Well, I'm in that hemisphere. My dog prefers to do it facing away from owner
if no reference points, otherwise always likes to go parallell to the nearest
path/ building/ fence. I would say virtually never randomly chooses south.

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sciguy77
I was just about to buy a hall effect sensor, but now I just need a dog!
That's for saving me $20 OP.

~~~
andrewflnr
Unless you already have a dog, I don't think that will be a net cost savings.

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zoba
Something similar happens with cows and deer as well:
[http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/google-earth-
re/](http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/08/google-earth-re/)

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codewiz
Someone is trying to win the Ig Nobel prize.

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confluence
Should be easy enough to falsify. Overpower the Earth's field with magnets and
change the N-S orientation. See if they still shit along the new axis.

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spurgu
This might explain why the Australian Aboriginals didn't use left/right for
directions[0], but instead used cardinal directions.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_direction#Cultures_no...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relative_direction#Cultures_not_using_relative_directions)

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Aloha
It explains those stories that make the news now and again of dogs traveling
thousands of miles home.

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elwell
"Frontiers in Scatology"?

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jboydyhacker
no shit?

~~~
ctdonath
Nope. Dogs definitely get their shit straight.

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droopybuns
My bullshit detector is off the charts.

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pickleport
Why?

~~~
droopybuns
Why is this phenomenon limited to dogs?

Why has this never been noticed previously?

Also, why have I never observed this behavior with my dogs?

And to the comedian who replied as well: dogshit and bullshit are not the same
thing.

~~~
dmak
I don't think they're saying it is limited to dogs. It's just proven in dogs.
Dogs behave really oddly when a natural disaster is about to occur, would it
be that surprising that they had an unique sense that us humans don't have
such as what this study is suggesting?

~~~
xradionut
Maybe I can hire an augur to read my dogs poops then play the stock market
with the findings?

