Close

Close
Special Announcement
Newsletter Sign Up
Calendar
Back February '10 Forward
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Syndicate This Blog
Top Referers
georezo.net (166)
planetgs.com (63)
www.thegisforum.com (43)
www.bloglines.com (25)
bit.ly (23)
Our Points
Thursday, March 19. 2009

Update: Cows Sense, Line up On Earth's Magnetic Field

A follow up on the original study that suggested that cows align themselves to the magnetic field of the earth based on imagery from Google Earth suggest magnetic fields from power lines may play a role, too.

The new research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,updates last year's work that indicated the animals' north-south orientation was in response to the earth's magnetic fields. The effect was most noticeable near the power lines and diminished at a distance.

- The Scotsman

---- original post 8/26/09 ---------

Hynek Burda of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany and his team determined that cows and deer tend to align along the invisible lines when grazing or sleeping. The original work was aimed at determining if people do so, by looking at camp sites in Google Earth. Instead, they found cows that followed the "rules." The why and how are not yet known.

- NPR
- Abstract (fee for article) in Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences
Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Google at 06:00 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0) | Bookmark and Share

Trackbacks
Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments
Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

"The original work was aimed at determining if people do so, but looking at camp sites in Google Earth"

That study must be made by people who never camp. You always align your tent so your feet is placest lowest (or you will keep rolling off). I think all they could use that for is determining the slope direction where the tent is. Of course that doesn't apply to flat areas, but it doesn't take a lot of slope to deside what way to turn your tent (less than what you can see in GE, and if you could see it, there probably wouldn't be any campgrounds there).
#1 Morten on 2008-08-26 15:36 (Reply)
Having grown up on a farm raising beef cattle, it was always obvious to us that the direction the cows faced when grazing or sleeping/laying down had more to do with wind direction than any magnetic fields. If it was cold they faced away from the wind, if it was hot, they might face the wind for cooling. they also lie in the sun if it's cold, just like other animals, sheltering in the wind block of trees or low hills. I don't think these people have much experience with cattle.
#1.1 Farm Girl on 2009-03-20 10:48 (Reply)

Add Comment

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
Standard emoticons like :-) and ;-) are converted to images.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications

To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly.
CAPTCHA
    
  
 
Advertisers
Polls
What's your feeling about commercial organizations that participate in kind or cash support to help in disasters and publicize those efforts?
No issues; it's good for the planet and good business.
It's ok, but does make me wonder about their motives.
It's pure marketing, and bothers me.
Have no strong feeling.

Archives
Comments
Adena Schutzberg about South Dakota Watershed Data Made Available in Google Earth
February 9
Thanks - those two issue have been [...]


jerry sullivan about South Dakota Watershed Data Made Available in Google Earth
February 9
"WaStershed"

also, the hotlink to [...]


Adena Schutzberg about South Dakota Watershed Data Made Available in Google Earth
February 9
Kelly,

Sorry - just bad editing on my [...]


Kevin about Update: NAVTEQ Shutting Down Phone Map App Nav4All that Uses NAVTEQ Data
February 9
Agreed - if a user of OSM data alters, [...]


Kelly McDermott about South Dakota Watershed Data Made Available in Google Earth
February 9
Adena,

North Dakota, South Dakota - [...]


Scott about Update: NAVTEQ Shutting Down Phone Map App Nav4All that Uses NAVTEQ Data
February 9
Besides that OSM data is not "perfect or [...]


Chris about South Dakota Watershed Data Made Available in Google Earth
February 9
Not to be a buzz kill for South Dakota, [...]


Amazon Recommendations