Jeff Lawson ([info]bovineone) wrote,
@ 2008-08-26 14:15:00
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Entry tags:cows

Cows have magnetic sense
Here's some interesting cow-related news that has just been discovered by using Google Earth images:


"Studying photographs of 8,510 cattle in 308 herds from around the world, zoologists ... found that two out of every three animals in the pictures were oriented in a direction roughly pointing to magnetic north."

"Cows are known to align their bodies facing uphill, facing into a strong wind to minimize heat loss or broadside to the sun on cold mornings to absorb heat, but the fact that the pictures were taken at many locations, at different times of day and in generally calm weather minimized the effect of environmental factors, the researchers said."

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-cows26-2008aug26,0,3764260.story



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[info]decibel45
2008-08-26 07:36 pm UTC (link)
I highly doubt the statistical validity of this... they're trying to eliminate 3 known (and who knows how many unknown) environment variables with only 8,510 cows? That doesn't seem very meaningful. And what exactly is 'around the world'?

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[info]cowbert
2008-08-26 07:56 pm UTC (link)
don't argue with PNAS :)

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[info]pasketti
2008-08-26 07:40 pm UTC (link)
Wouldn't it be easier to just carry a compass instead of a herd of cows?

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[info]bovineone
2008-08-26 07:51 pm UTC (link)
As the article states at the end: "Experts acknowledged that the research almost certainly has no practical applications."

:)

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[info]goulo
2008-08-27 06:34 am UTC (link)
Ah, but the authors themselves wrote "Our findings open horizons for the study of magnetoreception in general and are of potential significance for applied ethology (husbandry, animal welfare)." in the linked abstract at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/08/22/0803650105 :)

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[info]paradox0220
2008-08-26 08:01 pm UTC (link)
They didn't give enough details to distinguish this observation from simple statistics.

66% of cows face north -or- south.
360 degress * .66 = 237.6 degress (66% of the direction they could point)
237.6 / 2 = 118.8 (as they could be facing north or south)
Now how far off direct north or south could they face and still fit into the statistical norm?
118.8 / 2 = 59.4 degress from direct north or south.

So if "roughly pointing to the magnetic north" means roughly 59.4 degress from direct north or south then it just makes statistical sense right?

(Someone correct me if my really quick math is off; didn't bother checking).

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