This ‘blind mole’ can ‘see’ the magnetic field with its own eyes

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This is the first time, after birds and dogs, that mice have been shown to have a strong sense of magnetic field.  (Photo: Wikipedia)
This 'blind Mole' Can 'see' The Magnetic Field With Its

This is the first time, after birds and dogs, that mice have been shown to have a strong sense of magnetic field.  (Photo: Wikipedia)

Berlin: German scientists have discovered that a species of underground mole in the forests of Zambia, although almost blind, can still “see” the magnetic field with its own eyes.

The research journal “Journal of the Royal Society Interface” Latest issues The study was published by Dr. K. R. Casper of the University of Duisburg Essen, Germany, and his colleagues.

So far we have learned about many birds that have a tremendous ability to sense the earth’s magnetic field, which they use during migration thousands of miles and reach their destination easily.

Recent research has also shown that dogs also feel the magnetic field and take guidance from it. Experts had the same idea about these moles called “Ansell’s mole-rat” but it has not been confirmed yet.

These small button-like moles live in colonies, forming long tunnels under the ground.

There are about ten moles in a colony while many such colonies are connected to each other through “communication tunnels” through which the moles of one colony get to and from other colonies.

But the important thing is that in every colony, the moles always make their habitat on the south-eastern side of the tunnels.

Experts wondered how a mole that could tell with its eyes only the difference between light and darkness, that is, almost blind, could always choose the southeast direction, setting the right direction in the pitch darkness. Is.

For this reason, scientists believed that these moles, like birds, have a natural ability to be guided by the earth’s magnetic field. But where is this ability in their body? Nothing was known about it. Although some experts had suspicions in the eyes of these moles, but they did not have any concrete evidence for this.

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German scientists have come up with a “ruthless” way to solve the riddle: they carefully removed the eyes of moles kept in the laboratory. Even after losing their eyesight, the mice’s routine did not change and they continued to dig tunnels, tease each other and have children.

When experts became convinced that the moles were living a normal life even after losing their eyes, they created a space similar to the natural environment inside the laboratory, around which an artificial magnetic field was created. Which these experts could control and even change its direction.

In this place, these moles could dig tunnels for themselves and live underground and make their own burrows. Along with the blind moles, the moles that had eyes and were not removed were also left here.

Experts observed that moles with healthy eyes reacted to the change in the artificial magnetic field and when they dug their burrows, they were in the southeast according to the changed direction of the artificial magnetic field.

In contrast, mice without eyes had no effect on the magnetic field or changes in it; And they dug their bills here and there. This proved that in the absence of eyes, these moles were not even able to perceive and receive guidance from the magnetic field.

At the end of the study, experts suggested that the mole’s eyes be examined with powerful electron microscopes and advanced spectroscopy techniques to determine the magnetic field sensing in small eyes as small as 2 millimeters. Where are you located