The Quonset Hut

Magnetoception is a sense, which allows bacteria, insects and even vertebrates such as birds and sharks, to detect magnetic fields for orientation and navigation.

Humans, however, are unable to perceive magnetic fields naturally.
Or, they were.

For that barrier seems to have been just breached.

A team led by Prof. Oliver G. Schmidt and Dr. Denys Makarov, of the Institute for Integrative Nanosciences and of the Institute for Solid State and Materials Research in Dresden, Germany, have unveiled a new type of sensor that give humans the ability to detect magnetic fields.

Its tech summary description is a “highly sensitive giant magnetoresistive (GMR) sensor elements on ultrathin, 1.4 μm polyethylene terephthalate (PET) foils”.

This is how it looks

Rather,
It is a tiny 'electronic skin' which is less than two micrometers thick and weights only three gram per square meter (it can even float on a soap bubble) that gives the wearer a 'sixth sense' to perceive the presence of static or dynamic magnetic fields !

Floating on a soap bubble

But not only that, as you will find by reading on.

Since 2010 that Electronic Skin is nothing new inside edge science investigators (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_skin). It is by now able to perceive temperature changes, mimic the sensation of touch, monitor and display some physiological conditions, communicate wirelessly, and harvest and store energy for autonomous operation.

However, functionalities unfamiliar to human beings had not been addressed so far.
That has now changed.

For this “skin” packs a magnetic field sensor.

Skin thin magnetic sensors

Which, btw, can withstand extreme bending and even survive crumpling like a piece of paper without sacrificing its performance.
The inventors aim to use it as an imperceptible magneto-sensitive skin that enables proximity detection, navigation and touchless control, destined to soft robotics, consumer electronics and safety and healthcare monitoring.

“Such advanced applications require very specific mechanical properties of the sensing elements, such as bending radii <10 μm, stretchabilities exceeding 100% uniaxially or biaxially, reaching strains of >270%, as well as a sensitivity for magnetic fields below 100 Oe, and endure over 1,000 cycles without fatigue”.

“All of which are met by our ultrathin magnetic sensors”, said Makarov.


Full “Nature” article can be found here : http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/15012 ... s7080.html

Now read my next post, if you want to know what else has this “invention/discovery” achieved and promises to achieve still.

Of the long “Nature” article linked above, I found some claims very interesting and not only because of what they already tell us about this “new sensor”.

But also because of what its inventors now purport to achieve with it.

Just follow these excerpts taken from the article (colors are mine):

a) “The presence of any kind of magnetic field can thus be detected by simply pointing the finger towards it and its strength is visualized by an array of light-emitting diodes.
b) “Unlike optical sensors, no line-of-sight between the sensor and the magnetic field emitter is required. This allows transmitting ‘magnetic messages’ through all non-magnetic objects such as safety enclosures, displays or even walls.”
c) “The encoding can be realized both statically via permanent magnets as well as dynamically simply with current-driven wirings.”
d) “Our results prove that imperceptible GMR sensors are rugged and very durable, a prerequisite for ‘real world’ electronic skin applications (given) the outstanding resilience of the presented imperceptible and stretchable GMR element against high mechanical deformations in particular”

Crumpled, but 'alive'

e) “These ready-to-use sensing elements extend the cognition of electronic skin systems to a medium, which, by no means, can be detected by human beings.”
f) “Future work will focus on optimizations to interface electrically and mechanically with other electronic components enabling, for example, wireless readout and remote sensing.”
h) “We foresee our work to inspire a diverse number of devices that will benefit from a ‘sixth sense’ : Magnetoception.”

Remote sensing.jpg (6.81 KiB) Viewed 2606 times

So be it.

LuisP,
Magnetic fields are variable, they can keep this stuff.
Humans have far far better senses to something else.
Kevin

kevin wrote:LuisP,
Magnetic fields are variable, they can keep this stuff.
Humans have far far better senses to something else.
Kevin

HA ! ... "they can keep this stuff"
That truky made me laugh heartly, Hobbit ! Thanks !


And yes, I agree with you.

But you have to admit its a cool sense to have.
And I would like to one day try some of this "electric skin"

LuisP,
I should have explained more.
Current navigation is based on magnetism, thus the opening statement about how other beings navigate via magnetics.
That is pure assumption.
That which I detect never varies, though that which piggybacks upon that matrix does.
Magntic compass is why so so many sailors are in Davey Jones locker.
Best to watch nature , and follow it, I do.
Kevin

I vaguely remember my seventh grade science teacher telling us about crawdads using magnetism for navigation. Things are prompting recollections to surface for me today. Must pawnder.

Cat

For some reason, I remember this being discussed somewhere over the past 9 years....has it really been that long?

Well, I had to refresh my memory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetoception

"Magnetic bones have been found in the human nose, specifically the sphenoidal/ethmoid sinuses.[32] Beginning in the late 1970s, the group of Robin Baker at the University of Manchester began to conduct experiments that purported to exhibit magnetoception in humans: people were disoriented and then asked about certain directions; their answers were more accurate if there was no magnet attached to their head.[33] Other scientists have maintained they could not reproduce these results.[33][34] Some other evidence for human magnetoception was put forward in a 2007 study: low-frequency magnetic fields can produce an evoked response in the brains of human subjects.[35]

Magnetoception in humans has also been achieved by magnetic implants[citation needed] and by non-permanently attached artificial sensory "organs".[36] However, these exercises do little to demonstrate that humans are innately capable of magnetoreception.

Additionally, a magnetosensitive protein, cryptochrome-2, has been found in the human eye.[37] Given the lack of knowledge as to how cryptochrome mediates magnetosensitivity in Drosophila, it is unclear whether the cryptochrome found in humans functions in the same way and can be used for magnetoception."

Just thought I would post this. I do know, and Kim will attest, I have an uncanny sense in finding my way. Hmmmm....I am not a crayfish or bird....maybe I just look at the sun and the moss on the trees.

Mikado

Interesting.
I was a reporter at the 2008 Republican National Convention. The police attacked the peaceful protesters with tear gas, rubber bullets and full body mace. They also attacked the reporters (who, including myself were on tethered microphones to their camera people).

My sinuses were totally "burned out". Went to the doctor an had this confirmed. Since then, I have had varying degrees of what I have called vertigo, but it may be something affecting the magnetic bones in my sinuses. I also have mercury fillings in my teeth...and wonder how that affects things.

We are working at understanding the imbalanced magnetic fields that Earth is locked in. That imbalanced magnetic fields cause life to degenerate, make it so life cannot regenerate. Given the work of Linda's father, and her exposure to certain "fields", is it possible that an organic change has happened to Linda?

Possibly, she is phase shifting. And what she sees/perceives will be different from what you see/perceive.
Kevin has spoken about memory.
What is memory?
Lots of talk here about truth.
What is truth?
Is truth an agreement between people about what happened in the past...about sharing a common memory?

How much does "disagreement of truth"... of people having different memories of the past
affect the present and the future?

Does a magnet push...or pull?
Just had this conversation here at the lab. I was told the academic "truth" is that iron is pushed to the magnet
the magnet does not pull the iron to itself.

So how does that work with the sinuses in humans?
Is the iron in the Earth being pushed to our sinuses?
What about the iron in our blood?

Magnetic fields.
Fascinating.

Nancy

kevin wrote:LuisP,
I should have explained more.
Current navigation is based on magnetism, thus the opening statement about how other beings navigate via magnetics.
That is pure assumption.
That which I detect never varies, though that which piggybacks upon that matrix does.
Magntic compass is why so so many sailors are in Davey Jones locker.
Best to watch nature , and follow it, I do.
Kevin

Interesting point, Hobbit. As usual, I wish I could be more “apt” to discuss that interest with you.
But from my ignorance, is not “magnetism” a manifestation of Nature ? have not many sailors (airmen ?) gone into Jones’ locker precisely because of magnetic “anomalies”, meaning, when that “natural process” suddenly got a “unnatural” manifestation, by whichever reasons ?

Pigeons are known orientation champions. You can – and some already did it ! – blindfold a pigeon at “home”, put it in a truck, drive hundreds of miles and then put it on a boat which will sail for many hundreds of miles more and then set them free, whereby they will faultlessly find their way home, from the middle of the ocean’s referenceless open blue water .

This has been studied extensively, and far as I know the explanation for this uncanny ability (not the reason – for that’s their sex mate waiting at home !) relies heavily on a built-in magnetic compass from magnetite found in their beaks even if “magnetosensitivity in homing pigeons has not been cemented” and it is being still “unclear whether pigeons rely solely on a cryptochrome-mediated receptor or on beak-magnetite.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetocep ... ng_pigeons)

I mean, don’t they “follow nature” ?

we used magnetite in the Johnny Tubes