Birds are the masters of the air and their spatial navigation capabilities are well known. No less so are some marine organisms, such as turtles, tuna, eels or whales capable of migrating across the oceans, following routes that extend for thousands of miles. Recent research done with Federica Maffezzoli and […]
N. Emilio Baldaccini
The geomagnetic field as a source of directional information The Earth, due to its constituent characteristics, is comparable to a huge magnet. We live like this, like it or not, immersed in the lines of force of its magnetic field. These envelop our planet starting from a point close to […]
That animals knew how to use the sun to guide their large or small movements was the first important acquisition in the field of orientation towards a defined destination (migration and homing).Felix Santschi, a doctor who moved from Switzerland, operated in Kairouan, Tunisia in the early 1900s. With simple field […]
To choose and maintain a direction of movement you need a compass. But what’s the point of a compass if I don’t know my position with respect to the destination I want to reach?When a racing pigeon intends to embark on its flight home, it must first understand where home […]
SEPTEMBER, let’s go.It’s time to migrate.Now in the land of Abruzzo my shepherdsthey leave the pens and go towards the sea:they descend to the wild Adriaticthat is green like the pastures of the mountains.The Shepherds – Gabriele D’Annunzio Transhumance is true migration, a behavior of regular commuting between two places […]