As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday, 9 May 2014

Electromagnetic noise leaves birds lost in migration, study reports


17 hours ago

Radio waves disrupt the magnetic "compass" in robins, according to a study published on Wednesday that is likely to fuel debate about the safety of electronic devices.

In a long and careful experiment, German scientists found that migrating robins became disorientated when exposed to electromagnetic fields at levels far lower than the safety threshold for humans.

The frequencies were in the medium-wave band used by AM radio—not the bands used by mobile phones, whose safety has been contested by some campaigners.

"For decades, it has been hotly debated whether man-made electric and magnetic fields affected biological processes, including human health," the authors, from Oldenburg University, wrote in Nature.




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