Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 20, 2026

Geomagnetic Field (Gmf) and Plant Evolution: Investigating the Effects of Gmf Reversal on Arabidopsis thaliana Development and Gene Expression
11:04

Geomagnetic Field (Gmf) and Plant Evolution: Investigating the Effects of Gmf Reversal on Arabidopsis thaliana Development and Gene Expression

Published on: November 30, 2015

'Fixed direction'-responses of birds in the geomagnetic field

Roswitha Wiltschko1, Wolfgang Wiltschko

  • 1FB Biowissenschaften; J.W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt; Frankfurt a.M., Germany.

Communicative & Integrative Biology
|August 26, 2009
PubMed

Keywords:
inclination compassmagnetic compassmagnetite-based receptorsphotoreceptorsradical pair mechanism‘fixed direction’-response

More Related Videos

Assessing the Influence of Personality on Sensitivity to Magnetic Fields in Zebrafish07:47

Assessing the Influence of Personality on Sensitivity to Magnetic Fields in Zebrafish

Published on: March 18, 2019

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) with Auditory Stimulation in Songbirds13:05

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) with Auditory Stimulation in Songbirds

Published on: June 3, 2013

Related Concept Videos

Magnetic Declination01:19

Magnetic Declination

Magnetic declination is the angle between true north, which aligns with the Earth's rotational axis, and magnetic north, which follows the direction of the Earth's magnetic field. This discrepancy exists because the magnetic poles do not coincide with the geographic poles. The value of magnetic declination depends on the observer's location on Earth and is subject to changes over time due to the dynamic nature of the Earth's magnetic field.The declination is called eastern when magnetic north...
Magnetic Fields01:27

Magnetic Fields

A moving charge or a current creates a magnetic field in the surrounding space, in addition to its electric field. The magnetic field exerts a force on any other moving charge or current that is present in the field. Like an electric field, the magnetic field is also a vector field. At any position, the direction of the magnetic field is defined as the direction in which the north pole of a compass needle points.
A magnetic field is defined by the force that a charged particle experiences...
Magnetic Field Lines01:19

Magnetic Field Lines

The representation of magnetic fields by magnetic field lines is very useful in visualizing the strength and direction of the magnetic field. Each of the magnetic field lines forms a closed loop. The field lines emerge from the north pole (N), loop around to the south pole (S), and continue through the bar magnet back to the north pole.
Magnetic field lines follow several hard-and-fast rules:
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes01:23

Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Relaxation Processes

In the absence of an external magnetic field, nuclear spin states are degenerate and randomly oriented. When a magnetic field is applied, the spins begin to precess and orient themselves along (lower energy) or against (higher energy) the direction of the field. At equilibrium, a slight excess population of spins exists in the lower energy state. Because the direction of the magnetic field is fixed as the z-axis,  the precessing magnetic moments are randomly oriented around the z-axis. This...
Compass01:23

Compass

The compass is a fundamental instrument that operates by aligning its magnetic needle with Earth's magnetic field. This alignment facilitates navigation and orientation, offering a means to determine direction relative to magnetic north. However, the magnetic needle points to magnetic north, which differs slightly from true geographic north due to magnetic declination, which is the angular deviation between these two points. Declination varies based on geographic location and shifts over time...
Plane Electromagnetic Waves II01:29

Plane Electromagnetic Waves II

Consider a plane wavefront traveling in position x-direction with a constant speed. This wavefront can be utilized to obtain the relationship between electric and magnetic fields with the help of Faraday's law.