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SIX NEIGHBORS. "Using a series of interlinked cameras, they measured murmurations in three dimensions, reconstructing individual starling movements from the videos...researchers showed that starlings do not respond to their neighbours based on their metric distance — as most current models assume — but rather on the topological distance, where each bird appears to interact with a fixed number of neighbours that is, on average, six to seven birds." https://lnkd.in/eDfErYk View in LinkedIn

RADICAL PAIRS IN MIGRATION. "We study the suggestion that the geomagnetic field is detected by changes in the rates and yields of radical pair reactions. Assuming that photoreceptors involved in vision are involved in radical pair reactions, the magnetic field will result in a modulation of vision." http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/quantum_biology/ View in LinkedIn

SIMPLE RULES? "The way in which the individual birds of the starling flock interact in order to maintain flock cohesion is governed by a remarkably simple set of rules. Indeed by monitoring the dynamics of flight of individuals closely...each individual starling birds’ flight trajectory is governed by its six-to-seven neighbours, irrespective of the distance to those neighbours." https://lnkd.in/e96DgxW View in LinkedIn

ORDER OF MAGNITUDE. "Maeda et al., reported the most sensitive radical-pair reaction so far: a triad composed of linked carotenoid (C), porphyrin (P) and fullerene (F). They found magnetic field sensitivities down to 50 μT, of the same order as the geomagnetic field." https://lnkd.in/eRUdQZj View in LinkedIn

STARLING ANALOGY. "The closest statistical fit for this behavior comes from the physics of magnetism, and describes how the electron spins of particles align with their neighbors as metals become magnetized. In future research, Giardina’s team plans to study flocking in other organisms, such as local species of midges, which demonstrate other patterns of collective flight." https://lnkd.in/eJ7rdtJ View in LinkedIn

MAG-SENSITIVITY. "There is a long history of experimental studies of magnetic-field sensitivity on radical-pair reactions in solution. However, in those early experiments sensitivity was observed only for field strengths between 10 mT and several tesla, much larger than Earth’s (~50 μT). Within the past decade, the observed sensitivity of such reactions has gradually increased." https://lnkd.in/eRUdQZj View in LinkedIn

SUPER-FLOCK. "Starling murmurations represent one of the most impressive examples of organization in the natural world, with flocks of up to 300,000 individuals or more able to coordinate themselves into a cohesive and highly coherent group." https://lnkd.in/ernkfgF View in LinkedIn

SAFETY IN NUMBERS. "Swarming is a conspicuous behavioral trait observed in bird flocks, fish shoals, insect swarms, and mammal herds. It is thought to improve collective awareness and offer protection from predators." https://lnkd.in/ernkfgF View in LinkedIn

VIDEO OF FISH SCHOOLING, an analogy in a different system. https://lnkd.in/exP9Yi2 View in LinkedIn

VIDEO OF STARLING MURMURATIONS. https://lnkd.in/eKe8pBc View in LinkedIn