Is The Alignment of Your Toilets Putting You At Risk for Schizophrenia? That Story When We Return

A study claims that dogs align themselves with earth's magnetic lines when they poop. And when the magnetic fields are scrambled, they become "confused."

Czech and German researchers studied 70 dogs during 1,893 defecations and 5,582 urinations over the course of two years, and found that when the Earth's magnetic field was stable the dogs chose to align themselves with it. When it was unstable, such as during a solar flare, the dogs would become confused.

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Dogs on leashes, however, do not consistently align themselves as such, mainly doing so when they are free to choose. Researchers are yet to figure out why dogs exhibit this preference.

Yeah, here are some big old doubts I have: How frequently did dogs choose to align with the magnetic fields? Just somewhat more frequently than mere chance would suggest, I'd bet. And there's a lot of room for shenanigans with the definition of "aligning" one self with the magnetic field. How far off the line can a dog be and still get counted as "aligned" with it?

Those doubts aside, a lot of animals can sense magnetic fields and they use them as clues to navigating the local environment.

thanks to @clayremick

posted by Ace at 06:31 PM

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