Quantum fragility may help birds navigate

Influence of Earth’s magnetic field on retinal chemistry could aid avian sense of direction

birds of a feather

QUANTUM COMPASS  Migrating birds may find their way using sensitive quantum mechanical compasses. A new study suggests that such compasses benefit from the delicate nature of quantum weirdness.

Chandru Ramkumar/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Harnessing the weirdness of the quantum world is difficult — fragile quantum properties quickly degrade under typical conditions.