> <http://www.uni-oldenburg.de > *2 <http://www.uni=oldenbura.de/> <br />> For the first time, a research team led by Prof. Dr. Henrik <br />> Mouritsen, a biologist and Lichtenberg Professor at the <br />> University of Oldenburg, has been able to prove that the magnetic <br />> compass of robins fails entirely when the birds are exposed to AM <br />> radio waveband electromagnetic interference. <br />> Below a certain threshold value, electrosmog has no impact on <br />> biological processes or even human health ? that was the state of <br />> scientific knowledge up to now. But for the first time, a <br />> research team led by Prof. Dr. Henrik Mouritsen, a biologist and <br />> Lichtenberg Professor at the University of Oldenburg, has been <br />> able to prove that the magnetic compass of robins fails entirely <br />> when the birds are exposed to AM radio waveband electromagnetic <br />> interference ? even if the signals are just a thousandth of the <br />> limit value defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as <br />> harmless. The findings based on seven years of research by nine <br />> Oldenburg scientists, in cooperation with Prof.. Dr. Peter J. Hore <br />> of Oxford University, are now available in a paper entitled <br />> "Anthropogenic electromagnetic noise disrupts magnetic compass <br />> orientation in a migratory bird", published in the latest issue <br />> of the renowned scientific journal Nature. Nature underlines the <br />> importance of this study by making it the cover story of its May <br />> 15th issue. <br />> "In our experiments we were able to document a clear and <br />> reproducible effect of human-made electromagnetic fields on a <br />> vertebrate. This interference does not stem from power lines or <br />> mobile phone networks", Mouritsen stresses, explaining that <br />> electromagnetic interference within the two kilohertz to five <br />> megahertz frequency range is mainly generated by electronic <br />> devices. "The effects of these weak electromagnetic fields are <br />> remarkable: they disrupt the functioning of an entire sensory <br />> system in a healthy higher vertebrate." <br />> It all started with a stroke of luck. For around 50 years it has <br />> been known that migratory birds use the Earth's magnetic field to <br />> determine their migratory direction. Biologists have proven this <br />> in numerous experiments in which they tested the birds' <br />> navigation abilities in so-called orientation cages. "So we were <br />> surprised when robins kept in wooden huts on the Oldenburg <br />> University campus were unable to use their magnetic compass", <br />> Mouritsen recounts. Dr. Nils-Lasse Schneider, an <br />> electrophysiologist and researcher in Mouritsen's work group, <br />> then came up with the idea that set things in motion: he proposed <br />> covering the wooden huts, along with the orientation cages they <br />> contained, with sheets of aluminium. This did not affect the <br />> Earth's magnetic field, which is vital for the birds to navigate, <br />> but it strongly attenuated the time-dependent electromagnetic <br />> interference ? the electrosmog ? inside the huts. The effect was <br />> astounding: suddenly the birds' orientation problems disappeared. <br />> "Our measurements of the interferences indicated that we had <br />> accidentally discovered a biological system that is sensitive to <br />