Earth's fields & cycles
Earth's magnetic field, space weather, the Moon and tides, gravity and the daily clock, and how living things respond to them. Each topic lists only known properties from the cited papers; potential uses appear only when researchers proposed them.
- Circadian rhythms and the body clock2 studies · Almost all living things keep a roughly 24-hour internal clock. Work on the fruit fly period gene led to the 2017 Nobel Prize for Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael Young.
- Earth's changing magnetic field and space weather9 studies · Earth's magnetic field moves, weakens and occasionally flips, and storms from the Sun can disturb it, affecting power grids and possibly animal navigation.
- Gravity, microgravity and the body5 studies · Plants sense gravity to decide which way to grow, and in space the near absence of gravity changes the human body, from bones to genes.
- Moon, tides and living rhythms5 studies · The Moon's light and the tides it drives set the timing of many living things, from coral spawning to worm reproduction, and even appear linked to human sleep.
- Navigating by Earth's magnetic field5 studies · Many animals sense Earth's magnetic field and use it to find their way, from sea turtles crossing the Atlantic to salmon returning to their home rivers. See also the bird compass page on cryptochrome.