3 ms·

Well, it would be p-hacking if you tried 1,032 different hypotheses until you got one that passed your threshold. There's quite a lot of scientific history (e.

Well, it would be p-hacking if you tried 1,032 different hypotheses until you got one that passed your threshold. There's quite a lot of scientific history (e.g. Kepler's discovery that planets went in elliptical orbits) that would have to be thrown out if you decided you could never use data for anything other than the original hypothesis. Kepler didn't even collect the data, much less collect it with the idea that the planetary orbits were elliptical. Having said that, the results smells (pun intended) bad, just because I cannot think of any plausible reason for a non-migrating animal to align with the magnetic field, when defecating or at any other time.

MrEldritch 7y ago
This is true, and a valid point. The way they phrased it does make me feel more than a little suspicious, nonetheless. (Besides, there's some other oddity there, like that apparently the alignment only matters when the magnetic field is calm)
- petschge 7y ago
  When the magnetic field is non-calm that is probably due to a space weather event that is geo-effective and inducing large currents in the ground. The local magnetic field an then be significantly distorted depending on local conductivity. So to me that is not an oddity.
- austinjp 7y ago
  You're right to still feel suspicious. Who's to say they didn't try 1,000 different post-hoc ideas? They declare only one, the may have been others. I'd be looking for preceding research and any published protocols, if I wasn't on mobile and didn't think it would be fruitless.
monocasa 7y ago
I mean, humans can detect magnetic fields as well. There's even languages without relative egocentric positions like left/right, only north south east west. Given all that, I don't think it's out there that dogs sense it and like being aligned when they're trying to poop. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/03/humans-other-animals-may-sense-earth-s-magnetic-field https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/03/humans-other-animals... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guugu_Yimithirr_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guugu_Yimithirr_language
- azernik 7y ago
  The predominance of geographic directions in Guugu Yimithirr has nothing to do with magnetic sensing; humans know what north and south are from sun positions and memory.
Xylakant 7y ago
> any plausible reason for a non-migrating animal to align with the magnetic field, when defecating or at any other time. Snow foxes seem to hunt better when oriented in direction of the magnetic north. https://m.phys.org/news/2011-01-predation-foxes-aided-earth-magnetic.html https://m.phys.org/news/2011-01-predation-foxes-aided-earth-... https://youtu.be/D2SoGHFM18I https://youtu.be/D2SoGHFM18I
deleted 7y ago
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jb775 7y ago
> any plausible reason for a non-migrating animal to align with the magnetic field, when defecating or at any other time. I got my dog a few years back when she was just a pup. Over the years, she's done things that she was never taught how to do (swim, hunt, bury her food), she just new how to do them instinctually. I believe something like this falls under that category. And for the record, she took a crap this morning and was pointing directly north/south.

MrEldritch 7y ago

This is true, and a valid point. The way they phrased it does make me feel more than a little suspicious, nonetheless. (Besides, there's some other oddity there, like that apparently the alignment only matters when the magnetic field is calm)

petschge 7y ago
When the magnetic field is non-calm that is probably due to a space weather event that is geo-effective and inducing large currents in the ground. The local magnetic field an then be significantly distorted depending on local conductivity. So to me that is not an oddity.
austinjp 7y ago
You're right to still feel suspicious. Who's to say they didn't try 1,000 different post-hoc ideas? They declare only one, the may have been others. I'd be looking for preceding research and any published protocols, if I wasn't on mobile and didn't think it would be fruitless.

monocasa 7y ago

I mean, humans can detect magnetic fields as well. There's even languages without relative egocentric positions like left/right, only north south east west. Given all that, I don't think it's out there that dogs sense it and like being aligned when they're trying to poop. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/03/humans-other-animals-may-sense-earth-s-magnetic-field https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/03/humans-other-animals... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guugu_Yimithirr_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guugu_Yimithirr_language

azernik 7y ago
The predominance of geographic directions in Guugu Yimithirr has nothing to do with magnetic sensing; humans know what north and south are from sun positions and memory.

Xylakant 7y ago

> any plausible reason for a non-migrating animal to align with the magnetic field, when defecating or at any other time. Snow foxes seem to hunt better when oriented in direction of the magnetic north. https://m.phys.org/news/2011-01-predation-foxes-aided-earth-magnetic.html https://m.phys.org/news/2011-01-predation-foxes-aided-earth-... https://youtu.be/D2SoGHFM18I https://youtu.be/D2SoGHFM18I

deleted 7y ago

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jb775 7y ago

> any plausible reason for a non-migrating animal to align with the magnetic field, when defecating or at any other time. I got my dog a few years back when she was just a pup. Over the years, she's done things that she was never taught how to do (swim, hunt, bury her food), she just new how to do them instinctually. I believe something like this falls under that category. And for the record, she took a crap this morning and was pointing directly north/south.