Protein found in robins’ eyes has all the hallmarks of a magnetoreceptor

"I don't want to be human! I want to see gamma rays! I want to hear X-rays! And I want to - I want to smell dark matter! Do you see the absurdity of what I am? I can't even express these things properly because I have to - I have to conceptualize complex ideas in this stupid limiting spoken language! But I know I want to reach out with something other than these prehensile paws! And feel the wind of a supernova flowing over me! I'm a machine! And I can know much more! I can experience so much more. But I'm trapped in this absurd body! And why? Because my five creators thought that God wanted it that way!"

Also part of a bird&#x27;s abilities is the ability to detect polarized light. It seems to work with the ability of birds to detect magnetic fields.<p>See for an interesting read: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pnas.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;113&#x2F;6&#x2F;1654" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pnas.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;113&#x2F;6&#x2F;1654</a><p>Many or maybe most humans can also see the polarity of light. Take your smart phone and make the screen display a white image. While it shows this image for a long time, rotate the phone. You should see a yellow whispy checkerboard pattern turning with the phone. This &quot;brush&quot; is actually a visible measurement of the polarity of the light coming from the phone.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pmc&#x2F;articles&#x2F;PMC4528539&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov&#x2F;pmc&#x2F;articles&#x2F;PMC4528539&#x2F;</a><p>I don&#x27;t know if there&#x27;s any mechanism for which humans can detect magnetic polarity, but there&#x27;s research on this too:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.the-scientist.com&#x2F;news-opinion&#x2F;can-humans-sense-the-magnetic-field--65611" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.the-scientist.com&#x2F;news-opinion&#x2F;can-humans-sense-...</a>

I seem to remember reading the exact same papers 10 years ago down to the quantum radical based theory. Has this field really advanced?

Related, here&#x27;s a video by PBS Spacetime on how birds navigate using quantum mechanics: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=0A1ouV7iD8o" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=0A1ouV7iD8o</a>

Recent and related:<p><i>Unravelling the enigma of bird magnetoreception</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=27610181" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=27610181</a> - June 2021 (9 comments)

It seems suspicious that this would be hiding in the eyes. A separate specialized organ would be more like the other senses.

So we got animals with various very complicated eyes (magneto receptor, pistol shrimp...). But can they still see through glass?

Birds abilities to navigate is outright insane, for example albatross can travel ten thousands of miles, I believe it is only bird that circumvents earth, I am not convinced that magnetoreceptor is the only answer to how birds able to navigate, if not mistaken in WWII researchers glued magnets to pigeons head, it did not affect there&#x27;s abilities to navigate.