Using motion as a sense

This is fascinating!

Nematodes charge their bodies to jump by repulsion. They seem to use a bee’s self-created charge as an attraction in the other direction!

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When some nematode species jump, they tend to bend their body and change their posture before take-off, but C. elegans worms stand on their tails and hardly move before leaping, which suggests their jumps are a result of external forces.

… The researchers selected the bumblebee, an insect known to organically accumulate electric charge, as their subject. They charged anaesthetised bumblebees by rubbing them against a plant that is commonly found in their natural environment and placed them close to the worms. The worms stood on the ends of their tails to get closer to the bee, then leapt over a distance of 1.26 millimetres onto it.

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This adds a new example but not a new square to my table of electrical senses.

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Nature uses magnetic and static fields and ion currents ALMOST universally, but there are some exceptions. Why?

Static fields are used for internal communication EVERYWHERE. Inside a cell, between cells, in the nervous system, inside muscles, EVERYWHERE.

Static fields are used for external communication more narrowly, but one of the narrow uses is common. Plants communicate with pollinating insects by fields, telling the bugs which flowers are ready for pollination and which are used up. Mud-dwelling fish use static fields for radio communication, in FM Stereo.

Static sensors are part of the communication systems in above paragraph, and more broadly used by just about everything to detect nearby objects. (Even dull humans use the hairs on our arms for this purpose!)

Static fields are used directly for motion in two ways, one of which is nearly universal. Cells drive their flagella with a synchronous motor, using phased variation of static fields. Spiders alter their charge to move away from walls and toward plants when hanging from a silk fiber.

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Ion currents are also EVERYWHERE for internal communication. The nervous system is all about ion currents.

Bacteria use ion currents to communicate via miniature wires, and some plants send currents through fungal wires.

Ion currents are sensory as part of the wire systems above.

Ion currents are NOT used for motion as such. Currents are a vital part of muscle action, but the current isn’t what moves the animal.

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Magnetic fields are used by EVERYONE for sensing 3d position, but NOT used for the other purposes. It’s possible that bees use magnetic motion for communication in their waggle dance, but this doesn’t seem to be established.

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Seems like an oddly non-orthogonal chart. Nature normally uses all resources to the max. Empty spots in a chart should invite closer observation to see if those spots are actually full.

For instance, I’ll bet somebody ejects a stream of ions like a reaction rocket engine. We haven’t spotted it because we aren’t looking for it.

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Nematodes are using static fields for motion AND sensing at the same time. The self-created charge to repel from a surface automatically selects an oppositely charged bee as its target!

Standing vertically is a separate puzzle. Birds and humans stand upright with an intricate interplay of muscles and kinesthetic sensors, tuned by the vestibular system. Nematodes don’t have limbs and have only a hundred neurons. The task is obviously easier at their miniature scale, but still mysterious. Do they create a charge gradient so the head end repels the ground and the tail end is neutral?

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Meta: I’m not surprised at all that this clever new bit of research comes from Japan. Japan has steady annual funding for research labs, NOT federal grants for specific projects. Researchers are thus able to THINK FOR THEMSELVES instead of THINKING WHAT DEEPSTATE WANTS THEM TO THINK.