The natural Navigation: The Right Course, Naturally

I have been meaning to blog about whales for some time. My apologies to those who have gone without a good whale navigation blog for too long and who have doubtless suffered needlessly as a result.

A story about the way whales navigate made the news a few weeks ago. Having rushed to buy the academic research paper behind the story, entitled ‘Straight as an Arrow’, I can confirm that it is indeed a fascinating story. However, the fascination lies not in the research content but in its honest gaps. For the research a team tracked humpback whales over journeys of 8000km with great precision using satellite-monitored radio tags.

These researchers knew to expect impressive navigational abilities, but were shocked by quite how direct the whales were. They move in straight lines, which poses the obvious but wonderful question: How?

Going into the research, it was thought that the two…

Read More...

My research into this subject constantly leads me, very willingly, back to the thin line that runs, curving between philosophy, religion, science and nature. If such a line exists – discuss!

I would go so far as to say my work would be very awkward if my personal jury had come in unanimously in favour of any hard views in any of those areas. Sometimes there is a deep longing to know more about things that I know I likely never will. It is hard to articulate this sensation perfectly, but it would perhaps be summed up well by saying that it can sometimes be assuaged by Frank Lloyd Wright’s line, ‘I believe in God, only I spell it Nature.’

There are some natural phenomenon that deeply spiritual people jump up and down about and then point to, in a calm spiritual manner, but which secularists wave away nonchalantly…

Read More...

I regularly find myself balancing the scientific explanations for something, natural observations of the same thing, historical accounts and even folklore. It can be a rich mix. This morning I came across a fun site that gives a good flavour of how diverse this subject can be in its page about the winter solstice.