I know a lot of animals use the Earth’s magnetism to orientate themselves. Do humans use the Earth’s magnetic field?

Question: I know a lot of animals use the Earth's magnetism to orientate themselves. Do humans use the Earth's magnetic field? Do we know we are being affected by it?
- Keywords:
  human,
  location,
  magnet,
  magnetic field,
  magnetism,
  orientate,
  orientation
Asked by michelletherezien to Jo, Kevin, Louise, Valeria on 20 Jun 2012.
- Kevin Mahon answered on 20 Jun 2012:
  
  Not really – While we have some evidence for magnetic reception in humans (- a study found low-frequency magnetic fields can produce a noticeable response in the brains of human subjects) we don;t yet know if we have to ability to orientate using the magnetic field of the earth – we obviously use several other things instead to navigate normally!
- Joanna Cruden answered on 20 Jun 2012:
  
  It has been scientifically proven that men have a better sense of direction than women but I don’t think that is down to the magnetic field

michelletherezien commented on 20 Jun 2012:

Thanks, cause I know all the sun sets in the east (or is it west?) and the compass and all but wouldn’t it be cool if we had something else to orientate ourselves?! Something instinctive that we could perform naturally?! :O

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Kevin commented on 21 Jun 2012:

It would be! It’d help me home after a night out!

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Question: I know a lot of animals use the Earth's magnetism to orientate themselves. Do humans use the Earth's magnetic field? Do we know we are being affected by it?