Dogs Align Their Bodies with Earth’s Magnetic Field While Pooping, They Have So Much to Teach Us (About Poo)

Excuse us while we go make sure our toilets are aligned for optimal pooping.
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There are instances in the animal kingdom of animals aligning their bodies with the Earth’s magnetic field during certain activities, but dogs being walking poo-compasses is our favorite example by far. Yes, scientists in Prague have discovered that dogs align their bodies north to south along Earth’s magnetic field while they do their business.

According to a paper recently published in Frontiers in Zoology, the knowledge that dogs perform this alignment itself is more scientifically useful than what the zen-poo-masters (dogs, of course) have to teach us about proper excretion technique. The study finally proved that mammals could exhibit a predictable response to a magnetic field, which will open the door for science to understand how magnetic fields affect us biologically.

Wait! Don’t throw out your compass just yet. The Earth’s magnetic field is only calm enough to illicit the predictable body alignment for about 20% of daylight hours, which is why previous studies had such a hard time proving any reliable correlation at all.

The rest of the time, your dog is just facing random directions and you’re a crazy person following a pooping dog around, which probably isn’t that much different from any regular walk with your dog.

Anyway, we’re going to go collect some data on dogs and see if we can register magneticallyalignedtoilets.plumbing. Geomagnetically optimal bathroom design for everyone!

(via Gizmodo, image via Mark Scott)

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Dan Van Winkle
Dan Van Winkle (he) is an editor and manager who has been working in digital media since 2013, first at now-defunct Geekosystem (RIP), and then at The Mary Sue starting in 2014, specializing in gaming, science, and technology. Outside of his professional experience, he has been active in video game modding and development as a hobby for many years. He lives in North Carolina with Lisa Brown (his wife) and Liz Lemon (their dog), both of whom are the best, and you will regret challenging him at Smash Bros.