A reproducible model for magnetosensitivity: earthworms in transparent soil reduce their cumulative movement in extremely weak magnetic field
Data files
Oct 07, 2025 version files 20 KB
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FullMetadataWormsExp1.csv
11.14 KB
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FullMetadataWormsExp2.csv
6 KB
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README.md
2.87 KB
Abstract
The magnetic sense remains one of the mysteries of sensory biology. Despite fifty years of extensive research, science seems to be at a standstill. One of the major factors contributing to this scientific stasis is the lack of simple, reproducible model systems. Here we examine magnetoreception in earthworms held in transparent soil. Using video recordings, and machine learning-based analysis, we show that earthworms move significantly less when held in a near-zero magnetic field. This effect of near-zero magnetic field on earthworm activity was highly reproducible and significant through all trials. Furthermore, under some circumstances the earthworms showed significant group magnetic directionality, however this result was not reproducible. By using earthworms in transparent soil and manipulating the magnetic field we created a robust protocol that facilitates examination of magnetoreception in a simple organism. This may serve as a crucial springboard in the ongoing quest to unravel this mysterious sense.
ReadMe for column names in the file:
FullMetadataWormsExp1.csv and FullMetadataWormsExp2.csv.
This data was created for the study name "A reproducible model for magnetoreception: earthworms in transparent soil reduce their cumulative movement in extreamly low magnetic field" by Michael Bar-Ziv, Dan Szklowin, Oren Pearlson, Yoni Vortman
All the data was dowmsampled to 1 sec intervals. col u-x are relevant only for file "FullMetadataWormsExp1.csv"
Col A,"ID" = Worm ID
Col B,"Field" = Field type
Col C, "Temperature" (in Celsius) = Room temperature
Col D, "Weight" (in grams) = Worm weight
Col E, "Length" (in mm) = Worm length
Col F, "date" = date of experiment, dd-mm-yyyy
col G, "time" = time experiment started, 24h, hh-mm-ss
Col H, "order" = the order the earthworms tested in the experiments
col I, "Density" = Jelly density type, seperated to 1-2
Col J, "PatchNum" = each time the jelly changed, by height or density
Col K, "CumDist_Below_30_sec" (in mm) = cumulative distance until 30 secs, or reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
col L, "CumDist_Below_60_sec" (in mm) = cumulative distance until 60 secs, or reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
col M, "CumDist_Below_90_sec" (in mm) = cumulative distance until 90 secs, or reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
col N, "CumDist_Below_120_sec" (in mm) = cumulative distance until
120 secs, or reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
col O, "CumDist_Below_180_sec" (in mm) = cumulative distance until
180 secs, or reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
col P, "CumDist_Below_240_sec" (in mm) = cumulative distance until
240 secs, or reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
col Q, "CumDist_Below_300_sec" (in mm) = cumulative distance until
300 secs, or reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
col R, "CumTotalDist" (in mm) = cumulative distance until
reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
Col S, "TimeToGlassCutoff" (in seconds) = time reaching the glass, fixed to minimum time to one of the fields
col T, "ReachGlass" = factorial, yes or no
col U, "Azimuth" = the Azimuth of the last location in the experiment, measured only if the worm moved more than 20 mm radius, or reached the glass
col V, "StartDoEnd" (in mm) = streight distance from the start of the experiment to the last location
col W,"StartToFurthest" (in mm) = streight distance from the start of the experiment to the further location
col X, "Straightness" = StartDoEnd/CumTotalDist, measured only if the worm moved more than 20 mm radius. If not, fixed to 0.