Exploring electrical environments: the unique sense of electroreception #

Ryan Palmer, Isaac V Chenchiah, Daniel Robert

13:30 Tuesday in 4Q56.

Part of the New mathematical approaches in the life sciences session.

Abstract #

It has been recently shown that bees and spiders and other arthropods can sense naturally occurring electrical fields. This discovery has potentially significant implications, expanding our view of how such organisms explore their environments using previously unknown sensory capabilities. This talk consists of three topics: 1) the physical and biological feasibility of this sense, 2) how interactions between sensory hairs alter their sensitivity to different stimuli, and 3) the new sensory possibilities e.g., object identification. I will also remark on the biological implications of this sense throughout.