strange kinships

Strange Kinships: Fourth Chapter - Orientation

You are now on the platform of the Zacke - slightly higher than the ground of the Marienplatz. Usually there are not so many pigeons here - maybe it’s too busy for them, too many people waiting for the train, stepping in and out of the Zacke.
You can take a moment to look around, maybe you nevertheless see some.

“7th of October, 1867
Pigeons have a sense of direction far superior to ours. Even when they fly far away from their nest, they are still able to find their way back.”

“It seems that they use a fundamentally different technique to orient themselves. As humans, we try to remember noticeable features along the route that we then connect on our way back: we follow the road until we see the strange-looking tree, then head towards the house with the yellow-painted windows, and so on.”

“8th of October, 1867
F. developed a theory about pigeons’ orientation: she believes they might have a tiny iron ball in their ears. With this iron ball, they can sense the Earth’s magnetic field. If this is true, perhaps they don’t need to orient by recognising objects.”

“15th of October, 1867
First experiments with small iron balls in our ears. So far difficulties activating our own magnetoreception. Ideas to try out: using sound waves to make the iron balls vibrate. Get further away from ground - distance to ground may increase magnetism (climb high buildings?).”

Time for chapter 5. You can start the next track when you arrive at position ‘5’ on the map - next to the playground, above the little fountain.