Magnetic Cows Finding Disputed by Researchers

Magnetic Cows Finding Disputed by Researchers: Burda says that half of the Jelinek team's data should be excluded because some of the pastures are on slopes or near high-voltage power lines, for example, or because the images are too poor to make out cattle, or appear to contain hay bales or sheep instead. "One half of their data is just noise," says Burda.

In addition, Burda's group looked at herds as a whole, whereas Jelinek's team analyzed individual cows. "Of the data that were useable, they looked only at 50 percent of the cows. It's very subjective," Burda adds. His team's reanalysis of the Jelinek data actually does support the theory that cattle can magneto-sense, says Burda.