First-of-its-kind study reveals a potential 'seventh sense' in humans: Remote touch
It turns out we have a lot in common with shorebirds.

A person moves their hand through sand.
Humans have five main senses, of course, and there's even strong scientific agreement about a sixth: proprioception, or the ability to sense where our limbs are in space. But new research suggests we may also have a "seventh sense." Scientists are calling it "remote touch."
A study out of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) recently set out to examine how humans compare to common shorebirds like sanderlings, sandpipers, and plovers.
These birds are masters at finding prey hidden in the sand. In fact, their survival depends on it. By sticking their beaks into the sand, they use a tactile foraging system finely tuned to detect subtle vibrations and pressure changes, alerting them to food sources they can't see, smell, or hear.

The researchers had a hunch that humans might possess a similar ability and decided to put it to the test. They buried small cubes in a container of sand and asked participants to gently move their fingers around. Volunteers were told to stop when they felt they were close to touching or finding a cube, but before actually making physical contact with it.
Surprisingly, the results showed that humans were quite adept at sensing the object's presence before they could touch it.
"Participants were able to perceive extremely small shifts in the sand caused by the buried object," QMUL wrote on SciTechDaily. "This level of sensitivity comes close to the theoretical physical limit for detecting mechanical reflections in granular material, where moving sand subtly changes direction or resistance when it encounters a stable surface beneath it."
On average, the human participants in the study were about 70 percent accurate at detecting the hidden cube without actually touching it.

We've known for a long time that humans can be very sensitive to subtle changes in heat, pressure, and sensation.
For example, it's been a common party trick among kids for decades. One person closes their eyes while another slowly moves a finger toward the center of their forehead. Usually, the person with their eyes closed can sense when the finger is close, even before it actually makes contact. There might be a tingling, tickling, or light buzzing feeling.
However, research from QMUL shows just how advanced our remote touch abilities really are. To add further context for how finely tuned humans' remote touch ability is, the researchers then tested specially designed robots on the same task.
The robot, armed with tactile sensors, was able to detect the hidden cube from farther away than humans, but it was far less accurate overall, with just 40 percent precision.
The implications of this first-of-its-kind study are vast. For example, we may be able to better train robots based on what we learn about humans' extraordinarily fine-tuned sense of touch.
"The discovery opens possibilities for designing tools and assistive technologies that extend human tactile perception," said Zhengqi Chen, a PhD student at QMUL's Advanced Robotics Lab. "These insights could inform the development of advanced robots capable of delicate operations, for example locating archaeological artifacts without damage, or exploring sandy or granular terrains such as Martian soil or ocean floors. More broadly, this research paves the way for touch-based systems that make hidden or hazardous exploration safer, smarter, and more effective."
More immediately, it's always amazing to discover new things about the human body and how it works. Our sense of touch, in particular, is incredibly complex and fascinating. Did you know that the "phantom touch illusion" can cause people to experience physical sensations when they aren't being touched at all? Or that amputees sometimes feel phantom pain coming from a limb that no longer exists?
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According to the researchers, remote touch has never been studied in humans before, and we're truly only scratching the surface when it comes to understanding this extraordinary ability. It's also exciting to think about what an eighth sense might one day turn out to be.
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