Mystery of Pacific voyages guided by spiritual GPS

Researchers bid to unlock secrets of Marshall Islands' 'wave pilots' – and learn more about Alzheimer's

- James Tapper

Somehow Alson Kelen knows the way across the Pacific Ocean, without GPS or sextant or sometimes even the stars to guide him.

Ask him how he manages to navigate from atoll to atoll in the Marshall Islands, midway between Hawaii and Australia, and he might mention the swell of the waves or the spiritual qualities of the sea.

This week, scientists from the UK will try to establish exactly how he does it. Kelen will sail from Majuro, the Marshalls' capital, 75 miles north to Aur atoll, with a team including psychologists from University College London and the University of Stirling. They will monitor Kelen and others on board to understand the brain of a Marshallese wave-pilot - and the brains of untrained passengers trying to work out where they are when all they can see is ocean and sky.