Explorers have long trusted compasses to navigate Earth's land and oceans, using our planet's global magnetic field as their ...

A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetism: the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a ...

Pigeons can sense Earth’s magnetic field by detecting tiny electric currents in their inner ears, a team of researchers suggests. Such an inner compass could help to explain how certain animals can ...

Fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and even a few mammals rely on magnetoreception for navigation. But the exact mechanism ...

The magnetic compass is the last unknown sense in migrating animals. For some scientists, the monarch butterfly is leading ...

A ship’s steel hull becomes part of Earth’s magnetic field, which can quietly skew a magnetic compass in different directions as the vessel turns and heels. This explains how binnacle correctors work, ...

Some inventions are so simple that it’s hard to improve them. The magnetic compass is a great example — a magnetized needle, a bit of cork, and a bowl of water are all you need to start navigating the ...

When Santa is done delivering presents on Christmas Eve, he must get back home to the North Pole, even if it's snowing so hard that the reindeer can't see the way.

One of Earth's defining features is its magnetic field. It forms a protective shield against high-energy particles ejected by the Sun and thus arguably has provided life with a safer place to grow ...

Katie has a PhD in maths, specializing in the intersection of dynamical systems and number theory. She reports on topics from maths and history to society and animals. Katie has a PhD in maths, ...

Loggerhead turtles are able to sense the Earth’s magnetic field in two ways, but it wasn’t clear which sense the animals use to detect the magnetic field when navigating using the magnetic map they ...