How does a magnetic compass work? Well, it’s all down to basic physics and human ingenuity. The key component of a standard baseplate compass is its magnetized needle, which is allowed to spin freely ...

At some point during our primary school careers, most of us probably constructed a simple compass, often by floating a ...

If shrunken down to micron size, a compass needle could wobble. (Courtesy: iStockphoto/tobias machhaus) A tiny magnetic needle just 10 μm long could be used to create a magnetic-field sensor that – if ...

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 ...

In the blink of an eye in geological time, Canada has lost one north pole but gained another, a new and different claim to be ...

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

Magnetic compasses have long served as an indispensable navigation tool, using Earth's magnetic field to point the way. But there are specific locations on our planet where magnetic compasses either ...