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 ...

Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field generated by electric currents from within the planet. Compasses take advantage of this field to identify north and serve as a navigational aid. But one social ...

For the first time, researchers measured the magnetic pull inside a single bacterium, turning a biological mystery into hard ...

Many species of birds use the Earth's magnetic field to select a direction of movement. However, until now it has not been possible to train birds to move in a certain direction in the laboratory, ...

Editor's Note: This article was provided by Inside Science. The original is here. (Inside Science) -- Quantum mechanics governs the quirky, counterintuitive way the world works at the small scales of ...

Migratory birds use a magnetic compass in their eye for navigation. Its basic sensory mechanisms have long remained elusive, but now researchers reveal exactly where in the eye, the birds' control ...

When I was a kid living in southern New Hampshire, my family home was on the site of an abandoned farmstead consisting of massive stone foundations of quarried granite where dwellings once stood.