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 ...

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 ...

Many birds of the northern hemisphere shift their migratory course to more southerly directions when moving from northern to southern latitudes. Birds from Central Europe, for example, change their ...

Check your compass again – Earth’s north magnetic pole is moving toward Siberia. Since at least the early 19th century, Earth’s north magnetic pole has been situated in the Canadian Arctic and slowly ...

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 ...

When monarch butterflies wing their way south to central Mexico each fall, they use the sun to ensure that they stay on course. But how they head in the right direction on cloudy days has been a ...

The magnetic compass that birds use for orientation is affected by polarized light. That is the finding of researchers in Sweden, who studied zebra finches navigating a simple maze and found that the ...