Magnetic Field

This Company Uses Earth’s Magnetic Field To See Inside Buildings

In some ways, it’s an ominous pitch. By measuring the “magnetic fingerprint” of any building in the world, the Finnish company IndoorAtlas can conjure up a startlingly precise indoor map of any building. It’s technology that sci-fi has dreamt of for decades. But instead of surveillance, it’s being used for shopping. According to The New…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan May 20

Here’s the Story Behind Those Lights at Saturn’s North Pole

Stunning ultraviolet images captured by the Hubble Space Telescope show bursts of light zipping around Saturn. These are aurorae, created as the planet’s magnetic field is battered by charged particles from the sun. Scientists studying the auroras say this latest data finally reveals the unseen dynamics in the choreography of the dancing lights. University of…

io9 Mark Strauss May 19

An Interplanetary Magnetic Dance

The Earth’s magnetic field is the original forcefield, a wall of electromagnetic force that protects us from high-energy charged particles spewed by our sun during solar eruptions. The dance between our field and the sun is dynamic and beautiful. Charged particles impacting on the magnetic field produce aurora. Image credit: N. Tsyanenko The solar wind…

Tech News Mika McKinnon May 10

Scientists: Dogs poop aligned to Earth’s magnetic field

Scientists at the University of Life Sciences in Prague have found that dogs are sensitive to Earth’s magnetism. In fact, they’re so sensitive that they poop aligned to the planet’s magnetic field. I don’t know what that means or why is it useful, but I find it fascinating. The research paper—published in the journal Frontiers…

Sploid Jesus Diaz Jan 2

Why We Renumber Runways When the Earth’s Magnetic Field Shifts

The FAA can make the rules about air travel (god no inflight calls, please), but it’s still beholden to the whims of earth’s shifting magnetic field. Runways are named after their compass orientations to help pilots navigate. A changing magnetic field, however, means they now have to be renumbered. https://gizmodo.com/a-brief-history-of-airspace-design-1469196960 This fall, Oakland International Airport…

Tech News Sarah Zhang Dec 13

Earth’s magnetic field just might be gearing up for a reversal

Our planet’s magnetic field periodically flips its direction, with the magnetic North and South Poles switching places. Such a reversal could wreak havoc on human society — and there’s now reason to think one could happen soon… in geological terms, at least. If nothing else, it’s been an unusually long period since the last reversal…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Jul 15

Scientists use trout to unlock the secrets of magnetic cells

This trout looks guilty for a reason. It’s hiding one of nature’s most intriguing mysteries: the secret of magnetoception. For decades, behavioral experiments have suggested that a variety of animals possess this ability to sense — and navigate by — the Earth’s magnetic fields, but identifying what, exactly, endows these animals with their sense of…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Jul 10

How turtles sense Earth’s drifting magnetic field

Turtles are one of many species that use their sense of Earth’s magnetic field to navigate great distances. But the magnetic field is constantly drifting, and that can cause major confusion in such a long-lived species. Here’s their ingenious solution. Species like the loggerhead turtle show incredibly fine-tuned understanding of the Earth’s magnetic field. Born…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Jan 4

Quantum locking will blow your mind — but how does it work?

If case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the quantum levitation (or, more accurately, quantum locking) video that’s taken the internet by storm in the last 36 hours. And while quantum locking (also known as “flux pinning“) may not have anything to do with Weeping Angels, it’s still pretty freaking amazing. But how does it…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Oct 18

Ultra-hot superconductors could spontaneously form in the vacuum of space

A hundred years ago next week, superconductivity was discovered. Now we know electric charge can flow through ultra-cold objects without resistance. How better to celebrate this anniversary than with an awesomely crazy idea about ultra-hot superconductors forming in deep space? Physicists have a pretty good handle on how regular, low-temperature superconductors work. When certain materials…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Mar 30

Birds might actually be using quantum mechanics to find their way through the skies

Finally a story about birds that doesn’t involve them falling out of the sky. We know that robins, like many other animals, uses the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate, but we don’t know how. The answer could be quantum mechanics. Although birds are probably the most famous magnetic navigators, the technique of sensing subtle variations…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Jan 9

Physics and the art of demonology

Find out what Maxwell’s Demon is, and how some physicists are channeling it. The second law of thermodynamics states that over time, the entropy in a given system will inevitably increase. The only way to decrease it is to pump more energy into the system in the service of organizing it. Philosophically it reflects the…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell Sep 19

Bird Beak Superpowers Measure the Earth’s Magnetic Field

So, that’s another one the birds have on us. In addition to flight and colorful plumage, they’re also equipped with magnetometer beaks that can sense magnetic fields and use them as a map. Yes, even chickens. Here’s how it works. The upper beak of birds has nerve branches that contain iron, which may be used…

Tech News Brian Barrett Mar 4

The Earth’s Magnetic Polarity is Due for a Reversal

Armed with a gigantic, spinning steel ball, researchers hope to simulate the Earth’s magnetic field and discover how likely it is that our planet’s magnetic polarity will flip sometime soon. Our magnetic field has reversed polarity in the past many times, though not in the last 780,000 years. So it’s unclear what might happen. Science…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 18

Is Earth’s Magnetic Field Failing Us?

Forget the ozone layer, global warming, and all of the other things environmentalists whine about: the one thing holding life together here on Earth is its powerful magnetic field. And for the past 150 years that humans have been measuring it, our only line of defense against deadly cosmic and solar radiation has been mysteriously…

io9 Michael Reilly Jun 6

Magnetic Structures Larger Than the Sun

We’ve long seen the results of solar flares on Earth, but haven’t been able to predict when they’ll strike next. New research released last week has given us a better understanding of solar weather. The massive, looping jets of superheated gas that erupt from the sun are driven by giant magnetic structures that extend out…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Apr 8

Never Lose Your Balls Again

Adidas yesterday announced the rollout of a new space-age soccer ball that knows where it is. As it rolls around the soccer field, the smart ball uses a magnetic field to figure out its location — particularly when it’s near the goal — and relays the data to the referee. No more analyzing footage to…

io9 Annalee Newitz Dec 14

This Company Uses Earth’s Magnetic Field To See Inside Buildings

Here’s the Story Behind Those Lights at Saturn’s North Pole

An Interplanetary Magnetic Dance

Scientists: Dogs poop aligned to Earth’s magnetic field

Why We Renumber Runways When the Earth’s Magnetic Field Shifts

Earth’s magnetic field just might be gearing up for a reversal

Scientists use trout to unlock the secrets of magnetic cells

How turtles sense Earth’s drifting magnetic field

Quantum locking will blow your mind — but how does it work?

Ultra-hot superconductors could spontaneously form in the vacuum of space

Birds might actually be using quantum mechanics to find their way through the skies

Physics and the art of demonology

Bird Beak Superpowers Measure the Earth’s Magnetic Field

The Earth’s Magnetic Polarity is Due for a Reversal

Is Earth’s Magnetic Field Failing Us?

Magnetic Structures Larger Than the Sun

Never Lose Your Balls Again

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