Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. How does a magnetic compass work: compass. How does a magnetic compass work? Well, it’s all down to basic physics and human ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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.

It has been known for some time that many species of birds use the Earth's magnetic field to select a direction of movement--for example, during migration. However, although such birds clearly have a ...