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 ...

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 ...

Modern steel ships warp a magnetic compass with both permanent and induced magnetism, and the binnacle is packed with clever countermeasures to cancel it out. This breaks down hard iron vs soft iron ...

James is a published author with multiple pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, space, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.View full profile James is a ...

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