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 ...

Migratory birds make epic journeys of thousands of kilometers each year, navigating with the help of Earth’s magnetic field. Yet the mechanism behind the biological compass that enables them to ...

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 ...

Interference from electronics and AM radio signals can disrupt the internal magnetic compasses of migratory birds, researchers report today in Nature 1. The work raises the possibility that cities ...

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 ...

The remarkable abilities of birds to navigate using Earth's minute magnetic field are now widely believed to depend on a biological quantum compass. Share on Facebook (opens in a new window) Share on ...