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 ...

The Sun’s magnetic field is invisible to our eyes, but it quietly shapes everything from the shimmering auroras over the poles to the reliability of GPS on a jet’s navigation screen. When that ...

In physics, we have a bunch of constants that are used in models to explain how the world works. These are fixed numbers that we plug into equations along with our variables. For example, the ...

"As the magma cooled to form what is today the world's solid outer crust, magnetism was locked into minerals containing iron, such as magnetite." When you purchase through links on our site, we may ...

The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Amid the roilings of the Milky Way, immense pockets of gas coalesce into clouds where stars are born. In this process, there is a hidden ...

Libor Šmejkal has a fondness for the artwork of M. C. Escher, whose work was often inspired by mathematics. One of Šmejkal’s favourite pieces is Horseman, a striking picture that features an elaborate ...

Conventional electronics process information leveraging the electrical charge of electrons. Over the past few decades, some ...

Susan Clark is helping to unravel the mysterious workings of the Milky Way’s magnetic field, a critical missing piece of the galactic puzzle. Amid the roilings of the Milky Way, immense pockets of gas ...

In collaboration with international partners, researchers at the University of Stuttgart have experimentally demonstrated a previously unknown form of magnetism in atomically thin material layers. The ...

In the rapidly evolving world of two-dimensional materials, a small twist can have outsized consequences. Since the discovery that rotational misalignment between atomically thin crystals can reshape ...