Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Everyone knows that when you hold a compass in your hand the needle will point north thanks to Earth’s magnetic field, but aside ...

Safety note: the wire can get too hot to touch if you keep touching the terminals for too long. Can't see the video? Download an mp4 [21 MB] version of this video. Grab a compass, a coat hanger and a ...

If shrunken down to micron size, a compass needle could wobble. (Courtesy: iStockphoto/tobias machhaus) A tiny magnetic needle just 10 μm long could be used to create a magnetic-field sensor that – if ...

Everyone knows that when you hold a compass in your hand the needle will point north thanks to Earth's magnetic field, but aside from simple navigation you probably don't spare much thought for our ...