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NEWS ABOUT: magnetic field

More About:  Earth • sun • clock • cognitive science • neuroscience • defibrillator • solar system • physics • senses • mp3 • brain • learning • heart • migration • space • birds • planet • study • global warming • greenhouse gases • FDA • memory • astronomy • NASA • weather

Human Eye May Have Magnetic '6th Sense'

Light-sensitive human protein acts as 'compass' when present in flies

(Newser) - The human eye may be an even more amazing thing than we realize, capable of acting as a compass by sensing the Earth's magnetic field, new research suggests. Cryptochrome, a protein believed to give animals like migratory birds and sea turtles their ability to navigate, is present in the... More »

Real 'Thinking Cap' May Not Be So Far Off

Magnetic pulse boosts learning, study shows; headgear next?

(Newser) - A magnetic pulse directed at a certain area of the brain may enhance learning and memory, the Telegraph reports. Canadian researchers subjected volunteers to a test that required they track a dot moving on a computer screen with a joystick, and volunteers who received stimulation fared much better. More »

Huge Holes Found in Earth's Magnetic Shield

The Earth is in for a wild geomagnetic ride

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered two large and unexpected holes in the magnetic field that protects the Earth from solar winds, reports Space.com. The leaks won't pose any risk to health, but increased disruption to satellites and electrical systems can be expected when the cycle of solar storms reaches its next... More »

You Heard? Headphones, Pacemakers Don't Jibe

Headsets may interfere with heart devices

(Newser) - Headphones used with digital music players may interfere with pacemakers and internal defibrillators, scientists discovered in research contradicting reports from the US government. “Exposure of a defibrillator to the headphones can temporarily deactivate the defibrillator,” the lead researcher said. Draping the headphones over the chest caused hindrance in... More »

Mercury Is Shrinking

Messenger spacecraft reveals planets core still molten

(Newser) - The planet Mercury is shrinking, the LA Times reports. Data from NASA’s Mercury Messenger spacecraft reveal that the planet’s diameter has shrunk by a mile over its history, probably because its core is cooling. Messenger flew in for a close-up in January, and scientists are now piecing together... More »

'Magnet Molecule' May Guide Bird Migration

Inner compass guides journeys, researchers believe

(Newser) - Migrating birds may rely on a special molecule discovered in their eyes that allows them to  perceive the Earth’s magnetic field lines as a kind of road map, new research shows. The molecule may help birds navigate much the same way humans follow lines to stay on a highway... More »

Solar Lull May Trigger Ice Age

Global warming still dire despite sluggish sun, study says

(Newser) - Solar activity, which usually runs in 11-year cycles, has been so sluggish of late that space weathermen are worried we might be entering a mini-ice age. They expected to see sunspot activity pick up about last March, to peak in 2012; if the sun stays this sluggish for another year... More »

Über-Precise Atomic Clocks Are Half-Past a Revolution

Smaller, cheaper, and mysterious

(Newser) - Forget the Swiss—the world's best clocks sit in a Colorado lab where a team of scientists is shaping them into über-precise gadgets with broad-reaching implications on medicine, navigation, and surveillance. The National Institute of Standards and Technology has built a clock the size of a grain of rice... More »

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