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Articles on Magnetic fields

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Magnetic levitation is just one of the interesting attributes that make superconductors so interesting. Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library vie Getty Images

How do superconductors work? A physicist explains what it means to have resistance-free electricity

Superconductors are materials that can transmit electricity without any resistance. Researchers are getting closer to creating superconducting materials that can function in everyday life.
Transcranial magnetic stimulation has worked when medication and other therapies have not. Monty Rakusen/Image Source via Getty Images

Patients suffering with hard-to-treat depression may get relief from noninvasive magnetic brain stimulation

Patients who undergo transcranial magnetic stimulation say it’s painless, with few to no side effects. The treatment isn’t yet widely accessible, but for those who use it, the effects can be profound.
Very rarely, depending on where you are in the world, your compass can actually point to true north. https://www.shutterstock.com

Explainer: what happens when magnetic north and true north align?

Recently, magnetic compasses at Greenwich pointed directly at true north for the first time in 360 years. This is currently happening in Western Australia too. But what does it mean?
Do you have a magnetic compass in your head? Lightspring/Shutterstock.com

New evidence for a human magnetic sense that lets your brain detect the Earth’s magnetic field

Your brain’s sensory talents go way beyond those traditional five senses. A team of geoscientists and neurobiologists explored how the human brain monitors and responds to magnetic fields.
The orientations of the stone walls that crisscross the Northeastern U.S. can tell a geomagnetic tale as well as a historical one. John Delano

Old stone walls record the changing location of magnetic north

Scientific inspiration struck a geologist after many walks through the woods in New York and New England. These ruins hold the secret of where the compass pointed north when they were built centuries ago.

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