There is simply no substitute for being prepared by bringing a map and compass. While compasses are an essential piece of gear for anyone going into the backcountry for safety reasons, they also play ...

A team of physicists and engineers at the CU Boulder has discovered a new way to measure the orientation of magnetic fields using what may be the tiniest compasses around—atoms. The group’s findings ...

Quantum compasses need six atom interferometers, each the size of a small room, to work. But scientists have made crucial steps to miniaturizing these devices. When you purchase through links on ...

The earliest known compasses were made in China’s Han Dynasty, between 300 and 200 BCE. These simple instruments were made from a lodestone—a naturally occurring, magnetically-charged mineral ...

But how exactly did they know where they were going? A recent study, focused on a set of medieval stone disks found in Ukraine, supports the belief that Viking sailors used solar compasses to navigate ...

Mysterious medieval stone disks unearthed in Ukraine were likely used by the Vikings as solar compasses to navigate the seas, a new study says. The eight unique discs, made from the easy-to ...