The Earth’s magnetic field is currently weakening, and there’s been a lot of talk in recent years that a reversal might be imminent. Now a new study has looked at the history of these events and found that a reversal probably isn’t about to happen.
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Most medical micro-robots are limited to one method of movement and might not handle complex terrain. Now, a team from the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems has developed a “millirobot” that can walk, crawl, jump, climb, roll, swim and carry loads like a microrobotic Mario.
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The results of a new X-ray study suggest that the high-energy activity of Sun-like stars rapidly drops off following a tumultuous youth. The findings could have significant implications for the habitability of exoplanets orbiting these stars, including their ability to maintain an atmosphere.
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According to researchers at MIT and Rutgers University, the molten core of the ancient Moon was an active dynamo that drew power from the Earth's gravitational pull to keep its magnetic field going for a billion years longer than previously thought.
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The ESA's Swarm satellites have found a strange system at work in the upper atmosphere. Electrical fields created as solar winds interact with the planet’s magnetic field have been found to drive supersonic plasma jets, which can heat the ionosphere to temperatures as high as 10,000º C (18,032º F).
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By using super-high pressures and temperatures to duplicate conditions at the Earth's core, scientists at the Tokyo Tech have discovered that there may be quartz crystals there that help explain how the Earth gets the power to generate its field.
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Disney Research has demonstrated a new method for wireless power transmission that induces electrical currents in an enclosed metallic structure and could charge your devices automatically the moment you walk into a room, making electrical cords and charging cradles a thing of the past.
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The ESA is studying the Earth’s magnetic field, and now the project has discovered the driving force behind why it's changing: wrapped around the outer core of the planet is a geological “jet stream” made of molten iron, which flows at tremendous speeds – and it’s getting faster.
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By tracking deviations in the Earth's magnetic field as it passes through the ocean, scientists say it is possible to gauge the temperature changes in the sea, helping to fill in important detail about how our planet is responding to global warming.
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Readings from NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory are causing astronomers to question our understanding of exactly how the magnetic fields of stars akin to our own Sun are generated.
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