Molten sodium mimics Earth's magnetic-field flipping (Mar 9)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/11/3/7
It has long been known that the Earth's magnetic field flips direction
every quarter of a million years or so resulting in the north and south
poles changing places. Now physicists in France have witnessed this
phenomenon of magnetic-field reversal for the first time in the
laboratory, by monitoring a 160-litre vat of swirling molten sodium.
Their observations could eventually lead to a better understanding of
"dynamo action", which is responsible for celestial bodies like the
Earth being able to generate their own magnetic field (Europhys. Lett.
77 59001).
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