Some inventions are so simple that it’s hard to improve them. The magnetic compass is a great example — a magnetized needle, a bit of cork, and a bowl of water are all you need to start navigating the ...

Try this at home: Fill a pie pan with an inch of water and float a small piece of cork in it. Next, stroke a needle from the middle to the tip 15 times with a magnet. Lay the needle across the center ...

One of the most taken-for-granted pieces of equipment on a boat is the magnetic compass. The compass is the basic navigational instrument aboard a boat, especially when out of sight of land. When ...