Listen to the talk
What’s the mysterious force that points compass needles toward the poles? What guides birds, fish, and whales in their migrations across the world's oceans? And what shields us from the lethal onslaught of the solar wind and other cosmic radiation? The quest to chart and understand Earth’s magnetic field has sent explorers and scientists to the four corners of Earth. However, it’s only in the age of the supercomputer that the big questions have been answered.
Gillian Turner is a leading expert on Earth's magnetism. She has just released a new international title called North Pole, South Pole: the epic quest to solve the great mystery of Earth's magnetism. Gillian is a senior lecturer in physics and geophysics at Victoria University. She has received many awards for science communication and in 2009 she was shortlisted for the Wellingtonian of the Year in Education.
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