Could a tiny Chinese magnetic sensor be up to the huge task of tracking submarines?

  • Researchers in China have shrunk their technology to the size of a computer chip but much more work needs to be done to get it into the field

Stephen Chenin Beijing
Chinese researchers have developed a sensor that might be able to track submarines. Photo: Handout

Chinese researchers have developed a compact sensor that can detect extremely weak magnetic fields and one day might be used to track submarines or act as a backup navigation system.

The sensor, an atomic magnetometer developed by Professor Gu Sihong and his colleagues at the Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, can fit into a capsule the size of a bean and operate at room temperature, according to research published in the journal Physical Review Applied.

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