Satellites to probe Earth's strange shield

Europe next week will launch a trio of hi-tech satellites to explore something that may seem utterly mundane: Earth's magnetic field. After all, magnetism has been with us for billions of years. We harness it in innumerable ways, in navigation and electrical devices. What's new? Well, plenty, actually. If all goes well, the 230-million-euro ($276-million) Swarm mission will explain some of the weird things happening to the planet's magnetism. More

(Source: GlobalPost - Nov 18)