Science & Technology

Haunting video reveals the eerie sound of the magnetic poles flipping

By T.K. Randall
July 15, 2025

Image: Magnetosphere Rendition
Credit: (PD) NASA A complete reversal of the Earth's magnetic field might seem like a cataclysmic event, but it is in fact a perfectly normal occurrence, having happened multiple times over the aeons.

The last time the field flipped completely (an event known as the Matuyama-Brunhes reversal) was 780,000 years ago, meaning that another may occur at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Now in a bid to better understand this event, scientists have put together a 'sonified' version of the magnetic field flipping by converting ancient magnetic data into audible sound.To begin with, geophysicists Sanja Panovska and Ahmed Nasser Mahgoub from the Helmholtz Center for Geosciences (GFZ) created a model of the Earth's magnetic field as it was flipping using data obtained from drill core samples around the world.

This was then visualized and turned into audio by Klaus Nielsen and Maximilian Arthus Schanner.

The resulting audio is haunting to say the least - an eerie cacophony of 'music' that provides a way to perceive the changes taking place during such an event in the form of audible sound.

You can check out the clip for yourself below.


Source: Science Alert

Tags: North Pole, South Pole