That was because certain earthly bacteria make small grains of the mineral, in order to navigate their habitats using the Earth's magnetic field, much as human navigators once used lodestone compasses made of magnetite to find their way around.
Medieval mapmakers wanted to chart their orientation to the Garden of Eden or Mecca; Mercator wanted to make things easier for sea-faring navigators; and colonialists wanted to plot the extents of their empires.
Opponents of the Affordable Care Act from Florida to Tennessee deploy regulatory roadblocks, such as refusing healthcare "navigators" access to county health departments, inspired by the "massive resistance" southern governors and legislatures used to repulse desegregation.
ONE consequence of the growth of microelectronics has been an exploration of the periodic table reminiscent of European navigators' search for the spice islands half a millennium ago.
The navigators aren't health-care professionals; they're just local people who know what's out there and can help their neighbours.
In the 19th century the navigators finally succeeded.Chinese leaders are now flexing their own cartographic muscles.
There was support for several navigators and conquistadores (Columbus, Magellan, Vespucci) or for indigenous names such as Tahuantinsuyu (the Quechua word for the Inca Empire).
This year, thanks to the cunning of the agency's interplanetary navigators, there should be fireworks in the heavens, too.Deep Impact's scientists, though, are not just trying to create an expensive display of patriotic pyrotechnics.
