New video reveals Earth's magnetic field flip 41,000 years ago with haunting soundscape

A new video from the European Space Agency shows how Earth's magnetic field weakened and flipped 41,000 years ago during a polar reversal event. The animation illustrates the magnetic North and South Poles swapping positions and the magnetosphere nearly disappearing. The video, released on October 10, uses data from ESA's Swarm satellites to depict the Laschamp event, when the magnetosphere dropped to about 5% of its current strength. This allowed increased solar radiation, which affected ancient lava flows and tree rings. Accompanying the visuals is a unique soundscape created from natural noises, emphasizing the strain on the magnetosphere. This follows previous research that explored changes in the magnetosphere over the last 100,000 years.