What is a gyroscope?

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If you’re looking at the picture above, you might be wondering: what is that?

Well, it’s a gyroscope.  Gyroscopes, similar to magnetic compasses, have the ability to help us navigate by pinpointing location.  Upgraded by Léon Foucault in 1852, and then given the ability to spin continuously in the 1860’s with the invention of the electric motor, the gyroscope can be useful in many applications, but has been used in the past mostly for weapons sighting technology.  Today, however, you may carry around a gyroscope and not even know it.  Apple uses them in their i-phones to tell when the device is in motion – ie: when you turn the screen, or when you are traveling to help with the pinpointing of your location on a map.

Gyroscopes are used in many technologies that require a more reliable and complex internal navigation system than a magnetic compass can provide.  Learn more about them at wikipedia.

Did you know about gyroscopes?  Let me know in the comments.