The first new compass since 1936

A viral claim just poked the map nerds: a creator says they’ve built the first truly new compass since 1936 — a baseplate model with no liquid, using induction (a metal ring that creates tiny currents) to slow the needle so it settles fast and never gets bubbles at high altitude. Cue drama. Skeptics rolled in hard: smusamashah grumbled it’s “the same compass with an additional component,” while ZiiS dropped the bomb that “magnetic induction damping compasses are widely available???” Suddenly, “new” sounded like marketing more than a moon landing.

Then the CSI squad arrived: iefbr14 spotlighted a suspicious cut in the demo where “the needle abrubtly stops,” spawning jokes about the compass needing a video editor instead of fluid. But there’s wholesome energy too: Klaster_1 cheered that the design is public domain — for free, no patents — which had DIYers already rummaging for brass rings. Meanwhile, idiotsecant gave a weird flex: the YouTube algorithm served the video early and, shocker, did a good job.

So what’s the vibe? Half the crowd is yelling “not new!” and hunting older examples, half is clapping for a bubble-proof, open design, and everyone’s peering at the lighting changes like it’s the Zapruder film. Either way, the needle is spinning — and the comments are the real compass.