The Impact of Amateur Magnet Use on Meteorites and Mars' Magnetic Field
Earth, atmospheric and planetary scientists at MIT have tested the impact of hand magnets on terrestrial basalt as a stand-in for meteorites. They found that moving hand magnets within inches of basalt samples led to magnetic fields in the rocks being irretrievably erased and replaced by the magnetic field of the hand magnet. The loss of magnetic field data from meteorites is particularly devastating because it could have provided clues about the magnetic field on Mars that once shielded its atmosphere from depletion. The research pair conclude their paper by asking that people who find meteorites not use magnets on them.