David Hattis, age 11, of Portland, Michigan, for his question:

Will the North Magnetic Pole ever change?

For a long time, scientists suspected that the North Magnetic Pole changes its position. Then recent studies proved that both the earth's magnetic poles are moving very slowly all the time. What's more, investigations into their past histories prove them to be global travelers on a grand scale. The latest evidence is even more astonishing. It suggests that during certain periods of time, their magnetic power declines.

 Then suddenly the north and south magnetic poles flip over and change places.

In the last few years, we have learned some amazing new things about the magnetic poles and how they behave. The final picture is still incomplete. But we know that during long periods of geological history they wandered around the globe. They are still inching around and it is not likely that they will give up their world wide wandering in  the future. Whether they ever flip over is not quite so certain, but it too seems likely.