This is an old idea resurfacing. In the late 1800's and early 1900's, there was a lot of discussion about the effects of magnetism and electricity on the human psyche and body.

http://www.electrotherapymuseum.com/

Inasmuch as pigeons are known to be influenced by the earth's magnetic fields, this would undoubtedly explain the abundance of pigeons (they're quite the voyeurs, you know ... !). Now, if we could prove that magnetism affects starlings, too ... !

Moral compass?

Could there be a correlation to cell phone use by left handed people who probably use the phone on the right side. Seems like a chronological coincidence in cell phone use and declining morality to me.

As a left-handed person, I don't put the phone on my right ear. It gets put on my left which closer to my left hand which holds the phone.

I can envision something coming out of this single study done on a whopping 20 people. Defense attorneys are now going to try to get their clients off by saying their moral judgments were impaired by magnetic waves.

Why don't the scientist glue magnets to the heads of Tiger Woods and Jesse James to see if it affects their moral compass.

What nonsense.  They try some rigged up experiment with a very few people and a couple of magnets, and (Ta-Da) they can change "morality" by using some silly story about going over a bridge?  Who funds this waste of time?  Don't these people have anything useful to do?

While the details seem kind of weak (1% bias?), I find it

amusing that the location of this "center" is right where

all those Bluetooth ear pods sit.

So a more immediately useful experiment would be, to

examine the moral sensibilities of all those Borg

wannabees, with said earpieces on and off.

They've been using this for years to create upper management. I've watched good people go into management, and after their "indoctrination period," they have all turned into to jerks, with major morality shifts. (I envision the promoted saps strapped into chairs with collander-styled helmets and headphones on. Magnetism was my missing element. Woohoo. So much for modern science.) (Sorry, I couldn't come up with a better explanation, but it's the only thing that makes much sense, when I see management turn into such screw ups. I've heard it called the Peter Principle, but morality shift is more apparent.) Is there any hope of reversing this complex--maybe a flip in the earth's poles? Can't happen too soon for me.

My 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter were born with profound hearing loss. Both of them had cochlear implant surgery when they were 12 months old. The surgery involves placing an antenna on the skull, under their skin located behind and above the right ear. The antenna stays affixed via an internal and external magnet located directly external to the right temporoparietal junction (RTPJ). The authors of the study (Liane Young, Fiery Cushman, Marc Hauser and Rebecca Saxe) indicate the RTPJ is the most morally sensitive region of the brain affected by magnetic fields.

Did my wife and myself ok a surgery to provide hearing to our children at the cost of destroying their moral compass? That would explain their behavior when they were 2 and 3 years old, but wait - maybe they were just being normal terrible "2's"?

I would've appreciated the authors of the study, and/or MSNC, to follow-up to see if people with cochlear implants have trouble making moral decisions. There have been over 60,000 people implanted with cochlear implants in the USA and over 180,000 worldwide, that seems to be a large enough sample group to examine and make conclusions regarding moral decisions and magnetic stimulus of the affected brain regions.

We need to alter the magnetic field over the SCOTUS.

People will look for any way to explain those things which they don't understand, and perhaps never will. And those involved in magnetic therapy studies constitute such "people." And I don't point to scientists in particular because I am one and would never do my fellow scientists the disservice of classifying those who "study" magnetic therapy as scientists. I've read many patents and publications on magnetic therapy. Allegedly, these machines (for example transcranial magnetic stimulation devices) will treat and stimulate anything from motor neurons related to Parkinson's disease to the portions of the brain which control our emotions to a broken bone. REALLY?! Where are the results, people? How can you ever base a scientific study on a "scale" of 1-7, and allowing the subject to pick one of those numbers?? Rest assured, millions of dollars are wasted on these types of "studies" each year with no applicable results. It's truly a shame. Furthermore, tagging the name of an Ivy league school to the study does not speak to the validity of the "research."

What a strange study. Quite frankly I don't think they have all the facts.

More claptrap from reporters who understand neither science nor logic.

The magnets did not 'alter morality', as the headline states - any more than alcohol, or a bad stomachache, or someone punching you in the face 'alters morality'.

At best the study found that proximity to strong magnetic fields affects the ability to make certain types of decisions in some situations. That's good to know, but it doesn't rate the sensationalist headline.

This explains my behavior then... I am magnetically attracted to the bars and after drinking a lot my morality seems to change...

This could explain why Rush Limbaugh's moral compass is so far off. The electromagnets in his cochlear implant are affecting his brain.