How GPS works: The cartoon

Also: How GPS can detect nuclear explosions

By Keith Shaw

November 07, 2011, 3:01 PM — With GPS navigation devices in everything from cars to your smartphone, you may not also realize that GPS satellites can also synchronize time down to the nanosecond, and detect nuclear explosions! Learn more with this fun animated video from the folks at Minute Physics:

Now if they could just get the maps better so I'm not taking a left turn into a pond, we'll be all set.

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Keith Shaw writes the Cool Tools column for Network World, and is the Multimedia Content Editor for IDG Enterprise, responsible for editorial video and audio content creation. Follow him on Twitter @shawkeith.