Viking navigation hypothesis under foggy and cloudy skies requires more light

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Members of the group that investigated skylight polarization taken during the Beringia 2005 Arctic expedition. Credit: Gabor Horvath.
Members of the group that investigated skylight polarization, taken during the Beringia 2005 Arctic expedition. Credit: Gabor Horvath.

While history portrays the Vikings as skillful masters of the sea, sailing treacherous routes in the northern Atlantic Ocean during the 10th-13th centuries, just how much knowledge, technology and ability they possessed is debatable. One theory claims that the Vikings could navigate even on cloudy or foggy days using skylight polarization, which would not only require specific atmospheric conditions, but technology beyond anything known in Viking culture.


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