Magnetism

Following is a slightly edited contribution from Mr Henry Assen who suspects magnetism has something to do with an extraordinary phenomenon he has experienced. Can anyone explain it?

I wish to bring this phenomenon to your attention and request you for an explanation you might have to offer. Please see the annexed photos which might give you an idea of what it involves. These are genuine photos and can be demonstrated in front of you. This method has been employed in curing stress, headaches, migraine, etc... with over 60 % sucess.

Continue reading "Reader reports magnet mystery" »

Posted by Lodestone at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)

It's taken them 10 years of research and construction. Now the Los Alamos National Laboratory is about to test drive the world's strongest magnet.

Able to produce a magnetic field of 88 tesla, the machine is expected to reach 100 Tesla.

According to this story the force comes from a generator from an abandoned nuclear power project that supplies 1.4 billion watts of power.

Power from this generator is stored and pulsed to create the massive magnetic fields.

(Video above is a gratuitous look at a nuclear power station exploding.)

Posted by Lodestone at 01:58 AM | Permalink

Next time you get the chance to peer through the Hubble telescope, see if you can find the object below. It's a vast reminder of the awesome power of magnets.

Around 8000 light years away, it's is known variously as the "Eye of God" the "Hourglass Nebula", and more poetically, MyCn18.

According to the UK's Jodrell Bank Observatory the dramatic shapes of planetary nebulae are likely formed by magnetic fields acting on the dust formed by the disintegrating star.

Posted by Lodestone at 02:08 PM | Permalink

You know what it's like.

You find yourself stranded in the jungle, up a mountain or on a desert island with nothing but a few simple household items.

All you need is an electric motor for a way out of your predicament.

As the video above reveals you can build an electric motor with nothing but a battery, a nail, a wire and of course a magnet.

Then, fully equipped, you can helicoptor your way back to safety or something.

What a buzz.

Posted by Lodestone at 02:23 PM | Permalink

CNN is reporting scientists have managed to teleport significant-sized chunks of matter between two points half a metre apart.

The precise process employed by Eugene Polzik and his team at the Niels Bohr Institute at Copenhagen University in Denmark is still unclear, but some claim magnetism was certainly involved.

Maybe this is what's happening in the alleged teleporting cat video below.

The cat in question looks like it's travelling between two magnets for sure.

Posted by Lodestone at 02:20 PM | Permalink

Now, thanks to magnetism, floor tiles can be as easily changed as a rug.

A US company called Artistic Tiles has developed a system of floor tiles that need no mortar or grout or other sticky stuff to stick to the floor.

Instead, the tiles are attached a flexible rubber steel or galvanized sheet metal that lies between between the concrete, or whatever the floor is made from.

You can rip up the floor and change it when ever you feel like changing the color from brown, to black and white cow spots.

Perhaps if you walked on such a floor wearing these you might find yourself rooted to the spot.

Posted by Lodestone at 10:00 AM | Permalink

Hot on the heels of the previous story speculating about the potential of gauss guns to shoot satellites into the sky comes this story from New Scientist detailing a scheme to do exactly that.

A study by the US air force found that a huge ring of superconducting magnets (something like the above particle accelerator) could hurl satellites into space.

Probably make a great weapon too.

This magnet based system would reportedly be much cheaper than conventional rocket launches. But the intense g forces developed during launch might crush the payload like a tin can on a train track.

Posted by Lodestone at 02:41 PM | Permalink

A gauss gun fires projectiles by converting magnetic energy into kinetic energy.

Click on the video below to see a simple gauss gun toy in action.

Roll one ball into the magnet and a knock-on effect adds force until the projectile is shot into whatever direction it's pointed (hopefully not into your eye).

Is there any practical use for them apart from as entertaining videos?

The most often cited possible is as a weapon (just what the world needs). But gauss guns might also come in handy for propulsion in space.

Want to make your own gauss gun? Check out the instructions here.

Posted by Lodestone at 02:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

An experimental maglev train has crashed in Germany killing 23 and bringing the future of such systems into doubt.

The accident is reported to be due to human error, and occured when the train struck a maintenance vehicle while travelling at 125mph. Wreckage was scattered over a wide area.

Only one of these magnetically propelled trains is operational worldwide. Located in Shanghai the train connects the Pudong International Airport and the Lujiazui financial district.

This video gives you some idea of how it feels to travel over 300 miles an hour, on a vehicle that floats on a magnetic forcefield 0.4 inch above the track.

Posted by Lodestone at 02:03 AM | Permalink

Your disk drive is a pretty nifty application of magnetism.

This month is the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of the first disk drive, IBM's RAMAC.

IBM didn't actually invent the idea of storing data with magnetic material on metal disks. That honor goes to an engineer called Jacob Rabinow, who was working for the U.S. Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory.

RAMAC was originally meant to have drums rather than disks. But the final design featured 50 metal platters, spinning at 1,200 RPM with a recording density of about 100 bits per inch.

That's about 5MB.

RAMAC was the size of a piano. But it worked along exactly the same principles as the disk drive you can see whizzing away with the lid off in this video.

Posted by Lodestone at 06:16 AM | Permalink