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IBM researchers have found a way to store one bit of data in a magnet consisting of just one atom, the company announced on Wednesday. Prior to the discovery, the smallest bistable magnetic bits consisted of 3 to 12 atoms, IBM said, and hard drives use about 10,000 atoms to store a single bit. The ability to read and write one bit of data on one atom creates new possibilities for developing smaller and denser storage devices, according to IBM. The company said the discovery makes it conceivable to store an entire library of 35 million songs on a device...

"[Three-dimensional] printing brings something to magnet design which we could previously only dream of," said researcher Dieter Süss. VIENNA, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- From a technological perspective, making a powerful magnet is no problem. Precisely controlling the shape of magnet's magnetic field, however, has proven difficult -- until now. Engineers at TU Wien have for the first time designed and produced magnets using a 3D printer. The method offers scientists newfound control over the size and shape of the magnetic field, allowing them to produce magnets that better meet the needs of a range of technologies. "The strength of a...

When you think of magnets you probably imagine being a kid in class playing with them for the first time, figuring out that forces we can’t see have the ability to manipulate physical objects. We can make things affected by the magnetic waves, but not until recently have we been able to “program” them. A highly innovative company from Alabama have introduced to the world “Polymagnets,” and they’re incredible. They’re guaranteed to be one of the coolest things you see today!

Attracted to Genesis by Magnets and a Bird Book by James J. S. Johnson, J.D., Th.D. * Evidence for Creation God used magnets, a bird book, and some precious Christian teachers to draw me to appreciate and rely upon the origins history taught in Genesis. My journey of learning about creation and my Creator budded and blossomed in my teen years,1 but providential seed-planting and germination came earlier—in kindergarten, with magnets, and in second grade, when I received my first bird book. Magnets in Kindergarten As a small child, my parents taught me that God made everything, including me. However,...

And it could be the key to understanding one of the biggest mysteries in physics today - high-temperature superconductors.An international team of scientists has announced the discovery of a new state of matter in a material that appears to be an insulator, superconductor, metal and magnet all rolled into one, saying that it could lead to the development of more effective high-temperature superconductors. Why is this so exciting? Well, if these properties are confirmed, this new state of matter will allow scientists to better understand why some materials have the potential to achieve superconductivity at a relativity high critical temperature...

A new class of magnets discovered that swell in volume and generate little heat when placed in a magnetic field could be used to harvest or convert energy efficiently. Applications range from sensors and actuators for automobiles to biomedical devices, besides defence applications. Discovered by scientists at the University of Maryland (UMD) and Temple University, the new magnets made from abundant metal alloys could replace the expensive, rare-earth magnets which exhibit poor mechanical properties. Maryland professor of materials science and engineering Manfred Wuttig, and Harsh Deep Chopra, professor and chair of mechanical engineering at Temple heated certain iron-based alloys (iron-gallium,...

A new class of magnets that expand their volume when placed in a magnetic field and generate negligible amounts of wasteful heat during energy harvesting, has been discovered by researchers at Temple University and the University of Maryland. The researchers, Harsh Deep Chopra, professor and chair of mechanical engineering at Temple, and Manfred Wuttig, professor of materials science and engineering at Maryland, published their findings, "Non-Joulian Magnetostriction," in the May 21st issue of the journal, Nature. This transformative breakthrough has the potential to not only displace existing technologies but create altogether new applications due to the unusual combination of magnetic...

The study is the first ever to prove that acoustic phonons (particles responsible for the transmission of both sound and heat) contain magnetic properties, The Ohio State University reported. The team of researchers demonstrated that a magnetic field about the size of an MRI was able to reduce the amount of heating flowing through a semiconductor by about 12 percent. "This adds a new dimension to our understanding of acoustic waves," said Joseph Heremans, Ohio Eminent Scholar in Nanotechnology and professor of mechanical engineering at Ohio State. "We've shown that we can steer heat magnetically. With a strong enough magnetic...

Stimulating a particular region in the brain via non-invasive delivery of electrical current using magnetic pulses, called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, improves memory, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. The discovery opens a new field of possibilities for treating memory impairments caused by conditions such as stroke, early-stage Alzheimer's disease, traumatic brain injury, cardiac arrest and the memory problems that occur in healthy aging. "We show for the first time that you can specifically change memory functions of the brain in adults without surgery or drugs, which have not proven effective," said senior author Joel Voss, assistant professor of medical social...

The magnets cluttering the face of your refrigerator may one day be used as cooling agents, according to a new theory formulated by MIT researchers. The theory describes the motion of magnons — quasi-particles in magnets that are collective rotations of magnetic moments, or “spins.” In addition to the magnetic moments, magnons also conduct heat; from their equations, the MIT researchers found that when exposed to a magnetic field gradient, magnons may be driven to move from one end of a magnet to another, carrying heat with them and producing a cooling effect. “You can pump heat from one side...

Let me think about that....NO!A new ad campaign has been launched to extend medical coverage to illegal aliens in the state of California. The California Endowment, a private foundation that advocates for affordable healthcare, wants county-run Medicaid expansion programs called Low-Income Health Programs to be "retooled" to provide insurance for this population - well over 1 million people! Just what the people of California need, right? First they cut tuition assistance for citizen students by $1.2 billion. Then they made illegal aliens eligible for in-state tuition and financial aid, with AB131 - signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Then tuition assistance was...

FOR much of the last century, the straightforward solution to making a car perform better has been to install a bigger engine. In the hybrids and electric cars of coming years, however, the answer might be installing motors with more powerful magnets. Until the 1980s, the most powerful magnets available were those made from an alloy containing samarium and cobalt. But mining and processing those metals presented challenges: samarium, one of 17 so-called rare earth elements, was costly to refine, and most cobalt came from mines in unstable regions of Africa. In 1982, when researchers at General Motors developed a...

If a person's blood becomes too thick it can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of heart attacks. But a Temple University physicist has discovered that he can thin the human blood by subjecting it to a magnetic field. [snip] Because red blood cells contain iron, Tao has been able to reduce a person's blood viscosity by 20-30 percent by subjecting it to a magnetic field of 1.3 Telsa (about the same as an MRI) for about one minute. Tao and his collaborator tested numerous blood samples in a Temple lab and found that the magnetic field polarizes the...

Forget the "top hat," the "junk shot," the diamond saws and the "top kill" — one Florida scientist says he's developed a simple solution to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico: a set of bone-crushingly powerful magnets.

Scientists have now levitated mice using magnetic fields. Other researchers have made live frogs and grasshoppers float in mid-air before, but such research with mice, being closer biologically to humans, could help in studies to counteract bone loss due to reduced gravity over long spans of time, as might be expected in deep space missions or on the surfaces of other planets. Scientists working on behalf of NASA built a device to simulate variable levels of gravity. It consists of a superconducting magnet that generates a field powerful enough to levitate the water inside living animals, with a space inside...

Florida wildlife managers have launched an experiment to see if they can keep crocodiles from returning to residential neighborhoods by temporarily taping magnets to their heads to disrupt their "homing" ability. Crocodiles are notoriously territorial and when biologists move them from urban areas to new homes in the wild, they often go right back to the place where they were captured, traveling up to 10 miles a week to get there.Scientists believe they rely in part on the Earth's magnetic fields to navigate, and that taping magnets to both sides of their heads disorients them.

Official: China knew about magnets BEIJING, China (Reuters) -- China knew about problems with magnets on toys as long ago as March, an industry official said on Wednesday, following a second massive recall of Chinese-made Mattel toys due to hazards from small, powerful magnets. Mattel's Barbie and Tanner doll set is one of the products being recalled. 1 of 2 Mattel Inc. the largest U.S. toy company, recalled millions more Chinese-made toys on Tuesday due to hazards from the magnets and lead paint, and warned it may recall additional products as it steps up testing. "We knew about the situation,...

Maglev Wind Turbine Technologies (MWTT), a developer and manufacturer of magnetically levitated commercial wind turbines, has officially begun operations. According to the Sierra Vista, Ariz.-headquartered company, with the use of magnetic levitation turbine technology, the wind turbine floats on a magnetic cushion and incorporates a linear synchronous motor. MWTT says that because the lack of friction allows for increased wind capture, users can generate electricity for less than $0.01 per kWh. The company is headed by Ed Mazur, a researcher of variable renewable energy sources since 1981 and inventor of the magnetic levitation wind turbine. For more information on the...

Scientists in New York promoted the growth of new neurons in the brains of mice using a magnetic stimulus in the region associated with memory. Presenting the results at the American Academy for Neuroscience conference, the researchers said the results may lead to treatments for Alzheimer's. However, if proven the technique is more likely to be a way of slowing progression of the disease than a cure. Experts said the work was encouraging but would need to be replicated in humans. Trans cranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used to treat certain disorders, including depression and schizophrenia and to rehabilitate...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An Iraqi national wearing wires and concealing a magnet inside his rectum triggered a security scare at Los Angeles International Airport on Tuesday but officials said he posed no apparent threat.