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Forget nanobots. Who needs ‘em? Since apparently we can now directly control live bacteria and make them do our bidding. I’m in awe. More »
So, that’s another one the birds have on us. In addition to flight and colourful plumage, they’ve also got magnetometers in their beaks that can sense magnetic fields and use them as a map. Yes, even chickens. More »
The north magnetic pole is moving 60km a year toward Russia, which means they’re stealing it. Or the Earth’s core is fluxing. Actually, nobody really knows what’s happening. I just hope it’s not a prelude to a catastrophic magnetic shift. More »
NASA’s Themis, a satellite flotilla studying geomagnetic disturbances, have discovered a large hole on Earth’s magnetic field, which protects us against solar particles, which can cause severe disturbances in power grids, computers, and communication. Updated.
You have probably heard stories about patient injuries or death occurring when someone introduces a heavy metal object into the same room as an MRI machine. Obviously, we are talking about some seriously powerful magnets here. However, the US$10 million magnet currently under construction at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Florida is expected to reach 100 tesla when finished—about 67 times more powerful than a typical MRI machine.
newVideoPlayer("makingaplanet.flv", 475, 286,""); Yesterday, I showed you a great video of NASA scientists explaining how magnetic fields work over beautiful animations making the fields come to life. Today, now that you’re all caught up on how the fields work, I’ll show you how geophysicist Dan Lathrop is building a fake planet filled with liquid sodium that will, if all goes according to plan, end up with a magnetic field of its own.
Magnetic fields are invisible, at least usually. But Scientists from NASA’s Space Sciences Laboratory have made them visible, showing them dancing in an absolutely gorgeous movie called, appropriately enough, Magnetic Movie. You don’t want to miss this one, which is the coolest video that you’ll see all week, guaranteed. You can’t argue with a combo of beautiful effects and amazing science.
