Gizmodo Australia » magnetic

I’m All Wound Up: A Gallery of Classic Magnetic Tape Drives and Reels

Adrian Covert — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:27:20 +0000

SSD, Smesh Smesh Dee. Here’s my visual tribute to magnetic tape, the storage medium that can be measured in MBytes, minutes and metres.

From Wikipedia:

Magnetic tape revolutionised the broadcast and recording industries. In an age when all radio (and later television) was live, it allowed programming to be prerecorded. In a time when gramophone records were recorded in one take, it allowed recordings to be created in multiple stages and easily mixed and edited with a minimal loss in quality between generations. It is also one of the key enabling technologies in the development of modern computers. Magnetic tape allowed massive amounts of data to be stored in computers for long periods of time and rapidly accessed when needed.

[Top Photo Courtesy of Phil Aaronson]

SenseSurface: Stick Real Control Knobs On a Flat-Panel Virtual Display

Sean Fallon — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:40:00 +0000

Touchscreens are great, but for many of us nothing beats old fashioned tactile controls. That seems to be one of the reasons why Lyndsay Williams of Girton Labs is in the process of developing SenseSurface–a system that allows users to stick working knobs to on-screen virtual controls. Apparently, the magnetic knobs can be placed anywhere on an LCD because the movement is picked up by a “unique sensing surface” attached behind the screen. It seems fairly unnecessary, but I’m sure that there are practical applications for this for music and graphics fields–or anyone who is tired of smudging up a touchscreen. A video of SenseSurface in action is available after the break.

[Guardian via Music Thing via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Plasma-Powered Hovercraft Patent

Adrian Covert — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:30:00 +0000

The patent shown is for an aircraft to be powered off the ground using a plasma technology. Subrata Roy, a University of Florida aerospace engineer, proposes the existing technique of passing a magnetic wave through a conducting fluid can produce a force strong enough to lift an aircraft off the ground. Granted, the example in the patent is only 15 cm, and attempts by others haven’t gone particularly well. But with phrases like magnetohydrodynamics being thrown around, I keep flashing back to the space travel scene in Contact and getting excited. Subrata Roy must be a poet. [WIPO via Ubergizmo]

Wave Goodbye To Pocket Billiards with Magnetic Knob MP3 Player

Gizmodo US Edition — Thu, 08 May 2008 12:43:00 +0000

We all know the hassle of digging into a pocket to twiddle the controls on our MP3 players, but until smart clothing becomes mainstream we’re stuck with it. Unless someone takes this magnetic control concept and manufactures it for real, that is. The Pocket Pal is simple: the control stays outside, but is magnetically fixed to the body, which sits inside your pants pocket. Twiddling the control is easy, and would let you adjust volume or skip songs. I’m not sure what’ll happen if you lose the knob—would any magnet/iron object do?—but I like the lateral thinking here. [Inventables via Gizmowatch]

Neocube Is Better Than the Rubik’s Cube Because There’s No Right Answer

Jason Chen — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Rubik’s Cubes are nice if you actually want to think, but how about for those times when you’re just sitting there and you want something to fiddle with? The Neocube has 216 spherical neodymium magnets that connect and make a cube, a sphere, or any other obscene shape that springs to mind. Show me a man who doesn’t like playing with magnets and I’ll show you a man I don’t much care for. All yours for just US$34.95. Bonus video after the jump.

[Neocube]

DARPA Developing Weapon Inspired by Arthur C. Clarke Idea From 1955

Sean Fallon — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 00:30:00 +0000

Those of you who are familiar with Arthur C. Clarke’s 1955 novel Earthlight may recognise a new weapon from DARPA dubbed the Magneto Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition (MAHEM). In the novel, a commander unleashes “The Stiletto”—a weapon consisting of a jet of molten metal hurled through space by an electro-magnet. The MAHEM concept works in much the same way, using a magnetic field to propel a chunk of molten metal that will morph into an aerodynamic slug in flight.

Other weapons, like the High-Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) round have utilised similar technology for years using an explosive charge instead of a magnetic field as the propellant. According to DARPA “MAHEM could be packaged into a missile, projectile or other platform and delivered close to target for final engagement and kill”—and it would undoubtedly whoop some serious arse. Whether the 53 year old idea actually comes to fruition remains to be seen. [DARPA via NewScientist]

Magnetic Table Eliminates Need for Kitchen Cupboards

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 09:50:07 +0000

Straight out from Alice’s Wonderland, this magnetic table and dinnerware are designed with four objectives: 1) store your plates, cups and cutlery, upside down, under the table, 2) arrange them neatly on top, 3) erase the data from any hard drive that comes near, and 4) cause head and eye injuries to kids and pets. Or drive them mad. And yet, we still want it. More pics after the jump.

[INV/ALT design via Apartment Therapy]

USB Hub With Magnetic Mount Sounds Like a Bad Idea

Gizmodo US Edition — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 14:46:28 +0000

So at first glance what we have here looks like a well designed four-port USB hub, with a handy top-placed port for convenient thumb-drive plugging. It’s not multicoloured, it doesn’t have a photo frame built in, it doesn’t transform. It’s just a plain old hub. With magnetic mounting. Sorry, what? Magnetic mounting? So someone can stick it to their PC case? With magnets? Now, call me silly but that sounds a teeny bit daft. No? Someone might mess up their data with it. It costs US$15 from gadget4all. Update: So, it’s supposed to be quite hard to damage data on a hard drive like this. Doesn’t mean I haven’t done it though. [Gadget4all via Pocket Lint]

1,301 Florescent Bulbs Lit Solely by Magnetic Fields

Adam Frucci — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:10:48 +0000

This field has 1,301 florescent bulbs planted in it, and they’re all glowing. They aren’t plugged into anything, however; they’re powered solely from the magnetic fields produced by the power lines above. It’s all a large art project by Richard Box, and if you’re really interested in it you can order a DVD of the whole thing from him. If you’re cheaper and less interested, just peruse our gallery for the cool shots.

[Project Page via GadgetLab]

Hoverit Lounger: Relaxation Through Levitation

Sean Fallon — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 23:52:13 +0000

The latest in relaxation technology comes to us from British company Hoverit in the form of a handmade acrylic lounger that can hover in mid air. As you might have guessed, the gravity defying aspects of the chair derive from repelling magnetic forces in both the bed and base. Hoverit also suggests that the magnetic forces can “help back, muscular problems and headaches” in addition to delivering a relaxing sensation akin to floating on air. More after the break.

The CAD designed chair pictured here is the first in what will become a series of magnetized floating chairs. Unfortunately, pricing information has not been made available —but think expensive thoughts. That having been said, the least they could do is throw in a cushion. Floating chair or not, the word “comfort” doesn’t readily come to mind when I look at this thing. [Product Page via Trendhunter]