magnets

What if room temperature superconductors were real?

Myriad industries would be ripe for upheaval. Here are a few that would stand the most to gain.

Buckyballs are back

Years ago – six years ago, to be exact – a toy called Buckyballs came under attack by government officials intent on destroying fun. The Consumer Product Safety Commission banned the toys,

Correlated Magnetics Research Brings MaxField Polymagnets To A Wall Near You

We first told you about <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/12/austin-based-cmr-demos-programmable-magnets-that-changes-polarity-and-strength-on-a-whim/">Correlated Magnetics Research's programmab

Apple Patents iPad Smart Magnets For Attaching Controllers, Cameras, Other iPads And More

A new Apple patent application published by the USPTO today describes a magnetic connector similar to the one used to attach Smart Covers to the current iPad, but designed to be far more flexible with

Alabama-Based CMR Demos Programmable Magnets That Changes Polarity And Strength On A Whim

Magnets are pretty basic - some poles attract, some repel, and you can use them to hold stuff up on your fridge. However, what happens when magnets can be "programmed" to react in different ways? Hunt

"Zero Gravity" shelf cushions your turntable with magnetic forces

<img src="http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/MoonAudio_ZeroGravityShelf_s.jpg" />It's not really an unprecedented product — magnetic levitation works for high-speed trains and

Half-Life Fridge Magnets: Need, not want

<img src="http://crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/il_fullxfull.69655865.jpg" alt="magnets" />I like how the artist who makes these Half-Life magnets gets from start to finish. First, imagine

Magnetic Pixels geek up your fridge

Refrigerators are generally adorned with random nicknacks or crappy kids crafts. Not any more my fellow nerds. From here on out, our fridges will sport a pixel-made superhero thanks to Magnetic Pixels

Super Magnet Man is, unfortunately, not a superhero

<img src="http://www.crunchgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/magnetic-wedding-rings.gif" />With admonitions like "If you like your fingers and hands ... you will always wear something like ... thick

Magnetic field used as micro-tweezers

German and American scientists at the Max Plank Institute have discovered a way to use a magnetic field to assemble parts on lab-on-a-chip devices. This system uses coils that induce magnetic fields o

Fun with magnets

Warning: Do not swallow or eat magnets. Magnets could interfere with brain structure and bodily growth. Magnets are not toys, except when you use them in amazingly powerful catapults and rail guns.

Magnetic battery discovery may lead to cooler laptops

Remember the word “spintronics” as you may be hearing more and more about it over the coming months. It’s basically a phenomenon that creates magnetic currents that behave much in the same way t

Super magnet to not destroy itself

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in New Mexico are in the process of creating a pulsed electromagnet that will reach 100 tesla. Greg Boebinger, director of the project, says that these f

Maglev joystick developed at Carnegie Mellon

Force feedback plus six dimensions of movement — I like what I’m hearing so far. This yet-to-be-named device has been in the workings for 11+ years by scientists at Carnegie Mellon Univers

Know what this place needs? Definitely a floating chair powered by magnets

I’ll be saving up for the office chair version whenever it comes out but for those of you looking to really kick back after a long day of widget transconfiguration (or whatever it is you do), he