I HEART MAGNETS
This is known as the Meissner effect. It is the effect by which a weak magnetic field decays rapidly to zero in the interior of a superconductor. The distance to which the field is active is known as the London penetration depth. (Isn't that an S&M club?) Anyway, long story short, its awesome.
This effect will levitate a magnet as long as the magnetic field does not exceed the critical magnetic field. A magnet that is suspended by the superconductor has two interesting properties; it does not move, and it can spin without friction. The ability for the magnet to stay perfectly still is due to flux pinning, in which the magnetic field lines become trapped within the superconductor at sites of impurity in the crystal structure.
Comments
Neat!
Posted by: Michelle | October 10, 2006 12:03 PM
imagine what we could do if we figured out how to make things float like this... in SPACE!
Posted by: The constipated gardener | October 10, 2006 12:42 PM
i think this could be great for shoes.
Posted by: work stephen | October 10, 2006 12:53 PM
But then Michelle would buy them, float around a couple of times and give up.
Posted by: Dylan | October 10, 2006 12:59 PM
Look, I've been busy. Very very busy. Too busy for fun of any kind. But I'd say in a month or two, things should calm down, and I'll take my Healys back out of the box and I'll show you! I Didn't give up! I just took a break.
Posted by: Michelle | October 10, 2006 1:30 PM