Magnetism

Once again strong claims are being made for strong magnets.

Specifically this company sells magnets you clamp on to things to make the fluid inside flow more efficiently. You could apply it to aircon plants, fuel systems and yes, sewage pipes.

Below shows such magnets clamped to a coolant pipe.

Published experiments on Magnetizer's site report this treatment measurably improves the efficiency of aircon cooling systems.

It's easy to be skeptical of this kind of claim. Very easy.

So before you go installing one of these devices, be sure to look at both sides of the story.

Posted by Lodestone at 12:08 AM | Permalink

All you need is a couple of hundred Permanent Magnet Linear Generator Buoys bobbing up and down out there in ocean and you can generate enough electricity to power a city.

As the above diagram clearly reveals, an electric coil surrounds a magnetic shaft inside a buoy. The coil moves up and down with the waves around a magnetic shaft anchored to the seafloor. This induces voltage and generates electricity.

The technology is 15-20 years behind wind energy, but is a promising, clean energy source that's more predictable, available and energy-dense than the wind.

The research behind this is led by Annette von Jouanne and Alan Wallace, engineers at Oregon State University.

Find out more here.

Posted by Lodestone at 12:29 PM | Permalink

Later this year, coming to a clinic near you -- shape-memory polymers.

These are materials that transform themselves to a predetermined shape on command. They'll first emerge as products like self-tying sutures, fast-adjusting braces for teeth, and (no doubt) toys and games.

Most of these plastics are activated by direct heat or light. But as the shot below demonstrates, now there's a new way to make them remember their shape... Magnetism.

Andreas Lendlein and colleagues discovered how to incorporate nanoscale particles of magnetite surrounded by a layer of silica into the plastic. An alternating magnetic field interacts with these particles, causing them to heat up and trigger the shape-change.

The sequence of pictures shows how the black polymer strip straightens out as magnetism is applied via the coils.

Wow.

This article speculates how the innovation may eventually lead to artificial muscles or morphing skin on plane wings.

Posted by Lodestone at 01:25 PM | Permalink

Magnets in your shoes?

You'd think these would be just great for climbing steel rooftops or scaling the Eiffel Tower.

Actually the magnets in the Adidas Intelligence 1.1 aren't there to help you stick to metal surfaces at all.

No, according to the cobbler, the shoe provides intelligent cushioning by automatically and continuously adjusting itself. It does so by sensing the cushioning level, using a sensor and a magnet.

It then understands whether the cushioning level is too soft or too firm via a small computer. It adapts with a motor-driven cable system to provide the correct cushioning throughout the run.

Scary.

Posted by Lodestone at 04:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Apple is finding neat ways of using magnets on its computers.

For a start there's MagSafe. As seen below on the new 15-inch MacBook Pro.

This innovation connects the power cord to the machine with nothing but a magnetic clamp. So when you trip over your power cord it simply breaks the connection instead of bringing your machine crashing to floor.

Sticky!

There was also the iMac G5, released in October 05, the first Mac to include an infrared remote that clamped magnetically to the side of the computer when not in use.

Now this story from Appleinsider claims the new iBooks will also feature a new use of magnets.

In these the spring latch lid mechanism will be dropped in favor of magnets only.

With all those magnets hanging around it's to be hoped the hard drive has some pretty good shielding.

Posted by Lodestone at 01:37 PM | Permalink