Subject: [Homestead] Plastic magnets work at room temperature
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 2004 10:20:37 -0800
Drip, drip, drip---the incremental improvement of products and processes
goes on relentlessly. Plastic magnets won't replace metal ones in common
use, but will do so in many variants.
*The world's first plastic magnet to work at room temperature has passed
the elementary test of magnetism, the New Scientist
<http://www.newscientist.com> magazine reported. The magnet’s creators
at the University of Durham, UK, have used it to pick up iron filings
from a laboratory bench, according to the publication. *
*In 2001, chemists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln claimed to
have created the world's first plastic magnet, but it only worked below
the extremely low temperature of 10 degrees kelvin. Other researchers
have made plastic magnets, but typically they only function at extremely
low temperatures, the publication reported, or their magnetism at room
temperature is too weak to be of commercial use. *
*So the Durham team can claim to have made the first plastic magnet that
could be used in everyday products, acording to the magazine. One of the
most likely applications is in the magnetic coating of computer hard
discs, which could lead to a new generation of high-capacity discs. *
*Jerry Torrance, a materials scientist based in California who is a
consultant to some of the world's largest electronics and engineering
companies, including IBM, told the magazine the work is "a significant
scientific breakthrough” but that practical applications are probably
still a long way off.* * *
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WORLD SCIENCE
WORLD SCIENCE
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[Homestead] Plastic magnets work at room temperature,
Tvoivozhd, 11/08/2004