Magnetic field

If you want to maximize the number of trains that can operate on one line simultaneously, it's crucial that you know the exact location of each train at all times. A new system is designed to help, by analyzing the magnetic properties of the rails.

Scientists in China have set a new world record for the strongest steady magnetic field ever generated on Earth. The hybrid magnet managed to produce a field measuring 45.22 Tesla (T), which is over a million times stronger than the planet’s own.

Researchers at Rice University have shown how they can hack the brains of fruit flies to make them remote controlled. The flies performed a specific action within a second of a command being sent to certain neurons in their brain.

Astronomers have measured the strongest magnetic field ever found in the universe. The honor goes to a powerful type of neutron star, with a surface magnetic field of over 1.6 billion Tesla.

While stellarator fusion reactors have conventionally featured irregularly shaped magnetic coils, scientists have now developed simpler and straighter versions they say can offer some important benefits.

Scientists have discovered a new form of space weather – superfast electron rains that precipitate into the atmosphere from the radiation belts. The rains could affect satellites, spacecraft and astronauts, but aren’t accounted for in current models.

A new technology representing a "revolutionary change" in how magnets are made for tokamak reactors could form a key piece of the nuclear fusion power puzzle, by facilitating the type of sustained streams of plasma needed for it to become a reality.

A new signal deepens the mystery of fast radio bursts with a few oddities – it hails from an unexpected region of space, and its pulses are about a million times shorter than most, which could indicate many others like it are going undetected.

Contrary to their name, black holes are known to fire off flares from time to time, but exactly how this happens is shrouded in mystery. High-resolution simulations have now revealed how twisting magnetic fields can throw off huge amounts of energy.

Fermilab physicists have developed a next-generation magnet that can generate a magnetic field with great efficiency, and used it to demonstrate what they describe as the world’s fastest ramping rates for particle accelerator magnets.

A University of Sussex study has demonstrated how a new type of quantum sensor could help doctors catch neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s earlier. The scanners precisely detect tiny changes in magnetic fields produced by firing neurons.

A team of scientists in Florida have come up with a new design for a magnetic levitation-based low-gravity simulator that promises a huge increase in volume over existing simulators, with major benefits for space, medical and biology research.