Slashdot Mirror
World's First Practical Plastic Magnet
Stopmotioncleaverman writes "New Scientist is reporting that scientists at the University of Durham in the UK have created the world's first plastic magnet to work at room temperature from two compounds, emeraldine base polyaniline (PANi) and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ). In 2001, scientists in Nebraska created a plastic magnet, but it only worked at 10 Kelvin.
Most notably from the article - "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".
This story is also being reported in lots of other places."
I for one welcome our plastic robot overlords... of the non-vibrating kind...
of Michael Jackson stuck to a lamppost
So this is going to confuse poor operators of MRI machines then. Now they can't even take plastic stuff in. They'll have to go in naked.
:)
Mmmmm Naked Nurses
Whoohoo! In 2007, you'll be able to attach Barbie to the fridge.
I might be wrong though, I'm not a rocket scientist (or polymer scientist if you want)
Does this mean people with ferromagnetic dentures will have to stop eating McDonalds cheeseburgers?
I'm sure the audiophiles will correct me, but is it possible that this could be used to produce seriously high quality audio gear: specifically speakers?
My understanding of speaker technology is that at it's most basic, a cone is held attached in some way to a magnet, which is moved by modulating the intensity of an opposing magnetic field. The movement of the cone produces sound.
If you could build the magnet into the cone, ie make the cone out of magnetic plastic, that would have to eliminate a source of distortion from the reproduction, which would lead to better quality sound.
I see this as a more realistic first application than building platters out of plastic.
What do the audiophiles have to say?
Does this mean that I can now stick my floppy discs to the refrigerator without wiping out the data?
:)
Heh
This is going to have some serious implications on the world's superhero balance of power.
... and people say my inflatable girlfriend doesn't have a magnetic personality! Fah!
He who laughs last is stuck in a time dilation bubble.
Could this lead to lighter electric motors? Which might make the future of printing products in a personal 3D printer more functional.
Neil is that you? Yeah yeah, it's me... Neil...
Will this be possible with plastic magnets ?... If it will be then we could have better
electric motors and generators isnt it ?
fifteen jugglers, five believers
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 The way my disk gets hammered the bloody thing would melt in a minute :o)
I've noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born - Ronald Reagan
This is great. Imagine a house full of items made from this material. Cups, pens, paper pads, tools etc. Just stick them to a table, wall, or door, and they stay put.
I remember not so long ago a news about some researchers that managed to create a conductive plastic; it was a remarkably better conductor than cooper. They were working into making it cheaper for mass production (can't find a link, anyone?).
If these people manage to create powerful magnets for cheap, expect a lot of magnet-based devices (motors, hard disks, generators) to drop prices in the future; powerful ceramic magnets are still very expensive.
I wonder what is its conductivity?
The problem with most magnets and electromagnets is that they are excellent conductors. In some applications this is desired, in many irrelevant, in some very undesired. A neat new way to mount easily replacable chips/cartridges, etc wherever spare metal parts may mean problems...
And a nice property of many polymers is that it's quite common to make transparent derivatives. "glass magnet", interesting idea?
Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
Replacing the copper spools of the electro engine in hydrogen fuelcell engines with light polymers will give fuelcell cars a serious weight advantage over combustion engines with their metal explosive combustion chambers.
:-)
For us Europeans at least, for US American cars the reduced weight would be, what a reduction of 1%, and most likely be meaningless.
--
Dennis SCP
From the article: "And in addition to computer hard discs, the team thinks that plastic magnets could have important medical applications, (...). Organic magnetic materials are less likely to be rejected by the body." Who volunteers to become the first human memo board?
individual magnetic domains are macroscopic, on the order of mm or tenths of mm. dust is too small, you'd lose magnetic-ness.
Please RTFS ( read the fine synopsis) before posting. Scientists in Nebraska made the 10 Kelvin plastic magnet 3 years ago. The one from Durham works at room temp.
Pain is merely failure leaving the body
For those like me that aren't inimately familliar with the kelvin scale of temperature measurement...
10 Kelvin = -263.15 degrees Celsius
According to Google.
Just imagine what this could do for the bra industry if you could make magnetic breast implants!
Never pet a burning dog.
This article might be a tad misleading, most days room temperature here is about 10 Kelvin if you leave a window open.
(For people that don't understand the Kelvin temperature scale this is not true and is in fact a bad attempt at humour)
Struggling to find a day everyone can make? WhenShallWe.com
They could claim that the heat from their processors enable newer hard drives to work.
I want my plastic railgun, dammit! Where is it?
3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com
Years back I read an article about a flame loudspeaker. The flame is pretty well ionized to begin with, so add an electrode at the bottom and top to inject the audio voltage. The envelope of the flame is modulated and it produces sound. Now that I think of it, the raw ionization of the flame was a bit weak, so they seeded some sodium (I forget if it was sodium glass or a wick into salt water.) into the bottom and got much better volume out.
About as close to zero mass as you can get. By no means stiff at all, but equally driven over its entire surface, so stiffness isn't important in this case.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
But I need to attach her to the fridge NOW!
With the advent of plastic magnets, I feel strongly that this will ruin the hilarity new versions of the Wiley Coyote cartoons, for example. I grew up watching that infamous episode where Wiley buys an ACME nuclear (or similarly powered) magnet that he puts out in the desert. It was huge -- 2 stories tall, assuming Wiley was as tall as a person.
He fed that annoying RoadRunner BBs and birdseed and turned on the magnet.
It pulled in things like satellites, cars, boats, etc.
Now, with this new invention -- plastic magnets -- a new version of that episode just won't have the cool metallic clanginess of the old version. No more battleship hulls grinding up against the metallic magnet from the old version. No more tink-tink of small forks and spoons getting sucked in to the magnet.
No...it'll just be a relatively un-entertaining "thunk."
Sometimes, we should just stop technological progress while we're ahead.
And fuck the RoadRunner -- can NO ONE run that fucking bird over?
IronChefMorimoto
Google is your friend.
"The best argument against democracy is a five minute chat with the average voter."
--Winston Churchill
They could be used in magnetic tyres (the kind that has sensors deducing the way a tyre deflects during breaking by the change in the magnetic field generated by magnetic powder interspersed in the tyre's rubber). Instead of mixing magnetic material with rubber, one could mix these polymers with rubber. Maybe it would work better, I don't know.
"Long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead." (John Maynard Keynes)