Introducing Magnet-Responsive Memory Foam

Roland Piquepaille writes "The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has recently reported that two research teams have developed a new porous foam of an alloy that changes shape when exposed to a magnetic field. The NSF states that this new material is able to remember its original shape after it's been deformed by a physical or magnetic force. This polycrystalline nickel-manganese-gallium alloy is potentially cheaper and lighter than other materials currently used in devices ranging from sonar to precision valves. It also could be used to design biomedical pumps without moving parts and even for space applications and automobiles."

Comments

Pumps with no moving parts?

[Kupfernigk]

From the summary: "It also could be used to design biomedical pumps without moving parts"

Well, such pumps do exist - you can pump liquid metals by passing a current through them, and applying a magnetic field at 90 degrees to the current as per high school physics - but I doubt they'll be pumping molten sodium through people any time soon. You could build a diaphragm pump with this approach, presumably using a two-phase magnetic circuit to very the length of the magnetic actuator, and this would probably be a lot better than passing airlines into people to operate conventional diaphragm pumps, as is done at present. But the pump has at least two moving parts, i.e. the actuator and the diaphragm.

I suspect the author meant "no rotating parts".

Re:Pumps with no moving parts?

[BigHungryJoe]

applying a magnetic field at 90 degrees to the current as per high school physics

you went to a much better high school than I did

this substance has been around since 1991

[circletimessquare]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-1000

Moving parts

[michaelmalak]

biomedical pumps without moving partsThat should read "without rubbing parts". And even with that increased language precision, we still don't know the answer to the important question, which is whether this willow allow pumps "without fatiguing parts". (I suspect this will not be possible without biological-like microscopic self-healing.)

Re:Moving parts

[compumike]

Correct. The big design concerns (and eventual failure points) in pumps, and even fans, are bearings and rotating seals. But there are already implantable heart pumps which rely on the principles of active magnetic levitation to remove the need for contact bearings. See this article for an example.

--
Coder? Want to learn electronics? Microcontroller kits.

Re:Holy specious conclusions, Batman

[rbanffy]

The world would be a better place if people were given proper scientific education.

You know... That where you observe facts, formulate hypotheses and try to invalidate them through experiments.

Thanks for expanding my point

[Kupfernigk]

It wasn't a jibe at Republicans. It was a jibe at a world in which the most advanced technological power can produce people who don't seem to have the least idea of the basis on which that power rests, and don't seem to care. It may be that if GWB had had a proper scientific education he might have tended to, say, believe the weapons inspectors and his own military rather than the spin merchants, though we can't be sure. It might be that he would, say, read Scientific American or National Geographic, and this would inspire him to leave a legacy of a serious attempt to solve world problems through the encouragement of science and technology

I'd be almost equally happy if future politicians got a really good grounding in history, instead of being told that it is irrelevant.