Happy Holidays to everyone and hope many magical things happen to you all.
Speaking about magic, magnets actually are not much different to this word . In fact, magnets are very mysterious and many of its properties are still not known. I will be back to that statement soon.
At this moment, I would like to share something about magnets, and tell you why magnets are so mysterious and magical. Furthermore, I also want to inform the applications of magnets that eventually could help us to achieve many great inventions in today’s world and tomorrow’s.
Before I start, however, I would like to share a little bit of credibility. I have been learning physics since high school and this material (magnets) have been mesmerizing me and I wish to study them a lot more. I have done a lot of readings of text books, scientific journals, articles and even I have ever conducted experiment to make a small levitating device from neodymium magnets. Which is something look like this:
Last but not least is that I am currently taking quantum chemistry (mechanics) class which helps me to understand the subatomic events of a matter.
There are 2 main points that I would like to share. Let’s start with the first one:
600 BC (long time ago) people discovered stones that seemed to have magical powers. These stones were called lodestones and were made of mineral called magnetite. It is an iron-rich ore material that has chemical formula Fe3O4. Its power is called magnetic force and is emitted by magnetic field.
Lodestones were used as compasses in 12th to 13th century. 
Today, there are many kinds of magnets and they have different strengths. Some are weak and some are strong. The strongest magnets on earth are neodymium magnets (Nd2Fe14B) and it is widely used everywhere.
How do magnets work? What is magnetic field made of? and how to observe them? These are good questions and deserve a good answer, and the best way to observe magnet is by simple observation – that is by “hands-on” experience with magnets.
We know magnets have 2 poles and so are called dipoles. North hates north, south hates south, and south loves north. There is no such thing as one pole magnets (monopole) even if u try so hard to split them into 2, you will still get 2 poles. Weird ah?
Now the fun begins,
Why magnets behave like this? why can’t we get 1 pole magnet? Honestly, we don’t know yet why would magnets behave like this. And that makes magnets so magical and mysterious, people. Believe me.
Nevertheless, let’s begin the second main point.
There are countless applications of magnets in today’s world. I’m just going to inform you some:
1. Magnets are used in electrical devices to move engines, transmit sound waves, and so on.
2. Magnets are lately used in Maglev trains technology.
Superconductor + magnetic field = great levitation. Superconductor hates magnetic field so much. They repel each other. This property has been applied to the new era of train that can run up to 361mph.
Tomorrow applications are very tempting and promising.
1. Transportation
Imagine if cars or belts are made of superconductors at room temperature . You can almost be like superman hovering on earth above magnetic field track. Lately, scientists have discovered a very promising application of magnets which they call it as quantum locking ( it looks like the Meissner effect, but they call it quantum locking for credit).
2. Energy
We know energy is the society needs for survival and development. Today, we have energy from dead plants, oils and coals. These are fossil fuels which are not good because it is not renewable and not clean for our planet. Furthermore, it brings about conflicts between nations. So we can’t rely on this type of fuels too much and too long.
So does nuclear power (fission). It is not safe because it contains dangerous radioactive wave and if a reactor leaks it will endanger human life and our planet. We have seen many examples of this, one in this year was when Japan got shaken by earthquake. Fukushima nuclear reactor emits radiation.
Now, imagine an energy source which is safe, clean and abundant. It could have a profound effect to our society. It could change everything. That energy source in fact has been being developed by scientists since 60 years ago. And that energy source would be nuclear fusion.
Our sun is a massive fusion reactor, its core is so hot that atoms of hydrogen are forced together and eventually giving off massive amount of energy. Hydrogen is the fuel of the fission reactor. It is so clean and abundant in our planet. Currently, we just need a bigger reactor to conduct a self-sustaining nuclear fusion reaction and that will be built in France in 2020. A powerful magnetic field is needed in order to make this reaction happen. And that’s you see how important magnets are. You may google them to gain more information.
Cheers,
