Quantum Levitation: The Future is Now!!

Uploaded by ASTCvideos on Oct 16, 2011

Video courtesy of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC), representing the science center and museum field worldwide. To learn more, visit www.astc.org. Follow us on Twitter: @ScienceCenters.

Tel-Aviv University demos quantum superconductors locked in a magnetic field (www.quantumlevitation.com). For an explanation of the physics behind this demonstration, visit www.quantumlevitation.com/levitation/The_physics.html.

With the theme "Knowledge that Works: From Theory to Practice," the 2011 ASTC Annual Conference featured more than 100 sessions, which highlighted how science centers and museums are putting new ideas to practical use to serve their communities. The conference was hosted by the Maryland Science Center in Baltimore, October 15-18.

S.Korea unveils 'recharging road' for eco-friendly buses

From: http://www.physorg.com/

March 9, 2010

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The Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV), towing three carriages, runs along a blue line under which power strips are buried for recharging, at an amusement park in Gwacheon, south of Seoul. S.Korean researchers launched an environmentally-friendly public transport system using a "recharging road" -- with a vehicle sucking power magnetically from buried electric strips.

South Korean researchers Tuesday launched an environmentally friendly public transport system using a "recharging road" -- with a vehicle sucking power magnetically from buried electric strips.

The Online Electric Vehicle (OLEV), towing three buses, went into service at an amusement park in southern Seoul. If the prototype proves successful, there are plans to try it out on a bus route in the capital.

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), which developed the system, says OLEV needs a battery only one-fifth the size of conventional electric vehicles and eliminates the need for major recharging.

It also avoids the need for overhead wires used to power conventional trams or trolley buses.

Guests including Seoul mayor Oh Se-Hoon and KAIST president Suh Nam-Pyo were given a 2.2-kilometre (1.4-mile) ride Tuesday around the zoo at Seoul Grand Park.

Recharging strips have been installed in four segments totalling some 400 metres along the route.

Pick-up equipment underneath OLEV collects power through non-contact magnetic charging from strips buried under the road surface. It then distributes the power either to drive the vehicle or for battery storage.

If the system is used on Seoul bus routes, underground power lines would have to be installed on only 20 percent of the route at places like bus stops, parking places and intersections, KAIST said in a statement.

The technology was first developed in a project involving the University of California (Berkeley) but KAIST said that produced no tangible results.

The state-funded institute says it has applied for more than 120 patents in connection with OLEV, which it describes as safe, clean and economical.

"Of all the world's electric vehicles, this is the most economical system," Suh told reporters, adding the operating cost is only about one-third of ordinary electric vehicles.

"The potential for application (of this technology to public transport systems) is limitless. I dare say this is one of the most significant technical gains in the 21st century," Suh said.

Suh said KAIST plans to use OLEVs to shuttle delegates at the G20 summit which Seoul will host in November.

Project director Cho Song-Ho said technical breakthroughs included an improved way of transmitting power to the pick-up device on the vehicle chassis.

Cho said a gap of at least 11 centimetres (4.4 inches) was needed to take account of bumpy roads, while OLEV can suck power across a gap of up to 25 cm.

Given a normal gap, the vehicle can turn more than 70 percent of the charge into energy for the vehicle, he said.

(c) 2010 AFP

17 cool magnet tricks

Here are seventeen of our favorite magnet tricks, projects and demos.

Extract batteries from stubborn holders

We've all got things that take batteries. Some of them are well designed, and some of them are not. The worst offenders are electronic toys that take (say) half a dozen AA batteries, all of which must be inserted with the correct orientation-- spring side first-- and pried out, well, somehow. Rather than risk puncturing your batteries by prying them out with something pointy, just use a magnet to lift them out.

	Find studs in your walls Move a magnet over the wall until it finds a screw or nail head under the paint. You don't even need to mark the wall-- you can just leave the magnet there until you've drilled your holes.
Make a homopolar motor One of our favorite demos of all time is a homopolar motor. A magnet, a wire, a battery and a screw are all you need to make a motor spin up to 10,000 rpm.

Make LED Throwies

LED throwies are useful for many more things than graffiti. We've made variations from garden lights to origami to greeting cards, but it's not a real throwie without a magnet.

Demonstrate magnetohydrodynamic propulsion You can make your very own caterpillar drive like the one in The Hunt for Red October with this magnetohydrodynamic demonstration.

Play with the coolest toy ever: 512 1/8" cube magnets

Available from K&J Magnetics, this is enough magnets to really have some fun. More magnet sources are in our links section.

Make a simple compass We've previously shown how to make stupidly simple compasses that float on water or spin on a smooth surface. Here's another method: sandwich a thread between two very strong magnets and hang it down for an instant compass.

Experiment with self assembly

In a process that is a lot like assembly of biological molecules or crystal formation, randomly ordered magnets can almost automagically form themselves into neat chains. Here are some magnetic self assembly videos.

Make almost anything (ferromagnetic) into a building set With magnets as connectors, you can build tins into anything you like. (Just be sure to get Bawls Mints, not Bawls Buzz).

Make a Curie motor

A Curie motor uses heat to demagnetize an area of a magnet, causing it to move away from the heat where the cycle starts again. On BoingBoingTV, Mark Frauenfelder shows you how to build one with a candle, a wire and a couple of magnets.

Freaking awesome chip clips Fold over the open top of the bag and put magnets on either side to hold it closed.

Play with eddy current damping

Drop a magnet down an aluminum or copper tube, and you'll see a hovering slow fall caused by eddy current damping. Here's a quick video.

Make a fridge pen Slip a small magnet underneath the metal clip on a pen (these uniballs are our favorite) and you can keep a pen handy on the fridge for your shopping list and phone messages.

Defeat magnetic safety interlocks

All kinds of cool industrial machines from photocopiers to deep fat fryers have magnetic safety interlocks to prevent the machine from working with the cover open. Whenever you see a magnet attached to a hinge, it's there to protect you. So if you ever want to do something ridiculously dangerous like laser engrave your fingernails, you'll need magnets to disable the magnetic interlocks.

Make anything into a fridge magnet We like to make unusual things into fridge magnets. And this trick has occasionally fooled folks into trying to open our fridge magnets to look for candy.

Demonstrate diamagnetic levitation

By placing diamagnetic material (such as bismuth or graphite) between a large magnet and a small one, you can levitate the small one. Detailed instructions and links to kits for this are on Bill Beaty's site, amasci.com.

Wake up your laptop or put it to sleep

Many laptops have a magnetic switch that tells the computer to go to sleep when the lid closes. Older Macs could be fooled into going to sleep with their lids up by waving a magnet by the upper right hand corner of the lid. Newer Macs can be fooled by resting a magnet on the switch on the right hand side of the keyboard. Caution: don't put a magnet near your hard drive!