By Paul Whitington
Monday February 04 2008

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The study of planets circling distant stars is scarcely more than a decade old — the fantastic assumption that planetary systems exist outside our own was first confirmed in 1991 — and already it is making exciting progress. Over 110 extrasolar planets have been detected so far. Now, a team of Canadian astronomers has found that one such planet actually is heating its parent star and leaving a telltale imprint of its travels. The finding bolsters astronomers' theoretical understanding of planetary formation and offers a new method of detecting elusive yet intriguing worlds that dance unseen in the sky.

 

Read On....

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Until the middle of the 20th century the Earth's magnetism seemed to be a happy accident of nature. Too many factors had to fit just right--the fluid core of the Earth, its electrical condctivity and its motions, all had to satisfy the strict requirements of dynamo theory.

That was before other planets in the solar system were visited and examined. Now we know that among those planets, only Venus lacks any magnetism.     

Read ON.....

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By compiling all the solar wind data gathered in the space age, NASA scientists have concluded that even though the solar magnetic field is constantly changing, it always returns to its original shape and position.

       "We now know that the Sun's magnetic field has a memory and returns to approximately the same configuration in each 11- year solar cycle," said Dr. Marcia Neugebauer, a Distinguished Visiting Scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "Current theories imply that the field is generated by random, churning motions within the Sun and should have no long- term memory. Despite this expectation, the underlying magnetic structure remains fixed at the same solar longitude."

       "It's interesting that the solar magnetic field varies in strength and direction, but not in longitude," said Dr. Edward Smith, senior research scientist at JPL.

       The solar wind is composed of charged particles ejected from the Sun that flow continuously through interplanetary space. The solar wind carries Read ON................

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A second magnetic levitation track is up and running at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The experimental track  was installed inside a high-bay facility at the Marshall Center this month. Marshall’s Advanced Space Transportation Program is developing magnetic levitation — or maglev — technologies that could give a space launch vehicle a "running start" to break free from Earth’s gravity. A maglev launch system would use magnetic fields to levitate and accelerate a vehicle along a track at speeds up to 600 mph. The vehicle would shift to rocket engines for launch to orbit. Maglev systems could dramatically reduce the cost of getting to space because they’re powered by electricity, an inexpensive energy source that stays on the ground — unlike rocket fuel that adds weight and cost to a launch vehicle.

The Foster-Miller experimental track accelerates a carrier to 57 mph at its peak — traveling 22 feet in 1/4 second, the equivalent of 10 times the acceleration of gravity. The tabletop track is 44 feet long, with 22 feet of powered acceleration and 22 feet of passive braking. A 10-pound carrier with permanent magnets on its sides swiftly glides by copper coils, producing a levitation force. The track uses a linear synchronous motor, which means the track is synchronized to turn the coils on just before the carrier comes in contact with them, and off once the carrier passes. Sensors are positioned on the side of the track to determine the carrier’s position so the appropriate drive coils can be energized. Engineers are conducting tests on the indoor track and a 50-foot outdoor maglev track installed at Marshall last September by NASA and industry partner PRT Advanced Maglev Systems Inc. of Park Forest, Ill. The testing is expected to help engineers better understand maglev vehicle dynamics, the interface between a carrier and its launch vehicle and how to separate the vehicle from the carrier for launch. Future work on large systems will be led by NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla. Read On...

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It’s the year 2027 and NASA’s Vision for Space Exploration is progressing right on schedule. The first interplanetary spacecraft with humans aboard is on course for Mars. However, halfway into the trip, a gigantic solar flare erupts, spewing lethal radiation directly at the spacecraft. But, not to worry. Because of research done by former astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman and a group of MIT colleagues back in the year 2004, this vehicle has a state-of-the-art superconducting magnetic shielding system that protects the human occupants from any deadly solar emissions.

New research has recently begun to examine the use of superconducting magnet technology to protect astronauts from radiation during long-duration spaceflights, such as the interplanetary flights to Mars that are proposed in NASA’s current Vision for Space Exploration. Read On...

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Thanks to the hard work of two vigilant astronomers, one of the great mysteries surrounding solar magnetic fields is a mystery no longer.

The two scientists, David McKenzie of Montana State University at Bozeman and Hugh Hudson of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Japan, have witnessed for the first time evidence of a mysterious solar phenomenon long thought to exist, but never before seen. Known to experts as "magnetic-field line shrinkage" or "reconnection outflow," the behavior involves magnetic fields snapping back to the sun as if being pulled and then released like a rubber band.

"This is the motion weve been looking for, and now weve been able to spot it," said McKenzie.

Decades-old mystery comes to light

Read On........

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State University physicists and their colleagues have demonstrated for the first time a type of magnetic behavior that was predicted to exist more than 50 years ago.

The behavior involves a special kind of energy transition among atoms in a very small magnet, called chromium-8 (Cr8). And while scientists have long thought that the effect was controlled purely by quantum mechanics, the magnet’s behavior appears to reflect the laws of classical physics.

Oliver Waldmann

The classical laws of movement and energy are ones that people experience in daily life, and they normally only apply to objects that are large enough to be seen with the naked eye. In contrast, the molecular magnet Cr8 is so small that quantum mechanics -- the science that describes the interactions of subatomic particles -- should rule its behavior.

The finding could help bridge the gap between quantum and classical approaches for understanding these tiny structures, and aid the future development of useful devices based on nanotechnology, such as very powerful, very small computers.Read on......

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Turning cancer cells into mini magnets by using nanoparticles could make biopsies so sensitive and efficient that there will be no need to repeat these invasive tests.

Biopsy results can be ambiguous: sometimes they can be negative simply because there are too few malignant cells in the sample to be detected Ð not because all trace of disease has gone. Now researchers from the University of New Mexico and the company Senior Scientific, both in Albuquerque, have come up with a solution that harnesses the power of magnetic attraction.

[More:]

The idea is to use magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles encased in a biocompatible material. These in turn can be coated with antibodies that bind to chemicals found only in cancerous cells. When injected into the body, thousands of the particles stick to cancer cells, turning them into miniature magnets. The cells can then be drawn towards magnets encased in the tip of a biopsy needle (Physics in Medicine and Biology, vol 52, p 4009).

A mathematical model of the system confirmed that significant numbers of cancer cells, laden with nanoparticles, could be attracted to a needle within two or three minutes. In the lab....Read More....Click Here

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Magnetic therapy, long derailed as pseudoscience, has just gotten a boost from a biomedical study showing how magnets can reduce swelling.

The study will likely impress manufacturers of magnetic devices, many of whom never dreamed these things could actually work and have been selling them merely to cash in on this $5-billion-a-year industry. But skeptics will have a tough time brushing this one off.

In a tightly controlled study—a rarity in the world of alternative medicine—Thomas Skalak of the University of Virginia found that static magnets reduced swelling by up to 50 percent in the tiny hind paws of rats. Skalak published his results in the November issue of the American Journal of Physiology.

Push and pull

Therapeutic magnets have a demonstrated ability to pull wads of cash from your wallet. Some magnetic back braces sell for upwards of $100. The benefits associated with magnets range, according to proponents, from curing cancer to chasing away your mother-in-law, but mostly magnets are used to treat pain from muscle aches and arthritis. Read More..............

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A very interesting study and interesting read

PORTLAND, Ore. -- With the medical-magnet market growing by leap and bounds—said to be as high as $300 million in the U.S. and $5 billion worldwide--claims of medical efficacy range from curing carpal tunnel syndrome to eliminating arthritic pain. Unfortunately, no scientific study has yet to verify any of these claims. Time-varying electromagnetic fields have been scientifically verified to have positive medical effects--such as curing cancer in rats--but the static fields generated by the bracelets for wrists and ankles, and the pads for the back and feet, have never been properly scientifically tested.

Now, researchers at the University of Virginia have made the world's first scientifically verified claim for positive medical benefits from static magnetic fields, albeit the most useful medical application found by the researchers is not one claimed by bracelet and pad makers.

The new study set out to prove whether or not a static magnetic field could cause constricted blood vessels to dilate, thereby increasing blood circulation--a common claim made by companies selling magnetic therapies. What the researchers found was that the magnetic fields do, in fact, reverse constriction to dilation, as magnetic therapists claim, but more important, the magnets also caused the opposite effect: dilated blood vessels constricted. The latter--constricting dilated blood vessels--has valid medical applications in reducing inflammation after injuries, according to the study that was conducted by Professor Thomas Skalak, a University of Virginia biomedical engineer, along with his former student, Cassandra Morris, a doctoral candidate in biomedical engineering.

Once the scientists discovered that magnetic fields can....Read More.........

 

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A recent study demonstrates that the use of an acute, localized static magnetic field of moderate strength can result in significant reduction of swelling when applied immediately after an inflammatory injury. Magnets have been touted for their healing properties since ancient Greece.  Magnetic therapy is still widely used today as an alternative method for treating a number of conditions, from arthritis to depression, but there hasn’t been scientific proof that magnets can heal..... To Read On Click Here...

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 It has been 35 years since humans last walked on the moon, but there has been much recent discussion about returning, either for exploration or to stage a mission to Mars. However, there are concerns about potential radiation danger for astronauts during long missions on the lunar surface.

A significant part of that danger results from solar storms, which can shoot particles from the sun to Earth at nearly the speed of light and can heat oxygen in the Earth's ionosphere and send it in a hazardous stream toward the moon.

Earth is largely protected by its magnetic field, or magnetosphere, but new University of Washington research shows that some parts of the moon also are protected by the magnetosphere for seven days during the....READ ON.....

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Earth's magnetic field is fading. Today it is about 10 percent weaker than it was when German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss started keeping tabs on it in 1845, scientists say.

If the trend continues, the field may collapse altogether and then reverse. Compasses would point south instead of north. Read More.....

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by Mary-Sue Haliburton
Pure Energy Systems News

Seeing the powerful earthquakes such as the December 26th, 2004 event that triggered the tsunami disaster, people are looking for possible causes for the apparent instability of earth's crust. "End-times" alarmists and backyard researchers believe that the predicted imminent reversal of the earth's magnetic field may be a significant clue to these eschatological-scale events.

Scientists have been observing changes in the direction of earth's magnetic field which took place recently as well as in the distant past. NASA’s website features a map showing the gradual northward migration of the north magnetic pole in the past century and a half. Since more than double the time interval has elapsed since the last reversal, compared to the time lapse between the previous two pole reversals, some believe we may be overdue for the next north-south flip. (1,2) However, though the interval between reversals of the Earth’s magnetic field can be as short as 5,000 years, it can also be as long as 50 million years. There does not seem to be any logic or rule governing the planet’s behavior.

It is not only the direction but also the strength of this magnetic field that is a concern. In the time of dinosaurs, at an estimated 2.5 gauss, it was eighty percent stronger than it is now. This may have been one of the reasons such gigantic life forms thrived. It is now accepted that a catastrophic event ended the reign of giant reptiles. However, they did not re-evolve to equivalent dimensions. And the disappearance of mammalian “mega-fauna” in more recent times is still considered to be a mystery. The mastodons and mammoths would have towered over modern elephants. Why are there so few large terrestrial animals today? Read More...

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Discovery
Geomagnetic Landmarks Give Turtles Sense of Where They Are, Where to Go

How sea turtles navigate across vast expanses of featureless ocean to reach feeding and breeding sites has long been a mystery. Now, clues are surfacing to indicate turtles rely partly upon invisible landmarks created by the Earth’s magnetic field.

The turtles were placed into cloth harnesses and tethered to limit their travel.

 

July 30, 2004

How turtles navigate across vast expanses of seemingly featureless ocean to reach distant feeding and breeding sites has long been a mystery of the seas. Now, clues are surfacing to indicate sea turtles rely at least partly upon an invisible map of landmarks created by the Earth's magnetic field.

While technological global positioning systems process signals from satellites, the turtles' system draws upon variations in Earth's magnetic field, which give each geographic area a distinctive magnetic pattern. New research shows that sea turtles can apparently detect and distinguish among the magnetic fields in different locations, enabling them to compile a "magnetic map" for navigating to specific feeding and nesting areas.

The findings, reported in the April 29, 2004, issue of Nature, may enhance conservation efforts to protect endangered turtle species and suggest new methods of human navigation, according to the researchers. The study was led by University of North Carolina marine biologists Kenneth and Catherine Lohmann along the Atlantic coast of Florida and was supported by a $413,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

As newly hatched turtles leave the beach and enter the sea for the first time, they use the earth's magnetic field and the direction of ocean waves as crude compasses to guide them offshore into deeper waters favorable for growth and development. The young turtles, however, use the field primarily as a source of directional information for maintaining a heading.

"Older turtles," Lohmann said, "learn to use magnetic-field information in a far more sophisticated way, as a kind of map that can be used to pinpoint specific are....Read on....http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=100069&org=NSF

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A new family of magnetic molecules may point the way to computer memory that can be bent and flexed like plastic. A group has synthesized three carbon-based (organic) nickel compounds that become magnetic spontaneously at room temperature--an extremely rare find. If researchers can figure out how these materials form and how to control that process, they might be able to turn similar compounds into pliable magnetic plastics.

Past examples of magnetic organic materials were either unstable in air or were mostly made of metal, making them unsuitable for linking together into a plastic, says chemist Robin Hicks of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, lead author of the study reporting the find in this week's Nature. "There's been relatively few success stories in actually making a molecule that's magnetic at room temperature," he says......Read on.....http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=321E8B66-E7F2-99DF-3954EAC629ECD324&ref=rss

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Well one thing leads to another and why not look at such lofty thoughts??

E = mc². It's the world's most famous equation, but what does it really mean? "Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared." On the most basic level, the equation says that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable; they are different forms of the same thing. Under the right conditions, energy can become mass, and vice versa. We humans don't see them that way—how can a beam of light and a walnut, say, be different forms of the same thing?—but Nature does.

So why would you have to multiply the mass of that walnut by the speed of light to determine how much energy is bound up inside it? The reason is that whenever you convert part of a walnut or any other piece of matter to pure energy, the resulting energy is by definition moving at the speed of light. Pure energy is electromagnetic radiation—whether light or X-rays or whatever—and electromagnetic radiation travels at a constant speed of 300,000 km/sec (186,000 miles/sec).

Why, then, do you have to square the speed of light? It has to do with the nature of energy. When something is moving four times as fast as something else, it doesn't have four times the energy but rather 16 times the energy—in other words, that figure is squared. So the speed of light squared is the conversion factor that decides just how much energy lies within a walnut or any other chunk of matter. And because the speed of light squared is a huge number—90,000,000,000 (km/sec)²—the amount of energy bound up into even the smallest mass is truly mind-boggling.

Here's an example. If you could turn every one of the atoms in a paper clip into pure energy—leaving no mass whatsoever—the paper clip would yield 18 kilotons of TNT. That's roughly the size of the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. On Earth, however, there is no practical way to convert a paper clip or any other object entirely to energy. It would require temperatures and pressures greater than those at the core of our sun. Read on...http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/lrk-hand-emc2expl.html

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NEWS

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 by Sterling D. Allan
Pure Energy Systems News
Copyright © 2007

MUNICH, GERMANY – Mike Brady and I have a deeply intertwined history that dates back nearly five years. Our relationship has ranged from business associates to distant observers, but has remained mostly friendly throughout. I do believe that he has a viable technology that could potentially provide a clean energy solution for the planet, but I have not yet witnessed it in operation, though I have sought to do so a number of times, and am still in process of seeking the opportunity to go see and validate his claims, either in person or through a representative in the New Energy Congress. I still own the domain name: perendev.com, which forwards to our independent coverage at PESWiki.

I commenced my work in alternative energy in earnest largely as a result of Mike. Shortly after I commenced an index page featuring a smattering of free energy technologies in around April, 2002, Mike sent me an email with a link to his magnetic motor website. We commenced correspondence, and I began arranging to sponsor a tour of his motor throughout the United States, along with assembling a team of people to help manufacture and market the device both in the U.S. and.........Read on........http://pesn.com/Radio/Free_Energy_Now/shows/2007/02/17/9700224_Perendev/

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P. David in 1904 and B. Brunhes detected reversed magnetic fields in lava flows from the Massif Central mountains in France. In 1926, P. L. Mercanton ( Terrestrial Magnetism, vol 31, P.187) observed reversed magnetization in both old lava flows and baked clays, and went on to suggest that such polarity reversals might be used to test the continental drift hypothesis. Also, in 1929, M. Matuyama published a paper describing polarity reversals in Japan, Manchuria and Tyosen dating from the Quaternary era.

Since then, advanced dating techniques have revealed over 60 reversals during the past 20 million years, and the last one was about 250,000 years ago.

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The Sun has a roughly 11-year sunspot cycle, however, with the ending of each cycle, the polarity of the Sun's magnetic field reverses so that the North magnetic pole becomes the South and vice versa. Every 22 years we end up with the polarity returned to its 'previous' state. There have been many studies of what happens to Earth's weather when these flips occur, but to my knowledge, there has been no conclusive evidence that polarity reversal does much of anything.

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Possible Origin Of Magnetic Fields In Space Uncovered

Astronomers have suspected that magnetic fields in space play a key role in the makeup of galaxy clusters -- the basic building blocks of the universe.

Now, an Ohio University-led research team has uncovered what may be the origin of those fields, a finding that has eluded scientists for more than a decade.

The scientists analyzed data collected from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and discovered a series of enormous cosmic “bubbles,” formed more than 100 million years ago, that may contain and transport magnetic fields. These bubbles also may play a role in the creation of new stars in today’s galaxies, and may have been critical in the early stages of the universe.

“We think magnetism, in some locations of the universe, could have been as important as gravity in shaping the overall structure,” said Brian McNamara, an Ohio University astronomer who presented the findings Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C.

Using the Chandra observatory, an orbiting spacecraft that houses the most powerful X-ray telescope in existence, McNamara and his collaborators have been examining the forces at work in several galaxy clusters. Galaxy clusters are made of individual galaxies, hot gases and dark matter.

The researchers initially discovered that the X-ray emissions from several galaxy clusters were full of holes, or cavities, that contained bright radio emissions. These cavities probably were created by an explosion of high-energy particles, which left the radio emissions in its wake.

However, the Chandra data on another galaxy cluster known as Abell 2597, located more than 1 billion light years away from Earth, showed a surprising difference. The cluster’s cavities -­ which the researchers dubbed “ghost cavities” ­- contained only faint radio emissions. They seemed to float out of the centers of galaxy clusters like bubbles in a glass of soda pop, McNamara said. But these bubbles are 60,000 light years across in size, almost as big as the Milky Way galaxy.

The data suggest that the ghost cavities are filled with magnetic fields, which are released into the cosmos when the cavities burst apart. This could explain the strong magnetic forces that make up the structure of galaxy clusters, according to the astronomers.

“We’ve known for the past 15 to 20 years that magnetic fields exist, but we didn’t understand how they got there,” said McNamara, an associate professor of physics and astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences whose research is funded by NASA. “This could be a viable mechanism.”

The ghost cavities also may play an indirect role in star formation, according to the scientists. As the cavities move out of the center of the galaxy cluster, the surrounding gases cool and matter becomes dense, falling into a supermassive black hole in the cluster center. That triggers an explosion of radio emission, which sprays matter through the galaxy cluster. Under certain conditions, the matter may form new stars.

This process may happen from a dozen to hundreds of times during the life of the galaxy cluster, McNamara said, and most likely occurs in other galaxy clusters.

The key role of magnetic forces in galaxy clusters suggests that they also may have been an important mechanism in creating cosmic structure in the distant past, when the universe was smaller and the radio emission was more powerful, McNamara added.

Next the scientists will conduct a more detailed analysis of the properties of ghost cavities and their role in galaxy clusters.

“We have a sketch of what’s going on, but the details are foggy at this point,” McNamara said.

Collaborators on the project are Michael Wise of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Paul Nulsen of the University of Wollongong in Australia, Larry David of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Chris Carilli of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Craig Sarazin of the University of Virginia, and a group of astronomers from the Space Telescope Science Institute and the University of Virginia. - By Andrea Gibson

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The discovery of magnets was very important as they are used to make electric motors and generators. Things that would disappear if we had no electricity are telephones, lights, electric heat, computers, televisions.

Some uses of electromagnets: Maglev trains, car crushers, scrap metal sorters, telephones, computers, doorbells, tape recorders etc. Maglev trains operate without wheels as they 'float' above the track due to magnetic repulsion between electromagnets in the track and underside of the train. Maglev trains can travel very fast, up to 480 km/h (300 mph).

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For centuries travellers used compasses for navigation without understanding how they worked. For many years it was assumed that the magnetic and geographic poles were the same, a misconception that led to the early discovery of North America by Christopher Columbus in 1492. At the magnetic poles the field lines point straight up and down and so a compass there is useless.

Like all forms of magnetism the Earth's magnetic field is produced by electric currents. One theory accounting for the production of these currents is that deep in the Earth's core, hot molten magma rises, cools and sinks. Then, the whole process repeats itself. It is thought that within these rising and falling masses of magma the rotation of the Earth creates organized patterns of circular electrical currents, called eddies. The interior of the planet in fact acts like a giant dynamo.

Geophysicists have found that some of the Earth's magnetic field reversals occurred within a few 10,000 years of each other, and others, tens of millions of years apart. Lately the field has been reversing on the average, every 200,000 years, although it hasn't happened in the last 800,000 years. It is not known whether this reversal occurs gradually, or whether there is a period of time when there is no magnetic field at all. This latter possibility could have devastating effects for life on Earth, as it is the magnetic field which protects the Earth from deadly solar radiation. In fact, there appears to be good correlation between magnetic field reversals in the past and extinction of certain species. It is not known why these reversals occur, but it is as if the 'dynamo' in the Earth's core is turned off and turned on again in the opposite direction.

The Earth's magnetic field is also involved in the production of beautiful lights over the north pole called the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis.

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Hundreds of years ago Chinese sailors used pieces of magnetite, made into needles, to help them find their way if they were lost. A piece of magnetite, or a bar magnet, when freely suspended, generally comes to rest pointing in a north-south direction (a compass needle is a magnet). The Earth is like a giant magnet and behaves as if there is a huge bar magnet in the centre.

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The north and south ends of the Earth are called the north and south poles. Because of the Earth's iron-nickel core, the Earth behaves like a magnet. The Earth's magnetic poles are near the geographic poles.

A compass needle is also a magnet, with north and south poles. One pole of the needle is north-seeking and is marked "N", that is, it always points to the Earth's magnetic north pole. Similarly, the other pole of the compass needle, marked "S", is south-seeking and always points to the Earth's south magnetic pole.

The Earth itself acts as a magnet with two poles and an enormous magnetic field. At some places on the Earth's surface, its magnetic force is greater than at others. Moreover, the magnetic strength changes with the passage of the Moon around the Earth. The magnetic poles also shift their positions slightly from year to year. The Magnetic North Pole and the Geographic North Pole do not coincide.

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Ley / Li / Lei : 'The supposed straight line of a prehistoric track usually between hilltops.'

(Definition from the Concise Oxford Dictionary)

Through my work as a Tour Guide to the Ancient Sites here in Cornwall, I am often asked for an explanation of Ley Lines.

A Ley Line seems to be some form of change in the earth's magnetic field. It is still, with all our technology, difficult to define the power than constitutes a Ley Line.

Whatever a Ley Line consists of, I think that birds, fish and animals use them as direction finders. I think the human race used them in a similar way in early evolution.

In a New Scientist article (19.3.1987 pp 40-43), T. Williamson points out that species as diverse as pigeons, whales, honeybees and bacteria can navigate using the earth's magnetic field. The physiological feature which enables them to do this is a tissue with a substance called magnetite in it. Magnetite enables them to sense magnetic changes and has been found in human tissue associated with the Ethmoid bone in front of the vertebrate skull.

Today Ley Lines can often be detected by 'Dowsing' either with metal rods (bent into an L shape) or with a pendulum.

I think that previous to the building of the Stone Circles (2600 to 2800 BC) man navigated by use of the Ley Lines. Traders or settlers from a more sophisticated society arrived here in Cornwall and having already lost the ability to 'feel' the Ley Lines, standing stones were set on Ley alignments. From one stone you would always be able to see the next and these stone rows led to a point where the Ley Lines crossed. Here they built a Stone Circle where they met to trade.

I believe that Stone Circles were meeting places, markets and later, places of worship. Wherever people meet is the place to preach, whether it is Paganism, Druidism or Christianity.

The origin of the word 'trivial' may throw some further light on the Stone Circles, deriving from the Roman 'Tri-via', meaning where three roads meet. At a main crossroads the Romans posted the important news. Where only three roads met they posted the local or 'Trivial' news. At these crossroads was a 'Circus' which did not mean clowns or animals, but simply a circle. The most famous circle in Britain is Picadilly Circus in London.

But of course this is just my theory, everybody had their own. But perhaps it is an idea to visit such a sight and try 'dowsing' for yourselves.

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We have read about the earth's magnetic field weakening, Lobsters navigating by magnetic fields and our lives go on and who really ever thinks about magnets but yet - look how with just a bit of reading we see how intricate magnetism is GLOBALLY or should we say- Throughout the UNIVERSE

Read on....

Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News

 

June 6, 2002

 

As a young researcher, Peter Klimley decided that it was not only safe but also important to dive freely among hammerhead sharks to acquire a better understanding of the magnificent animals. "I believe you can learn about 80 percent of what's going on in the natural world by observation," he said in a recent interview.

Some people feared disastrous consequences of such a venture. Instead, it put Klimley on the path to becoming a leading shark expert.

 

Klimley, of the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology at the University of California–Davis, has been studying hammerheads and their behavior for more than 20 years. His observations of their elaborate social rituals and communication have considerably expanded knowledge of one of the most distinctive sharks.

 

There are nine species of hammerheads, which range from three to 20 feet (one to six meters) in length. They are found in the tropical and subtropical waters of oceans around the world. Klimley's current research project focuses on hammerhead sharks' little-known migration habits—knowledge that's important for the conservation of the sharks, and perhaps other marine species.

 

He is looking closely at the curious tendency of hammerheads, as well as other organisms, to school in large groups around underwater mountains. "Since the mid-80s," said Klimley, "I've been arguing that there is a whole assemblage of species that move north and south via stepping stones," or seamounts.

 

Underwater Schooling

 

For more than 20 years Klimley has been studying the behavior of scalloped hammerheads at underwater mountains, or seamounts, such as El Baho Espiritu Santo in the Gulf of California. There, he has observed breathtaking numbers of the sharks.

 

Why they create such a striking spectacle is not completely understood.

 

One thing that seems clear is that the sharks are not gathering at such locations because seamounts are a source of abundant food. In fact, the hammerheads gather at the seamount during the day but feed elsewhere at night. They leave the area at night—alone or in small groups—and spread out through the ocean for miles to feed on fish and squid.

 

Using ultrasonic telemetry, Klimley has tracked this feeding behavior. His research showed that at a certain time in the early morning, the sharks return to the seamount, generally following the same paths with remarkable regularity. They seem to use the underwater mountain as a kind of base.

 

Klimley thinks that the gathering of hammerheads around a seamount and the sharks' movements in the waters beyond may be related to their response to magnetic fields, made possible by the presence of electro-receptors at the bottom of their uniquely shaped heads.

 

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OK - Next time your about to dip that beautiful lobster in the butter sauce you can tell your dining buddies all about magnets and lobsters - who knew??

Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News

 

January 6, 2003

 

The animal world has its share of celebrated navigators, from flocking geese to spawning salmon. A rather unlikely character, however, may soon take its place among the best of them.

 

New research suggests that Caribbean spiny lobsters, despite their limited intelligence, may be among the animal kingdom's top navigators. Their homing abilities could also provide scientists with new clues to the long-debated role of the Earth's magnetic fields in animal movements and migrations.

 

Larry C. Boles and Kenneth J. Lohmann, researchers at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, reported their findings in the January 2003 issue of Nature. Their research suggests that spiny lobsters are able to determine their location on Earth even when transported to an unfamiliar area. The lobsters are the first invertebrates to display this ability known as true navigation.

 

Animals capable of true navigation can determine their position without relying on recognizable surroundings, cues that originate from a destination, or information collected on the journey to a given location. Only a few animals have been shown to possess true navigation—and all but the lobster are vertebrates. Birds such as the homing pigeon comprise most of the short list. However, there is some evidence that sea turtles and at least one type of migratory salamander also use true navigation.

 

In previous research, Boles and Lohmann found that Caribbean spiny lobsters used an internal magnetic compass that enables them to determine the four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. "That's not very unusual in the animal world," Boles said, "but it's one important tool you need to be good navigator."

 

"We know that lots of animals use the earth's magnetic field as a compass," said Charles Walcott, a professor of neurobiology and behavior at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a longtime homing pigeon researcher. "But if you become lost, a compass cannot tell you where you are. What's exciting about this new work is that it provides pretty strong evidence that [Caribbean spiny lobsters] use this field not just for direction but to know where they are on the Earth."

 

Boles explained that many considered the lobsters unlikely candidates to possess advanced navigational skills like true navigation.

 

"I think that a big issue is the general thought that invertebrates, because of their relatively simple nervous systems, might not have the necessary mental capacity to do this kind of thing," Boles told National Geographic News. "They are doing the most sophisticated kind of navigation with a much simpler nervous system than other animals."

 

Test Designed to Disorient Lobsters

 

The Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus) is commonly found in the western Atlantic Ocean in an area stretching from Brazil to Bermuda. Some populations are migratory, but most spend their daylight hours inside coral reef dens, emerging at night to forage before returning to their homes.

 

To test the lobsters' navigation abilities, researchers Boles and Lohmann developed complicated measures to disorient and confuse the animals. The researchers were careful to ensure that lobsters were not able to determine their location from sensory information gathered while being moved.

 

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Well you have heard alot about "Global Warming" but have you heard about the Earth's magnetic field fading? Read on....

 

John Roach
for National Geographic News

 

September 9, 2004

 

Earth's magnetic field is fading. Today it is about 10 percent weaker than it was when German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss started keeping tabs on it in 1845, scientists say.

 

If the trend continues, the field may collapse altogether and then reverse. Compasses would point south instead of north.

 

Not surprisingly, Hollywood has already seized on this new twist in the natural-disaster genre. Last year Tinseltown released The Core, a film in which the collapse of Earth's magnetic field leads to massive electrical storms, blasts of solar radiation, and birds incapable of navigation.

 

Entertainment value aside, the portrayal wasn't accurate, according to scientists who say the phenomenon of Earth's fading magnetic field is no cause to worry.

 

"The field has reversed many times in the past, and life didn't stop," said Gary Glatzmaier, an earth scientist and magnetic field expert at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

 

Glatzmaier is keeping an eye on our planet's weakening magnetic field as he tries to learn more about how Earth's geodynamo works. The geodynamo is the mechanism that creates our planet's magnetic field, maintains it, and causes it to reverse.

 

Magnetic Shield

 

Earth's geodynamo creates a magnetic field that shields most of the habited parts of our planet from charged particles that come mostly from the sun. The field deflects the speeding particles toward Earth's Poles.

 

Without our planet's magnetic field, Earth would be subjected to more cosmic radiation. The increase could knock out power grids, scramble the communications systems on spacecraft, temporarily widen atmospheric ozone holes, and generate more aurora activity.

 

A number of Earth's creatures, including some birds, turtles, and bees, rely on Earth's magnetic field to navigate. The field is in constant flux, scientists say. But even without it, life on Earth will continue, researchers say.

 

"There are small fluctuations, which lead to nothing, and large ones, which we know from the geologic record are associated with reversals," said Peter Olson, a geophysicist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

 

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In yet another area of life that we take for granted these days as we all use our computers everyday the power of magnets touches even this area of our lives without us even giving a second thought to it.......Take a look

 

MRAM breakthrough adds ability to maintain data when powered down

 

 

Updated: 6:22 a.m. PT July 10, 2006

 

DALLAS - Achieving a long-sought goal of the $48 billion memory chip industry, Freescale Semiconductor Inc. announced the commercial availability of a chip that combines traditional memory's endurance with a hard drive's ability to keep data while powered down.

 

The chips, called magnetoresistive random-access memory or MRAM, maintain information by relying on magnetic properties rather than an electrical charge. Unlike flash memory, which also can keep data without power, MRAM is fast to read and write bits, and doesn't degrade over time.

 

Freescale, which was spun off of Motorola Inc. in July 2004, said Monday it has been producing the 4-megabit MRAM chips at an Arizona factory for two months to build inventory.  A number of chip makers have been pursuing the technology for a decade or more, including IBM Corp.

 

Read on....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13798680/

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In our effort to help consolidate your search findings to one specific site i.e. our Blog we have posted another in yet the series of never ending articles that ask the Sixty Four dollar question. Do these things work?? There are many opinions and many interpretations of what “works” means. We like to view this compilation of articles and educational web links as just that – an information source to glean what makes sense to you, out of it all – enjoy … The reading is interesting...

 

 

InAuthor: Jeanette Conner

Article source: http://www.advicelife.com/. Used with author's permission.

Recently, a number of articles have been published on static magnetic therapy. Static magnetic therapy is the placement of a magnet field on or near the body to enhance healing, relieve pain and improve body function. The idea of magnetism is not new. Early Chinese medical literature claimed healing properties for lodestrone, a naturally magnetic mineral. For centuries, static magnetic therapy has been used by eastern practitioners to relieve pain and swelling, and to induce healing. Since the 1950's, numerous Japanese studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of magnetic fields for treating various conditions. Many magnetic devices are registered with the Japanese Welfare Ministry as medical devices, after undergoing clinical testing at accredited medical institutions to verify their safety and effectiveness.

For many years, the Magnetic Health Science Foundation has been meeting annually in Japan to report on the growing body of evidence of the scientific technology of magnetic research. To date, there are now over 300 published articles on magnetic research.

But, do magnets really work? The answer may lie in understanding the laws of physics, and in reviewing recent scientific evidence.

We are energetic beings surrounded by naturally generated electromagnetic energy, fields of energy which are created by the spinning and moving of electrons and charged particles within the cell.

Some of the early awareness of the importance of electromagnetic energy fields was discovered when the Russian cosmonauts first spent long periods of time on board the Mir space station; they became sick. Their illnesses appeared to be caused by the lack of contact with the magnetic field surrounding the earth. Once the Russian space station was equipped with a magnetism generator, the symptoms disappeared.

All cells within the body are ordered by magnetism; the atoms and molecules are tiny magnets with a positive and negative pole. All communication within the body occurs through electric currents and the electromagnetic frequencies they generate.

According to the laws of physics, the first law of electromagnetism states that if an electron or other charged particle is moving it generates a magnetic field. The corollary to this rule is that if an electron or charged particle encounters a magnetic field it must move.

So how does this apply to magnetic therapy, healing, and pain? When a person is injured, the body immediately reacts to restore the body to its natural balanced state. In brief, the injured tissue produces a chemical reaction whereby acids are released and chemicals are brought to the injured site to begin a healing process. This chemical reaction leads to swelling which causes pain.

The theory is that when a magnetic field is placed at or near the injured site the electromagnetic field induces a current or charge in the tissues in the body. This charge causes the toxins (acids and other chemicals) to move, the toxins are removed and excreted, and a natural healing state ensues. As this change occurs, the blood flow to the injured site is improved, the swelling is reduced, and pain is alleviated.

Some scientists believe that magnetic therapy causes the body to dispose of waste materials (toxins) more quickly and speeds up the healing process. Numerous studies have been conducted on the effects of static magnetic therapy in Asia and Europe. Recently, scientists in the US have begun reporting their results of the effectiveness of magnetic fields.

Magnetic therapy has been found to be effective in alleviating burning, numbness and tingling, and exercise induced foot pain in patients with diabetic neuropathy (Weintraub 1998, 1999, 2003); in alleviating neuropathic pain in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (Weintraub & Cole 2000); in alleviating pain in people suffering from osteoarthritis in the knees and hips (Harlow 2004, Hinman 2002, Pipitone 2001, Wosko 2004); and in other chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (Segal 2001), fibromyalgia (Alfono 2001, Thomas 2001) and chronic back pain (Collacott 2000).

Although the scientific research in the United States is still in the early stages compared to the Asian and European studies, static magnetic therapy has been shown to have no detrimental side effects and has great promise for those suffering from chronic painful conditions.

For more information on magnetic studies and where to find magnetic devices, go to our website: www.mayaintegratedmedicine.org or email us at:info@mayaintegratedmedicine.org

Jeanette M. Conner PhD, MS, MN, ARNP

Dr. Conner is the President and Director of the Maya Center for Integrated Medicine & Research in Shelburne Vermont; a health and wellness center focused on providing comprehensive traditional and complementary services while encouraging individual healing through self care. Dr. Conner is an Associate Professor of Clinical Research at Dartmouth Medical School, Department of Community & Family Medicine. She has conducted clinical research in health care for over 10 years, and now focuses her efforts on teaching others to promote their health and heal illness through the use of mind-body-spirit medicine.

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The fields of electricity and magnetism are intimately intertwined. However, humankind’s knowledge of magnetism and static electricity began more than 2,000 years before they were first recognized to be separate (though interrelated) phenomena. Once that intellectual threshold was crossed – in 1551 – scientists took more bold steps forward (and more than a few steps back) toward better understanding and harnessing these forces. The next 400 years would see a succession of discoveries that advanced our knowledge of magnetism, electricity and the interplay between them, leading to ever more powerful insights and revolutionary inventions.

This timeline highlights important events and developments in these fields from prehistory to the beginning of the 21st century. It also includes related developments in other disciplines (such as the evolution of computers). 

600 BC - 1599 - Humans discover the magnetic lodestone as well as the attracting properties of amber. Advanced societies, in particular the Chinese and the Europeans, exploit the properties of magnets in compasses, a tool that makes possible exploration of the seas, “new worlds” and the nature of Earth’s magnetic poles.

1600 - 1699 - The Scientific Revolution takes hold, facilitating the groundbreaking work of luminaries such as William Gilbert, who took the first truly scientific approach to the study of magnetism and electricity and wrote extensively of his findings.

1700 - 1749 - Aided by tools such as static electricity machines and leyden jars, scientists continue their experiments into the fundamentals of magnetism and electricity.

1750 - 1774 - With his famous kite experiment and other forays into science, Benjamin Franklin advances knowledge of electricity, inspiring his English friend Joseph Priestley to do the same.

1775 - 1799 - Scientists take important steps toward a fuller understanding of electricity, as well as some fruitful missteps, including an elaborate but incorrect theory on animal magnetism that sets the stage for a groundbreaking invention.

1800 - 1819 - Alessandro Volta invents the first primitive battery, discovering that electricity can be generated through chemical processes; scientists quickly seize on the new tool to invent electric lighting. Meanwhile, a profound insight into the relationship between electricity and magnetism goes largely unnoticed.

1820 - 1829 - Hans Christian Ørsted’s accidental discovery that an electrical current moves a compass needle rocks the scientific world; a spate of experiments follows, immediately leading to the first electromagnet and electric motor.

1830 - 1839 - The first telegraphs are constructed and Michael Faraday produces much of his brilliant and enduring research into electricity and magnetism, inventing the first primitive transformer and generator.

1840 - 1849 - The legendary Faraday forges on with his prolific research and the telegraph reaches a milestone when a message is sent between Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD.

1850 - 1869 - The Industrial Revolution is in full force, Gramme invents his dynamo and James Clerk Maxwell formulates his series of equations on electrodynamics.

1870 - 1879 - The telephone and first practical incandescent light bulb are invented while the word “electron” enters the scientific lexicon.

1880 - 1889 - Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison duke it out over the best way to transmit electricity and Heinrich Hertz is the first person (unbeknownst to him) to broadcast and receive radio waves.

1890 - 1899 - Scientists discover and probe x-rays and radioactivity, while inventors compete to build the first radio.

1900 - 1909 - Albert Einstein publishes his special theory of relativity and his theory on the quantum nature of light, which he identified as both a particle and a wave. With ever new appliances, electricity begins to transform everyday life.

1910 - 1929 - Scientists’ understanding of the structure of the atom and of its component particles grows, the phone and radio become common, and the modern television is born.

1930 - 1939 - New tools such as special microscopes and the cyclotron take research to higher levels, while average citizens enjoy novel amenities such as the FM radio.

1940 - 1959 - Defense-related research leads to the computer, the world enters the atomic age and TV conquers America.

1960 - 1979 - Computers evolve into PCs, researchers discover one new subatomic particle after another and the space age gives our psyches and science a new context.

1980 - 2003 - Scientists explore new energy sources, the World Wide Web spins a vast network and nanotechnology is born.

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Questions that often come up are, "How do magnets work?", or, "Why is iron magnetic?", or, "What makes a magnet?", or, "What is the magnetic field made of?".

Those are good questions, and deserve a good answer.  However, did you know that there is a lot about magnets at the atomic level that isn't known yet?  Just like with most of the other basic forces we are familiar with, such as gravity, electricity, mechanics and heat, scientists start by trying to understand how they work, what they do, are there any formulas that can be made to describe (and thus predict) their behavior so we can begin to control them, and so on. 

The work always starts by simple observation (that's the fancy word for playing around with the stuff!).  That's why it's so important to have some "hands-on" experience with magnets.  Have you taken two magnets and tried to push like poles together?  How far away do you start to feel the repulsion?  How does the force vary with the distance between them?  When the magnets are moved off-axis to each other (moving them to the side and not head on) what does it feel like?  Could you describe it like trying to push two tennis balls together?  When you flip one around, what changes?  What about moving one around the other in a circle?  Try these things!  That's how you learn!  Only when you play with (observe) them will you begin to understand how they work. This is the stuff great scientific pioneers did, like Faraday, Lenz, Gilbert, Henry and Fleming. 

 

Read on  -

http://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/maghow.htm

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