Magnetism

Magnets, those objects that attract or repel each other, are more than staples of your refrigerator door. They are found in just about every laptop and the force they produce protects Earthlings from some lethal radiation from space. Live Science keeps up with the most interesting discoveries related to magnets and magnetism.

Related Topics: Elements, Physics, Energy

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A powerful X-ray burst erupts from a magnetar — a supermagnetized version of a stellar remnant known as a neutron star — in this illustration.

'Cosmic monster' star spits energy with the force of a billion suns

By Mindy Weisberger published

Scientists just collected the first measurements of violent eruptions in extremely dense magnetic stars called magnetars.

Using a cellphone.

5G Network: How does it work, and is it dangerous?

By Tim Childers published

High power circular energy field, magnetism.

Physicists could do the 'impossible': Create and destroy magnetic fields from afar

By Stephanie Pappas published

The ability to cancel and induce magnetic fields from a distance could improve biomedicine.

An illustration of Earth's magnetic field.

'Vigorous' magnetic field oddity spotted over South Atlantic

By Stephanie Pappas published

European satellites are investigating the development of two distinct weak points within the South Atlantic Anomaly of Earth's magnetic field.

The north magnetic pole is leaving Canada for Siberia. These 'blobs' may be the reason why.

By Laura Geggel published

While the blob under Canada has weakened, the blob under Siberia has strengthened.

A representation of Earth and its magnetic field.

Earth's Magnetic Poles Can Flip Much More Often Than Anyone Thought

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

Earth's magnetic field flipped 26 times every million years during the Cambrian period, the highest frequency ever documented.

Epic 'Terminator' Events Could Result in Gargantuan Solar Tsunamis, New Studies Suggest

By Brandon Specktor published

What causes the sun's 11-year cycle of sunspot activity? According to two new studies, it could be literal tsunamis of plasma.

The permanently magnetized liquid droplets spin in perfect unison.

In a Lab Accident, Scientists Create the First-Ever Permanently Magnetic Liquid

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

These liquid droplets can morph into various shapes and be externally manipulated to move around.

Streamlines showing magnetic fields layered over a color image of the dusty ring around the Milky Way’s massive black hole.

Is This Invisible Magnetic Field Smothering Our Nearest Supermassive Black Hole?

By Rafi Letzter published

The monster black hole at the center of the Milky Way is eerily quiet, and now astronomers think they know why.

Motorcyclist on highway

Lightning Strikes and Kills Motorcyclist. Why Rubber Tires Didn't Protect Him.

By Laura Geggel published

Here's why a motorcycle's rubber tires didn't protect the rider when lightning struck.

This image illustrates Jupiter's magnetic fields at a single moment in time.

Hidden Winds on Jupiter May Be Messing with Its Enormous Magnetic Field

By Rafi Letzter published

Jupiter's magnetic field has changed since the 1970s, and now physicists think they know why it's happening.

Potbelly sculptures on display near Guatemala's Pacific coast.

Ancient Guatemalan Sculptors Knowingly Crafted Magnetic 'Potbelly' Statues

By Tom Metcalfe published

The giant heads and distorted bodies are magnetized in particular spots.

An ordinary proton or neutron (foreground) is formed of three quarks bound together by gluons, carriers of the color force. Above a critical temperature, protons and neutrons and other forms of hadronic matter "melt" into a hot, dense soup of free quarks

What Makes the Strong Force So Special?

By Paul Sutter published

The Force is (super) strong with these quarks.

goemagnetism simulation

Turbulent Blobs in Earth's Core May Explain Sudden Jerks in the Magnetic Field

By Brandon Specktor published

Here’s one explanation for why Earth’s magnetic field undergoes weird geomagnetic jerks every decade or so.

solar rain gif

Fountains of Plasma Rain Might Explain One of the Biggest Mysteries of the Sun

By Brandon Specktor published

This strange structure could explain what happens during solar rain.

This image comes from a computer simulation of a skyrmion bag containing three skyrmions. White represents magnetic field lines pointing up, black represents lines pointing down, and other colors represent other directions.

Physicists Stuffed a Ghostly 'Skyrmion' Full of 'Antiskyrmions'

By Rafi Letzter published

The ghostly 'quasiparticles' have barely any material existence, but physicists are still managing to manipulate them into uncanny shapes.

A magnetic field surrounds our planet and protects it from solar radiation. Our brains might be able to tune into it.

Scientists Find Evidence That Your Brain Can Sense Earth's Magnetic Field

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

The Earth's magnetic field might be influencing the brain.

Water molecules detach from the surface of the moon when it gets too hot and float to colder areas of its surface and thin atmosphere.

Water Molecules Bounce Around the Moon. Here's Why.

By Yasemin Saplakoglu published

It's too hot to sit still

Solar wind and geomagnetic storm

Ice Samples Reveal a Massive Sun Storm Hit Earth in Ancient Times...And It Could Happen Again

By Charles Q. Choi published

A gigantic solar storm hit Earth about 2,600 years ago, one about 10 times stronger than any solar storm recorded in the modern day, a new study finds.

cigar galaxy wind

NASA Weighed the Wind Billowing Out of the Cigar Galaxy, and It's Unbelievably Massive

By Brandon Specktor published

There's a mighty wind a-blowin' out of the Cigar Galaxy, and it could teach astronomers how the first stars formed.