On Monday, October 15, 2001 9:29 PM hal@finney.org wrote:
>> Well, regarding rail transport, a year or two ago I read an article that
>> someone or some group had come across a way to use regular magnets --
room
>> temperature, nonexotic materials kind -- to do the train levitation trick
>> just through arranging them the right way. Anybody read about that? I'm
>> having trouble finding the source... I think it was _Science Spectra_ or
>> _American Scientist_, but I can't find the article in their archives...
>
> You are probably thinking of diamagnetic levitation. I saw a demo of this
> in a display case at Caltech. They use bismuth or some other material
> with appropriate magnetic properties. However I don't think the effect
> is stable or strong enough that it would be practical for trains.
I don't think so because this was about using regular magnets AND the demo
was with trains, albeit models. Also, the article was in print -- not
online. I also think, at the time, some government lab was involved.
Daniel Ust
See my "The Many Births of Free Verse" at:
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/FreeVers.html
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