Building on the work of Prof. James F. Scott, FRS of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge UK, who showed that : “[…] ordinary bananas exhibit closed loops of switched charge versus applied voltage that are nearly identical to those misinterpreted as ferroelectric hysteresis loops in crystals.” See: ‘Hysterical ferroelectric banana misinterpretations’, November, 2015) Muhammad Ismail and colleagues […]
Tag: magnet
“Egg unboiling machine enables graphene battery development”
“Egg unboiling machine enables graphene battery development,” is the headline in Mining Weekly. The article itself says: The Australian researchers who successfully unboiled an egg are turning their attention to capturing the energy of graphene oxide to make a more efficient alternative to lithium-ion batteries. The Flinders University team in South Australia has partnered with Swinburne University of Technology in Victoria, ASX-listed First […]
Attracting birds – with a ‘Songbird Magnet’
Want to attract birds? Specifically, Purple Martins or Eastern Bluebirds, Baltimore Orioles, House Wrens, House Finches, American Goldfinches, & Indigo Buntings etc etc. Then you could try the Bird-X Songbird Magnet. “As bird lovers, it only makes sense with the science & resources we have available, to offer an electronic songbird attractant.” – say the […]
Can (or should) Ostriches Eat Horseshoes?
The idea that ostriches are partial to eating horseshoes goes back a long way. Hundreds of years in fact. See this 14th century depiction of a horseshoe (and nail) Struthioniforme mealtime. But can the birds actually eat and digest them? Over the centuries, several experiments have been performed to find out, and some are recounted […]
Hysterical ferroelectric banana misinterpretations
Prof. James F. Scott, FRS of the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge UK, has published advice (in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter) for the attention of fellow ferroic researchers. “If your ‘hysteresis loops’ look like figure 1(a), please do not publish them. Publish data that are saturated and have a region in Q versus V that […]
Language of science: The Berry Phase begets the Belly Phase
“The Berry Phase” is not the only Berry phrase. Quantum physics turns (in more than one sense) on a concept called “the Berry phase“. The phrase, and in a way the concept, has recently given rise to a name for a phenomenon that occurs in your stomach: “the belly phase“. (Note for quibblers: Yes, quantum […]
Trouble in magneto paradise (with or without underwear)
This video shows measured evidence from a nasty spat between two manufacturers of tiny amusement magnets (thanks to Cliff Pickover for bringing it to our attention): The companies are Zen Magnets and Buckeyballs. The video shows a man from Zen responding to a ear-poppingly aggressive message sent to him by Jake Bronstein of the Buckyball […]
How to levitate a hamster, using a magnet
The BBC reports (HT Betsy Devine): Smurf the hamster gets stuck to cage with magnet A hamster found itself stuck to the bars of its metal cage in Northamptonshire after chewing a magnet that had fallen off a Spiderman toy. Kate Meech, of Bugbrooke, near Northampton, returned home from a day out to find the […]
“No one had tried such a silly thing before” — Geim
With this idea in mind and, allegedly, on a Friday night, I poured water inside the lab’s electromagnet when it was at its maximum power. Pouring water in one’s equipment is certainly not a standard scientific approach, and I cannot recall why I behaved so ‘unprofessionally’. Apparently, no one had tried such a silly thing […]