Scientists create magnetic gas, with help from lasers - SmartPlanet http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/scientists-create-...

By Andrew Nusca | Sep 21, 2009 | 0 Comments

Scientists have long debated if gasses could display the same magnetic properties as solids.

With a little help from lasers, a team of researchers has proven it to be true.

MIT researchers observed magnetism in lithium gas cooled down to 150 millionths of a degree above absolute zero. By training an infrared laser beam on the gaseous cloud — the primary method physicists use to lower gas temperatures to near absolute zero — the scientists were able to stun the atoms, slowing them down and lowering their temperature.

By increasing the repulsive forces between the atoms, the researchers observed several features indicating that the gas had become ferromagnetic: the cloud first became bigger and then suddenly shrunk; and once the atoms were released from the trap, it suddenly expanded again.

The research is part of an MIT program studying novel magnetic materials — which have important applications in data storage, nanotechnology and medical diagnostics — and the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity.

Or, as MIT professor Wolfgang Ketterle put it: “One thing is certain: We have made an important discovery which will advance our understanding of magnetism.”

If confirmed, the result may enter textbooks on magnetism.

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Andrew Nusca

Andrew J. Nusca is an associate editor for ZDNet and SmartPlanet. As a journalist based in New York City, he has written for Popular Mechanics and Men's Vogue and his byline has appeared in New York magazine, The Huffington Post, New York Daily News, Editor & Publisher, New York Press and many others. He also writes The Editorialiste, a media criticism blog.

He is a New York University graduate and former news editor and columnist of the Washington

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Square News. He is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has been named "Howard Kurtz, Jr." by film critic John Lichman despite having no relation to him. A native of Philadelphia, he lives in New York with his girlfriend and his cat, Spats.

Andrew Nusca

Andrew J. Nusca does not hold any investments in the technology companies he covers.

Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet. Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Baseline. He also served as the East Coast news editor and finance editor at CNET News.com. Larry has covered the technology and financial services industry since 1995, publishing articles in WallStreetWeek.com, Inter@ctive Week, The New York Times, and Financial Planning magazine. He's a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism and the University of Delaware.

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Larry Dignan

Larry Dignan has nothing to disclose. He doesn't hold investments in the technology companies he covers. Smart Takes is a regular digest of the day's news headlines viewed through a SmartPlanet lens, offering an editor's take on breaking stories and opinion from around the Web and highlighting information that will make you smarter.

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