The National MagLab is funded by the National Science Foundation and the State of Florida.
These demonstrations about laws and tools associated with electricity and magnetism allow you to adjust variables at and to visualize invisible forces — which makes them almost better than the real thing.
Seeing is believing. In these animations, we show you what electricity and magnetism might look like if they weren't invisible.
Learn about electricity and magnetism — and have some fun while you're at it!
How do Maglev trains work? What are comets made of? How do bugs walk on water? This section demonstrates these and other concepts related to magnetism, electricity and other areas of science.
Whether you prefer your science short & sweet or long & detailed, we spell it out for you here in easy-to-understand language.
Read fun science stories told in comic strip style.
There is beauty and art in science. Gaze on these stories of discoveries that could be featured on museum walls instead of scientific journals.
Explore these surprising, unconventional and sometimes downright strange stories about high magnetic field research.
These special science graphics explain science stories in digestible steps and include optional detours for readers wanting more background to customize your reading journey.
Get to know these pioneers who went down in history for their groundbreaking work, including scientists behind common terms such as Amp, Celsius, Kelvin, hertz and tesla.
From the world's first compass to the magnetic force microscope and beyond, explore a variety of instruments, tools and machines throughout history.
Our timeline takes you through the highlights of electricity and magnetism and across the centuries.
Take a field trip to these high magnetic field landmarks around the globe.
Scientists explore new energy sources, the World Wide Web spins a vast network and nanotechnology is born.
1980
German physicist Klaus von Klitzing discovers that when electrical conductors are subjected to strong magnetic fields and low temperatures, their resistance varies in discrete quantized jumps rather than in a smooth, continuous manner, a phenomenon known as the quantum Hall effect.
1981
Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), which is based on the so-called tunneling current that begins flowing when a sharp tip approaches a conducting surface at a distance of about one nanometer, is invented.
1983
At the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), evidence of weakons (W and Z bosons) is produced, providing support for the theoretical link between weak and electromagnetic interactions.
Neodymium-iron-boron magnets, sometimes simply referred to as neo magnets, are first developed.
1987
The magnetic force microscope, a variant of the non contact atomic force microscope, is demonstrated for the first time. The instrument accomplishes magnetic resolution by the magnetostatic interaction between a ferromagnetic tip and a sample's stray micromagnetic fields.
For the first time, scientists achieve "high-temperature" superconductivity (above 77 degrees Kelvin) with a ceramic compound of yttrium, barium, copper and oxygen. Though the temperatures required to make YBCO superconductive are still quite low, they are high enough to be created with liquid nitrogen, much cheaper than the liquid helium required for lower temperatures.
1988
German and French physicists discover the giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect, which results from electron-spin effects in artificial multilayers of magnetic materials. The discovery marks the beginning of the field of spintronics, or spin-based electronics.
Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist at CERN, invents and demonstrates the World Wide Web (WWW), merging the technologies of personal computers, computer networking and hypertext into a global information system.
1993
A magnetic x-ray spectromicroscope, combining the photoemission and magneto-optic Kerr effect techniques, is demonstrated.
1997
Toyota launches the world's first mass-production hybrid vehicle, the Prius, which runs on both electricity and gas and offers better fuel efficiency and lower emissions than traditional vehicles.
1999
The Danish Ørsted satellite, equipped to provide high-precision measurements of the Earth's magnetic field, is successfully launched.
Electricity is marketed on the Internet for the first time.
2000
The first commercial wave power station, called the Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer (LIMPET), begins generating electricity on the Isle of Islay, Scotland.
2003
A team of Canadian researchers directly generates an electrical current by pumping tap water through numerous microchannels in a disk made of glass.
