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.
Italian scientist Alessandro Volta was the first to recognize key principles of electrochemistry, and applied those principles to the creation of the …
Electricity goes through some ups and downs on its way from the power plant to your house. Here's how it works.
The simple electrical cell explained here is the most basic type of "wet" cell and demonstrates the fundamental chemistry behind batteries.
It may look like a simple black blob, but an oil drop is in fact a phenomenally complex mix of immense (relatively speaking) molecules called hydrocar…
This sports and science mash up features new geeky games inspired by the cool things scientists study in high-field magnets.
Follow us down this yellow brick road to learn how these deceptively small molecules conceal enormous potential for applications from carbon capture t…
A lot of the research conducted in powerful magnets ends up having a powerful effect on our day-to-day lives.
Physicist Felix Bloch developed a non-destructive technique for precisely observing and measuring the magnetic properties of nuclear particles.
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was an outstanding twentieth century theoretical physicist whose work was fundamental to the development of quantum mechanic…
Enrico Fermi was a titan of twentieth-century physics.
Joseph Henry was an American scientist who pioneered the construction of strong, practical electromagnets and built one of the first electromagnetic m…
The discovery of radio waves, which was widely seen as confirmation of James Clerk Maxwell's electromagnetic theory and paved the way for numerous adv…
James Prescott Joule experimented with engines, electricity and heat throughout his life.
Klaus von Klitzing is a Nobel laureate who won the prestigious award in 1985 for his discovery of the quantized Hall effect, sometimes referred to as …
At the turn of the 19th century, scientists were beginning to gain a rudimentary understanding of electricity and magnetism, but they knew almost noth…
Theodore Maiman built the world's first operable laser, which utilized a small synthetic rod with silvered ends to produce a narrow beam of monochroma…
Walther Meissner discovered while working with Robert Ochsenfeld that superconductors expel relatively weak magnetic fields from their interior and ar…
Austrian-born scientist Wolfgang Ernst Pauli made numerous important contributions to twentieth-century theoretical physics, including explaining the …
Although he didn't start studying physics until he retired from the clock-making business at age 30, French native Jean Peltier made immense contribut…
In a career that lasted seven decades, Max Planck achieved an enduring legacy with groundbreaking discoveries involving the relationship between heat …
Edward Mills Purcell was an American physicist who received half of the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for his development of a new method of ascertaini…
Theoretical physicist Julian Schwinger used the mathematical process of renormalization to rid the quantum field theory developed by Paul Dirac of ser…
Awarded more than 100 patents over the course of his lifetime, Nikola Tesla was a man of considerable genius and vision.
Alessandro Volta was an Italian scientist whose skepticism of Luigi Galvani's theory of animal electricity led him to propose that an electrical curre…
Carl Edwin Wieman is one of three physicists credited with the discovery of a fifth phase of matter, for which he was awarded a share of the prestigio…
Compared to incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps last longer, require less energy and produce less heat, advantages resulting from the different way …
Counting alpha particles was tedious and time-consuming work, until Hans Geiger came up with a device that did the job automatically.
For centuries, the electroscope was one of the most popular instruments used by scientists to study electricity. Abraham Bennet first described this v…
The first hydroelectric power plant, known as the Vulcan Street Plant, was powered by the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin.
With only minor changes to its original 1866 design, the Leclanché cell evolved into modern alkaline batteries and the most popular household battery …
French physicist Gaston Planté invented the first rechargeable battery, leaving an enduring legacy in battery history. To see it, just pop the hood of…
Alessandro Volta invents the first primitive battery, discovering that electricity can be generated through chemical processes; scientists quickly sei…
The first telegraphs are constructed and Michael Faraday produces much of his brilliant and enduring research into electricity and magnetism, inventin…
The legendary Faraday forges on with his prolific research and the telegraph reaches a milestone when a message is sent between Washington, DC, and Ba…
This work reports the first observation of the dynamical generation of a spin polarized current from an antiferromagnetic material into an adjacent no…
High-resolution electron magnetic resonance studies of the spin-wave spectrum in the high-field phase of the multiferroic Bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) rev…
New instrumentation allows electron magnetic resonance experiments to be performed in the lab’s flagship 36 T Series-Connected Hybrid magnet, unlockin…
Studying a mysterious magnetic material (Na2Co2TeO6) that could be used in future quantum computing schemes, researchers revealed the crucial role mic…
Molecular fossils of chlorophyll (called porphyrins) more than 1.1 billion years old find suggest that photosynthesis began 600 million years earlier …
Researchers have discovered a new method to create encapsulated carbon nanomaterials that contain fluorine. Known as fullerenes, these nanocages are p…
A new method to characterize crude oil corrosion shows that corrosion in acidic crude oils depends on the specific structures of the acid molecules, i…
Road asphalt is made from aggregate (rocks) mixed with a "binder” from the residue remaining after extraction of gasoline and oils from petroleum crud…
New research shows that high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) found in coal tar pavement sealants are oxidized into toxic, wa…
These include biological, environmental and petrochemical applications as well as analytical method development for FT-ICR mass spectrometry.
Combining high-field NMR with infrared microscopy, scientists learned more about how gas diffuses in a novel class of molecular sieves that could one …
For the first time, NMR diffusion measurements have been successfully used in a metallic catalyst, examining gas exchange rates in nanoporous gold. Th…
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous materials with high surface areas that can host a variety of different guest molecules, leading to applicat…
Measurements performed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory provide unique insight into molecular structure of next-generation catalysts for…
A new method to study how the nuclei of atoms “communicate” with one another in the presence of unpaired electron spins has been developed at the MagL…
Superconductors conduct large amounts of electricity without losses. They are also used to create very large magnetic fields, for example in MRI machi…
In everyday life, phase transitions - like when water boils and turns into steam or freezes and becomes ice - are caused by changes in temperature. H…
Small additions of elemental Hafnium boosts current-carrying capability in Nb3Sn superconductor.
High temperature superconducting magnets offer tremendous potential for technological advancements and scientific discoveries, making them essential i…
State-of-the-art ion cyclotron resonance magnet system offers researchers significantly more power and accuracy than ever before.
Martha Chacón-Patiño to jump-start collaboration that could advance both the treatment of cancer and the study of petroleum.
35 highlights out of 423 reports representing the best of life sciences, chemistry, magnet science and technology, and condensed matter physics.
Findings that “go against the textbooks” may improve biofuel production.
Promising technique could be used to turn light into electricity and electricity into light.
In a crystalline structure that locks a heavy atom in a metal cage, scientists find a key to materials that can turn heat into electricity, and vice v…
Researchers see promise in a cheaper, safer alternative to lithium batteries.
Physicist Christianne Beekman and chemist Yan-Yan Hu have been recognized as outstanding early-career researchers by the National Science Foundation.
MagLab researchers show that exposure to sun and water causes thousands of chemicals to leach from roads into the environment.
Tallahassee Company MagCorp to Partner with National MagLab.
New funding will explore the mysteries of the Platinum group elements to investigate possible alternatives to rare and expensive materials used in an …
Researchers reveal how carbohydrates form plant biomass, information that may lead to new biorenewable energy solutions.
The MagLab and the Bruker Corporation have installed the world’s first 21 tesla magnet for Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) mass spe…
The first mass spectrum from Fourier-Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance happened in December 1973. The co-inventor went on to build MagLab’s world-reno…
Fuel made from corn harvest waste would reduce greenhouse emissions by 70%.
An FSU chemistry team advances work to find batteries that charge faster and last longer.
A MagLab biomedical engineering research group blazes a trail for women in science.
From Superman materials to tree-bark gasoline, the MagLab is on the front line of energy research.
Thanks to the MagLab’s expertise and unique instruments, a geochemist finds a treasure trove of oil-spill data buried beneath the sea.
How can the barrier between oil and water in emulsions be broken down? When things overlap, you often get more than the sum of those parts. Or as one …
Which adjoining ingredients can yield a better lithium ion battery? Learn about a scientist who is pushing the boundaries of knowledge by exploring th…
Used to perform complex chemical analysis, this magnet offers researchers the world's highest field for ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.
A young chemist studying fracking fluid talks about what it's like when science hits close to home.
With determination, confidence and a top-notch team, this MagLab chemist exposed the complex secrets of crude oil, busting open a vast, new field.
