Auroras happen when energetic particles — usually from the solar wind — interact with the atmosphere. Here on Earth, they’re most often found near the poles, where our strong global Keep reading
Tag: magnetic field
A Triangular Prominence
Our Sun is a maelstrom of light and heat, a constant battlefield for plasma and magnetic fields. This recent prominence, captured by Andrea Vanoni and others, bore a striking triangular Keep reading
Solar Filament Eruption
From Earth, we rarely glimpse the violent flows of our home star. Here, a filament erupts from the photosphere creating a coronal mass ejection, captured in ultraviolet wavelengths by the Keep reading
A Shallow Origin for the Sun’s Magnetic Field
The Sun‘s complex magnetic field drives its 11-year solar activity cycle in ways we have yet to understand. During active periods, more sunspots appear, along with roiling flows within the Keep reading
Making Magnetic Crystals From Ferrofluids
Ferrofluids are a great platform for exploring liquids and magnetism. Here, researchers trap ferrofluid droplets along an oil-water meniscus and then apply a magnetic field that makes the drops repel Keep reading
Forming Zigzags
Scientists are fascinated by the organized patterns that can emerge from non-living systems. Here, researchers study micron-sized magnetic particles, immersed in a viscoelastic fluid and subjected to an oscillating magnetic Keep reading
Mermaid Cereal
In the Cheerios effect, floating objects can fall into one another due to capillary attraction — just like Cheerios link up in a cereal bowl. Here researchers play with that Keep reading
Magnetic Soap Films
Soap films naturally thin over time as fluid evaporates and differences in film thickness cause surface-tension-driven flows. In this video, researchers experiment with adding magnetic nanoparticles to the soap film. Keep reading
A Forest of Ferrofluids
Ferrofluids are made up of ferrous nanoparticles suspended in a carrier fluid like an oil. Under magnetic fields, they take on an array of shapes — from pointed spikes to Keep reading
Contactless Bending
Using electromagnetism, researchers are bending and shaping soft liquid wires even against gravity. The team used galinstan — an alloy of gallium, indium, and tin that remains liquid at room Keep reading