Light-Sensitive, Magnetic Plastic 2
YourHero writes: "Ohio State and University of Utah researchers have cooked up plastic that's magnetic, and even more fun, changes it's magnetic properties in response to light. It still takes a liquid-nitrogen bath (stops working above 75 Kelvin), but we should all have one of those anyway. Details at the OSU Research page." It looks like there's plenty of interest (a lot of it in midwestern universities) in plastic magnets.
Possible Uses... (Score:3, Funny)
- lightweight security devices. You pop the lid on my computer and the magnetic surge from these things wipe out all data
- Colour one side black and the other side white and mount on a rotating skewer. Position near an existing magnet and expose one side of the plastic to light. As the plasticmagnet changes properties it'll move relative to the existing magnet - use the motion to generate electricity
- Fridge magnets which can tell if some fat bastard is blocking the light to the door of the fridge.
merkac...Um (Score:2, Informative)