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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have found a way to distort the atomic arrangement and change the magnetic properties of an important class of electronic materials with ultra-short pulses of terahertz (mid-infrared) laser light without heating the material up. While the achievement is currently of purely scientific interest, the researchers say this new approach control could ultimately lead to extremely fast, low-energy, non-volatile computer memory chips or data-switching devices.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists studying the rotation of the Earth have long known that our planet doesn't have a perfect spin. Most believe this is due to the different types of materials that make up the core, mantle and crust, which all have different rates of spin causing inherent friction

By Nicola Jones of Nature magazine Two scientists from New Zealand will travel to Antarctica on December 28 in a quest to continue a 100-year-long record of Earth's magnetic field: a record begun by British explorer Robert Scott at the start of his ill-fated expedition to the geographic south pole (see "Turning the world upside down "). Record-keeping is necessary because the magnetic poles move about, thanks to the complex circulation of Earth's fluid outer core

(PhysOrg.com) -- An international collaboration led by the NIST Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology

Photo-induced phase transition (PIPT) has caused great excitement in materials science because ultra-fast alteration of the magnetic, dielectric, structural and optical properties of materials can be brought about with very weak photonic excitation as a result of cooperative interactions. An essential question that arises is how we can identify a novel phase of solid that is uniquely generated under photo-excited conditions.

While insulating against electrical currents

With the sweet scents from the adjacent sake brewery wafting through the air, Elizabeth Norris is busy selling, framing, and restoring intoxicating treats of a different kind. Covering the magnetic walls of her Vintage European Posters shop in Berkeley, Calif., are massive movie posters displaying vivid colors, conveying lots of ...

Rare earths are an expensive and necessary component of strong permanent magnets.