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posted by mrpg on Friday November 23 2018, @05:01AM   Printer-friendly
from the Innsbruck dept.

Researchers defy 19th-century law of physics in 21st century boost for energy efficiency

Research led by a University of Sussex scientist has turned a 156-year-old law of physics on its head in a development which could lead to more efficient recharging of batteries in cars and mobile phones.

Dr Jordi Prat-Camps, a research fellow at the University of Sussex, has for the first time demonstrated that the coupling between two magnetic elements can be made extremely asymmetrical. Working with colleagues from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and University of Innsbruck, Dr Prat-Camps' research rips up the physics rule book by showing it is possible to make one magnet connect to another without the connection happening in the opposite direction.

The findings run contrary to long-established beliefs of magnetic coupling, which emerge from the four Maxwell equations dating back to the seminal works of Michael Faraday and James Clerk Maxwell in the 19th century.

Dr Prat-Camps said: "We have created the first device that behaves like a diode for magnetic fields. Electric diodes are so crucial that none of the existing electronic technologies such as microchips, computers or mobile phones would be possible without them. If our result for magnetic fields would have one millionth of the same impact as the developments in electric diodes, it would be a hugely impactful success. The creation of such a diode opens up a lot of new possibilities for other scientists and technicians to explore. Thanks to our discovery we think it might be possible to improve and the performance of wireless power transfer technologies to improve the efficiency of recharging phones, laptops and even cars."

Circumventing Magnetostatic Reciprocity: A Diode for Magnetic Fields (DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.213903) (DX)


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by bradley13 on Friday November 23 2018, @12:08PM

    by bradley13 (3053) on Friday November 23 2018, @12:08PM (#765510) Homepage Journal

    A quick glance, and remembering ancient physics: They are talking about magnetic coupling between coils. If you run current in a coil, this creates a magnetic field which travels through another coil and induces a current there. Think "transformer", or "radio antenna". You can also get physical forces, but that's not the point here.

    I'm struggling a bit to come up with an application here, but here's a bit of brainstorming: Any antenna is automatically both a transmitter and a receiver. A transmitting device may not be set up to receive signals, but the antenna is picking them up and sending them anyway. As examples, considerpowering RFID chips, wireless charging, remote controls, or just good old-fashioned OTA radio and television transmissions. I'll bet that some of these transmitters are vulnerable to hacking via their antennas. Almost all of them are vulnerable to EM power spikes. Could this technology provide a first line of defense?

    Maybe other Soylentils can come up with other suggestions...

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