Close X
Monday, November 25, 2024
ADVT 
Tech

Magnets to power your fridge!

Darpan News Desk IANS, 30 Apr, 2014 12:44 PM
    Within a decade, we could be using much more energy-efficient refrigerators than what we have today as researchers have now identified a new “universal” property of metamagnets, unleashing its potential applications for several items of everyday use.
     
    Metamagnets are metal alloys that can undergo dramatic increases in magnetisation when a small external magnetic field is applied, such as from a permanent magnet or an electromagnet.
     
    The magnetic effect of apparently all metamagnets is that it is non-linear, discovered the scientists.
     
    When these metamagnets are placed in an initial magnetic field and the field is doubled, they more than double in magnetic strength.
     
    “A very useful property of this type of magnetism is in magnetic refrigeration,” said Bellave Shivaram, a professor of physics at University of Virginia.
     
    Currently, metamagnets produce efficient cooling only at very low temperatures, using superconducting magnets, making them impractical for general refrigeration.
     
    “With the new discoveries of the properties of metamagnets, they could become part of everyday home appliances within a decade or so,” Shivaram added.
     
    Current refrigerators are among the biggest consumers of energy in the home. 
     
    They include several moving parts which make them costly to repair and they can leak fluorocarbons into the atmosphere, which can deplete ozone.
     
    “Refrigerators of the future, using metamagnets, would have fewer moving parts, would not require refrigerants, and, likely would use less electricity,” Shivaram noted.
     
    “In these new materials, the magnetism can be cycled on and off, enabling heat to be pumped away in a manner similar to what happens in a heat pump today,” he explained.
     
    Discovery of the new property of metamagnets could also lead to more efficient heat pumps and airport scanners, perhaps within a decade, the researchers emphasised.
     
    The findings appeared in separate papers in the journals Physical Review B: Rapid Communications and Review of Scientific Instruments.

    MORE Tech ARTICLES

    Here's an App that lets you chat without data connection!

    Here's an App that lets you chat without data connection!
    Move over WhatsApp. Here comes a revolutionary chatting App that has taken the mobile messaging to another level. With this, you are able to send and receive messages even when you do not have an actual internet or wi-fi data connection.

    Here's an App that lets you chat without data connection!

    Soon, Donate Your Voice Too!

    Soon, Donate Your Voice Too!
    Professor Rupal Patel from the Northwestern University and Tim Bunnel from the Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children have created a new technology called VocaliD that can build synthetic voices using whatever vocal sounds a patient can produce.

    Soon, Donate Your Voice Too!

    Drink from this bottle, then eat it too!

    Drink from this bottle, then eat it too!
    What about drinking your favourite cold drink or simply plain bottled water and then eating the bottle instead of throwing it in the bin or by the roadside? Spanish researchers have designed a blob design for water bottle that is edible.

    Drink from this bottle, then eat it too!

    Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella brings Office to Apple's iPad

    Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella brings Office to Apple's iPad
    In his first public appearance as the new Indian-American CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella made a break from the company's long-standing Window-centric world view to unveil Office suite for rival Apple's popular tablet iPad.

    Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella brings Office to Apple's iPad

    Heart beats differently in men, women

    Heart beats differently in men, women
    In tests to diagnose heart conditions, physicians have used a formula for years to calculate maximum number of heart beats a person can achieve per minute.

    Heart beats differently in men, women

    What? Facebook to deliver Internet from the sky!

    What? Facebook to deliver Internet from the sky!
    As the popular social networking site Facebook goes on an acquisition spree, its founder Mark Zuckerberg now has plans to make it more sci-fi in the near future.

    What? Facebook to deliver Internet from the sky!