Terra Magnetica

The Concerted European Action On Magnets: A Model For Facing The Rare Earths Challenge?

10. February 2010

In 1984, the magnetic materials research community in Europe was at a formidable crossroads. The latter part of 1983 had seen industrial research groups in the USA and Japan simultaneously announce the discovery of a promising new permanent magnet material, based on the neodymium-iron-boron [Nd-Fe-B] alloy system. This long-sought successor to the ever more expensive [...]

Magnetic Tape Gets A Boost

25. January 2010

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Earlier this week, MIT’s Technology Review published a story on a new magnetic tape material which, combined with a novel tape-reading technology, can produce data storage capacities of 35 Tb per cartridge – over 40 times higher than current tape storage systems. The research was conducted at IBM’S Zurich Research Labs in Switzerland, in conjunction [...]

Making Magnetic Paper

6. January 2010

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Hello folks – Happy New Year! My apologies for the long delay in posting a new article here at Terra Magnetica – let me get things back on track with some news from R & D Magazine, on a new paper-based magnetic material that may have potential for low cost fabrication applications. A team of [...]

Rare Earths & Permanent Magnets On The Radio Airwaves

16. November 2009

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Over the past few days, Australia’s ABC Radio National broadcast not one, but two items on rare earth metals, to both of which I heartily recommend listening. The first item was broadcast on the Breakfast program on Friday, and lasts a little over 6 minutes. It’s an introductory piece on the subject, but spends significant time [...]

Magnetics 2010 Discount Registration Deadline Coming Up

15. November 2009

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As you may already know by now, the Magnetics 2010 conference will be held January 28-29, 2010 at the Disney Hilton in Orlando, Florida. Per the folks organizing the conference, the conference “will feature an interactive exhibit hall, the chance to attend pre-conference workshops, unmatched networking/business opportunities and more than 20 technical presentation“. The Conference [...]

University of Delaware wins $4.4 million to develop next-generation magnets

14. November 2009

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My thanks to RareMetalBlog’s Ian London for pointing this article out: Oct. 27, 2009 – by Tracey Bryant – The University of Delaware has won a $4.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) to lead a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional research project to develop the next generation of high-performance permanent [...]

The Problems Of Sourcing Wind Turbines And Rare Earth Metals From China

12. November 2009

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Last weekend, Democrat US Senator Chuck Schumer of NY made headlines with his comments on a recent plan to fund a wind farm in Texas, using Federal stimulus money to pay for Chinese-built wind turbines. Rare metals commentator and analyst Jack Lifton has posted a new article on the subject, called “The Rare Earth Crisis [...]

‘Magnet’ fridge to be future cooler

12. November 2009

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UK Press Association – A “highly innovative” fridge which will use magnets to cool food is being developed as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to current technology, the Carbon Trust has said. The trust, along with white goods manufacturer Whirlpool, is backing the project to develop a domestic refrigerator based on the scientific principle that certain [...]

21st Rare Earth Permanent Magnet Workshop [REPM10]: Call For Abstracts

6. November 2009

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Earlier today, I was pleased to learn that the Organizing Committee of the 21st International Workshop on Rare Earth Permanent Magnets and the Applications [REPM10] announced their first Call for Abstracts. This meeting takes places in Bled, Slovenia from August 29 to September 2, 2010. Held every two years, the Workshop was inaugurated in 1974 [...]

It’s Official: Feds Required To Report To Congress On Rare Earths In The US Defense Supply Chain

1. November 2009

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As I’ve posted about extensively here at Terra Magnetica, the US National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 contained language that required that the Federal government look at the role of rare earth materials in the US defense supply chain. Earlier this week, the bill was finally signed into law by President Obama. Section [...]