It is not known when humans first noticed the attraction or repulsion between pieces of magnetic material. The first important device depending on these forces was the magnetic compass, which is ...

WASHINGTON — A year from now, the U.S. Navy hopes to launch a pair of small satellites that are able to harvest electrons from space and use them and the Earth’s magnetic field as a propulsion system.

Magnet technology has advanced, year-over-year, pulled by the desire of scientists for ever-higher magnetic fields. But progress has been paced by new developments in properties of materials needed to ...