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Ether What is the Ether ('Æther')? Until the late 1800s, scientists assumed that since they had discovered that light behaved like a wave, there had to be a medium through which it propagated. This medium was the Ether. Michelson and Morley tried to detect the Ether using interferometry with their famous experiment. Read an excellent paper about the experiment here. The result--a "null." Its existance was not proven or disproven. Add in Maxwell's equations from the 1860s, and things at the time were very confused. If there was no Ether, light travelled 186,300 miles per second relative to what? Einstein was able to address this problem-- read about the history and characters in this puzzle in an excellent paper here. We've chosen these experiments to be in the 'Ether' section of this site since they all involve strange, unseen, nearly 'magical' forces. To quote Arthur C. Clarke, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Experiments with the Ether Diamagnetic Levitation 3 different ways to achieve stable levitation! Lenz Effect Levitation Levitate magnets over Aluminum or Copper! Reciprocating Electric Motor Build a simple reciprocating electric motor from wood, magnets and wire. A really neat science fair project! Halbach Arrays An ingenius magnet array that cancels the flux on one side, augments it on the other. Build a one-sided fridge magnet! Superconductor Levitation Dramatic superconductor levitation experiments! What is Magnetism? Magnetism and electromagnetism FAQs Magnetic Viewing Film See magnetic fields in action! Really cool photos, easy science fair idea. Plasma Make high-energy plasma in your microwave! (It's the 4th state of matter) Bose-Einstein Condensate Make the 5th state of matter in your freezer! (just kidding, but read all about it here) Permanent Magnet Experiments Some really weird experiments with Neodymium-Iron-Boron supermagnets! Fun with Ferrofluid Play with a very bizarre liquid that takes the shape of a magnetic field! Magnetorheological Fluids Even more bizarre than ferrofluids... We will gladly accept, review and consider your science experiment submissions for inclusion on this site, whether you are age 6 or age 100! Email us for details. Every experiment on these pages must be done with adult supervision only!!! If you are already an adult, we recommend getting a friend to help so you don't do anything childish and hurt yourself. We'll try to provide safety warnings, but cannot be held responsible for your own safety. Many of these experiments and many of the books we sell are from another era when safety was not a consideration, so PAY ATTENTION to the hazards of what you are doing! Wear safety goggles and gloves. Don't be stupid--YOU are supposed to be the adult here!

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THIS PAGE LAST UPDATED 1/23/02