Straight out of Lewis Carroll: Things that aren’t normally magnetic are, when they’re nano particles. The materials were studied at room temperature, which is another departure from the script. Indian scientists found something nobody was looking for.
Ferromagnetism was also found in nano particles of superconductors, which under normal circumstances would be a contradiction in terms. The results from these tests have created a new ball park for physics.
There’s another side to this discovery, and it will have some pretty hyperactive physicists scuttling around. One of the most infuriating things about quantum physics is that quantum doesn’t work on the same rules as normal physics. That’s been driving quite a few people round the twist, trying to figure out what the quantum rules are.
Nano isn’t quantum, but it’s the next best thing in many ways. The presence of unsuspected magnetism seems to indicate that forces which don’t occur in normal states of materials and matter can occur in these micro states. That, believe me, if true, would make a lot of people feel a lot better about their ideas regarding quantum.
Forces and energies in quantum physics haven’t been translating at all well in terms of macro physics in the Newtonian and Einsteinian senses. This sort of hybridized version of magnetism and bonding forces is exactly what’s been missing.
Having said which I must point out that this isn’t anything which could be called proof of quantum forces behaving like that, but it does look like a clue
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Are all nano particles magnetic? New question, new ball game
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