I'm strongly of the opinion that if you're going to take eight tonnes of liquid sodium and spin it around at ten revolutions per second, you should probably do more press releases. It's the kind of thing that deserves Brian Blessed describing what's going on.
Flows of molten metal can generate magnetic fields. This so-called dynamo effect creates cosmic magnetic fields, like those found on planets, moons and even asteroids. Over the coming years, a globally unique experiment, in which a steel drum containing several tons of liquid sodium rotates around two axes, is intended to demonstrate this effect. It will be carried out in the new DRESDYN facility at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR). A recently published study in the scientific journal “Physical Review Letters” confirms the experiment’s chances of success.
Arxiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1708.06314
https://scitechdaily.com/new-dynamo-experiment-to-demonstrate-magnetism-in-the-universe/
Must it rotate around two axis?
ReplyDeleteIt must.
ReplyDelete“Our experiment at the new DRESDYN facility is intended to demonstrate that precession, as a natural driver of flow, is sufficient to create a magnetic field,” says André Giesecke, lead author of the study... This precessing motion through space is thought to be one of the possible sources of energy for the geodynamo.
Sounds like precession is the crucial part of this experiment.
Rhys Taylor I wonder if there are practical applications of this technology, such as non-electric means of creating a magnetic field or for use in nuclear reactors.
ReplyDeleteRhys Taylor But not three axes. Unless you want to be part of a Heinlein novel.
ReplyDeleteI imagine ultimately they're planning something like this.
ReplyDeletehttps://lh3.googleusercontent.com/E_TQV4asl6n6eKyIL3HYH2xHBwy-OTaL-pDQg_3Oo5_n33ztkd3q-J8E0YlLcUmOaBg4dYeMOp_vMhtrn-qJSbPqEQxfMEyQMadn=s0