Interesting stories about scientific discovery: Levitating frog

In 2000, a levitating frog won the Ig Nobel Prizes for a team of scientists led by Dr. Andre Geim, who used diamagnetism to keep a tailless frog afloat. Years later, Geim would go on to win a Nobel Prize for his work on graphene.

In 1997, Professor Andre Geim conducted an interesting experiment called "Levitating the Frog". In this experiment, he and his colleagues used a super strong magnet with a strength of 16 Tesla (about 10,000 times stronger than the surface field of a typical refrigerator magnet) to generate an extremely strong magnetic field. They poured water into it to see what would happen. Unexpectedly, the water droplets began to float, which surprised him and his colleagues. This experiment was significant because it disproved the commonly held belief that water was not magnetic enough to resist gravity. They then suspended a live frog in the magnetic field so that it seemed to float in the air. This experiment attracted widespread attention and media coverage because it seemed so bizarre and interesting. It was also the first time that an organism was purely suspended in the air.

The floating amphibians were so popular that Geim and his colleagues won an Ig Nobel Prize, further drawing attention to the experiment, which had no negative effects on its living subjects. Still, scientists are still investigating the technique, including ways to improve our understanding of medicine by suspending cells.

The physics behind the levitating frog experiment involves magnetic fields and induced currents. When placed in a strong magnetic field, the ions and electrons in an organism are affected by the magnetic field and cause currents to flow. These currents generate a reaction magnetic field that interacts with the external magnetic field, causing the organism to experience an upward magnetic force. This reaction magnetic field counteracts the force of gravity, causing the organism (such as a frog) to appear to be suspended in the air rather than being pulled toward the magnet by the external magnetic field.

It is worth noting that although this experiment is interesting, it has no actual scientific application value and is only used as an entertainment and educational display. Professor Heim is a creative and humorous scientist, and this experiment also shows his unique perspective and scientific spirit.

Source: Chongqing Radio Science Popularization Experience Center

Audit expert: Yang Yaohui

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