Photo by: Natsumi Hayashi, a resident of Tokyo who makes it a hobby to take levitation photos. (source: yowayowacamera.com)
I’m sure we are all somewhat familiar with the concept of levitation. For those who are not, levitation is basically the ability to remain suspended in the air against the force of gravity. I don’t know about you, but whenever I watch those cool sci-fi movies or even Harry Potter and see people floating in air like it’s no big deal, I do catch myself wishing I could do that. I always thought levitation would remain as a fancy magic trick or movie effect, but could it actually be a possibility? Research regarding the properties of levitation have been underway, bringing this seemingly impossible phenomenon closer to reality.
A more scientific approach to the magic of levitation, is something called diamagnetic levitation. This is not a new process, as it has been around, in theory, since the 19th century. The concept that an object can create a magnetic field to counter an externally applied magnetic field to cause a repulsion was first observed by a scientist by the name of Anton Brugmans in 1778. This property was later coined diamagnetism by the British scientist Michael Faraday in 1845.
So, how does this theory reflect in the real world? Diamagnetic levitation was first demonstrated in 1932 by a German physicist named Werner Braunbek. He was able to levitate small objects such as tiny pieces of bismuth or graphite. The largest object he could levitate was a piece of coal that weighed about 75mg. A simple search of other examples of diamagnetic levitation shows a multitude of similar practices on inaminate objects, but what of the animate?
Diamagnetic levitation on live subjects was actually first achieved by Andre Geim and Michael Berry in 1997. The procedure involved a live frog being placed inside a solenoid with a magnetic field resonating through it. Amazingly, the frog was observed to essentially be suspended or levitating within the tube.
A short clip of the levitating frog:
Most recently, Douglas G.J.M, Marshall D.A., Griffiths I. and Hands T.O. were able to calculate that a 70.6T magnet would be required if one was to levitate an average human via diamagnetic levitation. Although at this point in time, there are magnetic fields that are this strong it is currently not feasible to pack into a levitation device. However, with the extraordinary advancements in technology, perhaps it is only a matter of time before humans can experience levitation.
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