They'd balance a spoon-shaped piece of magnetic rock on any flat surface, and since it was magnetic, the handle would swivel to align itself with the Earth's magnetic poles.
Magnetic activity on the stellar surface could also be caused by accretion of material onto it.
"We think that magnetic activity on or around the stellar surface creates the super-hot plasma, " Hamaguchi said.
And water would be all the more exciting on Ganymede because it is the largest moon in the solar system (larger even than the planets Mercury and Pluto) and, like earth, it has a permanent magnetic field that protects part of its surface from bombardment by certain sorts of life-destroying radiation.
During solar maximum, the intense magnetic fields that reach above the Sun's surface become tangled, particularly near the sunspots.
We're not going to front like we understand exactly how it works, but two IBM researchers in California have announced that they've gotten closer to controlling the orientation and magnetic spin of individual iron atoms on a copper surface, which would have huge implications for nanotech storage -- imagine the basic tech in your hard drive shrunk down the molecular level.
ENGADGET: IBM researchers get closer to nanotech hard drives
It borrows the clever magneto-optical system from Sony's popular little MiniDisc audio-recorder to stack magnetic data within concentric grooves on the platter's surface.
If the antibody method is being used, the tester deposits a droplet of sample fluid that has been seeded with magnetic particles coated with the appropriate antibodies onto the chip's surface.
Gigabyte must know this, as there's a Surface-style kickstand to prop it up as well as a very thin magnetic keyboard and trackpad combo dock.
ENGADGET: Hands-on with Gigabyte's S1082 and S1185 Windows 8 tablets (video)
The Surface's built-in kickstand threw another wrench into the design process, as did the magnetic hinge used to attach the keyboard covers.
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