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The programme that explains the present by exploring the past.

The Forum: Magnetism

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Photo by Shan Pillay - A magnet with iron filings

18/04/2015 GMT

Magnetism

BBC World Service - The Forum, Magnetism

New insights into why some objects, stars and people attract or repel.

Magnetic particles, galaxies and leaders.  With physicist Stephen Blundell, astrophysicist Katherine Freese and advertising executive Richard Hytner.

Why can a small piece of metal have a better sense of direction than most people? Magnets have a myriad everyday uses, from compasses to radios, and yet for millennia we have struggled to understand their strange properties.   Shedding light on magnetism on the sub-atomic scale is new research by physicist Stephen Blundell, astrophysicist Katherine Freese explains magnetism on a cosmic scale, and advertising executive Richard Hytner attempts to uncover the secrets of ‘magnetic’ personalities.

Photo: A magnet with iron filings (credit: Shan Pillay)

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