Cockroach Magnetization
Researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore recently made an unusual discovery, which is that "the magnetic properties of living cockroaches are strikingly different from those of dead cockroaches."
Place a living cockroach in a magnetic field and it'll become magnetized, and then stay magnetized for about 50 minutes.
Place a dead cockroach in a magnetic field and it'll also become magnetized, but then remain magnetized for almost 50 hours.
The reason for the difference:
Cockroaches become magnetized because they contain magnetic particles that become aligned with an external magnetic field. These particles are trapped in a runny medium that has low viscosity in living cockroaches. But as soon as the creatures die, the medium begins to harden and its viscosity increases.
So I'm curious how strongly magnetized dead cockroaches become. Would it be possible to use them as refrigerator magnets?
More info: MIT Technology Review
Comments
Perhaps if you placed them in the magnetic field shortly after death and then left them there while their interior fluids solidified.
Posted by RobK on 02/28/17 at 10:34 AM
Can we get a magnetic Pied Piper thing going and pull them out of the Hamelin where I live?
Posted by Virtual on 02/28/17 at 10:52 AM
I was thinking that too, Virtual. Something like a magnet used in a scrap yard to pull them all out of the house.
Posted by KDP on 02/28/17 at 11:28 AM
Finally a test to tell if a cockroach is dead or not.
Posted by crc on 02/28/17 at 01:16 PM
Heh. This is actually scientifically interesting. Give those people an Ig Nobel.
Posted by Richard Bos on 03/02/17 at 02:45 PM
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Category: Insects and Spiders | Science | Experiments