A New Type of Magnetism

MAGNETISM CAN BE A STRANGE FORCE.

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Nearly supernaturally, magnets stick to surfaces without adhesives, which is why games like Operation have fascinated generations of kids.

Most of what we see every day is ferromagnetism—how metals like iron are magnetized in a magnetic field and adhere to certain surfaces. There are also paramagnetic materials like aluminum, which have a weak attraction to magnets. There’s even antiferromagnetism, in which magnetic atoms or ions cancel out the magnetism of a material if they end up next to each other.