Reported November 2008

What Makes Materials Magnetic?: Magnetism is the result of the constant movement of charged electrons in atoms. As electrons swirl around an atom, they create an electrical current. Whenever electricity moves in a current, a magnetic field is created. Magnetism is a force between electric currents: two currents flowing in the same direction attract each other, while those pulling in opposite directions repel each other. The reason some materials are magnetic while others are not has to do with how the electrons are arranged. Naturally occurring magnets are known as lodestones. Every magnet has at least one north pole and one south pole. In fact, if you take a bar magnet and break it into two pieces, each of the smaller pieces will still have a north and south pole. The earth itself is a giant magnet with a north and south pole, which is why a magnetic compass's needle always points north or south.

About the Tongue: The tongue is integral to creating articulate speech and other noises. Its top surface is covered by taste buds able to detect the bitter, salty, sour, sweet and savory qualities of food. The tongue, which acts both as a voluntary and involuntary muscle, filters germs and also moves food around within the mouth before transferring it to the esophagus.

The Factors and Ergonomics Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Maysam Ghovanloo
Assistant Professor
Bioengineering, Electronic Design and Applications
Georgia Tech
Atlanta, GA
(404) 385-7048
mgh@gatech.edu

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
Washington, DC
(202) 530-8353
http://www.ieee.org
ieeeusa@ieee.org

Lois Smith
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
(310) 394-1811
http://www.hfes.org
lois@hfes.org