# Scientists create most powerful indoor magnetic field, blow up own lab **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 28, 2018, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092 "2018-09-28T05:49:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![mandala](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mandala/32/95_2.png) [@mandala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandala)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/21 "2018-10-02T15:21:44Z")
Apparently, scientists like to [take risks](http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2010/02/23/things_i_wont_work_with_dioxygen_difluoride). > [@](#): > > If the paper weren’t laid out in complete grammatical sentences and published in JACS, you’d swear it was the work of a violent lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/22 "2018-10-02T15:22:58Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > What the hell is a jiggawatt? I dunno. Ask Doc Brown. (technically, it’s the original pronunciation of "gigawatts. But Doc Brown must have been literally old school) ---
**Author:** ![gregorio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@gregorio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gregorio)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/23 "2018-10-02T15:52:53Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Related: [These guys use very strong magnetic fields](http://www.capturedlightning.com/frames/shrinkergallery.html) to shrink coins. The massive and rapidly-changing electrical current in their work coil induces a current in the coin; the two currents result in opposing magnetic fields, which simultaneously cause the coin to be crushed radially, and the coil also explodes violently outwards. Far less energy than the event in the OP’s article (thousands of joules instead of millions), but the ability to crush a coin is pretty cool. I love the comment below the Canadian Toonie (scroll down a bit). The bad writing only adds to the horror. “However, his blast shield failed during the shot, and he sustained considerable damage to his lab from shrapnel from the exploding work coil…” ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/24 "2018-10-02T16:53:15Z")
> [@gregorio](#): > > “However, his blast shield failed during the shot, and he sustained considerable damage to his lab from shrapnel from the exploding work coil…” The wire making that work coil looks to be only about 0.1 inches in diameter. Must be insane velocities for it to do “considerable damage” to the surrounding lab space. Actually, looking elsewhere on the page I see they report velocities up to 5000 FPS for the work coil fragments. I think that’s a good bit faster than the muzzle velocity of pretty much any handheld rifle. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/25 "2018-10-02T17:31:30Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Actually, looking elsewhere on the page I see they report velocities up to 5000 FPS for the work coil fragments. I think that’s a good bit faster than the muzzle velocity of pretty much any handheld rifle. No pretty much about it. [Highest velocity](https://www.wideopenspaces.com/8-cartridges-highest-fps-speed-pics/) of a rifle bullet: 4135-fps for the .17 Remington (scroll down). A whole lotta propellant pushing a dinky, little bullet. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/26 "2018-10-02T18:38:49Z")
> [@BobBitchin](#): > > I know I’ve found my kinda scientists when they have as many scars as a mechanic.🆒 My chemistry teacher in gymnasium lacked the most of two fingers on his right hand (he had lost in a lab accident, everybody knew this). He was an ass, but that gave him some mighty creds. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2018, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/27 "2018-10-02T20:30:06Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Related: [These guys use very strong magnetic fields](http://www.capturedlightning.com/frames/shrinkergallery.html) to shrink coins. The massive and rapidly-changing electrical current in their work coil induces a current in the coin; the two currents result in opposing magnetic fields, which simultaneously cause the coin to be crushed radially, and the coil also explodes violently outwards. Far less energy than the event in the OP’s article (thousands of joules instead of millions), but the ability to crush a coin is pretty cool. Those guys should patent their time-travel device; I clicked on that link and suddenly it’s 1995 again. Was that website built using FrontPage? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/28 "2018-10-04T20:35:58Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > ^ And then you get [THIS](https://youtu.be/AhaulXxlqCQ?t=56): So, anyone ever explained why it didn’t pull down the telephone wires as it walked through them? It wasn’t as if it had a high step or anything. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/29 "2018-10-04T21:12:38Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > So, anyone ever explained why it didn’t pull down the telephone wires as it walked through them? It wasn’t as if it had a high step or anything. Wondered that myself. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092/30 "2018-10-04T21:24:38Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Reminds me of the days we would test great big switches at Allen-Bradley in Milwaukee. We put a block of wood in the path of the switch so it couldn’t close then get it all juiced up and trigger it to see if the NEMA cabinet would hold the resulting kaboom. Just like at the old Bussman/Cooper plant in St. Louis. After a hard day of testing fuses and capacitors for faults, they’d crank up the power in the test chamber by about 50x and blow some innocent component into atoms. Very entertaining for plant tours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scientists-create-most-powerful-indoor-magnetic-field-blow-up-own-lab/822092.md?page=1)