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STRANGE VIBES FROM USS NEW RECORD SET fOR THEODORE ROOSEVEL T MAGNETIC FIELD STRENGTH . Visitors aboard the carrier USS Researchers at the University of Theodore Roosevelt, flagship of a fleet Houston Institute for Beam Particle patrolling the Adriatic on Bosnian alert, Dynamics, and the Texas Center for found themselves in ltrouble recently Superconductivity, have announced that because of mysterious electronic vibra they have broken the world record for tions. 'magnetic field Istrength. The emissions from the bridge were Their research has created a supercon· so strong that they caused electronically ducting magnet with a measured field operated cameras to jam, wiped the strength of nearly 40,000 gauss. The memories off portable computers and old world record, which had stood for drained batteries. "I lo!\t the entire con 19 'years, was 23,000 gauss. tents of my personal computer," lament Electromagnets used in magnetic reso ed one reporter. nance imaging operate in the 20,000 Light meters gave rogue readings. gauss range. Photographers clambering among the The magnet, about the size of a quar antennae and radar. domes to get shots ter (which is the size of an Australian of deck landings were horrified to find lO-cent piece), is composed of a mix that their cameras had stopped. ture of ytterbium, barium, and copper Admiral Jay Johnson, who had oxide, which is grown into flat crystals. offered access to the ship, apologised. The crystals are bombarded with radia "I'm really sorry about this, guys. We tion in a cyclotron at Indiana University give off every kind of vibe known to and then attached together, about eight man. If it's electronic gadgetry, we've cry~tals got it. We can jam radar and radio and divert smart missiles or torpedoes, guide and mis-guide aircraft, and do all kinds of other things I'm not even allowed to tell you about." (Source: The.EurOPean, 27-30 May 1993) thick, with rubber cement. The magnet has no magnetic force at room temperature, but when chilled to 64.50 Kelvin it becomes a superconducting magnet. Physicist Roy Weinstein, who works on the research team, told the 29 April Houston Chronicle that the technology "could lead to dramatic improvements in large electric motors". He said that the magnet has been used to make a small electric motor which produces about one-tenth of a horsepower. He is hoping that further work will produce a motor with 50 horsepower or more. (Source: EJIL 14 May 1993) THE ULTIMATE DOOMSDAY WEAPON It is evident to all in today's society how dependent our infrastructure is on the humble transistor junction. It is also evident how vulnerable such devices are, and that they can be made to fail by inducing, in wires to which the device is connected, a voltage sufficiently large to cause breakdown. It is known that AUCUST-SEPTEMBER 1993 NEXUS·49