Wormholes were theorized in 1935 by my buddy Al Einstein and his pal Nathan Rosen as part
of the theory of general relativity.
They were called Einstein-Rosen "bridges," and are thought of as holes through space-time.
Wormholes have never been spotted, though one Russian researcher believes he could spot
them with a radio telescope… but it's never been done.
Until now, sort of.
Scientists at the Autonomous University of Barcelona have created a magnetic wormhole
that appears to transfer a magnetic field through quote "an extra special dimension."
Magnetic wormholes aren't space-time wormholes, but they are a similar concept.
Space-time wormholes are a manipulation of gravitational energy, which we don't YET know
how to do, whereas magnetic wormholes are manipulating electromagnetic energy.
Which we're really good at.
Using metamaterials (something that gave me a headache on DNews before) the scientists
were able to create a tunnel of magnetic energy last year, and this year they made the tunnel
invisible.
See, while "normal" space-time wormholes connect two points in this (or other) universes through
an unseen bridge, but this wormhole connects two magnetic fields through an unseen bridge!
It's really key to point out, that if you looked at the wormhole, you'd see it.
It's not invisible to the human eye, just to magnetic sensing.
A normal magnet has two poles, North and South, and they're opposed, with a magnetic field
connecting them.
In this case, their wormhole separated the poles, singling them out, creating a monopole
-- something that does not happen in nature.
Researchers can't tell where the magnetic field that connects those monopoles is, which
gives the illusion it's in a "special dimension."
This device makes a monopole pop into existence, with no detectable connection to that pole
on the other side.
Manipulation of magnetic fields is used for Magnetic Resonance Imaging at hospitals.
MRI machines use giant magnets to force the protons inside our bodies to align, then use
radio waves to knock them around, causing them to show up on the scans.
MRI scanners are very sensitive to other magnetic interference, and any metal can ruin the image
and be dangerous to the occupants; because it's basically a giant electromagnet.
Not to mention people have to slide into that claustrophobia-inducing tube.
With this new magnetic manipulation technique, MRI machines might be built which could scan
multiple things at once without interference, and wouldn't need one massive magnet.
Using a magnetic wormhole MRI they might be able to do surgery and scan at the same time!
Plus, the manipulation of electromagnetic fields isn't just big business in medical
science…
Remember way back in 2007 when Bush was president and I was a server at a popular chain Italian
restaurant?
A study in Physical Review Letters made a big splash when it found if you could manipulate
electromagnetic energy in such a way, to create an "invisibility cloak," and that is essentially
what these Spanish researchers have done!
They hid a magnetic field's distortions from the outside, by using metamaterials, to create
an invisible electromagnetic wormhole.
In the end, this wormhole can't move anything from one place to another, and, like much
scientific research, doesn't do anything super practical at the moment, but it IS a proof-of-concept
for some future technologies and could be used for things we haven't even thought of
yet.
On top of that, it's a great simulation of the gravitational wormhole we sci-fi addicts
know and love!
So, when we finally learn to manipulate gravitational energy on a massive scale… we'll have a
few more theories to work with.
If you're more into the mystery of gravitational wormholes, Dr. Ian O'Neill and I did a podcast
over on TestTube Plus all about black holes, wormholes, white holes and really insane physics.
It was a great series!!
(soundup-link to playlist) There's also a link in the description if you're on mobile,
OR if you're more of a radio person, check it out over on itunes!
We took all five episodes from YouTube and smushed them into one kick-ass black hole
podcast.