New five-year grant from the National Science Foundation sustains the world’s most powerful magnet lab through 2027. Contact: KRISTIN ROBERTS TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory will receive $195.5 million over the next five years, a move that keeps the world’s most powerful magnet lab headquartered at Florida State University with partner sites at University of Florida and Los Alamos National Laboratory and supports groundbreaking discoveries using high field magnets. The National Science Foundation funding, authorized by the National Science Board, is a 6% inc ..read more

A $1.9 million will explore how online STEM programs can yield improved STEM identity in girls. Contact: ROXANNE HUGHES TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — MagLab research faculty Roxanne Hughes and a team of educational researchers and STEM education program developers were awarded $1.9 million dollars from the National Science Foundation to study the impact of online learning communities on participating girls' interest, identification and long-term participation in STEM. Working in partnership with the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) and Smart Girls HQ, Hughes will study four-hundred girls ..read more

World's strongest superconducting magnet celebrated as a top 100 revolutionary technology.  Contact: KRISTIN ROBERTS TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Engineers and technicians from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory were recognized with a 2022 R&D 100 Award for the design and construction of the 32 tesla (T) Superconducting Magnet. The R&D 100 recognizes revolutionary ideas in science and technology, and the 32T magnet is the world’s most powerful all-superconducting magnet. "This award is a major accomplishment and positions this innovation in magnet technology at the highest ech ..read more

Work connecting physics, chemistry and materials science illustrates new methods to yield materials with quantum properties. Contact: RYAN BAUMBACH TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A new review article in Science Advances connects several decades of research on a family of intermetallic crystalline materials to find practical ways to design strongly correlated electronic, magnetic, and superconducting phenomena. Metals that contain lanthanide elements have attracted sustained interest for several decades because they exhibit a wide variety of exciting phenomena, including unconventional superconductivi ..read more

Using a special technique performed in the MagLab's high fields, researchers have uncovered a method to understand spin ice materials. Contact: CHRISTIANNE BEEKMAN TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — New research published in Nature Communications shows that capacitive torque magnetometry, a technique developed at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, can be used to measure various spin ice material states and to determine a low-temperature phase diagram - work that shows previous models used to describe spin ices are incomplete. Spin ice materials are geometrically-frustrated systems whose competi ..read more

MagLab users have discovered that magnetism is key to understanding the behavior of electrons in high-temperature superconductors. Contact: BRAD RAMSHAW TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Superconductors – metals in which electricity flows without resistance – hold promise as the defining material of the near future, according to MagLab user and physicist Brad Ramshaw, and are already used in medical imaging machines, drug discovery research and quantum computers being built by Google and IBM. However, the super-low temperatures conventional superconductors need to function – a few degrees above absolute ..read more

New research explores the power of intersecting identities in a young Black woman’s STEM experience. Contact: ROXANNE HUGHES TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A new study underscores the importance of positive science and math stories as a resilience strategy for women of color in STEM. Roxanne Hughes, an educational researcher and the MagLab’s director of education, published the study with her collaborators in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. This study uses narrative inquiry methodology to give voice to the story of Marie, a young Black woman who first experienced a love for science and e ..read more

Researchers reveal how carbohydrates form plant biomass, information that may lead to new biorenewable energy solutions.  Baton Rouge, LA — As the world searches for and demands more sustainable sources of energy and materials, plant biomass may provide the solution by serving as a renewable resource for biomaterials and biofuel production. However, until now, the complex physical and chemical interactions in plant biomass has been a challenge in post-harvest processing. In a new study published this month in Nature Communications, MagLab user and LSU Department of Chemistry Associate ..read more

Learn how the MagLab's high-field magnets are helping uncover the secrets of "forever chemicals." TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — PFAS, a family of thousands of human-made chemicals, are everywhere, and some of them are known to be harmful for our bodies and the environment. Even more frightening is how little we know about these pervasive pollutants found in everything from food packaging and cleaning products to firefighting foams. A team of researchers including Colorado State University's Jens Blotevogel is using one of the most powerful chemical analysis tools in the world to unravel the complexi ..read more

Carlos R. Villa who is usually surrounded by K-12 students now joins a list of prestigious honorees recognized by the Tallahassee Scientific Society for his contributions to science education Contact: CARLOS R. VILLA TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Tallahassee Scientific Society announces the award of their 2021 Gold Medal to Carlos R. Villa, K-12 education director at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. The Society's Gold Medal, established in 2004, is awarded annually to a member of the Tallahassee scientific community to recognize outstanding career contributions to science, public ser ..read more