fully levitated a frog by a powerful magnet. The key to this whole experiment was that the researchers saw that nonmagnetic objects do have magnetic properties. All of the components that make up a frog and other living organisms, are diamagnetic. This means that when they are in the area of a magnetic field, they are weakly magnetized and oppose the field. The idea of diamagnetism is solution to levitating the frog. With this new experiment, scientists used the same or a little different ideas in order to levitate trains. The metal on the bottom of the trains are opposed to the tracks on the ground, which help let the trains glide. This also helps the train go to the speeds that they are reaching. "The Federal Railroad Administration and the U.S. Air Force are collaborating on a Maglev track for high speed ground transportation and for missile defense warhead testing" (FRA Air Force 51). The Air Force is building a 9.6-km track in New Mexico. This project is costing $49 million. It is supposed to be completed in 1999 and also supposed to break track records! The track is expected to break the record 9,852 km per hour. Maglev does not have a contract that allows FRA to have safety issues. But they do know that this project will have an impact on society. Due to levitation, things like the Maglev train and magnetic levitation is possible with todays technology. It is said that magnetic levitation technology is the most radical advance in rail technology since the days of Stephensons Rocket. Stephensons Rocket was a huge technological advancement 200 years ago on trains. Since then, trains have begun to go much faster (A Better Way 21).The Maglev trains have a low pitched scream as it goes nearly 350 mph. This is the test vehicle that the Japanese have high thoughts on. That sound is the sound of the future. Levitation, as much as it doesnt seem like it, has a lot to do with todays and the futures society. It is a...
