Aug. 9, 2012 Magnetic monopoles, entities with isolated north or
south magnetic poles, weren't supposed to exist. If you try to
saw a bar magnet in half, all you succeed in getting are two
magnets, each with a south and north pole. In recent years,
however, the existence of monopoles, at least in the form of
"quasiparticles" consisting of collective excitations among many
atoms, has been predicted and demonstrated in the lab. Now
Stephen Powell, a scientist at the Joint Quantum Institute
(JQI*) and the University of Maryland, has sharpened the
theoretical framework under which monopoles can operate. "Steady
flows of magnetic monopoles are apparently impossible," Powell
said, "but transient currents have been demonstrated, and one
could imagine creating an alternating current, the magnetic
equivalent of AC electricity." This so-called 'magnetricity'
might be exploited for designing new kinds of high-density data
storage. The laws of electromagnetism predict a great symmetry
between electric and magnetic forces