How About a Small Magnetic Field Generating Planet?

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Ah, you have to love those innovative and almost nuts physicists.  Dan Lathrop, from the University of Maryland, has built a giant metal planet of sorts.  And all he wants to do is fill it with molten metal and spin it at 80mph.  What’s the big deal?

Dan Lathrop is trying to better understand the Earth’s magnetic qualities.  Now, why in the world would he want to do that?  Well, because we actually don’t understand the magnetic field very much.  I would posit that we don’t understand magnetism really – but that’s a different story.  And we can’t really tap the Earth’s core – you know – with it’s molten iron and pressure so strong that it would knock your grandmother over.  Okay, it would probably do more than knock her over.  But you get the point.

So, Lathrop and his team decided to built a small planet.  Well, actually this is their third attempt, but if at first you don’t succeed …  The problem is that small planets don’t have advantages of gigantic bodies.  They lack mass and speed.  And iron becomes molten at very hot temperatures.  So, they are opting for Sodium instead, which has a much lower melting point.  They are hoping, when they test it later this year, that it will help them understand why Earth’s poles flip polarity from time to time.  In any case, it will be funny to watch the cows suddenly moving in the opposite direction.  Those poor Boy Scouts will be all befuddled.

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