Chances are you’ve been on a plane to travel to a work conference, vacation, or holiday event. It’s quick, relatively easy, and has the potential for less stress during travel (think about it--there’s no road rage in the sky)! But do you know the environmental impact of flying? When jet fuel is burned, carbon bonds with oxygen and forms carbon dioxide. This carbon emission makes up more than 80 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted in the United States New Zealand scientists are working on a device that could help power airplanes using superconducting magnets. Superconductors conduct electricity without resistance and carry a huge electric current without losing energy, lowering the carbon footprint created when jet fuel is burned and creating a more environmentally-friendly way to travel by air. While this sounds like an ideal solution, the magnets used in a superconductor need to be kept extremely cold. This can be difficult, however, when it’s connected to a power source. James Storey, a scientist at Robinson Research Institute, is leading a team whose goal it is to find a solution to keep magnet temperatures cold at a reasonable price. The team recently finished the first year of its five-year Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE) project--by the end, it hopes to have a complete prototype motor for an electric aircraft. The team’s solution? A wireless power supply it refers to as a “flux pump.” This device allows the team to charge superconducting magnets wirelessly, making it cheaper to keep magnets at a low temperature. The flux pump works by attaching rare earth magnets to a rotor, which moves the magnets over the superconducting tape. Each time the magnet moves past the tape, it generates a current of about 700 amps. To put that into perspective, a dishwasher uses 10 amps, a dryer uses 11 amps, and a microwave uses roughly 4.5 amps (depending on the appliance’s wattage). The team is currently testing the pump on a wind turbine in South Korea. If this proves to be successful, they are looking to expand their efforts to train and space technology. The uses of magnets are out of this world! For more magnetic news, visit our blog or subscribe to our monthly newsletter.