While the rest of us were busy reeling over the solar eclipse, scientists were hard at work breaking the world record for the world’s strongest magnet. It’s taken two and a half years and $3.5 million to fund but the National MagLab has achieved it! The old record was shattered by over 8%— no small feat. The National MagLab previously held the record for 19 years before they were ousted in 2014 by a 38.5 tesla magnet in China. The new 41.4 tesla magnet was tested on August 21st, the same day as the solar eclipse. Referred to as Project 11 (A reference to Spinal Tap’s guitar amps), the magnet uses 32 watts of DC power. For comparison, 41.4 tesla is 20 times stronger than the magnets used in medical imaging machines. In order to achieve 41.4 tesla using refrigerator magnets, you’d need over 4,000 of them! The earth’s magnetic field is one twenty thousandth of a single tesla. How Did They Do It? Magnets like the one created in the MagLab are formed using stacks of copper conductors and insulating material. The conductors are stacked in a helical formation so that when it’s powered on, the current follows that helix pattern, creating a strong magnetic field in the center. Resistive magnets, such as the one formed in the MagLab, require power in order to work. This particular magnet requires 32 megawatts of DC power to function. That’s enough power to get 21,500 kettles boiling. Why Did They Do It? While reclaiming their world record was certainly a worthy goal, that wasn’t the main motivation behind Project 11. "It's about providing the scientific community access to high fields,” said the Director of the DC Field Facility, Tim Murphy. The science community is constantly making new breakthroughs. To stay up to date, keep an eye on our Magnets Blog. We’re always posting about the newest findings.