Scientists have long been trying to control magnetism — something that would do wonders for advancements in technology. The issue can best be explained by Earnshaw’s Theorem, which states that it's not possible to create a spot of maximum magnetic field strength in an empty space and that the strength of a magnetic field decreases with distance from the magnet. Scientists, though, believe they have created somewhat of a loophole by creating metamaterial to emulate the field of a straight current wire at a distance.  Metamaterial to the Rescue The team was inspired by work in optics that use engineered materials known as metamaterials.  As metamaterials are designed to have properties not found in any naturally-occurring materials, previous researchers could get around the limits on the resolution set by the wavelength of light. Similarly, Rosa Mach-Batlle, a physicist at the Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia Center for Biomolecular Nanotechnologies in Italy who led the new research, and her colleagues thought they could apply this with magnetic fields. However, creating a new method of inducing magnetic fields that relied on non-existent materials doesn’t seem useful.  So, Mach-Batlle and her team created a temporary “material” that could be duplicated and expanded upon. This “material” is a hollow cylinder made of about 20 wires surrounding one long interior wire. By not using any material and instead relying on Maxwell’s Equations of electromagnetism, which says how current induces magnetism and vice versa, they were able to produce a magnetic field, which looks like it came from another source/distance. When the current runs through the wires, it creates a magnetic field that looks as if the long interior wire runs outside the device. “It's the electromagnetic equivalent of a ventriloquist throwing her voice; the source of the field is not actually outside the device, but the field itself is indistinguishable from the field that would have resulted if the source were outside the device.”  What Could This Mean While illusions are typically seen as entertainment, the team believes this can have real-life applications, especially in drug delivery. “Imagine a cancer drug that could be delivered directly to a tumor deep in the body by capsules made of magnetic nanoparticles. It's not possible to stick a magnet in the tumor to guide the nanoparticles on their journey, but if you could create a magnetic field from outside the body that centered right on that tumor, you could deliver the drug without an invasive procedure.”  Keep Up With Apex Magnets The researchers’ next step is to build a configuration of wires that allows for creating 3D magnetic fields.