You may remember wormholes as a phenomenon of science fiction capable of transporting objects over great distances due to a wrinkle in space and time from references in pop culture such as Star Trek or Interstellar. But wormholes are much more than works of science fiction as was recently demonstrated by scientists in the physics department at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona who were able to generate a magnetic wormhole in their lab. A wormhole is a cosmic tunnel connecting two distant regions of the universe and we currently don’t have the technology to create a gravitational wormhole. Scientists did, however, discover a way to use electromagnetism to generate a wormhole.

How The Magnetic Wormhole Works

The magnetic wormhole doesn’t actually move through a wrinkle in space and time but it does create an invisible pathway for magnetic fields to travel undetected. The wormhole was constructed using metamaterials and magnetic fields and it’s designed to connect two regions magnetically. The device is a sphere made of an external layer with a ferromagnetic surface, a second layer of superconducting material and a ferromagnetic sheet. These materials are rolled into a tube, which crosses the center of the sphere as you can see in the image above. It functions by taking the magnetic field from a source such as a magnet and transporting it through the invisible tunnel. On the other side, the magnetic field emerges as a magnetic monopole meaning it only has one pole. Unlike a magnetic pole shift, the tunnel actually transports one direction of the magnetic field through space.

Practical Uses

Unlike the wormhole in Interstellar, the magnetic wormhole created in a lab has yet to save the human race from extinction. The wormhole in the movie is a gravitational wormhole and is able to help the characters travel an enormous distance in little time. The magnetic wormhole, however, could help with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) here on Earth. Images of a patient could be taken from a distance from the MRI machine, which would benefit patients who are uncomfortable with the large, loud machines. Despite having little proof of wormholes existing in space, who knows what the future holds for magnetic wormholes. Can you think of any cool uses for a magnetic wormhole?   Image by Jordi Prat-Camps, Carles Navau and Alvaro Sanchez