Have you seen James Cameron's Avatar?
You may remember the striking floating mountains of Pandora.
These mountains float in the Pandoran atmosphere in apparent defiance of gravity.
You may remember the striking floating mountains of Pandora.
These mountains float in the Pandoran atmosphere in apparent defiance of gravity.
The 'Hallelujah mountains' however, are not magic, they are science. Or science fiction to be precise.
Pandora is very rich in a mineral called 'Unobtainium' which is a superconductor at room temperature.
Pandora is very rich in a mineral called 'Unobtainium' which is a superconductor at room temperature.
Super conductors are materials that have no electrical resistance.
A small current keeps circulating forever - providing plentiful lossless energy supply.
But superconductors also have another unusual property : they repel magnets. This is called the 'Meissner effect'.
A small current keeps circulating forever - providing plentiful lossless energy supply.
But superconductors also have another unusual property : they repel magnets. This is called the 'Meissner effect'.
So a superconductor will float over a magnet.
That's precisely what the Hallelujah mountains are doing. Being made of unobtanium, they are held in place by Pandora's magnetic fields.
James Cameron has even thought of how these mountains came to be lifted into the air.
That's precisely what the Hallelujah mountains are doing. Being made of unobtanium, they are held in place by Pandora's magnetic fields.
James Cameron has even thought of how these mountains came to be lifted into the air.
Pandora is a moon of the giant gas planet Polyphemus. The planet's gravity twists and bends the moon's surface - creating tides that rip it apart, sending matter flying into space.
That's some great science fiction - imaginative and realistic.
That's some great science fiction - imaginative and realistic.
Credit: Article by Vineeth Venugopal
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