While the majority of our magnets are made of neodymium, samarium, and cobalt, there are plenty more materials possessing magnetic properties. Furthermore, the scientific community has recently discovered a whole new batch! Researchers in Ireland announced last month that they had unearthed 22 new materials able to play host to the properties of magnetism. A team at the Amber Research Centre at Trinity College Dublin used computer simulations to identify these new magnetic materials. But just how significant are these findings? On average, we discover about 1 magnetic material a year. This has been the trend for the last two millennia! Increasing this over twenty times is certainly no small feat. But why do we need new magnetic materials? Well, if you’re working with magnets on a very small scale, rare earth materials like neodymium probably aren’t going to break the bank. However, when used in things like computers and other technology, cheap and light are the name of the game. The only problem is, where do we find them? How to Discover New Magnets As mentioned above, new magnetic materials aren’t exactly popping up every day. Sorting through millions of individual particles stifles progress. For most of history, stumbling upon magnetic materials was pretty much a crap shoot. However, the Amber Research team employed a vast database to sort through over a quarter of a million materials. Each of these materials was analyzed for its magnetic capabilities. Ok, great, now we know which materials are magnetic, now what? Not only does the database identify what materials are magnetic, but also helps determine their best potential use. For Amber Research’s purposes, that would be technology. When it comes to computers—from laptops to super-powered research machines, magnets are everywhere. Some places you’re likely to find them are in hard disc drives, CRT monitors, optical disc drives, and even your cooling fans! In other words, without magnetic materials, you’d have no way to read this blog or chuckle at the latest memes. Obviously computers still work, so why do we need different magnetic materials? Well, as with all inventions, there’s always the potential to innovate and improve. Amber’s chief researcher, Stefano Sanvito is most hopeful about a particular compound, Co2MNTI. He notes the compounds ability to maintain its magnetism at temperatures as high as 630 degrees Celsius, meaning it could be used in some pretty heavy-duty tech. It would be one of only a handful of magnetic materials to function in such extreme heat. Innovation drives progress and helps industries and individuals unleash their full potential. We’ve brought you plenty of stories about magnets and magnetism helping to make the world a better place and we’re sure to post more! Make sure to sign up for our monthly newsletter to stay up to date on all the breaking news and check out our “Magnets in the News” section.