Levitating lightbulb

(img souce: http://web.media.mit.edu/~xercyn/sight/lightbulb/pics/01.jpg)

HC Gilje sent me a link to a beautiful, self powered, levitating light bulb installation by Jeff Lieberman (2007). Read more about this work at http://bea.st/sight/lightbulb/

Real Levitation

There are 3 basic schemes for using electromagnetic fields/diamagnetic for real levitation (no energy input is required and the levitation can last forever):

• Superconducting levitation
• Diamagnetic levitation
• Diamagnetically stabilized levitation

These are explained at the educational pages of the High Field Magnetic Laboratory, Holland.
Favourite example: the levitating frog