A form of synthetic magnetism has been created that is able to exert influence on photons in a way that is similar to the effect that magnets have on electrons. This new technology will likely result in entirely new forms of “machines” that use and rely on light rather than electricity.

Since photons don’t possess an electrical charge, they are unaffected by magnetism. With no electrical charge, not even the most intense magnetic fields can influence them. But the new technology will allow the manipulation of them just the same, through use of a ‘synthetic magnetism’.

This process actually breaks a key law of physics, known as the time-reversal symmetry of light. And could potentially create “an entirely new class of devices that use light instead of electricity for applications ranging from accelerators and microscopes to speedier on-chip communications.”

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