This is a permanent magnet.

Now, you see the magnet fell really slowly.

And those bumps act like a magnet for water.

Now, I can extend this circular magnet, and make whatever track I want.

What's unexpected about this is that it's soft, but it's also a strong magnet.

You won't be surprised to hear that if I take this circular magnet, in which the magnetic field is the same all around, the superconductor will be able to freely rotate around the axis of the magnet.

So, we have quantum locking and we can levitate it on top of this magnet.

A stable, predictable and conflict free environment acts as a magnet for foreign direct investment.

And when I place it on top of a regular magnet, it just stays locked in midair.

Now when you're in an fMRI scanner, you're in a big magnet that's aligning your molecules in certain areas.

At the same time, however, these riches make it a magnet for poachers, who decimate its elephant and rhinoceros herds.

And we had custom espresso cups made that hide a magnet inside, and make those compasses go crazy, always centering on them.

And what was so striking about that time was, instead of repulsing people, I was actually proving to be a magnet for people.

One the soft properties of the magnet that make it so that, if it were to hit the rider in the head, it wouldn't injure him.

Paper speakers What we're seeing here is just a piece of paper with some copper tape on it connected to an mp3 player and a magnet.

What happens is every protein in your body is charged, so the proteins are sprayed in, the magnet spins them around, and then there's a detector at the end.

KS So I'm sure all you engineers know that even though aluminum is a metal, it's not a magnetic material. But something unexpected happens when you drop a magnet down an aluminum tube.

So this is a drop of blood that has gone through a superconducting magnet, and we're able to get resolution where we can start to see all of the proteins in the body.

As you're seeing this gel magnet for the first time, if you assume that all magnets had to be hard, then seeing this surprised you and it changed your understanding of the way magnets could work.

And so we can accurately if the magnet is big enough, and your resolution is high enough you can actually detect all of the proteins in the body and start to get an understanding of the individual system.

After a quarter century of near paralysis, American legislators are close to agreeing on reforms that would allow 11 million undocumented migrants to earn citizenship. The proposed changes also would make the US a magnet for talent and creativity from around the world.

As the urban studies theorist Richard Florida has argued, it is technology and tolerance that attract talents. Europe should therefore become a magnet for creative people from all over the world and should, based on its rich cultural heritage, raise its own.

The US is a magnet, and many people can envisage themselves as Americans, in part because so many successful Americans look like them. Moreover, connections between immigrants and their families and friends back home help to convey accurate and positive information about the US.

The general perception is that the government leaves companies alone and that the returns from investing in the US stock market reflect the fundamental forces of a strong capitalist economy. This is one reason why the US is a magnet for portfolio investors from around the world.

At the Cold War s end, East European countries did not try to form local alliances, as they did in the 1920 s, but looked toward Brussels as the magnet for their futures. Similarly, countries like Turkey and Ukraine have adjusted their policies because they are attracted to Europe.

Though political parties have not been legalized, they are nonetheless active in parliament and public life. Kuwaiti life reflects the many and varied political trends throughout the Arab world, as the country s open society and economic opportunities have made it a powerful magnet and regional safety valve since the 1950 s.

Given its close proximity to a deadly conflict in Syria and countries marked by extreme poverty, human rights abuses, and weak or collapsed states and economies, the EU is inevitably a magnet for migrants and asylum seekers. That is why it needs a migration policy that reflects the values on which it was founded.

The sense of US good fortune, a phrase that is not often heard around the world these days, increased with the panelists description of how lower energy prices for US manufacturing has a broad positive impact on the American economy s competitiveness. As a result, the country s energy reserves have also become an investment magnet.

These three international rivers originate on the Tibetan plateau, whose bounteous water resources have become a magnet for Chinese planners. The Salween, which runs from Tibet through Yunnan Province into Burma and Thailand, will cease to be Asia s last largely free flowing river, with work on the first project the giant, 4,200 megawatt Songta Dam in Tibet to begin shortly.

India s achievement is all the more striking given that the Pakistani terrorist attacks on Mumbai India s financial nerve center and commercial capital in late November 2008 came in the midst of the crisis. The terrorists dented the worldwide image of India as an emerging economic giant, a success story of the era of globalization, and a magnet for investors and tourists.

And we were showing him the same gel magnet that you're holding in your hand and you know, we shared the same ideas. And you could see it in his face Roman starts to get really excited and he whips out this manila folder he opens it up and Keith and I look in, and he starts showing us concepts that he's been working on.

And as we thought about it more, we realized that it let you fill in all the details about the experience, just as if you saw it on TV. So, for TED we decided to take our favorite idea for the gel magnet and work with Roman and his team at the Directors Bureau to create a commercial for a product from the future.