We all know the basics of magnets. They have a north pole and a south pole, and like poles repel while the opposites attract. Simple! Those basic facts you learned in elementary school are still mostly true, but printing technology has lead to a whole new breed of magnets that can have wildly specific and complex polar patterns that give them crazily specific superpowers.

As explained in an awesome video by Smarter Every Day, the company Polymagnet has found ways to print magnetic designs on a magnet, and tune the properties of these magnets to an absurdly detailed degree. The results are magnets that can attract to each other but then repel before they touch, creating a magnetic "spring." Or, like you see above, cog-shaped fields can result in a pair that attracts to a few millimeters and then repels unless you twist so their fields line up just right, at which point they touch. It's wild.

(Skip to two minutes in to get to the real meat.)

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This sort of fine tuning of magnetic fields allows for all kinds of new possibilities, many of which are doubtlessly yet to be thought of. In the meantime, these magnets can pull off one heck of a party trick.

Source: Smarter Every Day

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