Frogs in Popular Culture - Frogs in Scientific Demonstrations

Frogs in Scientific Demonstrations

Frogs have been featured in studies of diamagnetism in biological organisms. As such those organisms were submitted to a large magnetic field (several teslas) produced by a Bitter electromagnet and found levitating due to the diamagnetic features of water (as well as any other substance that is). Apparently a frog was used for the following reason as described by a researcher: "We were amazed to find out that 90% of our colleagues did not believe that we were not joking that water can levitate. It became obvious to us that it was important to make scientists (as well as non-scientists) aware of the phenomenon. We levitated a live frog and other not-very-scientific objects because of their obvious appeal to a broader audience and in the hope that researchers from various disciplines, not only physicists, would never ever forget this often neglected force and the opportunities it offers." Frog levitation plays an important part in the novel Science Fair by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. Frog levitation also guaranteed the 2000 IgNobel prize in physics to Michael Berry and to 2010 Nobel Laureate in Physics Andre Geim.