The University of Durham in the UK have created the first plastic magnet to work at room temperature.

Other researchers have made plastic magnets, but they only function at extremely low temperatures, or their magnetism at room temperature is too feeble to be of commercial use.

This plastic magnet could be used in everyday products, for example in the magnetic coating of computer hard discs, which could lead to a new generation of high-capacity discs.

It could also have important medical applications, for example in dentistry or the transducers used in cochlear implants. Organic magnetic materials are less likely to be rejected by the body.

From New Scientist.