Like electric current, magnetic currents are energy waves that flow through the universe. There are electrical fields around magnetic currents, and these currents are able to produce heat and power if the energy is properly conducted. Many scientists that have studied magnetic current believe that, with further study, it can be harnessed to provide the same type of function as electric current.
Professor Felix Ehrenhaft, the former director of the Physical Institute at the University of Vienna, is renowned for his experiments with magnetic currents. Ehrenhaft believed that magnets have positive and negative ions, just like electricity. He hypothesized that those positive and negative ions can conduct energy and react with each other. Setting out to demonstrate this point, he used iron rods with opposing charges to act as magnets.
These studies and experiments demonstrated that a magnetic current can break water apart. Ehrenhaft's pole pieces were magnetically charged with opposite charges, corresponding to the Northern and Southern ends of a magnet. He placed those two rods into a U-shaped tube that held water. As the opposite charges of the magnets reacted with each other, bubbles rose in the water and were then collected and analyzed.
Ehrenhaft discovered that as a result of the chemical interaction between the iron rods and sulfuric acid, hydrogen in the water was liberated. According to those who studied Ehrenhaft’s experiment, the most phenomenal part of the experiment was the presence of oxygen. He discovered that when the magnetic current was used to separate the water, more oxygen was found above the north pole of the magnet. After considering all possibilities, he determined that the only explanation for the presence of the oxygen above the magnet was that the water decomposed as a result of the chemical reaction.
The experiment and the conclusion that the current broke the water serve as evidence of the existence of magnetic current. Some believe that this discovery highlights magnetic current as a potential rival of electric current, equally capable of being harnessed in a multitude of ways. Ehrenhaft was able to create a chemical reaction with magnetic current, therefore it is possible that this energy flow can be created and harnessed in other ways for human use.
Before magnetic currents can be put into use effectively, several questions about their behavior must be answered. As of 2009, there is no conclusive evidence to determine whether they can be conducted through wires similar to that of electric currents, or conducted through liquids. Some even believe that perhaps the most effective magnetic current insulators might be materials that are totally unlike those used for electrical current insulators.