From Reactions.

Magnets: How do they work? And can they actually be used to bend a stream of water? Alex attempts to replicate a recent scientific paper that used household magnets to bend a stream of water, and then discovers something really weird when she swaps the water out for some heavy water…

Producers:
Andrew Sobey
Elaine Seward
Darren Weaver

Writer:
Alex Dainis, PhD

Hosts:
Alex Dainis, PhD

Executive Producer:
Matthew Radcliff

Scientific Consultants:
Brianne Raccor, PhD
Michelle Boucher, PhD
Edward Bornashenko, PhD

Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

Reactions is a production of the American Chemical Society.
© 2025 American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Sources:
Original paper: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.langmuir.4c05373
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15420771-600-frog-defies-gravity/
https://www.stanfordmagnets.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-halbach-arrays.html
https://van.physics.illinois.edu/ask/listing/27603
https://pubs.aip.org/aip/apl/article/125/26/264102/3327889/Diamagnetic-levitation-of-water-realized-with-a
https://www.nde-ed.org/Physics/Magnetism/atommagnetism.xhtml
https://cen.acs.org/materials/Periodic-Graphics-Permanent-magnets-explained/103/web/2025/04?ref=search_results
Water diamagnetism demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gB775y4FbE