Non-magnetic objects moved by electromagnets

The authors' method has great potential for manipulating and clearing up orbital space debris. The induction effect also dies off quickly as the gap between electromagnet and object increases - in the reported experiments, the gap between actuating electromagnets and the object is only about 5-10 centimetres. [...]the manipulation forces generated by the method are small, which makes the weight of the object a substantial hurdle to overcome in a terrestrial set-up. Eric Diller is in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto MS5 3G8, Canada. e-mail: ediller@mie.utoronto.ca "Safely grabbing and pushing orbital debris is a major challenge because the pieces can spin rapidly."