Magnetic monopoles have been detected in a magnet for the first time

Until now, magnetic monopoles were hypothetical particles proposed by physicists that carry a single magnetic pole, North or South. In 1931 Paul Dirac theorised that magnetic monopoles could exist at the end of tubes, called Dirac strings, that have a magnetic field.

Using a single crystal of Dysprosium Titanate, a ceramic of the titanate family, Jonathan Morris and Alan Tennant of the Helmholtz Centre Berlin produced such a string with the help of neutron scattering. This all happens at 0.6 to 2 Kelvin.