HOW IT WORKS: Conventional and magnetic refrigeration cycles use different physical effects to cool things off. [Top] When a gas is compressed (2), it heats up, but if it is cooled and then allowed to expand (3), its temperature drops much lower than it was originally (4); this principle keeps food in your home refrigerator cool. But a magnetocaloric material [bottom] heats up when magnetized (b); if cooled and then demagnetized (c), its temperature drops dramatically (d). Home