SharkDefense is a company that spent years trying to develop shark repellents out of materials like decayed shark tissue. Its goal is to keep sharks away from fisheries (without scaring the fish), but it turns out all that biological engineering might have been unnecessary, because sharks — some sharks at least — are repelled by rare earth magnets.

The magnets aren't practical for putting into your diving suit to prevent a Jaws-like situation, but they could be lined up to create "shark-free zones" that would keep sharks from getting caught by fishermen, or by nets that currently keep sharks from away restricted areas. So freaking sharks out with electromagnetic fields is for their own good! Video of sharks being upset by magnets after the jump. — S.E. Kramer

Via Wired