Generating currents that rely on the spins of electrons to make electronic devices requiring less power is both desirable and daunting. A neat way of creating such currents eases that task. The field of spintronics - spin electronics - seeks to harness the spin of electrons in metals and semiconductors in order to per-form tasks that are, at present, routinely carried out by electrons' charge. Spintronics offers a promising path to achieve further reduction in both the size and power con-sumption, of solid-state devices. The past few years have seen many ingenious experiments clarifying the basic principles that govern the creation and manipulation of spin currents - the flow of electrons with a net spin polarization. On page 778 of this issue, Uchida et al introduce the 'spin Seebeck effect' as an especially elegant way of generating spin currents from a spin-voltage source that can be maintained across a distance of roughly 1 cm at room temperature.
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