Part way to vindicating Diet Smith's oft-derided "The nation that controls magnetism controls the universe!" proclamation

How magnets affect the human brain - Boing Boing:

Put a powerful magnet against the side of your head and it can interfere with the neurons working underneath. The technique is being used to treat severe depression, but it can also produce some nifty party tricks.

In the old Dick Tracy cartoon, space travel was envisioned as the key benefit of controlling magnetism, but it looks like mind control might be achieved first. Cue the eerily menacing sci-fi theremin music.