Saturday, October 29, 2005

Liquid Metal: For Robots and racquets

They call it Liquid Metal, and engineers everywhere can't wait to get their grubby little hands on it. And I can't blame them. The synthetic blend of metals is twice as strong as titanium and hardens at room temperature; it possesses all the strength of steel and the flexibility of plastic.
NASA engineers are using the stuff in an Electrostatic Levitator to test the materials in a contamination-free environment--no contact with a container.
Liquid Metal is just one of a whole host of new materials spewing out of labs all around the globe. A new metallic laminate may soon serve as a replacement for armor, given its higher strength and much lower density than steel.
Most applications for these new materials are mundane; everything from racquets to baseball bats to water skis.
Of course in my opinion, it's only a matter of time until its being used as Spaceship skin....aerospace applications are being devised even as you read these words...

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