back to article Self-forming liquid metal just like a TERMINATOR emerges from China lab

Scientists in China say they have developed a way to manipulate liquid metal substances into self-assembling shapes and forms. The researchers, working out of Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, reckon that by applying an electric charge to liquid metal alloys, they could control the behavior of substances …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    We can't even make a toupee that doesn't get laughed at so how come we can do this?

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
      Alien

      Because our lizard overlords don't care about toupees.

      It's a chimpanzee thing. For that, we are on our own.

  2. Captain DaFt

    "We can't even make a toupee that doesn't get laughed at so how come we can do this?"

    Hey, just train a badger to sit on your head. Nobody'll make fun of it... at least within earshot of the badger!

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Chick

    Wasn't the chick Terminator made of this stuff too? She'll be a great shag ;)

    1. Tom 260

      Re: Chick

      The T-X had an outer layer of this stuff as I recall, but underlying that was a regular robot, hence the ability to do particle/energy weapons rather than just blades and spikes.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Chick

      The Tx- Kirstanna Loken in real life- was liquid metal over a solid endoskeleton. It meant she could have more complex weaponry (plasma rifles, circular saws, flamethrowers, etc) than the T-1000 (played by Robert Patrick, limited to cutting and stabbing weapons). Also gave her better sensors like her apparently-orgasm-inducing tongue-mounted taste sensor.

      All that from memory and yet I can't remember all my passwords at work!

      1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

        Re: Chick @ unknown time and date stamp

        The Tx- Kirstanna Loken in real life- was liquid metal over a solid endoskeleton. It meant she could have more complex weaponry (plasma rifles, circular saws, flamethrowers, etc) than the T-1000 (played by Robert Patrick, limited to cutting and stabbing weapons). Also gave her better sensors like her apparently-orgasm-inducing tongue-mounted taste sensor.

        All that from memory and yet I can't remember all my passwords at work!.... Anonymous Coward

        A sure personal sign, .... whenever perfectly true and not a false tale* ...... to an adversary/competitor/coworker/friend as to the degrees of importance one has afforded relative to each subject/objective task, AC. :-)

        Some things just are much more important to never forget than others because of the pleasures they bring and/or the destruction they can wring and have wrought.

        * Being able to mess about successfully in those fields of probability and Bayesian certainty is what identifies and distinguishes the stealthy from the spooky and their entanglements to deliver the erotic and exotic confections of the sublime and the surreal in the absolutely fabulous fabless and virtualised. Please note that there are no questions asked there .... and when and where uncertainty be banished and absent, has Doubtful Communication no part to play in SMARTR Future Plays introducing and producing Greater IntelAIgent Games Gambling with AI Gambolling in Super IntelAIgent Networks for all the Fun of the Fare with ITs Wares Stripped of Vice to Supply Pleasures Cubed. ... at least:-)

        1. Mark 85

          Re: Chick @ unknown time and date stamp

          Should I be worried? This makes sense to me.

          1. James O'Brien

            Re: Mark 85

            Yes, yes you should. I enjoy reading amfm comments but whenever I don't have to read it 3-4 times to get an inkling of what he is saying scares me. Either A hes making more sense or B I'm starting to lose whats left of my mind....Probably B

        2. David 45
          WTF?

          Re: Chick @ unknown time and date stamp

          Huh? Can somebody translate this into recognisable English? Sounds like some ostentatious and pompous art critic!

          1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
            Angel

            Re: Chick @ unknown time and date stamp

            @David 45.

            I don't recommend dissing AMFM. He's our very own and quite special.

            1. Dan 55 Silver badge
              Alert

              Re: Chick @ unknown time and date stamp

              Although quite special he's not our very own, I've also seen him on the Telegraph comments.

              Damn, now I've let the cat out of the bag, admitting I've read the Telegraph.

      2. Martin Budden Silver badge

        Re: Chick

        All that from memory and yet I can't remember all my passwords at work!

        Then you need to set your password to Tx-Kir5tanna

    3. The Cogito

      Re: Chick

      The problem is if its a hot chick, all the impurities start to show and she turns into a bit of a slag

  4. John Smith 19 Gold badge
    Coat

    "Liquid metal transformers"

    "Robots in disguise."

    My names not Ron..

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    All is commentards knew you were going to regret losing "the rise of the machines" section.

    1. solo
      Terminator

      Having a section may offend 'him' who will come looking for us commentards through the Google directory.

  6. ecofeco Silver badge
    Terminator

    All be bach

    Come with me if you want to live.

  7. Daniel B.
    Terminator

    Have you seen this kid?

    You know someone's going to build an actual T-1000 out of this, if only for the lulz. Then it'll become self-aware...

  8. John Savard

    Details

    I had to actually download the paper just to learn that this alloy was 67% Gallium, 20.5% Indium, and 12.5% Tin.

  9. MooseNC

    "Because the liquid metal alloy material is safe for humans..."

    They mean until it is hardened and then shoved through said humans sternum, right?

    1. Havin_it
      Terminator

      Now you're just being silly.

      It goes through the milk carton first, then the head.

      [This just had to be announced the day after T2 being on telly, didn't it? Now I look like a right nerd... oh wait...]

  10. MatsSvensson

    Oh, i wouldn't worry about this...

  11. RLWatkins

    Old news

    Wow! Take droplets of room-temperature liquid metal, mercury and gallium are old favorites, apply an electrical charge, and lo and behold, they're attracted to one another! And like any other liquid with a bit of surface tension, when they touch they merge!

    Gee whiz!

    People were doing stuff like this for science fairs 40-50 years ago when I was little.

  12. saundby

    The sphere thing makes it sound like they've built a small T-1000 version of Rover, and they're hoping to make it large enough to stop an escaping Number 6.

  13. earl grey
    Coat

    I am not a number

    I'll just get me coat before that bubbly thing gets me...

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re. liquid metal

    Isn't the big problem with GaInSn alloys the tendency for them to oxidise in air?

    Maybe what we need is microscopic droplets with outer inert shells that only dissolve when heated to a critical temperature, a bit like wax actuators.

    Upon heating via induction using SiC coated iron nanoparticles the shells melt and the droplets join and move around, on cooling the outer shells solidify and the metal fuses.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like