back to article Boffins have devised TERMINATOR style LIQUID METAL – for an antenna

Boffins have made a liquid metal device which can alter its shape through voltage alone, removing the need for clunky external pumps previously used to arrange such material. In a breakthrough which brings humanity much too close to the development of functioning T-1000s, boffins from North Carolina State University (NCSU) …

  1. Pedigree-Pete
    Pint

    Fine Boffinry..

    ..gentlemen of N. Carolina. Have one on me.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Fine Boffinry..

      Research triangle is definitely the crown jewel of the Carolinas (unless you are a Nascar fan lol). Austin or Silicon Valley east in many ways.

  2. Rick Brasche

    the last necessary conceptual step

    towards the "perfect" software defined radio system.

    Stand back, things are gonna get AWESOME in the next decade for radio fans

  3. earl grey
    Alert

    I, for one

    welcome our liquid metal overlords

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    varactors

    Technically a varactor isn't a switched circuit element - it's a reverse biased diode used as a variable capacitor, by altering the applied voltage. What it can't do is alter the optimum frequency of a physical aerial, so this discovery would enable control by voltage of all the necessary parameters for a receiver.

  5. x 7

    clever stuff, but probably not practical - yet.

    Gallium, and liquid gallium alloys are a PITA to work with because they are damned difficult and risky to contain safely. For instance - except for Swissair (cos the Swiss make the stuff) gallium is banned from aircraft as any leaks would corrode through the aircraft floor and hull in record time.

    You can really only package the stuff in glass - but then you have the obvious breakage risk. A lot of thought needs to be given to safe handling

    1. asdf

      yep

      Not a chemical expert but at least in the semiconductor field Gallium is almost always followed by the word arsenide which makes it sound doubly fun to handle. (Edit: after looking at the MSDS it still doesn't have anything on HF or Silane, or my favorite Diborane).

    2. Anonymous Blowhard

      @x7 - Might be more practical than you think

      I was interested by your comment and looked up Gallium on Wikipedia:

      "samples of gallium metal are usually supplied in polyethylene packets within other containers"

      So polythene, which can be made quite robust, can also be used as a container; also, I'd expect the amount present in a mobile phone or IoT device to be very small, probably less than a few grammes, so any leakage is likely to have minimal effect on an aircraft.

      1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

        Re: @x7 - Might be more practical than you think

        I doubt that having the Gallium leak out is a design objective of mobile phones.

      2. x 7

        Re: @x7 - Might be more practical than you think

        What they mean is a polythene protective layer inside something stronger.

        The problems with gallium are

        1) Its density - around 6g/cm3 meaning any container has to be strong

        2) It expands on freezing - so giving the probability of shattering containers while in storage

        3) How it reacts with other metals: to quote Wiki:

        "Gallium attacks most other metals by diffusing into their metal lattice. Gallium, for example, diffuses into the grain boundaries of aluminium-zinc alloys or steel, making them very brittle."

        It takes very little to do this - my understanding is that aircraft have been lost as a result of very small leaks.

        Together they represent a fair headache to resolve, especially if placed in the hands of the public

  6. FozzyBear
    Terminator

    I'm running for the hills

    One dimensional antenna. I call it a sharp needle.

    They are working on conttrolling it two-dimensionally. I call that

    "Knives and other stabbing weapons"

    1. P. Lee

      Re: I'm running for the hills

      Airport security will have a fit.

      It was tooth-fillings when it came on board, and now its bomb!

      1. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge

        Fillings...

        Reminds me a Culture novel where, near the end, one of the characters had a polymorphic tooth that turned into a hand-held plasma gun. Forget the title...

        1. jonathan keith

          Re: Fillings...

          Wasn't it Against A Dark Background?

          1. Malc

            Re: Fillings...

            Consider Phlebas, Ms Balveda finished the story minus one of her teeth.

      2. Trigonoceps occipitalis

        Re: I'm running for the hills

        You just had to use the B word didn’t you. Next time I travel I'm suing you if the actors in the security theatre remove my fillings.

  7. Roger Kynaston
    Joke

    Hrmm

    Were I to fit HF (SSB or HAM) radio to the boat the normal solution to an aerial is to put two insulators on the backstay and use that. Not sure how well a liquid metal backstay would work when beating into a stiff force 6.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hrmm

      It's less messy if you face away from the wind when beating.

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