
Liquid metal renaissance points to wearables, soft robots, and new materials - pseudolus
https://www.pnas.org/content/117/10/5088
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carapace
> That skin can lead to some curious behaviors. His lab has found that when a
> drop of gallium-indium alloy sits in a strong alkali solution, applying
> voltage causes the skin to form around the drop. The skin acts as one of the
> world’s most effective surfactants—chemicals that alter the drop’s surface
> tension—by turning the drop’s spherical shape into a snowflake-like fractal
> pattern.

Links to this paper (there's an image): Oxidation-Mediated Fingering in Liquid
Metals

Collin B. Eaker, David C. Hight, John D. O'Regan, Michael D. Dickey, Karen E.
Daniels (Submitted on 8 Mar 2017)

[https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.03011](https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.03011)

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loughnane
I've tried to use liquid metal several times over the years, mostly in
wearables projects.

Every time there has been a bunch of red tape on the LQMT side in determining
if this was a project they wanted to take part in and, if so, how we should
move forward.

That slow moving might work if LQMT is the only way to move forward, but for
most projects it's more advisable to just go with MIM, Machining, or something
else.

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AlotOfReading
My understanding of LQMT is that they have a special amorphous
alloy/production method. As far as I'm aware, the "liquid" moniker is simply
marketing.

The article seems to be talking about applications of metal alloys that are
genuinely liquid at STP. Not really related?

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gonesilent
I still have samples of liquid metal pre apple from when OQO was attempting to
mold with it. Stuff is magic every time I run across some of it buried under
junk it just grabs the eye. only thing Apple cast with it was SIM card
removers.

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Gatsky
The room temperature catalyst data looks pretty promising. Not sure of the
feasibility of building out huge electrocatalytic CO2 scrubbing capacity, or
if there is enough gallium in the world to actually do this.

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smoyer
I've been holding a lot of LQMT stock ... I'm ready for this to move into the
mainstream.

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zapttt
:( sell.

they already signed exclusive, worldwide, paid-for, resellable, rigths
licensing with many companies (even apple, which always plays bad with
providers). not sure what their end game is (production? they can't be that
crazy), but definitely will not turn a profit from their trade-secret alloys
recipies.

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AgloeDreams
The Sim card ejector in every iPhone box, take a closer look at it ;)

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sroussey
Doesn’t come with the phone anymore though

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chewxy
T1000 when?

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jl2718
I wonder how much was publicly known about this technology in 1990 or so. This
is a case where I’d be quite impressed if it was based on anything real. I’m
probably more often disappointed by the oft-abused deus-ex-machina (quantum,
AI, wormholes, hacking, etc), but sometimes it’s really well done and way
ahead of the zeitgeist’s tech imagination.

~~~
jacobush
“Hackers” is more realistic now than back when. See Maersk cargo ship
hacking...

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peter_d_sherman
There might be something here with respect to field visualization -- magnetic,
electric, voltage, rf, sound or other...

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stevespang
The catalytic reduction of CO2 using cerium loaded liquid metal at room
temperature in a single step process is quite novel, really exciting . . . .

