Surely, when watching the movie "Terminator 2: Doomsday", almost every viewer was delighted with the T-1000 cyborg made of liquid metal. At the moment, the creation of such a robot, of course, is impossible, but scientists are slowly moving towards this goal. For example, researchers from the American Chemical Society have succeeded in creating a liquid metal that can be manipulated by a magnetic field. This can be considered a small but extremely important step, because this is the first time that the material has been moved not only horizontally, but also vertically.
If liquid robots are created in the future, they will most likely be made from gallium or other metals that melt at room temperature. In addition to this property, they have other features such as high conductivity and infinite flexibility. The liquid metal can be moved using magnets - the main thing is that nickel or iron particles are added to the alloy.
Unfortunately, due to the high surface tension, the magnetized liquid metal could only be moved horizontally and only within any liquid. But researchers have found a way to move it even vertically. They reduced the tension by creating a liquid alloy of gallium, iron, indium and tin - when immersed in hydrochloric acid, a layer of gallium oxide formed on the surface of the material, which contributed to the relief.
By applying the magnet in opposite directions, the researchers ensured that the material was stretched vertically. This means that it can be moved even in three-dimensional space, and not only in a plane, as before. The new alloy is not yet ready for use in liquid robots - scientists are still far from that. However, the new discovery, at least a little, but brought scientists closer to creating a new kind of robots.
In what year do you think humanity will create a liquid robot? Did the cyborg T-1000 from the second Terminator impress you?
Promotional video:
Ramis Ganiev
