BEIJING: Researchers have created a shape-shifting, liquid metal machine that is capable of powering itself all the while being capable of deforming itself according to the space it travels in.
Jing Liu from the Tsinghua University said that the soft machine looks rather intelligent and can deform itself according to the space it voyages in, just like the Terminator does from the science-fiction film and these unusual behaviours perfectly resemble the living organisms in nature.
The motor is made from galinstan – an alloy made from gallium, indium and tin (68.5 percent, 21.5 percent and 10 percent respectively) that has a melting point of -19 degrees Celsius, meaning it stays liquid at room temperature. When placed in a Petri dish with sodium hydroxide, or even brine, and left in contact with a flake of aluminium, which the alloy utilizes as fuel, the liquid motor can move around on its own for about an hour, prompting its inventors to raise some new questions about the definition of life, the research group has likened their creation to a bio-mimetic mollusc.
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