Scientists have created a robot capable of turning into liquid and reforming back into its original shape, a development that can herald new applications in healthcare and other fields; but it has also triggered comparisons with the antagonist from the Terminator movies as the substance can be made in a humanoid shape.
In addition, these robots can also conduct electricity as they are magnetic. The research team is calling the new phase-shifting material used in the robots “magnetoactive solid-liquid phase transitional machine.”
The material was created by embedding gallium with magnetic particles. Gallium is a soft, silvery metal when under standard temperature and pressure. It has a low melting point.
Better Phase-Shifting Material, Medical Application
According to senior author and mechanical engineer Carmel Majidi of Carnegie Mellon University, magnetic particles used in the phase-shifting material perform dual functions.There are some phase-shifting materials already in existence. But unlike the new material, these existing materials rely on electrical currents, heat guns, and other external heat sources in order to trigger the transformation between solid and liquid states.
Moreover, the new material is also said to be much more fluid in its liquid state when compared to other phase-shifting materials that tend to be more viscous when liquid.
The research team tested the material by subjecting it to a variety of tasks. This includes the terminator-style “prison break,” climbing walls, splitting in half to move objects by cooperating with each part before joining back, and jumping over moats.
Phase-Shifting Material Studies
Several studies are ongoing that research phase-shifting materials. In 2020, researchers from the University of Southampton in the UK showcased a phase-changing material that exhibited no loss of light at telecommunication wavelengths.When compared to existing high-end optical materials, the new material showed 100 times less loss of light while also being capable of being switched with low power.