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Scientists Create Buoyant Aluminum

posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday September 26 2017, @07:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the unsinkable-beer-can dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

http://aluminiuminsider.com/researchers-confirm-discovery-floating-aluminium/

Like most common metals, aluminium lacks natural buoyancy. However, with a little rearranging of the metal’s natural molecular structure, one can produce an ultra-light crystalline form of the metal that is actually less dense than water and, as a result, floats upon it.

Research conducted by Utah State University Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry professor Alexander Boldyrev and published in the latest issue of The Journal of Physical Chemistry C has yielded just such a crystalline form using computational modeling.

“My colleagues’ approach to this challenge was very innovative,” explained Boldyrev. “They started with a known crystal lattice, in this case, a diamond, and substituted every carbon atom with an aluminum tetrahedron.”

Boldyrev’s colleagues, namely Iliya Getmanskii, Vitaliy Koval, Rusian Minyaev, and Vladimir Minkin of Southern Federal University in Rostov-on Don, Russia, confirmed the structure which is metastable and has a density of 0.61 grams per cubic centimeter. By comparison, conventional aluminium possesses a density of 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter.

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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday September 26 2017, @10:17AM (6 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 26 2017, @10:17AM (#573017) Journal

    And it will happen if it shows potential for military applications.

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  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday September 26 2017, @10:36AM (5 children)

    by MostCynical (2589) on Tuesday September 26 2017, @10:36AM (#573025) Journal

    All new, non-recyclable coke cans! Get em before they're too hot to handle!

    For the military, I can see it all depending on how controlled the (inevitable) state change will e this stuff could make a great alternative to compression ignition for bullets. - no hammer needed just something to penetrate the protective layer.

    Does anyone know if "meta" in metastable really just means "theoretically"?

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday September 26 2017, @11:05AM (4 children)

      by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Tuesday September 26 2017, @11:05AM (#573032) Homepage
      "Metastable" is basically "stable as long as you don't trigger it". Supercooled liquids can be happy to remain liquid a long way below freezing point, but smack them or introduce crystalisation sites, and they'll quite happily leave that state en masse. Super-saturated solutions too. And lasers (collapse from the excited state being the laser pulse). And feminists.
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves

      • (Score: 2, Touché) by c0lo on Tuesday September 26 2017, @11:40AM (3 children)

        by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday September 26 2017, @11:40AM (#573043) Journal

        And feminists.

        I'm yet to see a metastable feminist.
        Maybe I need to see one during her deepest slumber, while heavily sedated.

        --
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

        • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:56PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 26 2017, @03:56PM (#573203)

          It's a very transient state. Just after the finish of a rant, there is a very brief pause before the intake of breath that powers the next rant.

        • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Wednesday September 27 2017, @01:55AM (1 child)

          by MostCynical (2589) on Wednesday September 27 2017, @01:55AM (#573612) Journal

          Hold on - which one of you is sedated?

          --
          "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

          • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday September 27 2017, @03:34AM

            by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday September 27 2017, @03:34AM (#573650) Journal

            Interesting perspective.

            --
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford