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.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday September 26 2017, @10:36AM (5 children)
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)
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)
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
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)
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
Interesting perspective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford