Electrically conductive metals, such as copper and aluminium, can be altered in form without bringing so much as a chisel to their surface. The secret: electromagnetic fields.
There are six alkali metals: Lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), caesium (Cs) and francium (Fr). You’re probably familiar with lithium, since it’s inside the batteries of all your electronic devices.
You may not care the China controls over 95 per cent of the world’s supply of rare earth metals, but you might want to.
Erected to highlight an English river’s pollution, this 14m-tall metal flower has dozens of LEDs which glow brighter the more the wind around it increases.
University of Texas researchers stumbled upon a new superconducting metal that is the world’s thinnest at a mere two atoms—slightly thicker than a marathon runner by comparison.
