German Aerospace Center, DLR

(Photo Credit: German Aerospace Center, DLR)

In what is certainly the coolest looking space-station experiment of the year, astronauts aboard the ISS are levitating and cooling perfect spheres of white-hot, liquid metal.

Why? Because scientists are curious about how metal structures itself, especially on the molecular side, when it cools free from the unending pull of gravity we feel on Earth. In the experiments, the metal (which is locked in place with a strong electromagnetic field) is rapidly cooled in a process called quenching—the same process as a blacksmith dipping a hot steel blade in water to harden it.

It's hard to predict what exactly we'll learn from this eye-catching basic-science experiment; but we're hoping it'll move us closer to unlocking the mysteries of ancient, Damascus steel.

Via NewScientist.

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