I thought this was a spoof at first. But it appears genuine. April 10, 2015.
BEIJING, CHINA – It may look like nothing more than a small ball of metal, but the shape-shifting and self-propulsion abilities of a liquid metal alloy discovered by scientists at China’s Tsinghua University.
The device is made from a drop of metal alloy consisting mostly of gallium, which is a liquid at just under 30 degrees Celsius. Last year they discovered that an applied electrical current causes the gallium alloy to drastically alter its shape. Changing the voltage applied to the metal allowed it to ‘shape-shift’ into different formations. When the current was switched off, the metal returned to its original drop shape.
Bringing it into contact with a flake of aluminum caused a reaction creating hydrogen bubbles that allowed it to move of its own accord. Liu said it was able to ‘fuel’ itself for about an hour.
3 Nov 2018.
Researchers at the University of Sussex and Swansea University have applied electrical charges to manipulate liquid metal into 2D shapes such as letters and a heart.
Feb 2019
http://www.scienceinsanity.com/2019/01/scientists-have-created-programmable.html
Not sure whether the following image is real or a rigged demo.
