Stainless magnesium breakthrough bodes well for manufacturing industries
http://www.gizmag.com/stainless-magnesium-corrosion-monash/28856/

Magnesium alloys are very attractive for a range of weight-sensitive applications. They have the largest strength-to-weight ratio of the common structural metals, are lighter than aluminum and are particularly favored for being easy to machine and for their ability to be die cast to net shape. Unfortunately, magnesium alloys tend to corrode too easily. A team at Monash University in Australia has now discovered a novel and potentially game-changing approach to the problem: poisoning the chemical reactions leading to corrosion of magnesium alloys by adding a dash of arsenic to the recipe.

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Fascinating article. And …

> Research and development carried out over the past decade have solved certain problems presented by magnesium alloys. Their tendency toward high-temperature creep was tamed by inclusion of scandium and gadolinium, and their flammability has been greatly reduced by introducing a small amount of calcium into the mix.

Aha! I’d wondered how they made non-flammable magnesium.