Check out this molten ball of metal levitating in outer space
The ESA has put a levitating furnace on the International Space Station. Getting it to work right required a bit of shaving cream.
Blacksmiths have been superheating and then quickly cooling metals on Earth for years to make everything from swords to horseshoes. But if you’re a scientist looking to study exactly what this process does to metal here on Earth, there are issues. For one, there’s all that pesky gravity. Plus, when you pour molten metal into a mold prior to cooling it, some of the heat from the metal is instantly transferred to the mold, gunking up a pure scientific experiment.
So, what do you do you if you want to really get a clear picture of metal’s behavior unencumbered by Earthly concerns? Send a space forge up to the International Space Station that can superheat and supercool metals in midair, of course.
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