Boy is this an aesthetically superior post. Here are two liquids that only seem a voice away from whispering their dreams and ambitions.

The first liquid is Ferrofluid, a liquid that becomes polarised only in the presence of a magnetic field. It’s incredible to watch.

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When there’s about 1:11 left of the video, we catch the liquid briefly stretching down in what looks like pillars holding up the mass above. This simply blew me away, the complexity of it is mindboggling and the aesthetics mindblowing — a combination that hits home. If you liked this video, I recommend you check out this and that one too. And this one. (Also, I found a DIY for making it, be sure to let me know if you try it out! See links below).

This second liquid doesn’t require as much tech to produce. You may be thinking “A hole that stays put? Big deal”. But the hole is nothing — watch the video to the end. These guys save the best for last. Frankly, if it’d be possible to make this kind of a display silent, I’d like to have one running at home at all times.

It’s liquid cornstarch, vibrated at a certain frequency. Increasing the vibe makes this seemingly boring liquid do some insane things. Remember Solaris?

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When I see these kinds of liquid type entities that seem capable of reaching out and greeting you, my mind automatically goes to thinking how we could embed a display like that with intelligence. Imagine, for example, the ferrofluid interacting with you — being hooked up to a speech reco/synthesizer and emitting emotion through its ferrofluid shape. When it’d get angry or annoyed it could signal it by making itself spiky; or round and friendly when it’s happy. Unfortunately, I’m certain that both of these liquids are impossible to control on lower levels, but I’m sure the basic range of emotions could be signalled by varying spikyness/speed of motion. Like I said in the introduction, their lifelike qualities only seem to be lacking a voice. Any takers on this idea?

Links and References

• Ferrofluid on Wikipedia
• Morpho Towers — ferrofluid art installation
• How to make ferrofluid!