[Faline]

If you haven’t heard of ferrofluid before, prepare to become a fan. It’s basically a liquid that, when placed in a magnetic field becomes strongly magnetized. This is due to the liquid containing ferromagnetic particles. Ferrofluids are also superparamagnets, as they don’t remain magnetized once the magnetic field is removed.

Now that the science is out of the way, we can look at the cool things you can do with a ferrofluid. The most common example you see is the fluid placed in a dish which sits on top of a magnet. The result, as you can see in the image below, forms a shaped surface.


They also have a wide range of practical applications such as forming liquid seals around hard drives, helping magnets to glide across smooth surfaces, and even help doctors with cancer detection.

Ferrofluids are also popular with artists, and Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner decided to experiment by mixing together a ferrofluid with water colors while placed over a magnetic field. The end result is both breathtaking and unique as a piece of art.


The images you see here are all formed by injecting water colors into the ferrofluid while it is under the influence of the magnetic field. You can see this in action in the video above. What you don’t realize is the images are only around the same size as a thumbnail.


Oefner was inspired to try this experiment after he saw Japanese artist Sachiko Kodama creating sculptures with ferrofluids. The Millefiori collection of images reproduced here, were created by changing the shapes within the ferrofluid before adding different colors. And looking at them under a microscope gives you an even better idea of the detail these tiny pieces of art hold.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rNHlRYRYjQk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vsQh1AT6qUE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrofluid

[Viking64]

ferrout!!

[Sandbwoy]

This is great stuff, I want some! After reading the article I was gonna ask where I could get hold of some, but then I watched the video. I gotta make some of this!

[warsuron]

[zombie-rot420]

That is AWESOME!!!

[PsychodelicTurtle]

Originally Posted by Viking64 ↗

ferrout!!

I was waiting 4 this! I shooda known u'd b the 1rst 1 2 say it!

[Oswald2001]

And all this time I thought it had something to do with ferrets.

[Sharon]

I'm now a fan Beautiful

[Darkest Angel]

Very cool