Featured Image Credit: Chinese University of Hong Kong/Tri-Star Pictures
There's a reason things aren't as scary when they're behind a screen.
But when it comes to life, it's a lot more spine-chilling. Say, a shape-shifting robot.
Researchers from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Carnegie Mellon University have developed a human-shaped robot that can melt and reform.
The robot literally escaped jail by melting to slip through the bars and then morphing back into shape on the other side.
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That's right, exactly like that scene out of the 1991 classic, Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
The iconic scene shows the T-1000 robot (played by Robert Patrick) shapeshifting through metal bars whilst he is chasing down Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and her son John (Edward Furlong).
Inspired by sea cucumbers that can change between rigid and flaccid states, the scientists created a robot from a new material called a 'magnetoactive solid-liquid phase transitional machine.'
This is just a fancy way of saying they mixed magnetic particles into gallium, a metal that melts at a low temperature.
'The magnetic particles here have two roles,' said senior author and mechanical engineer Carmel Majidi of Carnegie Mellon University.
'One is that they make the material responsive to an alternating magnetic field, so you can, through induction, heat up the material and cause the phase change.
'But the magnetic particles also give the robots mobility and the ability to move in response to the magnetic field.'
But fret not, as this liquifying robot should come without sinister intentions. Though as sci-fi as it is, it's a far cry from the likes of C-3PO in Star Wars or Tesla's Optimus.
'Giving robots the ability to switch between liquid and solid states endows them with more functionality,' said study lead Chengfeng Pan, an engineer at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Breaking out of jail wasn't the only impressive action the robot completed.
Researchers also had it jump over obstacles, climb walls and even split in half to move around objects before rejoining. This was all thanks to a magnetic field.
'Now, we’re pushing this material system in more practical ways to solve some very specific medical and engineering problems,' Pan added.
While it's early days, this kind of technology could have amazing applications in the medical industry, such as removing objects from inside the body or delivering drugs precisely where needed.
Researchers suggest the material could also be used as 'soldering robots for wireless circuit assembly and repair' - so we can only hope this technology will use its powers for good, not evil.
