Self-Assembling Liquid Structures
Researchers put liquids that become magnetized in the presence of magnetic fields on a water-repelling surface to make these small self-assembling structures.
A team from Aalto University in Finland first put a stationary magnet under the puddle of the liquid, called a ferrofluid, to create simple structures on the hydrophobic surface. Then they started moving the magnet around, the changing magnetic fields causing the more complex structures seen above to form.