One of the Strongest, Lightest Metals Ever Made Is Less Dense Than Water


Here's a block of metal that is so light, its density so low, that it floats on water. It can also withstand intense pressures and appears to be ideal to use to manufacture boats.

There are, of course, several types of metals that float on water—but few of them are useful as an actual building material.

Earlier this year, we visited the laboratory of Nikhil Gupta, a researcher at NYU Polytechnic University who is designing some of the strongest materials ever devised, in conjunction with researchers at Deep Springs Technology. Gupta works with a class of material called "syntactic foam," which are composite materials that are filled with hollow particles.

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