By Dan Nosowitz Posted 06.13.2011 at 1:39 pm 5 Comments

Magnetic Silly Putty Instructables user Mikeasaurus

Silly Putty is pretty much the best non-Newtonian viscoelastic liquid we can think of--it stretches, it bounces, it transfers ink, it's reminiscent of mussel fibers, and it can be broken with a sharp blow. But what if it's blended with magnetic powder? Turns out magnetic Silly Putty has an unquenchable hunger for magnets.

Instructables posted a guide to creating your own magnetic Silly Putty. It's pretty simple, basically requiring you to slowly fold ferric iron oxide powder (which can be found in art supply shops) into a clump of Silly Putty. After it's been thoroughly magnetized (and dyed black, thanks to the powder), it will stretch and move like a thick liquid magnet, reaching to get to the small magnets used in this video.

It gets a bit unnerving when a magnet is placed directly on the side of the newly magnetic Silly Putty--the Putty seems to eat and then digest the magnet, pulling it inside itself in slow motion like some kind of unfathomable science-fiction horror creature. Make sure to watch until the end to see its creepiness on display.

[Instructables via Gizmodo]

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5 Comments

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B.V.
06/13/11 at 2:13 pm

Haha! Makes me think of that terrible spiderman movie about that black evil goop...

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sykosmurph
06/13/11 at 10:16 pm

At no point does it "digest" the magnets. It engulfs them certainly. Come on a little truth in advertising please?

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z7u2v
06/14/11 at 12:30 am

Looks like spiffyneat fun! :D

Makes me want to try doing this to one container, leave another one normal, and then streak them together at varying degrees to see how I can make it move around every which way with some magnets.

>>It definitely made me click to see if it was really consuming/dissolving magnets, or just enveloping them like I sort of assumed... . .Don't worry Dan, I believe the word is called "personification," and it worked just fine with this article ;)

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CodeZero
06/14/11 at 6:19 am

Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty invented this. They have all sorts of "silly putty" from the famous coral, to clear, from color change, to glow in the dark. I've got Crazy Aaron's "Quicksilver" magnetic myself, it's very fun to play with, one thing to note is that the magnet NEEDS to be super powerful otherwise it just doesn't have the power needed. I'm a fan of DYI, but sometimes it's just easier/cheaper to buy from a company that does nothing but make the product. Sometimes it's not. Anyway, it sure is fun to play with magnetic putty!

Playing Devil's Advocate since 1978

"The only constant in the universe is change"
-Heraclitus of Ephesus 535 BC - 475 BC

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itztoxik
06/20/11 at 8:31 am

@skyosmurph:
if you read a little more CLOSELY, it says it SEEMS to do so. chill your biscuits on the accusations.

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