Plasma-arc torches are sci-fi made real. And they slice through steel so easily, anyone can use them.
Posted 02.06.2004 at 1:55 pm
0 Comments
Photographs by Jeff Sciortino (2) The plasma cutting this spiral is eight times hotter than the Sun, but the heat is so concentrated the string won't burn.
Photographs by Jeff Sciortino (2)
Dept.: Gray Matter
Investigator: Theodore Gray
Shop Tech: Plasma-arc torches
Project: Metal spiral
Time: 45 minutes
Element: Hafnium -- Appearance: Exotic and ductile heavy metal with
smooth silvery surface and high corrosion resistance Most common uses: Nuclear control rods, plasma-arc
torches, incandescent lamps and alloys Melting temp: 2,229
Want to learn more about breakthroughs in electronics, medicine, nanotech, and more?
Subscribe to Popular Science and enter to win $5,000!
Subscribe to Popular Science and enter to win $5,000!
0 Comments
To comment, please Login.
Download Our iPhone App
Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone with full articles, images and offline viewing
Follow Us On Twitter
Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed
Become a Fan On Facebook
Share links with friends, comment on stories and more
December 2009: Best of What's New
In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.
Check out the best of what's new here.
Popular Science Photo Pool
Popular on Popsci
Most Viewed
Science
- China's Weather Manipulation Brings Crippling Snowstorm to Beijing
- Mesmerizing, Isn't It?
- Synthetic Molecules Trick Body Into Improved Immune Response to HIV, Cancer
- Old Soviet Warheads Fuel America's Nuclear Power Industry
- Vatican Ponders the Existence Of Alien Life
- Implantable Device Allows Mastectomy Patients to Regrow Own Breasts
- IEA Whistleblower Claims Agency Has Downplayed Looming Oil Shortage
- Modified Algae Produce Clean, Easy Hydrogen
- Moon-Bombing Mission Finds Significant Amount of Water in Lunar Soil
- Will Drilling Into a Volcano Trigger an Eruption That Destroys Naples?
Most Commented
Science
- This Week in the Future, November 6-13, 2009
- This Week in the Future, November 16-20, 2009
- China's Weather Manipulation Brings Crippling Snowstorm to Beijing
- So Much For "Hopenhagen"
- Modified Algae Produce Clean, Easy Hydrogen
- Vatican Ponders the Existence Of Alien Life
- British Academy To Look Into Ethics of Human-Animal Genetic Hybrids
- IEA Whistleblower Claims Agency Has Downplayed Looming Oil Shortage
- Mesmerizing, Isn't It?
- Moon-Bombing Mission Finds Significant Amount of Water in Lunar Soil
Most Emailed
Science
- Fermi Telescope Detects Antimatter in Lightning Storms
- New Reactor Uses Sunlight to Turn Water and Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel
- Modified Algae Produce Clean, Easy Hydrogen
- IEA Whistleblower Claims Agency Has Downplayed Looming Oil Shortage
- Take Down Rampaging Elephants with Automatic Entangling Leg-Cords, Star Wars Style
- Military Launching Preemptive Strikes Against Mental Illness
- Man Diagnosed 'Comatose' For 23 Years Was Actually Conscious All Along
- President Obama Hopes to Jumpstart Science and Technology Education With New Initiative
- Yikes: Peruvian Jungle Gang Arrested for Selling Fat of Its Murder Victims
- This Week in the Future, November 16-20, 2009
Today on PopSci.com
Copyright © 2009 Popular Science
A Bonnier Corporation Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
