LEVITATION has revealed the secrets of liquid boron, a substance that can eat
through almost any container.
Boron only becomes liquid at 2100 °C and is so corrosive at that temperature
it is impossible to contain. So until now, how boron atoms behave in a liquid
has been a mystery.
Scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory and the company Containerless
Research, both near Chicago, suspended boron crystals on continuous jets of
argon and then heated them with a laser.
When X-rays were passed through the liquid, the diffraction pattern suggested
that boron, much like ice, retains some of its crystalline structure upon
melting (Physical Review Letters, vol 8, p 586).
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