science IS cool!

complaining that he, the non-musician, never got the chance to go on rock tours, my friend ben decided that he and two of his friends should embark upon a united states tour this summer, displaying their trumpet, experimental fiction, and quantum physics skills. here is the facebook invite, if you're interested in their talent synopses: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=19668364814&ref=ts
anyway they stopped in chicago a few days ago and played(?) a show in the attic of a friend's house. ben--newly published!--did a few flash readings and told a joke about a walrus, and peter's performance was really cool, but what really BLEW ME AWAY was jim's science demonstration about magnetized ferrofluid. according to wikipedia, this substance is "a liquid which becomes strongly polarised in the presence of a magnetic field. it is a colloidal mixture comprising extremely small magnetic particles suspended in a liquid. the particles are coated with a soap or detergent to prevent them from clumping together." or basically, it is iron filings in a special liquid.
the bizarre properties of this fluid have just recently been discovered and i forget the larger consequences of this finding other than that cancer research and nasa are involved. the only thing i really remember is that jim used a bunch of magnets to pull this ferrofluid into fucking ridiculous shapes and movements. here are a few youtube videos so that you can see for yourself:




that shit is real! sachiko kodama is using ferrofluid in his sculptures now; he builds these large, spinning, christmas tree-like bodies:

what the heck?!
so the night was a success and i regained faith in my love of science, despite the fact that i did poorly in ap physics. oh ben might be mad if i didn't include this: http://www.myspace.com/bensegalfiction