New 4-times-lighter aluminium form can float on water
US-based researchers have created a metastable crystalline aluminium form that can float on water as it has a density of 0.61 gram per cubic centimetre, in contrast to conventional aluminium's density of 2.7 grams per cubic centimetre. Researchers used a known crystal lattice, of a diamond, and substituted every carbon atom with an aluminium tetrahedron to generate the new form.