How a metal with a memory will shape our future on Mars

Nitinol, a “memory” metal that can remember its original shape when heated, is an industrial gem that will play a key role in NASA’s next mission to Mars.

[VergeScience]

What weird, futuristic material should we look into next?

[debbiramsey]

Years ago Nitenol was classified. It had great memory but they didn't know what to do with it. Years later they realized they could pit it in heart defects if the place was going to have to move a lot, I have one in my heart. They squeeze it in and slide it in the heart. When I first got it I recall listening in my heart there. I heard my heart going. Ching ca Ching Ca Ching. On and on. Finally the heart will grow over it and it can't be heard anymore. The thing fixed the hole in my heart. I'm 69" .

[DavidDatura]

I first heard of nitinol decades ago! It then seemed to fade from the public eye and now it’s back.

[limbodog]

I didn't see it mentioned, but the name "Nitinol" is from "Nickel + Titanium + Naval Ordinance Lab" (I used to work for a company that used it to make cardiac stents)

[kelloggsresearchlabs-nitin]

@VergeScience It was a great honor working with you to produce this video and educate the public about nitinol. Nitinol truly is poised to initiate the next technology revolution and we're thrilled to join you in a part of it.

[Kaden]

The first time I came across nitinol was actually in an escape room where we found a wire and learned that we needed to heat it up. When we applied the heat, the wire shifted itself into words which led us to our next clue. It was extremely clever! I'm glad that people smarter than me have found applications outside of entertainment!

[twistedhumor]

Nitinol is used everyday as arch wires in orthodontic braces and also in files for doing root canals

[RushGarcia]

Maybe we can't regenerate like in COD.... But maybe our cars can.

[__hjg__]

Anyone else remember getting a tiny strip of Nitinol for free when you ordered it from a Popular Science article back in the late 70s?

[ozzyfromspace]

And to think, this is just a tiny taste of the cool technologies engineers collaborating on space missions get to work with.

[chrisgiddens]

Imagine having a house made of this stuff destroyed by a hurricane then rebuilt after catching it on fire. 😂

[joeltm]

I first found out about nickel titanium alloy when I was looking up what my brace’s arch wire is made of

[universalhologram]

Nitinol: literally reinventing the wheel

[Daltr]

The title made me though that the metal had a RAM memory by default. lol

[FAWNZ]

This reminds me of what has been described as recovered ufo material from the Roswell crash where there was a metal foil type material that you could crumple and fold up and it would return to its normal state.

[prafullyt]

I would say this is what composes the Lamborghini Sian's rear engine flaps. Which automatically open up when engine warms up to a certain temperature without the help of any electricals!
Although they haven't shared any details on its working.

[MFrawley]

I worked with Dr. Santo Padula in the fall of 2015 as an intern at NASA Glenn in CLE; absolutely brilliant guy. I was so fortunate to have seen his research and the Nitinol rover wheel design.

[air]

I have gone from a video titled " how toddlers flex on other toddlers" from gus johnson to this. Youtube recommendations are absolutely impeccable at 1: 30 in the morning

[onemorelevelup]

My uncle had shown me spectacles made out of memory metal 22 years ago when he used his hands to completely crumple up the temples and bridge and then released them, so that they unfolded back into their original forms.

[thetruthexperiment]

It’s about time someone did something with this stuff. Heard of it since I was 7 years old and had trouble even looking it up till about 10 years ago and finally people are doing something.