Add a Bit of Color and Magnetic Ferrofluid Becomes the Stuff of Nightmares

We haven’t found too many practical uses for ferrofluid—a mix of oil and iron particles that appears to morph and change shape when exposed to magnets—aside from fun desktop toys. So now that we’ve discovered it becomes a nightmarish-looking blob creature when you mix in a little color, maybe it’s time to just stop making this stuff?

I’m probably not going to sleep tonight after watching these unsettling ferrofluid experiments from YouTube’s Chemical bouillon, but at the same time I’m also oddly soothed by the seething, bubbling display of colors. It’s equal parts beautiful and unsettling, like a lava lamp that might be slowly giving birth to a monster.

[YouTube]