3D Printing Liquid Metal At Room Temperature-- Yup, Terminator 2 One Step Closer- Eventually Same 3D Printer For Metal And Plastic [VIDEO]

3D printing liquid metal may be a reality....and Terminator 2 might be on the way.

An innovative new design promises to offer 3D printing from liquid metal and a whole new slew of flexible electronics.

The new 3D printed liquid metal is made of gallium and indium in an alloy that forms a thin skin-like membrane on the surface when exposed to air, despite being liquid at room temperature.

Researchers at North Carolina State University in Raleigh developed the design. Michael Dickey and his colleagues used syringes to put an alloy in and were able to squeeze out wires that, despite a molten center, stood vertically.

"The fact that they are liquid means you could surround them with another material like rubber to make metallic structures that you can stretch and deform," Michael Dickey said.

The alloy is created from a mixture of 75 percent eutectic gallium alloy and 25 percent indium. And when the liquid gets exposed to air, something neat happens: a gallium oxide is formed in a thin outer layer, which lets the extruded alloy hold its shape.

The syringe that created the towers of droplets and wires could be switched out for the nozzle of a 3D printer. This means that eventually, we may be able to 3D print plastic object that have metal wiring using just one device.

 "You could include this as a functional ink that you use with a 3D printer," Dickey told press.

The metal is not only flexible, which means objects could be reshaped and molded, but it conducts electricity.

The metal is non- toxic, unlike liquid mercury-but it will be very expensive, at least initially. The technology is still in very nascent developmental stages, but it's also one step closer to the possibility that eventually, any object will be able to be 3D printed at the touch of a button.

See a video about the process below: