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Design

Look at These Ferrofluids Go

We get hands-on with Kyle Haines' ferrofluid creations.
Images via, unless otherwise noted

Kyle Haines' ferrofluid displays went haywire on the internet ten days ago, crushing their initial $7,000 Kickstarter goal with more than $46,000 in contributions in only a matter of days. Haines sees ferrofluid as our generation's answer to the original 1960's lava lamp, and created The Inspiration, the name for his ferrofluid display (which doubles as a motion lamp), and The Thinker, its smaller, plastic bottle-based counterpart, as de facto successors. We had to know more about his ferrofluid objects, so we reached out to Haines, who was more than happy to tell us all about his big plans for the future—which even include a green-colored ferrofluid option he just announced today.

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"Something about creating new material properties makes me very excited. It's almost like a new age of alchemy," Haines tells The Creators Project. After being introduced to colloidal chemistry, he quickly discovered its crown jewel: "Naturally, I found ferrofluid interesting and after watching some videos on YouTube decided I was going to make a little project out of it on my spare time. It just evolved from there."

We've been playing with The Thinker for the past few days, and can't get enough of its gooey, otherworldly contents. It's like a liquid cross between those classic pin art toys and owning your own Flubber. But it wasn't all smooth, shiny sailing. "The challenges abound," admits Haines. "The number one challenge with ferrofluid is getting it to not stick and stain the walls of the chamber that's being used. This is an epic challenge. Other challenges include preserving the ferrofluid in the suspension liquid. Often, it will break down over a short period of time if not formulated correctly. I often have to buy strange materials to do my experiments as well."

The Thinker. Image by the author

Beyond the limited edition The Thinker with green ferrofluid, Haines is reluctant to admit his plans for the future ("I can't really comment on them yet. Hopefully, soon though."). Until then, keep your eyes and ears tuned to Kyle Haines' Kickstarter.

Snag your own magnetized lava lamp on Haines' Kickstarter.

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