See how it feels, fire ants?
I wonder if aliens will ever visit earth, pour molten metal alloys into our homes then sell the results on xbay.
No ants were harmed during the… oh, nevermind.
I was interested to see the actual creation process. This vid is from the ebay sellers.
And another from a different source, not for sale apparently.
Actually, fire ants are an invasive species from South America. So the question may be, I wonder if we ever invade an alien planet, will they pour molten metal alloys into our unwanted colonies? It would be hard to hold it against them…
He lies awake at night, his ears ringing with tiny, tiny screams.
I wonder why aluminum? I recall from high school chemistry it’s a very difficult metal to work with, and tends to burst into flame.
Aluminum’s not that hard to work with. Websearch will find many folks doing aluminum casts, with descriptions/videos of the process. It’s cheap (especially if you’re recycling empties), it has a fairly low melting temperature, it’s light weight, and it doesn’t particularly “tend to burst into flame” under normal circumstances, though there are ways to burn it.
Perhaps you we’re thinking of Ti or something? Aluminum is pretty safe to work with (no molten metal is all that safe, but lots are worse). The only thing I can think of is if you manage to spill water into molten aluminum, you’re going to have a bad time as it produces hydrogen, and molten aluminum is hot enough to ignite hydrogen.
It also ends up with a pretty nice finish that is much more slowly oxidised than iron or copper.
PS I bet you this was the thing that kicked off the idea:
The do the same thing with a concrete and an entire anthill.
As I understand it, exposed aluminum generally oxidizes immediately – but aluminum oxide is (a) transparent, (b) nonporous, and (c) doesn’t flake off, so effectively it coats itself in a protective layer of corundum and stops oxidizing almost as fast as it started.
I don’t know if 1800 bucks is that cheap. But its all relative
Come to think of it I believe you’re right… Anyone know what the hell is happening when aluminium is exposed to the elements for a long period of time? I’ve noticed that it tends to get cloudy and sometimes gets white deposits of something on the surface.
The oxididized rind is silvery white (or “aluminium colored”) not transparent, but other than that, yes.
Don’t inhale the fumes…
aluminum has a low melting point and is super easy to cast. i’m not sure why you were taught that it tends to burst into flame, it doesn’t…
A better question might start out; if aliens ever accidentally transport us to their alien planet, will they pour molten metal…
Noooooooooo! 
“Now I am become death, the caster of colonies.”
