With a core made of liquid metal, this new antenna coming out of North Carolina State University can adjust itself to pick up a certain wavelength. It looks a little like a thermometer for radio waves: It can inch up and down, making the millimeter-scale changes in spectra needed to capture just the right signal.
The how-it-works is a bit technically complex, but here's why it matters: We're clogging up the radio spectrum with device after device. Just ask radio astronomers. This means that some devices will need to make incremental changes in the signal they're receiving or transmitting. But to receive those signals, you might have to resort to many separate antennas.
Not with this technology. By filling an antenna with liquid metal, it can do those simple tweaks by itself, controlling the adjustments through applied voltage. It will take out bulky switchable filter banks and switchable antennas, allowing more streamlined and more versatile devices.
So now we can really clog the airwaves. In liquid metal style.
Source: IEEE Spectrum