Skip to main content

This little metal cube contains every collectible element on planet Earth

If you’re looking for something that’ll please your inner metallurgist, check out the Element Cube — a unique metal cube that contains every collectible element on the planet. For those less interested in metallurgy, the cube is still a remarkable feat of science, as it’s made from no less than 62 of Earth’s 118 known elements, including platinum, iron, gold, and titanium. Through a process called powder metallurgy, the Element Cube, Element Bracelet, and Element Necklace all combine the metals of the world into beautiful polished shapes.

Not all of the materials included in the Element Cube are precious metals, but the nature of the elements that occur on earth did have a lot to do with whether or not they were included in the project. Radioactive metals like plutonium were left out, and elements that exist only in gaseous form couldn’t exactly be included in the cube and its accompanying elemental accessories.  The Element Cube and jewelry are all formed by pulverizing 62 different metals into fine powders, then mixing and compressing compressing the combination into whole shapes.

Element cube - Element bracelet - Element necklaceRelated: German scientists devise ‘phytomining’ technique to extract rare metals from plants

The mission of any collection hobby is usually to cobble together a complete set of whatever object you’re collecting — be it stamps, rocks, or even potato chips shaped like US states. But as it turns out, collecting elements isn’t an easy task. Completing a collection of elements can take years, and often requires a hefty bank account. Purists may not sign on to knock off 62 elements in one go with the Element Cube, but even if you’re not a collector, it’s still a pretty cool little object, and showcases the beautiful diversity of elemental science.

Creator Cillian McMinn is a designer from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His artistic leanings allow him to believe that the Element Cube is a visually appealing reminder of the complex and intricate aspects of our universe that will please collectors, nerds, and art-lovers alike. The Element Cube is also believed to be the world’s largest alloy, since it breaks records by combining every collectible (non-radioactive) element on earth.

Element Cube’s Kickstarter campaign has already been wildly successful, beyond the original £2,500 funding goal – about $3,800. The project has nearly 1,000 backers and has already racked up funding pledges of over $73,000. A pledge of about $30 will score backers an Element Bracelet or Element Necklace, and a pledge of approximately $76 will earn backers a complete Element Cube. With such overwhelming support, it seems like the Element Cube has already accomplished its goal to demonstrate the beauty and fascination of the building blocks that make everything on Earth possible.

Chloe Olewitz
Chloe is a writer from New York with a passion for technology, travel, and playing devil's advocate. You can find out more…
Why AI will never rule the world
image depicting AI, with neurons branching out from humanoid head

Call it the Skynet hypothesis, Artificial General Intelligence, or the advent of the Singularity -- for years, AI experts and non-experts alike have fretted (and, for a small group, celebrated) the idea that artificial intelligence may one day become smarter than humans.

According to the theory, advances in AI -- specifically of the machine learning type that's able to take on new information and rewrite its code accordingly -- will eventually catch up with the wetware of the biological brain. In this interpretation of events, every AI advance from Jeopardy-winning IBM machines to the massive AI language model GPT-3 is taking humanity one step closer to an existential threat. We're literally building our soon-to-be-sentient successors.

Read more
The best hurricane trackers for Android and iOS in 2022
Truck caught in gale force winds.

Hurricane season strikes fear into the hearts of those who live in its direct path, as well as distanced loved ones who worry for their safety. If you've ever sat up all night in a state of panic for a family member caught home alone in the middle of a destructive storm, dependent only on intermittent live TV reports for updates, a hurricane tracker app is a must-have tool. There are plenty of hurricane trackers that can help you prepare for these perilous events, monitor their progress while underway, and assist in recovery. We've gathered the best apps for following storms, predicting storm paths, and delivering on-the-ground advice for shelter and emergency services. Most are free to download and are ad-supported. Premium versions remove ads and add additional features.

You may lose power during a storm, so consider purchasing a portable power source,  just in case. We have a few handy suggestions for some of the best portable generators and power stations available. 

Read more
Don’t buy the Meta Quest Pro for gaming. It’s a metaverse headset first
Meta Quest Pro enables 3D modeling in mixed reality.

Last week’s Meta Connect started off promising on the gaming front. Viewers got release dates for Iron Man VR, an upcoming Quest game that was previously a PS VR exclusive, as well as Among Us VR. Meta, which owns Facebook, also announced that it was acquiring three major VR game studios -- Armature Studio, Camouflaj Team, and Twisted Pixel -- although we don’t know what they’re working on just yet.

Unfortunately, that’s where the Meta Connect's gaming section mostly ended. Besides tiny glimpses and a look into fitness, video games were not the show's focus. Instead, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wanted to focus on what seemed to be his company’s real vision of VR's future, which involves a lot of legs and a lot of work with the Quest Pro, a mixed reality headset that'll cost a whopping $1,500.

Read more