“Animated Lamp” hangs limply from the wall under the influence of gravity and its own weight, resembling a drop of water frozen in mid-plunge. But as soon as it’s switched on, it leaps to life. Like an organic corkscrew, it curls up crazily and maintains its shape until the lamp is switched off again. The secret is shape memory wire, which consists of an alloy that “remembers” its shape and reassumes it as soon as it’s heated up by electrical current. Among the many uses of such alloys are in the fields of medicine and space travel.
