You are probably already very well aware that space is a strange place, where many things happen differently from here on Earth. Here, even metals can fuse one with another, even without any source of heat or presence of melting.
Image credit: Stockvault, CC0 Public Domain
Spontaneous metal fusion, or so-called cold welding, was first discovered in 1940s, and was a significant source of problems in early satellites. Nowadays, nearly all metal parts that are sent to space use a special oxide-based or other types of special coatings to prevent them from sticking together. So why does it happen? The following video aims to answer this interesting question:
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