See-Through Alloys Help NASA Understand Metal Making

Try to stare through a metal. Go ahead... I'll wait. Unless you're Superman, it simply can't be done. That's because metals are opaque, making it very difficult even for scientists to understand what exactly goes on when metals turn from a liquid into a solid. Now, with help from NASA, experts are running a series of experiments with special transparent alloys, allowing them to better understand how solidification occurs for the first time.