On Thu, 14 Jan 2016 08:57:55 -0500, Ed Huntress wrote:

It's a little far-out, but this could be a big deal in electronics and
automotive light metals:

http://fortune.com/2016/01/13/mesogl...od-metal-glue/

It looks to me like a metal velcro: the metal nanorods from both sides
interleave when the surfaces are pressed together, and tangle up. Except
of course real plastic velcro pieces don't melt together, and in the
Northwestern metal process some sort of intermetallic alloy develops.