Mercury vortex

I am fascinated by this YouTube video. It shows a person spinning mercury at a fast rate using only direct current and a magnet.

I have heard that the ancient vimanas and the bell employed mercury vortices for levitation, but I assumed that they were mechanically driven. It is interesting to see that it can be driven electromagnetically.

In my spare time, I am actually trying to reproduce this using a much safer substance (gallium), however, I have ran into some difficulties.