Weird H2O -Science Catches Water Doing Some Bizarre Things

[n2doc]

Recently exotic new states of water caused Harvard researchers to question what we really know about one of the most common and abundant substances on the planet.

First there was the discovery that you can actually burn salt water (see related posts below) if you zap it with just the right radio frequency, fueling hopes that plain old seawater could someday be converted to abundant clean energy. Now researchers are finding that water forms a floating bridge when exposed to high voltages. Other researchers also recently discovered that you can make water stay frozen at very warm temperatures if you coat it with a special diamond mixture. These are all surprising twists stemming from H2O—the abundant substance we all thought we knew so well.

Harvard physicists found that specially treated diamond coatings can keep hot water in a frozen state. (http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/09.20/09-hotice.html ) The researchers say the finding may be useful in certain medical implants, although others argue that diamonds might cause blood clots. In either case, the big news here is that diamonds can make water solid. Doctoral student Alexander Wissner-Gross and Efthimios Kaxiras, physics professor and Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics, found that even a very thing layer of diamond coated with sodium atoms will keep warm water in a solid state up to 108 degrees Fahrenheit.

As if that wasn’t weird enough, researchers from the University of Technology in Austria recently discovered that when exposed to a high-voltage electric field, water in two beakers will climbs out and cross empty space to join, forming a water bridge that appears to defy gravity. (http://physorg.com/news110191847.html)

more

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2010/06/weird-h2oscience-catches-water-doing-some-bizarre-things.html

[phantom power]

1. I wish people would quit claiming that the burning saltwater trick will ever release energy.

It burns because it's re-releasing energy that was added to the system by the radio waves. It will never be a source of "abundant clean energy."

[FirstLight]

2. So maybe they can figure out how to remove oil from seawater...?

Like by zapping it with a special laser?

hey, at this point, I'd take any sci-fi approach!