Saturday, October 28, 2006

Water! huh-yeah/What else is it good for/God only knows/

New Solid Substance made from Hydrogen and Oxygen(!)

If you think we know all there is to know about water, think again. Scientists claim they have created a totally new alloy of hydrogen and oxygen molecules by splitting water.

...

Mao’s team subjected water to a pressure 170,000 times greater than atmospheric pressure at sea level. Then they bombarded it with X-rays, causing the water molecules to split and reform into a previously unknown crystalline solid made of H2 molecules and 02 molecules.



Brings to mind Masaru Emoto's unproven theories on the nature of water and, even better,

The Superionic Water Experiment from Last Year

To recreate the extreme pressure required to force water into the superionic state, Goncharov’s team used a diamond anvil cell, which squeezes the water between two diamonds, creating a pressure 470,000 times greater than Earth’s atmospheric pressure. The researchers used a laser to heat the water to the intense temperature of 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit. At this pressure and temperature, the water went superionic

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If superionic water was brought to Earth, it would explode because of the extreme pressure and temperature, but inside a giant ice planet it would be hard as steel and just a bit cooler than the weakest star, Goncharov said.


The article suggests that there may be a shitload more water trapped in gas and ice giants (in super-ionic form, that is) than we ever suspected. Which leads me to wonder, can it turned back?

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