Japanese scientists have discovered a way to make water freeze at room temperature

[n2doc]

Water in a tight spot freezes at room temperature
Category: General
Posted on: June 23, 2011 11:38 AM, by SciencePunk

From the Journal of Things Kurt Vonnegut Warned Us About, Japanese scientists have discovered a way to make water freeze at room temperature.

The team of scientists were investigating the properties of water molecules wrapped in single-atom thick carbon nanotubes. The nanoconfined water displayed several unusual properties. Most striking was that as the width of the carbon nanotube decreased, the melting point of the water trapped inside rose. These "tubule ices" are unlike any seen in bulk water, and can even occur at room temperatures.

Thankfully, there's no risk of this Japanese Ice-nine spreading through the municipal water supply, crystallising everything it touches. But nano-confined water does occur everywhere in nature - from soil to the insides of the human body. So pat yourself the back, you're even more amazing than you realised.

The work was carried out by scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University, Nagoya University, Japan Science and Technology Agency, and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and is published in the Journal of Chemical Physics. via

http://scienceblogs.com/sciencepunk/2011/06/water_in_a_tight_spot_freezes.php

[William769]

1. Will that be a side dish to their recycled meat?

[slackmaster]

2. These are some of the same Japanese scientists who told us nuclear power was perfectly safe

:nuke:

[RC]

3. I saw water boil till it froze in my junior high science class back

in the late 1950's

[Historic NY]

4. Might be useful in keeping beer cold....in the desert

:beer:

[tinrobot]

5. Ice-nine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice-nine