Different types of ice link water molecules together in unique shapes

There may be 74,963 kinds of ice, resulting from water molecules rearranging themselves

The theoretical limit greatly expands the known types of ice, with type Iₕ being the most common on Earth and forming hexagonal crystals. The extreme environments of planets like Uranus and Neptune can create a variety of ice with unique structures and properties, as these conditions can reshape these crystals into new geometries.

Snowflakes form when water vapor turns directly into ice

Every water molecule has a slightly bent shape due to electron repulsion and regularly forms bonds with hydrogen molecules. When they freeze, they form a six-sided (or hexagonal) lattice, resulting in the six-sided symmetry of snowflakes. As the snowflake falls, more water molecules freeze onto its six sides, forming the unique, beautiful geometric designs.

A chemical overview of water, whose uncommon properties help sustain life on Earth

The uneven distribution of charge in water molecules allows them to bond to each other and to surfaces, enabling them to move against gravity, including up plants through roots and stems. These bonds also keep water in a liquid state over a wider temperature range and make it less dense as it freezes. This causes ice to float and form an insulating layer for underwater ecosystems, from which all life originated.

Partial freezing results from trying to freeze water while preventing expansion

Within a sealed container, partial freezing of water increases the contained volume and the pressure, preventing further freezing without decreasing the temperature further. Once cooled below -23 degrees Celsius (-9.4 degrees Fahrenheit), an uncommon type of ice that contracts as it forms is produced, facilitating the complete freezing of the contained water.

Simulations suggest ice's slipperiness comes from rearranging molecules

Past models have proposed that slipperiness arises from a thin layer of liquid water formed at the ice's surface by frictional melting. However, new research suggests that electromagnetic forces between interacting surfaces push water molecules out of an ordered, crystalline structure and into a shapeless, soft, slippery layer. This process occurs solely through contact, independent of pressure or friction.

Ice cream’s unfrozen consistency is thanks to sugar

Making ice cream is a complex, multistep scientific process. But the treat’s scoopable, chewable consistency is due to the product’s dissolved sugar.

Cooling lava naturally creates hexagonal cracks to evenly relieve stress

When lava cools and turns into rock, it contracts and builds up tension, particularly when held in place by the surrounding landscape. Just as drying mud cracks, initial cracks in the rock are random, but quickly organize into a hexagonal pattern, which scientists consider the most space-efficient shape.

How chemical bonds between atoms form molecules and large geometric structures

In ionic bonding, one atom transfers at least one electron to another atom, forming two atoms of opposite charge. These atoms attract one another and can stack up in a 3D grid called a lattice. Covalent bonding, where electrons are instead shared, can produce enormous molecules, such as the two found in human chromosome 13, which each contain 37 billion atoms.

Distinguishing club soda, seltzer, and sparkling water

The three forms of drinking water are similar, but their differences lie mostly in the presence and proportion of minerals and carbonation. Read this quick explainer on the major differences.

A breakdown of gelling agents used to modify a liquid's texture

Gelatin, agar, and other substances form a structural network that traps liquid, making it appear solid and enabling chefs to create stable layers in pastries and confectionery products. In different concentrations, they can also be used to thicken liquids into gels or encase them in gelatinous spheres.

The conditions needed for cloud iridescence, or rainbow clouds

The relatively rare phenomenon occurs when sunlight scatters off tiny water droplets or ice crystals in thin, newly-forming or semi-transparent clouds, such as altocumulus, cirrocumulus, lenticular, and cirrus varieties. This effect is similar to what is seen in soap bubbles and mother-of-pearl shells and produces pastel-like colors.

The composition of comets earned them the nickname 'dirty snowballs'

The icy relics of the solar system are composed of rock, gravel, dust, and frozen molecules, such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, ammonia, and water. Once close to the sun, these compounds sublimate into gases, creating a fuzzy cloud that earned the comets another nickname in history: hairy stars.

Why water towers are built that way

How glaciers melt

Greenland and Antarctica are home to most of the world’s glacial ice, including its only two ice sheets, making them areas of particular interest to scientists. Watch this three-minute video to learn why understanding them is not just interesting, but crucial to our near-term adaptability and our long term survival in a changing world.

ICE was created in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks

Created by the Homeland Security Act of 2002 following 9/11, ICE enforces federal immigration, customs, and trade laws under DHS. With over 20,000 staff across 400 global offices and an $8B budget, it focuses on detention, deportation, and cross-border criminal investigations.

What causes hail?

Hail can be a particularly destructive element of certain thunderstorms, occurring even during otherwise warm days. Learn about the dynamics that lead to ice chunks falling from the sky.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

The structure of DNA helices comes in three major varieties

The hereditary molecule can take the form of A-DNA, B-DNA, or Z-DNA based on environmental conditions such as ion concentration and humidity—a characteristic identified by Rosalind Franklin. A-DNA is the shortest and widest of the three, while Z-DNA is the longest and narrowest. B-DNA—the most common variety in living cells—is the intermediate.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Lichtenberg figures capture lightning-like patterns within insulators

When high-energy electrons from particle accelerators are fired into materials like acrylic, they form a charged plane before discharging into scarred patterns within the material. By evenly charging a cylindrical bottle through rotation during the irradiation process, a 3D figure of lightning in a bottle can be created.

Synthetic diamonds may be used to cool microchips

The strong carbon bonds in diamonds efficiently carry vibrations, allowing them to conduct heat several times faster than copper, a metal commonly used in heat sinks. AI and high-performance computing have pushed researchers to investigate alternative materials for cooling solutions.

Data centers' electrical needs create increased water demands beyond cooling

Each query uses approximately one single-serving water bottle per conversation, but water is also used for steam cycles and cooling in power plants that generate electricity for data centers. Newer cooling methods, such as immersion cooling, where servers are submerged in fluids that don't conduct electricity, can minimize water use.

Understanding the distinctions between coffee types

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed looking at a coffee shop menu, you're not alone. Here's a breakdown between common coffee styles. Click through the link to see similar guides to espresso and cold drinks.

Shrink-wrap is created through a treatment of plastic with high-speed electrons

Atoms in polyethylene are bonded in long strings called polymer chains, which can be destabilized by removing hydrogen atoms via collisions with electrons. These gaps serve as bonding sites for neighboring chains to bond and undergo cross-linking, strengthening the plastic while making it more malleable.

One of the Widow Clicquot’s many innovations was the process of riddling

Riddling involves storing Champagne bottles at an angle and methodically turning them in order to collect any sediment in the neck of the bottle. The technique—which was kept a strict secret—cut down on both time and waste, allowing the House of Clicquot to outsell its competitors for decades until word inevitably leaked and riddling became the standard.

Exploring the microscopic composition of blood

Visually, blood looks like a single, red fluid. Zooming in, it is one of the richest substances known, with hemoglobin, plasma, proteins, red and white blood cells, platelets, and more.

Learn about the Black Bear Sports Group—a hockey conglomerate changing the ice rink industry

Ice rinks are notoriously difficult to operate, due to the complex cooling systems required to maintain the ice itself, and have an average operating lifespan of 25 years. However, Black Bear Sports Group has made millions by buying up failing ice rinks and running robust youth sports programming.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Browse a detailed visual analysis of over 200,000 similes—comparisons that often use 'like' or 'as'—from popular fiction to see how frequently writers the same idiomatic expressions.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

Fear or disgust related to clusters of holes and cracks, called trypophobia, may stem from evolutionary processes to help us avoid pathogens.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Corals are themselves not coral reefs—the term refers to the tiny marine invertebrates that build the rigid reef.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.