Featured in this episode of Chaos Lever
If you ever want to go down a crazy rabbit hole, I recommend looking into the history of ice, and how it basically was responsible for all life on earth. I’m not overstating this: The fact that frozen water floats is damn close to unique in nature. Almost every other liquid that freezes sinks. [Ed.- Except alcohol. We could be vodka-based life forms, which arguably some folks already are. Right Vanessa?]
So what’s new? Well. Recent research was able to show a new ice, named VIIt. This was done by “using a diamond anvil to squish water ice into a tetragonal crystal structure,” which is delirious terminology that I barely understand but I’m still somehow fascinated by.
If there are listeners who do work in this field who would like to illuminate me, my DMs are open.