Find clues about water on other planets by ice molecules

A US university research team said the new form of ice particles with the lowest specific gravity could reveal many clues about water on another planet.

According to Science Alert, the new tape, if successfully created, will be the 18th crystalline form of water. However, by chance the first two categories were named Ice I, it will be called " XVII Tape" (17) . This is also the first type of tape created in the US before World War II.

"We have calculated a lot, this tape will probably be the lightest so far," said chemist Xiao Cheng Zeng, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. "A lot of people are interested in predicting a new ice structure that goes beyond the limits".

To do that, the researchers used a molecular simulation and simulation algorithm to predict the new molecular form of frozen water. If successfully created, it will have a lighter weight than the lightest record ice, developed by European scientists in 2014.

Structure of the 18th tape type. (Photo: Yingying Huang / Chongqin Zhu).

Simulations help scientists determine the limited range of pressure and temperature required for the predicted band type. This configuration will take the form of meshes, with a series of water molecules creating a nested structure like a cage.

In the past, it was thought that it was only possible to maintain the integrity of this structure if there was another molecule of the type inside. However, the team calculated that the new structure could be stable without this factor.

The process of creating new tapes is also not easy. Water molecules need to be placed in an enclosed space at a very high pressure, depending on the temperature. At a temperature of -23.3 degrees C, there must be a pressure greater than the pressure at the deepest bottom of the Pacific.

At the absolute zero point, -273 degrees Celsius, the pressure will be like being crushed under 300 large jets at sea level. At these pressure levels, ice crystals will be formed by sucking out non-water molecules. These are not natural ice formation conditions on Earth, but may be in other distant planets.

"Water and ice research is always very interesting, because it is related to people and life," Zeng said. "The ice in nature has a low density, lies above the liquid water protection below. If it is heavier, the ice will form from the bottom up and no species will live. good ".

The findings were published in the journal Science Advances on February 12.