Previously predicted by theoretical models, we now have the first experimental observation of plastic Ice VII. That might ...

We all know water as ice, liquid, and steam. But prepare to be surprised – there are other, far more exotic forms out there.

The experiments revealing plastic ice VII were performed using the time-of-flight spectrometers IN5 and IN6-SHARP at the ILL. Temperatures as high as 450—600 K and pressures from 0.1 to 6 GPa (up to ...

A strange type of ice thought to dwell deep in the oceans of alien planets has finally been proven to exist. For the first time, researchers have directly observed a sort of hybrid phase of water ...

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Neutron-scattering experiments have revealed a predicted high-pressure phase of ice called ‘plastic ice VII’, in which molecules form crystals, as they do in normal ice, but rotate as in liquid water.

Ice could deliver electrolytes to alien oceans, and that’s good news for astrobiologists. You need more than water to make a habitable ocean; you also need nutrients, including electrolytes.