Physicists have managed to squeeze water molecules into a brand new state that doesn't adhere to the usual laws of solids, liquids, and gases. By trapping water into very tiny cracks, similar to those that also exist in nature, the researchers have managed to get its hydrogen and oxygen atoms to behave in very peculiar ways.
The discovery is closely linked to existing hypotheses in quantum physics – an area of science where the 'classic rulebook' of the Universe is often tossed out and ignored. The team behind the research isn't quite sure where their find will lead quite yet, but it should offer new insight into how water behaves in ultra-confined spaces.
Scientists from Oak Ridge National Laboratory forced water molecules down channels made from the mineral beryl, measuring just 5 angstroms across (about 1 ten-billionth of a metre), as Michael Byrne from Motherboard reports.
They say similar conditions are likely to be found in the natural world too, inside soils, mineral interfaces, and cell walls, for example.
Inside this molecular straightjacket (individual atoms are about 1 angstrom across), the two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom that make up a water molecule started to display some really weird behaviour.
Rather than being fixed, the hydrogen atoms began to appear in six different symmetric orientations at the same time, with the oxygen atom in the middle:
water-molecules-2Water molecules in tunnelling mode. Credit: A. I. Kolesnikov et al.
The six different positions match the six different walls of the hexagonal channel, the scientists say. As they tunnel, the hydrogen atoms cycle between all possible positions, and the temperature is increased as a result.
What's more, the molecule's centre of mass shifts to the central oxygen atom rather than the outlying hydrogen ones (as would be the case in a typical molecule). The newly symmetrical layout also means the molecule loses its electric dipole moment, which means the negative and positive charges in the atoms are no longer unbalanced, and in theory, it should no longer be interested in bonding with other atoms or molecules.
It's a major discovery, even if the scientists behind it aren't exactly sure what it means quite yet.
"It's one of those phenomena that only occur in quantum mechanics and has no parallel in our everyday experience," said lead researcher, Alexander Kolesnikov.
"This discovery represents a new fundamental understanding of the behaviour of water and the way water utilises energy," added team member, Lawrence Anovitz.
The next step is figuring out why this phenomenon occurs, but ultimately it should give scientists a better understanding of the thermodynamics and behaviour of water when it's in very tightly confined environments.
The team's work has been published in the journal Physical Review Letters.
Sebastian Pan wrote:I just found this likely Electo-Magenetic event. Has anyone heard of the Electic Lightwheel Phenomenon? It appears to have something to do with the electric excitation of phosphorescent organisms in the water, but it follows patterns of Birkland Current like arrays of spindles. What do you all think of this?
http://www.cropcircleanswers.com/marinelightwheels.htm
http://www.cropcircleanswers.com/marine ... ngulf.html
It may be another peice of evidence should it prove documented and reproducable ina a lab.
Curiouser and curiouser...
The different sources that contribute to the magnetic field measured by Swarm. The coupling currents or field-aligned currents flow along magnetic field lines between the magnetosphere and ionosphere. Credit: ESA/DTU Space
Roger Haagmans, ESA's Swarm mission scientist, explained, "It's astonishing that the team has been able to use just two years' worth of measurements from Swarm to determine the magnetic tidal effect from the ocean and to see how conductivity changes in the lithosphere and upper mantle.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-10-magnetic-o ... h.html#jCp
Solar storms may trigger sperm whale strandings: explanation approaches for multiple strandings in the North Sea in 2016
Abstract
The Earth's atmosphere and the Earth's magnetic field protects local life by shielding us against Solar particle flows, just like the sun's magnetic field deflects cosmic particle radiation. Generally, magnetic fields can affect terrestrial life such as migrating animals. Thus, terrestrial life is connected to astronomical interrelations between different magnetic fields, particle flows and radiation. Mass strandings of whales have often been documented, but their causes and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. We investigated the possible reasons for this phenomenon based on a series of strandings of 29 male, mostly bachelor, sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in the southern North Sea in early 2016. Whales’ magnetic sense may play an important role in orientation and migration, and strandings may thus be triggered by geomagnetic storms. This approach is supported by the following: (1) disruptions of the Earth's magnetic field by Solar storms can last about 1 day and lead to short-term magnetic latitude changes corresponding to shifts of up to 460 km; (2) many of these disruptions are of a similar magnitude to more permanent geomagnetic anomalies; (3) geomagnetic anomalies in the area north of the North Sea are 50–150 km in diameter; and (4) sperm whales swim about 100 km day−1, and may thus be unable to distinguish between these phenomena. Sperm whales spend their early, non-breeding years in lower latitudes, where magnetic disruptions by the sun are weak and thus lack experience of this phenomenon. ‘Naïve’ whales may therefore become disoriented in the southern Norwegian Sea as a result of failing to adopt alternative navigation systems in time and becoming stranded in the shallow North Sea.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals ... 605509577#
When salty ocean water flows through Earth's magnetic field, an electric current is generated, and this, in turn, induces a magnetic signal.
However, the field generated by tides is tiny and extremely difficult to measure – but Swarm has done just this in remarkable detail.
Return to Electric Universe - Planetary Science
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests