Posted on 11/07/2018 2:13:53 AM PST by BenLurkin
It forms at speeds of more than 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h), it lies deep beneath our feet, it could destroy hopes for alien life, and — finally — scientists understand how it works.
Back in March, researchers writing in the journal Science revealed that they have found the first evidence for this ice, called "Ice VII." Scientists had predicted its existence beforehand. Under the right conditions, it was believed, ice could form in a pool of water without a layer of heat at the leading edge of its growing surface. That — along with super-intense pressures and temperatures — would allow the ice to form without most of the usual brakes that slow its growth, Science Alert reported. It would also have a different crystal structure, or arrangement of atoms. Now, scientists say they've found that elusive ice for the first time in the frozen-water cores of diamonds that bubbled up from deep inside the Earth.
New research, published Oct. 10 in the journal Physical Review Letters, found that there are particular combinations of temperature and pressure at which Ice VII forms. The mysterious Ice VII begins to form at 20,700 times Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level and 40.7 degrees Fahrenheit (4.9 degrees Celsius), and the pressure/temperature combinations get only more intense from there.
This could pose problems for the hunt for alien life, Physics Central reported. Pressure spikes — say, from meteor impacts — could cause the explosive formation of Ice VII on watery planets otherwise suited to alien life. But the mass formation of this cubic ice at ripping speeds would likely prevent any such life from forming or surviving. On worlds where this happens, life could get snuffed out before it really began.
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
Stop, collaborate and listen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anx5IctHVGU
Personally, I blame global cooling.
So, global warming and freezing at the same time?
btt
Will it reach the caravan in time?
Pressure spikes - say, from meteor impacts - could cause the explosive formation of Ice VII on watery planets otherwise suited to alien life. But the mass formation of this cubic ice at ripping speeds would likely prevent any such life from forming or surviving. On worlds where this happens, life could get snuffed out before it really began.
Happens to my beer when too cold to open and the top is screwed off....just one thing on the side.....
I feel terrible about this. I’m sure it’s all my fault, driving a car and all that.
I’ve always suspected this was true .... finally my hypothesis has been confirmed.
Another filter to add to the “Rare Earth” hypothesis for the Fermi Paradox.
Yup
Just as we were about to discover aliens this happens. < /s >
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